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chromedog wrote:You'll receive your order, but not all games/model companies are the size of GW.

I still am baffled why people rationalize mediocrity like this. You don't need to be a large company to communicate effectively with your customers. It should not take a full month to ship a sheet of stickers. Period. Nothing further. It's not the customer's fault he didn't order months before he needed them because he should have somehow known they are a poorly run business.

If there are circumstances which necessitate slow ordering processing, there should be a disclaimer on the website indicating such so the person can make an informed purchase. In the event of an unplanned delay in order processing, since you run a web-based business it's safe to assume you have the email addresses of the people who ordered from you, so you should communicate with them that there was a delay, what it was, and what the ETA is.

Neither one of those costs anything. Customer service doesn't have to be expensive or even difficult to be quality. Writing it off as "well, they're just a small business" is, to be frank, crap. My money is just as green when a small business takes it as when Newegg or Amazon takes it, and I expect it to be taken just as seriously.

Which part of putting a message on the website indicating they were going to a convention and orders would be delayed was out of the question? I mean, they knew they were going to the convention first, right? Is this really so unreasonable?

I never said Newegg or Amazon were small operations. In fact, I said quite the opposite. My point was these are large companies with good customer service, largely because they have good communication - and I have the exact same expectations for that service from small operations then I do for the big ones. I work hard for my money and whether it's one dollar or one thousand dollars, if I bought something from you I expect a professional handling of my order.

If I order a sheet of stickers, and they haven't found the time to drop it in the mail with a stamp on it in a month, then "FFS", as you say, is exactly right, just not the way you meant it. People don't mind waiting if they know why.

To put it a different way, if they provided that kind of service on Ebay, they'd be kicked off within a few months because their DSR's would be too low. I expect the majority of sells on ebay are also small operations as well. Why do we have such a lower set of expectations from small wargaming operations? If we keep accepting this, then the bar is lower and it is perpetuated - why feed them steak when they'll eat poo?

Saying I shouldn't buy from small companies is missing the point. The point being, I don't frequent the establishments of any business which does not comport themselves in a professional manner - to whit, handling packages in an efficient and timely manner within established time-frames, and when there are exceptions, providing clear and reasonable communication. Which part of this is so elusive to grasp? It's not like it's not possible for small companies to provide excellent customer service. Romeo can do it. Neal can do it. Fenris Games can do it.

I work hard for my gaming dollars, and I'm not giving them to people who can't.

chromedog wrote:FW don't notify that there can be substantial delays - do people stop buying from them?

A.) People also complain about forgeworld's slow shipping. It's not like they get a free pass here.
B.) I generally no longer order from FW because they are too slow - i'll can get their stuff on Ebay or elsewhere, instead
C.) However, Forgeworld does set reasonable expectations for slow shipping times to the US - 28 days
D.) As someone else has said, "it's OK to provide craptacular service, because someone else did it" is the kind of excuse you'd expect from a child, not a professional business

ollieholmes wrote: From a buisness view its different. I will always try my hardest to get products to the customer in time and i will always publicise any delays i know about on my website.

See, that's what I'm saying, Ollie. In my opinion, you're a small operation and it might take 4-6 weeks for me to get my product, and it says so on the site before I place an order - I'm good. I got no problems with slow service if it's upfront. Alternately, there is an unexpected delay, you send out an email or post a message apologizing for whatever the delay was with a new ETA - also OK, totally no problem. Stuff happens and I think everyone understands that.

But when you're in the same country as me, I put in an order and a month goes by without a product or email, we're not doing business again. Small company, large company, no exceptions. You don't need fast shipping if you have good communication, and the latter is cheap or free.