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So today I went into my local games workshop for the first time since the finecast release, with 20 quid in my pocket and a longing for a jump pack chaplain. Before looking around I asked the person behind the till if finecast needed priming before painting or if I could just start painting it straight outta the packet. He then informed me that I could, and proceeded to show me a plastic space marine that they use for painting tutorials as an example which left me confused as I am 100/ sure that finecast and the standard gw plastic are two different things. Realising that he knew nothing about the substances I bought my chaplain and opened it in store.

Now don't get me wrong I'm not anti games workshop, I enjoy the hobby very much and as I play in the store that tends to be where I buy my models, but I felt a bit offended at the state of the model after opening it. The details that were correct were a thing of beauty, but craters galore and numerous miscast details ruined a model that I was greatly looking forward to painting. Up for a challenge however, I ask the manager to help me rectify these errors, so with the help of the shops green stuff the problems were resolved and I left feeling slightly better that they had at least rectified the problems and that I can now proceed to have great fun customising the model a little.

Basically it turns out the guy behind the till is a new employee, with zero experience in the hobby and probably zero experience in sales too. This leaves me feeling overall confused, as I am left wondering why games workshop would hire people with little-no experience in the hobby, and why they would charge more for a flawed product.

What are your thoughts on inexperienced staff and finecast? Please no whining about "finecost" being the antichrist, simply talk openly about your experience with itb

I dunno either. There's plenty of hobbyists who would be better at their job than some non-hobbyist, for sure. Most GW employees at the battle bunker seem to know a lot about everything, so I haven't had this problem, despite my edit.

I imagine most people who apply for the job are not hobby gods. I mean, ideally, I guess it would be best to be armed with:

-awesome rules knowledge of 40k/WFB/LOTR
-awesome fluff knowledge of 40k/WFB/LOTR
-awesome building/panting/converting skill

I would also imagine that it would be more important to be a better sales person who has a desire to learn the above (understanding that the above skills make a better sales person.)

So I have no issue with new sales staff starting with little hobby skill, so long as it doesn't stay that way.

There are players out there who have been in the game for years who nonetheless call painting the bare model black 'priming.' It could've just been the oddity of the question that caught him off guard. Of everything I've heard about finecast, not needing to be primed is a new one.

To be honest I wouldn't be so confused if he had even a beginners knowledge of the hobby, but overhearing a conversation between him and the manager in which he was asked to start learning the rules etc I was left rather worried thinking that this guy could soon be left to run the shop on his own, lol. Still as has been said by Zoned, as long as he learns its not a problem. Until he learns I'd rather hear him saying that he isn't sure rather than trying to wing it

There was a thread here on Dakka which suggests that washing and priming Finecast models is good idea.

Sounds like an isolated incident, what with the guy being new.

This employee should be applauded for taking on a challenging job role in retail sales, let alone being in sales in a GW store. Most of us have had the experience of not knowing what the feth we are doing when starting a new job s bear up and help the guy along, he probably won't be there long anyway.

As for you not being happy with the product, tale it back into store point out the flaws and ask for a refund or a replacement or store credit to the equivalent value.

Finecast is new and will have teething problems, it really shouldn't be the case, but here we are. Hopefully as GW go along their quality will improve.

Whilst being unamused by the issues on the model I do believe that a model I put time into fixing is one that I will put my all into painting, and it gives me scope to add more bits to his armour to change his overall look. As for the staff member as I have said, I'm confused about why someone with no idea about the hobby would be employed in a 1 man store where he is bound to be out of his depth. Regardless I respect what was said about him being new to the job I think its more of a managerial blunder

Just a one off methinks. If he's keen on Warhammer, he'll devour it all soon enough.

I don't ask GW staff for hobby advice.
They often have less idea about that than they do about rules.

Everything chromedog has said is true.
Also, don't ask them for news. Your usual forum goer will know better about what's going on. Especially now, since GW has killed all information distribution dead.

What are your thoughts on inexperienced staff and finecast? Please no whining about "finecost" being the antichrist, simply talk openly about your experience with it

My experiences so far have been all negative. I've got three boxes of incubi and they all have missing details or broken parts. I'm so disappointed in the quality of the models I'm thinking about sending them back and asking for a refund, because not only do I not want to bother with them but for the price I paid I don't feel like I should have to.

Hopefully that isn't considered "whining" simply because it's negative.

No no, I just meant I didn't want people jumping on the screw finecast bandwagon without actually having personal or first hand experiences . I think its interesting to get other peoples experiences and it enables us to come to a reasonable assertion about the positives/negatives of fine cast

There is a thread for this already:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/120/378855.page

Yeah, I have to agree with all of the above, especially Chromedog again. My battle buddy just bought several of the finecast grey knight pieces and once he got them home discovered a bunch of flaws in the model. He took them back to the store but they apparently refused to change them for him and he texted me that he was going to stop playing.

Not wanting to lose my mate I took the models and reciept back to the store and 'politely' insisted that they exchange the models for better ones and if they didn't I would call the ACCC and a current affair, etc on them. I also pointed out that we had both been going to the same store for at least two years and deserved better from them...

No joy, believe it or not...so I had to get my friend to call thier head office which apparently is much better...

Not mentioning any store names here but it rhymes with Smatchwood!

Jihadnik wrote:Yeah, I have to agree with all of the above, especially Chromedog again. My battle buddy just bought several of the finecast grey knight pieces and once he got them home discovered a bunch of flaws in the model. He took them back to the store but they apparently refused to change them for him and he texted me that he was going to stop playing.

Not wanting to lose my mate I took the models and reciept back to the store and 'politely' insisted that they exchange the models for better ones and if they didn't I would call the ACCC and a current affair, etc on them. I also pointed out that we had both been going to the same store for at least two years and deserved better from them...

That's illegal and the store should know better. If they sell a faulty product, at least a refund is required. Take it to the ACCC.

Personally, my Finecast experience has been... mixed. I am very impressed with the material and haven't had any miscasts. However, I noticed last night that my Zoanthrope that I built 3 weeks ago has started to bend at the part where the tail and the little bit of Tyranid terrain meet near the base.

To be fair, I need to get them a case, and the model, if I had one, wouldn't have been standing for anywhere close to 3 weeks straight. But then, I've had a Forgeworld Winged Hive Tryant standing for over 6 months now, balancing on one leg, and that leg hasn't bent at all. And Finecast resin is a lot lighter than Forgeworld resin.

Dude, I don't get this...why not mention the store name? This has happened plenty of times in the past, someone tells a story about a store being dicks (and breaking the law in this case), but then the poster goes on to say "But I won't say their name!"

...because...? Because you support this behavior? Because you want other people going to that store to get ripped off, too? Why keep it a secret?

Are you referring to me or the other poster?

Spit it out Mech! Name and shame
I think the reference was to Jihadnik

It also goes against GW's policy from what other people have said.
To be fair to their Customer Services and a lot of stores they have received a lot of credit for replacing faulty casts.

Yeah, Jihadnik. I didn't specify because I figured it was obvious. X)

I dunno though, it just doesn't make sense to me. If a store ever treated me this way I'd be telling everyone about it. I know one thing, I wouldn't just shrug and go "Oh well, guess I have to quit 40k now."

Jihadnik wrote:Yeah, I have to agree with all of the above, especially Chromedog again. My battle buddy just bought several of the finecast grey knight pieces and once he got them home discovered a bunch of flaws in the model. He took them back to the store but they apparently refused to change them for him and he texted me that he was going to stop playing.

Not wanting to lose my mate I took the models and reciept back to the store and 'politely' insisted that they exchange the models for better ones and if they didn't I would call the ACCC and a current affair, etc on them. I also pointed out that we had both been going to the same store for at least two years and deserved better from them...

No joy, believe it or not...so I had to get my friend to call thier head office which apparently is much better...

Not mentioning any store names here but it rhymes with Smatchwood!

If you bought them mfrom a GW, they will replace them. If they cannot, they will refund or exchange them for credit.

If you bought them from an independent, they are still required to replace or exchange them.

GW will replace defective products even if you did not buy them directly from them. Battlefront also do this by the way.

Although this does not mean a store can waive its responsibility if you took the defective product to said store. Of couse consumer laws change around the world but GWs CS remains pretty constant.

@ Sidstyler - have you not tried GW directly about this?

If you're talking about my Finecast models then yeah, I got a replacement box. It was just as bad, models still had missing details and two of the swords were broken (one I'm pretty damn sure is unusable). I might try taking pictures tomorrow, I might be going to my dad's house and if his camera is good enough I'll try to get some close-up shots to finally show people what I've been talking about.

As for the store thing that hasn't happened to me personally, just saying if I went to a GW store and they pulled that BS on me I wouldn't be so passive.

EDIT: "I might try taking pictures tomorrow, I might be going to my dad's house" Yeah, didn't happen, lol...had to get a tire fixed instead. Ow, my wallet. :(

Yeah, I see your point everyone, I just didn't mention the actual store name because it hasn't actually been resolved yet and I think the person in the store was just too new to realize how wrong they were.

I wouldn't normally care about it, but to be honest I figured Dakka didn't look kindly on ragging on someone else unless it was justified. I also know that almost all the complaints against GW that I've read about on Dakka tend to be resolved very quickly if you actually call customer service which I left up to my friend to do in the end.

Of course, if you're in Sydney or even Australia, there's only one store in the country that even comes close to rhyming with Smatchwood so I thought you'd all get the joke there.

There's only so much rant I feel justified in having without being at least a little amusing!

I don't have much of an informed opinion on finecast, but this arises from it costing so much that I simply don't regard the models as worth buying. I'll buy the odd FW thing as a display piece, but building entire units in resin simply isn't affordable for me.

Jihadnik wrote:Of course, if you're in Sydney or even Australia, there's only one store in the country that even comes close to rhyming with Smatchwood so I thought you'd all get the joke there.

That's one of the oldest stores in Australia, pretty busy as well from what I remember. The staff should have known better.

Hobby knowledge isn't strictly necessary for a GW employee, at least here in the US. They don't teach Academy class anymore, so the assembling/painting part can be picked up as they work. In terms of rules questions, when I ran a store my answer was "Where is your rulebook?" 100% of the time. My job wasn't to know all the rules, it was to teach others the rules. We did this by forcing them to consult the rulebook that was often in their hands. I found the majority of people just didn't want to look.

All else equal, extensive rules and fluff knowledge of all the armies in Warhammer 40k, Warhammer Fantasy and Lord of the Rings as well as Golden Daemon level painting and conversion skills would be nice... but totally unreasonable as an expectation for a job applicant. Most people learn about what they're interested in. No one is interested in everything. Also... many god tier painters aren't interested in the rules just as many rules lawyers play with unpainted models.

In terms of a product being damaged, if it's a GW store and the product hasn't been assembled, they will take it back. You can save yourself a ton of trouble by opening the product in the store and doing a quick visual inspection. That's what my local GW store does. Guess how many irate customers have come back in demanding exchanges. Zero. An ounce of prevention and all that.

-Loki- wrote:

Jihadnik wrote:Yeah, I have to agree with all of the above, especially Chromedog again. My battle buddy just bought several of the finecast grey knight pieces and once he got them home discovered a bunch of flaws in the model. He took them back to the store but they apparently refused to change them for him and he texted me that he was going to stop playing.

Not wanting to lose my mate I took the models and reciept back to the store and 'politely' insisted that they exchange the models for better ones and if they didn't I would call the ACCC and a current affair, etc on them. I also pointed out that we had both been going to the same store for at least two years and deserved better from them...

That's illegal and the store should know better. If they sell a faulty product, at least a refund is required. Take it to the ACCC.

Personally, my Finecast experience has been... mixed. I am very impressed with the material and haven't had any miscasts. However, I noticed last night that my Zoanthrope that I built 3 weeks ago has started to bend at the part where the tail and the little bit of Tyranid terrain meet near the base.

To be fair, I need to get them a case, and the model, if I had one, wouldn't have been standing for anywhere close to 3 weeks straight. But then, I've had a Forgeworld Winged Hive Tryant standing for over 6 months now, balancing on one leg, and that leg hasn't bent at all. And Finecast resin is a lot lighter than Forgeworld resin.

Too right, all products in Australia are covered by a compulsory 12 month manufacturer's warranty and it is also illegal to not have a refund policy.

Its just a job for some dude. Just a job. It would be nice to see experienced GW hobbyists in the stores it not always the case.