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TheHamDroog wrote:
Balls to this, for those of you that don't know Maelstrom Games has been the subject to a HMRC tax investigation and fined, this is the root cause of all their cash flow problems. They also took business grants and did not fulfil the conditions for which they were given. The business is still under investigation. The management have already confirmed within the industry that Maelstrom is closing and creditors will not be getting all of the money owed.

Can people please now stop saying that they have a problem with their telephone line.

This is common knowledge within the industry.

Source?

Hollow words otherwise...

I am not going to reveal my source.

But you're willing to throw it out onto the internet? Righto.

I met Stevie Wonder last night.

TheHamDroog wrote:
I am not going to reveal my source.

What harm could there be if it is so called "common knowledge"?

Dawnbringer wrote:

TheHamDroog wrote:
I am not going to reveal my source.

What harm could there be if it is so called "common knowledge"?

"Common knowledge within the industry" is not the same as "common knowledge to every single person with a cursory idea from Google".

 Kanluwen wrote:

Dawnbringer wrote:

TheHamDroog wrote:
I am not going to reveal my source.

What harm could there be if it is so called "common knowledge"?

"Common knowledge within the industry" is not the same as "common knowledge to every single person with a cursory idea from Google".

There is that...... BUT it would be good to get some confirmation.

@TheHamDroog: Thanks for your contribution. What you said sounds plausible and would explain everything.
And please, don't reveal your source..

Balls to this, for those of you that don't know Maelstrom Games has been the subject to a HMRC tax investigation and fined, this is the root cause of all their cash flow problems. They also took business grants and did not fulfil the conditions for which they were given. The business is still under investigation. The management have already confirmed within the industry that Maelstrom is closing and creditors will not be getting all of the money owed.

Can people please now stop saying that they have a problem with their telephone line.

This is common knowledge within the industry.

Thanks for the info. I dont see any reason not to believe this. It sounds very consistant with all the other informations we got. Lets summarize what we know :

Fact 1 : MG is broke. source : http://www.companycheck.co.uk/company/04724863 and MG's email "we have decided to clear as much of our hard-earned stock as we possibly can over the next few days - and therefore generate some much-needed cashflow - in order to ensure we can fulfil the orders that you, our valued customers, have placed over the last few weeks. "

Fact 2 : MG is trying to sell its stock in order to have enough cash to order the items already paid by customers. "I would ask all of our customers to remain as patient as they can with Maelstrom Games and, indeed, our staff, for we will use the money generated by the sale of our stock to ensure all of your orders are fulfilled in their entirety as quickly as possible" (source : Maelstrom's email)

If they dont have enough stock, this will quickly lead to some sort of Ponzi scheme. Which leads to

Fact 3 : MG refers items to be in stock and then does not ship because it is out of stock. (i have this problem with this item : http://www.maelstromgames.co.uk/index.php?act=pro&pre=mrm_blg_bnb_mon_008_000 )

Fact 4 : MG 's ebay shop is empty

Fact 5 : MG is still shipping some orders (they shipped two of mine yesterday)

Fact 6 : MG is not taking paypal anymore

Fact 7 : MG does not answer the phone or emails

Fact 8 : MG has opened a new online shop, then changed its name. Why ? Why not keeping maelstrom's online shop, which is well known ?

From all these facts, i conclude that MG is about to be bankrupt, running away from creditors. What they are trying to do with their customers is unclear. Do they try to sell their stock to generate the cash needed for the other customers orders ? Could be. Do they try to lure as many people in , shipping a few small orders from time to time to make things less obvious ? Could be. Is it just chaos, like in most soon-to-be-bankrupt companies ? Could be.

If it's true, why do they still accept orders and take money... Isn't there any buyer protection law in the UK ?
If a company is under investigation no way they would still be able to sell and take money from customers. (here in Belgium that is)

It is not because you are under investigation for tax fraud and/or not fulfilling conditions for grants received that you cannot run your business. It is the same in Belgium.

Read it here maybe (not much other info either)?

 Eiríkr wrote:

TheHamDroog wrote:
Balls to this, for those of you that don't know Maelstrom Games has been the subject to a HMRC tax investigation and fined, this is the root cause of all their cash flow problems. They also took business grants and did not fulfil the conditions for which they were given. The business is still under investigation. The management have already confirmed within the industry that Maelstrom is closing and creditors will not be getting all of the money owed.

Can people please now stop saying that they have a problem with their telephone line.

This is common knowledge within the industry.

Source?

Hollow words otherwise...

I can back him up on this, a source in the industry told me pretty much word for word that. Can't reveal who told me they were closing as it was told to me in confidence.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 devilution wrote:
If it's true, why do they still accept orders and take money... Isn't there any buyer protection law in the UK ?
If a company is under investigation no way they would still be able to sell and take money from customers. (here in Belgium that is)

I don't know 100% they are under investigation, but if so I believe they are allowed to sell existing stock in order to get out the red.

brettz123 wrote:

I'm not sure I believe you about no affiliation. You obviously have spent time in the store so I am going to assume you probably are at the very least friendly with some of the staff. Just playing devils advocate? Not so sure about that either. What is the point of playing devils advocate at this point? People are, at the very least, being actively mislead about their orders. At the very worst MG is purposefully defrauding new customers to buy stock to fill old orders. I find it very odd that you would keep making excuses for the company while at the same time never answering legitimate questions about their conduct.

Cute.

I've no affiliation whatsoever. I've worked for Tesco (A supermarket) on Produce for the last 6 years if you must know mateybobs. Want me to tell you my line manager's name so you can run a background check? This is turning into a quite literal witch-hunt. "Tell ya what, if they floats they works for Maelstrom!" I've been to their physical store a grand total of 3 times (Warhammer World is easier to get to for me, better grub and no train changes) but have been a loyal customer of theirs with no faults (other than the WM rulebook thing), so I'm wont to cut them a little slack, okay?

Granted, I do have a policy of "only order from Maelstrom if it's listed as in stock" as their restocking rates are a little dire and only if there's a voucher too (Wargamestore is my primary source), but to flat out accuse me of being in cahoots with them and/or some kind of plant is just stupid. This is the last I'm going to say on the matter.

It was getting uncomfortably close to the cut-off period for initiating a paypal dispute so I've done that. Good luck to anyone else with outstanding orders, but I'm not taking any chances.

Rob Lane, yesterday.

He's a red X?

 Grimtuff wrote:

brettz123 wrote:

I'm not sure I believe you about no affiliation. You obviously have spent time in the store so I am going to assume you probably are at the very least friendly with some of the staff. Just playing devils advocate? Not so sure about that either. What is the point of playing devils advocate at this point? People are, at the very least, being actively mislead about their orders. At the very worst MG is purposefully defrauding new customers to buy stock to fill old orders. I find it very odd that you would keep making excuses for the company while at the same time never answering legitimate questions about their conduct.

Cute.

I've no affiliation whatsoever. I've worked for Tesco (A supermarket) on Produce for the last 6 years if you must know mateybobs. Want me to tell you my line manager's name so you can run a background check? This is turning into a quite literal witch-hunt. "Tell ya what, if they floats they works for Maelstrom!" I've been to their physical store a grand total of 3 times (Warhammer World is easier to get to for me, better grub and no train changes) but have been a loyal customer of theirs with no faults (other than the WM rulebook thing), so I'm wont to cut them a little slack, okay?

Granted, I do have a policy of "only order from Maelstrom if it's listed as in stock" as their restocking rates are a little dire and only if there's a voucher too (Wargamestore is my primary source), but to flat out accuse me of being in cahoots with them and/or some kind of plant is just stupid. This is the last I'm going to say on the matter.

It's not about being cute. It is about you making every excuse you can for a company that is obviously behaving badly. It is about you coming to a thread and calling out other people while at the same time not answering their legitimate gripes. Devils advocate is a great thing to do as an intellectual exercise..... not so cool when there is a very real possibility that the company you seem to be defending may be purposefully taking new orders in order to pay for old orders.

Perhaps instead of giving someone the benefit of the doubt you look at the facts of the situation and make an honest appraisal of what is looking like a very bad situation.

hmm I'm not taking any risks with this, all the items I ordered were out of stock at the time and if they aren't taking in new stock it raises concerns over what they are going to do with my money.

I've also raised a Paypal dispute and will see what happens, sad really they've been excellent for years.

the whole thing makes so little sense

They (Maelstrom) could have solved so many problems by just communicating a little with their customers!

But instead seem be inclined to do the exact opposite.

Now many of us are in difficult situations! and Maelstrom are only making their position worse with all the forced cancellations/blows to their rep!

Unfortunately they probably couldn't have solved things by better communication with their customers. They took on too many debts, presumably in the forms of, stock that didn't sell fast enough, and new premises.

They pissed off their suppliers to the point that credit was withdrawn. In retail, it takes a *lot* to hit that point. No supplier wants to see a shop go out of business, because (a) they'll never get paid if it happens and (b) they lose out on the future income from that shop too. So if they feel there's any chance that credit willl be repaid, they will extend more credit, even if not all the last order has been paid for yet. That so many of them have refused to do so is one of the strongest indicators yet of just how much trouble Maelstrom is in.

Dont worry folks, everything will be fine, I cannot reveal my source though

blingman wrote:
Dont worry folks, everything will be fine, I cannot reveal my source though

Maelstrom may be fine, but after this, their customer base won't be.

I will still love them *rose coloured glasses firmly in place*

Not knowing of this on going saga I apologies for my thread re MG folding. However when IT contacted paypal re dispute as MG had taken my cash the person at paypal didn't seem suprised atmy request and immediatly upgraded it to a claim. I the past I've had no problems with MG. But makes you wonder

I heard about what is bassicly Maelstorm's fire sale going on right now, and decided to see what kinda deals they got going on despite their sketchyness ATM. (I only ordered from them once, and besides one issue that was resolved it wasn't to bad of a experience. Since you can only order what's in stock, I don't see how they could screw it up...)

I've been looking around on their site, and haven't found 1 thing yet that isn't out of stock. I haven't even been able to find a single pot of paint that isn't out of stock.

To me it seems even if they are able to resolve this back log issue of their's, they are still boned since their Cash flow is 50 shades of shot. Even if they fill out the back log it looks like they got no stock left, and no money to restock. Seems they are trying to fill the last of their orders before they close their doors in all honesty.

If you want something to buy in stock just look at the Micro Arts Studio Bases... if the sale gets better I will take another shot at it (200 pounds so far... I think that's enough)

blingman wrote:
Dont worry folks, everything will be fine, I cannot reveal my source though

I heard Maelstrom realised the world will end in December, so are accumulating as much cash as possible to fund a huge party they know they'll never have to pay for. This is common knowledge in the industry.

TheHamDroog wrote:
I am not going to reveal my source.

Well thats a meaningless statement as is your previous. Common Knowledge within the Industry? That means nothing....That's like a prophecy that everyone believes but no one can verify. Common Knowledge within the industry = Industry Rumour.

Lockark wrote:
Seems they are trying to fill the last of their orders before they close their doors in all honesty.

That's exactly what it is and what has been going on for a while now. Honestly, I am surprised at some of the inability to read between the lines and general naivety being displayed here in this thread. Maelstrom are going bust; its plainly obvious from the discounts and sales emails that have been arriving in inboxes daily. And no, they aren't trying to fulfill orders so they can buy in more stock; this is all about selling off as much existing stock as possible before the curtain falls - simple as that. There is no stock being ordered in and if even the smallest inkling of rumours have any credence, then their suppliers have cut them off. This is why the website isn't being updated (no stock coming in to replace stuff). As for the phone not being answered and emails not replied to, well that's fairly par for the course in situations like this; it's not that the boss has his head in the sand - he knows full well that the hammer is about to drop, rather that they have probably released most of their staff and don't really see the point in responding to customer grievances at this stage; it's not like they have to worry about maintaining good customer relations now, is it?

So, by all means order stuff if it seems to be in stock because you can get some great bargains (I got a whole bunch of Carnevale stuff for half price) but there is the distinct possibility now the end is close that you won't see your items at all. If you can afford to gamble £20 or £30 or whatever, then you could end up winning. You just as well might not though; all bets are off.

I've ordered from Maelstrom three times, most recently in June, and I've received everything I ordered from them. They're not perfect - after preordering some Dropzone Commander models through them, I asked for a refund a month and a half after release, only to discover by reading a Waylands newsletter that they'd only just arrived - but I'm glad for the service they have provided.