When we last left our heroes, they had been asked to return the gun-less Wind Raider–in as annoying a fashion as possible–and then call to confirm the pick-up. After that, they were told, the Escalation Department would contact them within seventy-two hours to confirm the shipping of the replacement.
After confirming the pick-up, there were no emails or any communication whatsoever for three business days. Finally, Dr. Mrs. Ghostal calls Mattel’s customer service, who inform her there are no more Wind Raiders and that they had already(!) processed a refund for for the order for $47.20.
“How much?” asked DMG, noting a distinct problem with that sum.
“Hold on,” said the woman. A minute passes. “OK, I’ve set up a second refund for an additional $11.75.” For the shipping, you see.
Wow. Just…wow.
So. No Wind Raider for me, evidently. Bear in mind, had I known this was how it would turn out, I might have kept the gun-less one in the first place. Now I have a refund, but no Wind Raider.
Awesome.
wesitron
http://forums.mattycollector.com/eve/forums?a=tpc…
TG says you should be able to get a replacement. I guess they were misinformed previously?
Krayt
Toyguru said very recently that there is stock…. Just CS doesn't know!!
Toyguru
Collector Supreme
Picture of Toyguru
Posted January 13, 2012 04:28 PM Hide Post
There are indeed Windraiders set aside for customer service and replacements. I will pass this along to the customer service team.
TAP
Heinous.
Yakub Shabazz
The company I work for is currently looking for new partners on some of our digital products, and one of the vendors we're interviewing is Digital River. I've made my opinions about the company known, though I'm sure the manager doing the interviewing doesn't hold their record on customer support for toys in very high regards in terms of how we'd be interacting with them. But I really, really hope we don't go with DR, as I strongly suspect that how they handle situations like this is indicative of how they run their company in general….
Mecha-Shiva
Lol,it's ye ole take it or leave it trick.
Heli
Ah, but I have it on good authority that Digital River will be receiving additional Wind Raider stock soon, via UPS from Poe's house.
I'm sure if you contact them again, they'll be glad to send you a new Wind Raider. It might be missing some minor parts, but I doubt you'll notice. Oh, and disregard the extra tape on the box flap…
Slayor
Call the Escalation Dept. at 952-253-1234 and explain to them what happened. They should be able to create an order for a Windraider. The same thing just happened to me with Swiftwind. I sent it back and was refunded $30 instead of being sent a replacement. The regular Matty customer service told me there was no stock left to send a replacement, but the Escalation Dept. created an order for me. The people on the 888 number have no idea what is going on.
Clark
Hey Poe. Just so you know, the way to cancel your subscription without hurting your credit score is by calling your credit card company and telling them you need a replacement, as in you post your card. That way you still keep your history with them, but will be issued a new card number. I don’t know how comfortable you would be with doing something like that, but I didn’t see the harm in letting you know that it is a valid option.
misterbigbo
My feelings on all this aside, that's a tremendous photoshop at the headline. I LOL'd. (Shouldn't it be "L'dOL"?)
Poe Ghostal
Yeah, that was really fun to make. 🙂
nytetrayn
Yeah, I just noticed it on a second look here– that's terrific.
Carl Reech
When someone says "stop whining" or "quit complaining" I think they should have their heads examined. It's that fat, lazy, just-steal-from-me-i'm-too-busy-facebooking elitist attitude that causes situations like this. TG is just a joke, and I hope someone grows balls and tells him to his face how much of a joke he is. Mattel should ditch the Crooked Digital River and fire all the crooked, stupid QC peons. There are thousands in the US and EU would would GLADLY take their salaries… and do far better. My dog asleep can do better!! THEN maybe these things will be worth the $20 a pop… I mean $25… I mean $30… I mean $40…
Poe Ghostal
Thank you all for the support.
It should be noted that Dr. Mrs. Ghostal, who is generally very supportive of my hobby, is very frustrated with this entire incident and wants me to rethink subscribing in the future, and obviously she's right.
While I'm not going to go into a profanity-filled rant, there's no question this was a customer service fail on pretty much every level, and between this and the Demo-Man fiasco, Mattel is not in my good graces at the moment (not that they care, I'm sure).
If I knew a way to cancel my subscriptions that didn't hurt my credit score (i.e., cancelling my credit card), I just might do it.
Carl Reech
I did it in 2010 when they kept shipping to an incorrect address over and over again. Just watch your card Poe, and just call your company and reverse the charges every time. Worked for me.
Barbecue17
Sometimes when you call for general customer services (changing a credit card, address, not getting the figures you ordered) the reps offer to cancel the subscription so that you can "order a new one." When I have called customer service, this was not what I wanted to do, but I'm sure that if you got a CS rep on the phone for a few minutes, this option might come up. Heck, maybe if you act flustered and say, "Gee, maybe if I just ordered a new one and canceled this old one…" you could get some results. Call later in the evening so you get the foreign staff, though.
Yakub Shabazz
Another option is to call your credit card company, tell them that the product you ordered (the subscription) is faulty, and you'd like to cancel future charges but the vendor won't agree to your request. Credit card companies almost always side with the customer in situations like these, and if you open a dispute with Matty, the card company will most likely act on your behalf to have the sub cancelled. The alternative for DR/Matty is to have their *own* company score dinged by adding a dispute to their record; trust me, as someone who works in an unrelated yet similar field, they don't want this, and will cancel your sub quickly if the credit card company steps in. It's worth a shot if you're truly serious about cancelling.
Colin
That has got to be the worst adventure in toyland ever. You praise a toy (received as a gift from your beloved) to HIGH HEAVEN. Then, when a flaw is found (and not a little flaw either and something that could have been easily fixed with replacement parts), you are sent through a byzentine exchange process that wastes your time and theirs. And then they stall before telling you it’s a refund that is coming (and only belatedly one that covers shipping). Way to hit a customer. What a biz model!
I say you retract your glowing review. One point loss for QC issues, two for runaround, 2 for unsatisfactory resolution. I know I’m writing to complain on your behalf.
Thinkor
This is unforgiven. I am overseas, still waiting for the two WR I ordered to be shipped. Once they arrive, I would gladly send one to you, for free. Contact me.
Poe Ghostal
That's a very, very kind offer, but not necessary, Thinkor. My wife already tracked down a replacement through other means.
Thinkor
I am glad to hear that you will be getting one after all 🙂 and hopefully this time it will be complete 🙂 However, if something happens to the replacement, my offer will still be valid.
nerdbot
oops… Screwed up the tags, there. That's what happens when I post before coffee.
nerdbot
Well, I suppose it's possible they burned through all their surplus customer service reserve units… But, good lord, they should have known that at the start! At the first point of contact, DR should have known this was a replacement situation, verified they had one, and earmarked it for Dr. Mrs. G. What kind of crappy inventory management system are they using? Not only do they clearly not understand the specialty market they are – I'll use the term loosely – "serving," but they seem to have only a rudimentary grasp on how to run [i]any[/i] business.
And I'd like to second the notion that this site is influential, Poe. While I may not be personally involved in this episode, I'm certainly affected by it. This kind of crap makes me extremely reluctant to trust DR, and therefore far less likely to purchase Mattel product through them. So there. You influenced me, like it or not. 😉
In all seriousness, I really value this site for your rational, reasonable perspective and the like-minded community you've fostered here. It's a refreshing oasis of calm compared to the "there killen teh lien!" and "[[i]whatever company is disappointing this week[/i]] is evil!" histrionics that often overwhelm some boards.
Barbecue17
Hear, hear!
Mark
I gave up collecting MOTUC and sold off my figures over a year ago, but I will admit there is some figures I would like to pick up again….but with the quality control still a big problem for Mattel I will not collect them. Mattel's poor QC has ruined MOTUC, DCUC and WWE.
The saddest thing is Mattel used to be one of the best toy companies.
Apart from some vintage toys the only lines I currently collect are G.I. Joe and Thundercats.
As cool as 4 Horsemen sculpted Thundercats could have been….with Mattel in charge, poor QC, Matty Collector site and Digital River etc….I am glad Bandai got Thundercats.
Monte
Yeah, I was gonna sarcastically suggest that Poe get Mattel's logo tattooed on his head to show his continuing support.