Forge-World

[Bengoodall]

Again it seems to depend on who you are as to what happens.

The last order I placed I had three lots come back to me from miscasts, missing bits, etc etc etc, and still have had to make things myself, after getting very annoyed at having replacement stuff sent to me that obviously wasnt checked, I have no been told they will not speak to me again.

Being told to collect your own order you should have picked up about 30 other things on the way, at least getting to pick your own you can make sure you dont get miscast stuff.

 

[rocketandroll]

I had to jump in on this one because I went through a period late last year where I was literally ready to lynch FW.

I ordered (and paid for) a heavy tank back in, jeez, Early September I think?

By the end of October I hadn\'t heard a thing... so I called them up and said \"Hey, listen, I can drive to Nottingham and come buy this from WHW, would that save time?\" To which they said \"Nope, WHW don\'t have any, we don\'t have any, you should have it delivered within a couple of weeks.\"

Two weeks later, still no tank... a show is coming up which I know FW will be attending... they send me a newsletter stating they\'ll be at the show and advertising that people can pre-order items (including the tank I\'m owed)... so I call them and say \"Hey, you\'re advertising that you can supply this item at this show this weekend, yet I\'ve been waiting two months for one... so, can I pick mine up at the show?\"

response:

\"No, we won\'t have any at the show, we\'re not taking any pre-orders for that item for the show as it still isn\'t available, yours should be shipped out in a few weeks\".

So I attend the show... and guess what they have a stack of on sale.... yep, you guessed it, the very same tank I was told they didn\'t have.

I aksed if I could have mine from their stock there and they said \"Nope, your\'s has probably already been sent out, that would be too complicated for us to sort out the paperwork, you\'ll just have to wait for it\".

A week and a half AFTER that show, the tank finally turns up.


I love their stuff, don\'t get me wrong, and being caught off-guard by the rush on Appocalypse related items is all well and good as an excuse for a few weeks... but some eight to ten months later, they could have trebbled their output, hired new staff, done any number of things in that period to solve the problem and they have chosen not to to save money... and as a result, they are still taking anything up to three months to fulfill orders.


It is not just the ordering issues that have made me change my mind about buying from them again, it was being lied to, and their incredibly patronising and greater-than-thou attitude when you phone them up.... the last time I called I was half expecting to be put through to an Indian call centre.

A bit like GW before them, I feel it\'s a bit of a case of a small specialist niche company who are 100% reliant on the loyalty of their customers suddenly getting ideas above their station and thinking they can act like some great faceless corporate behemoth who don\'t need the little people any more.

So many people have now been p*ssed off the delays that they are loosing their all important fan base very rapidly. This will come back to bite them on the a** when the rush dies back down IMHO.

phew... spleen suitably vented now


Ben

 

[Baz]

Do what I do. Order and pay with a credit card. If the item isn\'t with you by 28 days, call the cc and have them cancel the transaction.

I\'m sooooo fed up with FW playing the \"we\'re only a small company\" card. You\'re a division of a multi-national plc with dedicated casting and production facilities the same size as the largest of resin kit manufacturers. Verlinden and accurate armour actually have the same size outfit as you and do they have so much difficulty? no.

As for keeping up with demand, I used to work as an architectural and FX modelmaker, we used to get a commission, design the model, sculpt the master, get approval, make the moulds, cast and box the final pieces (with quality control) and get them to the customer within 3 weeks. So when I hear FW talking about being unable to supply a kit they already have moulds for in several months I can hardly believe it.

Sure FW have orders coming in from all over the world, but one of the major rules of business is if you can\'t handle the job don\'t take it on.

Tips for FW -

- Have a stock readout on your website to let people know if you have that item in stock or not before ordering.

- Don\'t lie to your customers. It does not take a month to cast a kit. If you can\'t keep up with demand, make copies of the moulds and expand your workspace and workforce, old ladies pour resin just as good as a 25 year old GW fanboy. If business is as good as you say you can afford it.

- Get a PR advisor. Seriously. You are slowly letting your reputation waste away. Someone has to answer to disgruntled customers specifically. Not just your regular order taking staff.

- QC, get someone to check orders before they go out. How much time and resources are wasted fixing these errors?

 

[Bengoodall]

Rocket, theres a few posts on warseer at the moment basically saying all the same stuff.

I dont see what their problem is, for christ sakes, we give you our money, give us the stuff that you have nice big pictures of on your website.

Is it that hard, and all the fan boys defending them to the hilt, no its not a case of go easy on them, its business, plain and simple.

 

[Undave]

It has been aired that there is an ulterior motive for them not fulfilling orders to the full extent that they could do. It all boils down to an unscupulous marketing strategy and someone who again I won\'t name\'s idea for making his little branch of the company seem like it\'s doing better than it actually is.
Apparently when FW first started out they deliberately made limited numbers of certain popular items so that demand always outstripped supply. Each month they would make slightly more of each product so that when it came down to the monthly sales figures they always appeared to have had exceptional growth.

This may or may not have actually happened and if it did it\'s quite possible that it has absolutely nothing to do with what\'s happening now. However if FW were to sell massive amounts of stuff for Apocalypse then that growth would gradually subside and this time next year the company would not appear to be doing quite as well. This is kind of what happened with GW and LotR with the difference that GW only has to account to itself wheras if FW is seen to be floundering it\'s likely to get pulled.

Of course this doesn\'t really make sense if you take into account the fact that they already have your money so again it\'s all conjecture.


The service you get really does seem to vary with them depending on who you speak to and various other completely random factors. On the one hand you could get speedy service with perfect casts but on the other you end up with a pile of wonky junk and some condescending git on the phone who has no intention whatsoever of helping you out, either because it amuses him or he just plain old can\'t be bothered. It says something that in the few years FW has been going they seem to have garnered a reputation as a company who make beautiful things but are unfortunately a bunch of complete wankers.

Also if they are being really patronising to you on the phone you appear to be having exactly the same problem I had (see my previous post) and chances are it\'s exactly the same guy doing it. You could always try pretending to be an American lol

 

[Celthulhu]

Having spent many hours of time at the painting bar (right next to the cash register) of the Chicago area Battle Bunker, I can say that they are as behind on orders as anyone. They can only take orders (and money) and wait just like the rest of us, and people are always coming in asking if their order came in and being disappointed.