Hard To Know What To Do When This Happens :(

[MrBMB]

Hi
I have paid for a number of things lately and i find myself in a hard situation.

Say I going to buy a figure/model someone is molding for me, they have already done the same few for other people, so its just casting ( no copyright issues here)
And I ask them- When will it be posted after I pay
And they say- once you pay it will be posted in a couple of weeks
So I pay........43 days later it has not been posted.
I say- I am not really worried but am opening up a Paypal claim as this gives me an extra 20 days cover.
The seller/trusted person is upset now and says I have never ripped anyone off in all my years. I am going to refund you!!!!

Somehow I feel bad, as I feel I made someone feel bad
But I feel like I did the right thing by asking how long before it gets posted.
I also feel cranky that I won't get what I paid for 43 days ago and I am also cranky that the seller dosen't say......Sorry I am in the wrong and haven't done what I said I was going to do

This peson is not on this site, that is why I have posted here, just to get peoples thoughts....
This person will never be named as that is not my intention. I am just wondering about the process and if anyone else has had this happen to them

 

[Ferris]

Hm, maybe there should be a 'general advice' section here, specially for questions like this.
I'm not sure if my view is of any value here, but I'll post anyway, since you are asking...

In my experience, having ordered quite a lot from different sellers, figure guys can be trusted to send what you paid for, but a fast delivery is the exception rather than the rule. Most of these guys do what they do as a hobby and daily life makes time fly by. Your seller may feel that you are too quick in your action, because what is 6 weeks? Having said that, if you asked how long it will take, that does give the seller a responsibility to comply with that. Maybe you did, but I would have asked the seller politely after a couple of weeks have passed how long it will still take. Usually they respond by saying theyr're sorry it took so long, but that the shment will be posted any day now. It may be an excuse, but at least you are back on their agenda.

Personally I don't give too much about delivery times. To me it makes no sense to be upset about slow delivery and then place the figure in the grey army for many years. As long as it arrives I'm happy.

I hope this is of any use.

Adrian

 

[MrBMB]

Thanks Adrian

Yes I did a couple of times when it will be ready. I just find it funny if it was the other way around and I said send me the goods and I will pay in 2 weeks but didn't and the weeks went on, that person would get pretty cranky.

 

[renarts]

43 days is not 2 weeks. If he said 2 weeks the onus is on him to deliver in the time specified. That he is angry and refunding your money...if he refunds your money, should be considered a dodged bullet and you will be happier and richer to buy figures from someone that delivers on promises. Lesson learned. It would have been one thing if after the 2 weeks he notified you that he was running behind and this kept you up to date as to the status of your order. That's just good business and makes a delay more palatable and inspires confidence in the buyer seller relationship and the sellers reputation. People want to complain that the figure business is hard and they don't do it full time because of the difficulty, but if they are going to treat it like a business then they need to adopt a business ethic and with that the responsibility to adhere to those principles. Deliver on goods paid for and promised. Everyone enjoys hearing the accolades of their business efforts. Glowing reviews are always appreciated and ridden all the way to the bank. But the other side is that the court of public opinion has two sides and equally important in my book is the negative reviews and problems encountered. With the accolade go the whisperings of "remember, thou art mortal" and the best way to keep those in the business honest is that they be reminded of that. Ironic how much trouble people have until someone posts a problem on a forum like this and its all magically a misunderstanding, miscommunication or then the apologies start pouring forth and the problem is resolved. If they go out of business as a result of bad reviews, that is the cost of doing bad business and they need to go back to it being a hobby and stop taking peoples money for it.

 

[Colin_Fraser]

43 days before mailing is too long unless you were understanding that you were paying as a pre-order for something not yet in production. By the time you add mailing delays it could be > 2 months easily. I don't think you were unreasonable at all.

Colin