Saturday, October 24, 2009

The Supply Chain Consists of...

People...

What's point am I getting at? (*gasp* someone making a point!)

Ok so I commented a while back on FTW that we do Group Forgeworld Orders fairly regularly. Very cool and whatnot, and we have a group of guys getting cool figures to play with locally and spread the fun around.

Anyhow Last week we did an order and we got enough to get free express shipping, I shopped on Thursday 15th around 7pm Local time (Brisbane), which means they actually got the Order at FW Thursday AM UK time. I figured the usual couple of week wait would be in order so you can imagine my surprise and joy of getting home Tuesday arvo from the Day Job and had a nice big box waiting for me. I unpacked it and checked off that each kit was there, they were except for my Weathering Powder set (which I threw in to try), which was on back order. It wasn't until the next night when one of the guys came over to pick up his stuff that we decided to go through and check each kit to see if all the parts were there.

Stonecrusher Carnifex Complete Kit - check
Stone Crusher Upgrade pack - check
DKK Leman Russ Alpha Complete Kit - check
2x MkIV Red Scorps V-Dreads, with 2x MkIV Assault Drills + Multi-meltas - check
GK Tank Commander and Redeemer Upgrade pack - check
Valkyrie Transfers - check
IA Books - check
IA masterclass - check
Khorne Daemon Prince and Herald - ch........
Wait a minute where the zog are the Herald's arms and head?
SAD PANDA!

Indeed they were missing!

So I sent of a couple of emails to customer service, nicely worded and with a copy of the order attached with a clear description of what exactly was missing and a note that it could easily be added to my Powders when they shipped to save them a little bit of dosh.

What do you notice here?

1) I did not get aggravated/irate or belligerent.
2) I stated clearly and concisely what was missing and provided as much information as I could.
3) I thanked them for their time and congratulated them on their great service (which is true)

Within 24 hours I got a response from them saying that they have sorted everything out and the parts will be winging my way very soon.

What we often forget as customers is that we can determine how we are treated based on how we treat those on the other side of the increasingly virtual counter. We can wail and gnash our teeth as much as we like, but in the end if we treat people well it automatically brings the disposition of those we are dealing with onto our side of the fence.
At the end of the day we are all human beings and we can make mistakes.

However; for those staff whose shop I am in and they are too busy on the phone to their best friends' cousins' friend (or whoever) to serve customers I have a clear message. I will take my money somewhere else. For people who would rather let their childish ego's get in the way of doing their job right and cost the company time/money; Shame on You! Grow the hell up!
(both based on true events)

So hoist a glass to the lad's at Forgeworld customer service and think of "Armless" Andy the Herald of Sleepy Hollow (geddit?), who is getting shiny new body parts.


In other Miniature related news, I got a sneak peak at the QLD entries for the OZ Golden Daemons tonight. I think the lads may have a tough time tomorrow picking the top three in some of the categories to go off to the finals.

until next time
Cheers
Subby

4 comments:

  1. I have had small mixups or missing parts with both FW and GW, and both were handled expertly and promptly, and I was very happy.

    Mistakes happen, its how you deal with them that is important.

    John
    Santa Cruz Warhammer

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  2. Indeed, I have never had issues with GW replacing missing parts ever. Yet for some reason there are always these horror stories about things missing from Forgeworld stuff that people have unending issues getting sent out. Makes me wonder if those involved handled things in a calm and courteous manner.

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  3. I've had to call GW/FW for a few parts overs the years, I've always been friendly and they've always sent the replacements asap.

    There's no point getting irate with some guy on the end of the phone, especially when he hasn't even packed the stuff.

    Although, I do remember going into the main post office once and telling the girl behind the counter that she'd better get her boss because she wasn't paid enough for the sh*t I was about to give out. She promptly smiled and got her boss. My problem was sorted quickly and efficiently by the manager without a single raised/irate word. :-)

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  4. It's true, kudos to you for staying calm and being polite. After all, who wants to be the victim of forge worlds version of spitting in the soup?

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