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| Special Hobby online store experience | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 22 2018, 01:05 PM (187 Views) | |
| jvenables | May 22 2018, 01:05 PM Post #1 |
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Hawk
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The comment posted by "Blekster" on the "What's New" page last week prompted me to share my recent positive experience with dealing with Special Hobby. I thought it best to post here rather than add an unrelated tangent to the new releases news on the other page. When I learned about their forthcoming P-40 'Simple Set' back in March, I opened and account and was monitoring their website almost on a daily basis to get an order lodged early and thus be assured of getting some. Their Easter newsletter announced that the Simple Set would be available only during April, so I placed an order with them on 01 April that included 3 each of the P-40E & N 'Simple Set' and a few other kits that were on sale at the time. My order and payment was accepted and I received a confirmation of the order almost immediately, closely followed by a PayPal receipt. But having received nothing and having heard nothing from Special Hobby for around 6 weeks, I sent a follow up request to ask if the order had actually been processed. I received a reply from their orders department three days later advising that my order had not yet been processed and that the P-40E 'Simple Set' is now sold out! I was not happy: the excuse given for their tardiness in taking 6 weeks to process the order just didn't hold water and in effect, the person sending the advice crudely implied that it's just my tough luck that I missed out on the P-40E kits. I immediately sent a reply expressing my disappointment and pointing out that because I placed my order on the very first day of the 'Simple Set' offer period, there was really no excuse for my order not to have been filled and despatched in full. I also pointed out that if they chose to do so, they could still fill my order, simply by just removing the sprues from a standard boxing; the end result would be mutually beneficial as I would be happy and Special Hobby could maintain their integrity. To their credit, I received a further response from Special Hobby last night promising to deliver the three kits as ordered. Apparently they found a spare 'Simple Set' from a cancelled order and are willing to give me the sprues from two standard boxings to compensate the balance. It's a nuisance that I have to now cough up a second shipping fee when those kits could easily have been included with the rest of the order, if only the person handling my order had had the wisdom & motivation to think outside the box (opportune pun) and not have to be prodded by the customer. But the critical point is that all is resolved and the kits will be on the way shortly. I have asked if the new shipping fee will allow any additional bulk or weight; if so, I may take the opportunity to pick up another kit or two such as the "Pacific Fleet" Barracuda or the SB2C-5. From my correspondence with Special Hobby over this incident, it sounds like they operate with little more than a skeleton staff in their e-shop orders and customer service areas, so it is possible for things to occasionally slip between the cracks. But they are clearly willing to consider complaints and attempt to rectify errors ASAP. I was on the verge of being a very irate customer (like Blekster) but they did the right thing and I am now a happy one again. Nevertheless, as a result of my experience, I will take the time to follow up any future orders with an e-mail requesting personalised confirmation that the order was received and is being (or has been) processed, even if Special Hobby has sent an automated order confirmation. |
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James from Brisbane, Australia Now living in Laos Nil illegitimi carborundum | |
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| Chuck1945 | May 22 2018, 03:35 PM Post #2 |
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Hero
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I am glad you ended up with a satisfactory resolution. I had heard about the Simple Sets, but missed the fine print and until reading your post and have been waiting for them to show up at Hannants or elswhere. Didn't realize the window has already closed on those. While I have had good service the couple of times I have ordered direct from the Eduard estore, the Eduard shipping charges have put me off trying other CZ estores. Guess I will need to look at SH store. |
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Chuck Eastern WA, USA Finished 2018: Eduard Spitfire IXc, VIII, Monogram/Starfighter BFC-2 On the active bench: Eduard Bf 110C, Hasegawa B-24D, SH P-40E | |
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| jvenables | May 25 2018, 07:50 AM Post #3 |
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Hawk
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Chuck, the issue is now fully resolved and the kits are on the way. I was initially a little put out at having to pay another shipping charge but I was able to pick up 4 other kits (Barracuda "Pacific Fleet", Lodestar "Pacific Transport", SB2C-5 and AH-1G "Over Vietnam with M35 Gun system") and have them included in the same package as the three P-40E Simple Sets. The shipping for the entire lot was EUR9.00, or, an average of about EUR1.30 per kit. Pretty good, I reckon. |
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James from Brisbane, Australia Now living in Laos Nil illegitimi carborundum | |
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12:22 AM Jul 11