Shipping Disasters

So, I need to get some models in by this weekend to be ready for the tournament on Sunday. I have to get them in, glue them (which with my hand zip kicker bottle I can now do in record time), paint them (which now that I've accepted I will never be able to paint well I can also do in record time!), and good to go.

So, I need 2 x Razorbacks and a Coteaz model. Coteaz is finecast now, and I'm thinking, cool!

Now, to start the story off, a couple of weeks ago I order up about 4 blisters of Death Cult Assassins and 2 Crusader models. Silly me, I didn't check the website for release dates. For a little flavor, I order Crusader Model #1 and Crusader Model #2. As it turns out, Crusader Model #2 hasn’t quite been released yet. This leads to my first complaint:

WHY IS IT ON YOUR WEBSITE TO ORDER IF IT’S NOT OUT YET?

There should be a GIANT BLINKING sign otherwise that says NOT OUT YET! If your concept is to allow pre-orders on the website, how about move all the pre-order stuff to a special pre-order page? Why bury it right along with stuff that isn’t pre-order?

Now, I’m not going to rage to much about this as I could have prevented the problem. This isn’t what I came here to complain about. It’s the solution that GW AUTOMATICALLY applied to my order that I came to complain about.

See, to fix the problem with the Crusader Model #2, they just took it off my order. They then shipped me the rest of the order after sending out an e-mail telling me what they did. At face value, this is a very good move because it means my entire order doesn’t get held up. +1 to GW for doing this.

However, the problem becomes that I’ve already paid Shipping on the entire lot. By taking it off my order and auto-sending it, stating that I can re-order the other model, I will now have to pay shipping again!

So, a couple of weeks ago I let it go. I had standard shipping anyways so no big deal. It’ll cost me a few dollars. I’m not begging for money or anything, so no biggy.

Then, this week happens.

I place my order on Sunday. I check and the release date on Coteaz is July 1^st. As you know, Sunday was July 3^rd. Now, I have to have those Razorbacks for this weekend. I can’t just have them here “maybe” on Friday because I have to put them together and paint. I need time. So, I opt for the super, duper express shipping which costs me a bundle, like $25-$30, whatever it was. I’m thinking this will be good as I will get them basically overnight and good to go.

Monday comes and goes. They haven’t even processed my order yet. I’m thinking this isn’t something to get upset about because Monday was July 4^th. Maybe they had a holiday. Tuesday comes, and late Tuesday night, I get an e-mail stating that my order is “being processed”. It hasn’t even shipped yet. I also get an e-mail that says that Inquisitor Coteaz was not available, and he’s going to be taken off my order so it will ship.

WHAT!!!!!????? Not available and you are going to ship? I just paid you $25 for shipping and you are taking stuff of my order saying “well, you can order it again later?” The shipping I just paid was more than the model itself! Why should I have to pay it again because he’s on back order? Am I wrong here?

Not to mention, it’s now been 2 days on an order I’m clearly VERY ANXIOUS to get, and it still hasn’t shipped yet. To piss me off even more, the only reason I even ordered from GW was because of Coteaz. I could have gotten the Razorbacks from Warstore or Chaos Mail Order or Wargamers Lounge, and they would have shipped the same day, had it arrive at my door in 2 days, and I would have paid a normal shipping rate.

AND 20% OFF!

So, now I’m pretty mad about this. Another day goes by. Last night, Wednesday July 6^th, I get an e-mail at 6 PM EST, which is the same time zone GW is in by the way, stating that my order is being shipped. Click on the Tracking Number to see its progress.

The Tracking Number in the e-mail is not a clickable link. Seriously? And to make it worse, there is no information in the e-mail about which shipping service they used so I can go their website and manually enter the number. Did you use USPS, FedEx, UPS, Pony Express????

But wait, there’s more. So, this morning, Thursday July 7^th, I get an e-mail at 6:30 AM EST. It says, your order has shipped, and I should receive a tracking number e-mail. Hello? I got that e-mail yesterday. So, did the order ship yesterday or today? Because if it shipped today, and you didn’t overnight like I paid for, and it doesn’t arrive by today or tomorrow, I’m screwed because they probably don’t run on Saturday.

Now I’m worried that even my Razorbacks won’t get here. If my stuff isn’t here by Saturday, I’m going to be at a whole new level of nerd rage on this one.

And to make matters worse, guess who’s listed on my shipping manifest as of this morning? Inquisitor Coteaz. And I’ve paid for him too. He better damn well be in that box, and it better damn well get here by Friday.

/rant