Miniature Market... Anyone have problems?

[artificer]

Subject says (or asks, in this case) it all.

I ordered some stuff (my starter box, book, and 1st deck) from them on eBay at the end of last week.

Their website and eBay store site says that they ship within 24hrs.

The 1st communication I got back was 3 business days later saying that they'd 'received my order'.

I got a message saying that they'd shipped the deck the next day (four b-days past the order point).

I sent them a message asking if they'd shipped the complete order all in one go, or if it was only the deck that had posted out, still haven't gotten an answer back yet.

Their feedback on eBay seems good, but if you order something that's "in stock" (with a quantity remaining counter and promises 1 day turn around,) I should have it by now. UPS can cover two states in 2-3 days no worries (as can USPS, usually - barring holidays).

Has anyone had any other issues, or am I one of the unlucky 10 out of the last 2000 over the past year?

PS. I should add that I'm a relatively patient individual, but if someone promises something, I get cheesed-off when they DON'T deliver.

Edited January 23, 2010 by artificer

[xcom]

I have had a few problems with eBay stores. There was one where I found the minis fairly cheap, but they really gouged the S&H cost. I think it also took almost 2 weeks to get the stuff. Honestly, I get most of my mini stuff from THE WARSTORE. They carry just about any mini game you can think of. Their prices are some of the best that I can find, and they have a flat shipping fee. I do about 90% of all my mini shopping from The Warstore. I have never had 1 problem with them, and I always get my stuff in a few days. DUNGEON TRADER is another good site to buy stuff from. Their prices are slightly lower then The Warstores, but they charge more for shipping. That and they do not sell Malifaux stuff.

Edited January 23, 2010 by xcom

[Wyrrn]

I've ordered a couple of times from Miniature Market, and the first time I felt the same as you. It took MUCH longer than I expected, but still only a week (I guess my excitement made it seem longer). However, I did order a large batch so there was no shipping charge thus I ignored the issue. I don't believe they actually ship as quick as they claim. My second order with them was about the same speed.

OTOH, everything was in perfect shape and well packed. I wouldn't worry much, they have a good rep on all the forums I've read.

[dragonwolf]

I ordered the book, a deck, a couple crews, and a bunch of paint on 1/11, it shipped UPS ground on 1/12 with delivery on 1/18. It was free shipping since I was over $75. I'm in Idaho and it went from St. Louis. On the UPS site you can see how many days it takes to ship to where you live. Also remember that UPS doesn't deliver on weekends except for 2nd day or next day and it costs an arm and a leg. My experience with Minature MArket was excellent and I'll be buying from them again.

[Marcalla]

I've ordered many things from them through ebay auctions and their storefront and never had a problem with slow shipping or communication. Other than if I make/win an order on a friday they ship the next day.

As stated above, ups doesn't deliver on weekends (sat, sun) so you have to factor that in when you expect delivery.

It sounds like you may have a case of the "exception that proves the rule".

[artificer]

Thanks for the responses.

I'm only two states away (I could drive there and pick it up in about 4 hrs.) I wouldn't even be asking if there wasn't the erratic messages about 'orders received' and 4 day shipping mentioning only one item. It's good to hear from others (and not just ebay feedback) that they're pretty good.

Again, I'm not a terribly impatient person, but when promised something, I tend to expect people to fulfill.

It's not the end of the world if I don't get it for even another week (gods know I have enough other stuff on my plate) but when you get into a particular frame of mind (based on expectations given to you)... it's sometimes hard to deal with disappointment every day at the mailbox, and bad/unclear communications.

[MEdwards]

They're my LGS and I've had nothing but good experiences with them. I believe they've recently changed the physical location where they process their internet orders and this may just be a casualty of getting caught up in the move. Hopefully you receive your order soon.

[RangerRob]

I ordered recently from them and they shipped promptly (within 48 hours of placing the order). In general they are responsive, but I've also had times where there has been a longer than a several day delay. Overall I am happy with them and would order again, though.

[Pipeline]

the warstore is the only place that hasnt pissed me off yet. seems like a first class operation.

[stephengroy]

I have used their website, not their Ebay store, and never had issues.

I think it was like six times.

[mriverakc]

I have not had any problems and I actually recommend them. I am sorry that you had so many problems. You should give them a call ask for Eric. Maybe he could help you out or provide you with a discount for you next purchase.

[Atticus]

Same as MEdwards, Miniature Market is my local store and I've bought tons of stuff from them either on-line or walk-in. I've never bought from them through eBay but it is the same internet department. As MEdwards points out, they are in the process of moving the warehouse/internet department from the store front, so that could explain the delay. Call the store at 877-843-4854. I'm sure someone will answer your questions.

[artificer]

Well, a brief update here.

I got just the deck on Saturday. Got a response to my initial question yesterday at 13:48CST saying that the other pieces shipped UPS and due to the timing on my orders everything couldn't be shipped at once (which is a bit odd, as I ordered everything at one time).

In a reply I asked for the UPS tracking number, since UPS only takes two days to get from MO to WI - no answer.

After today's UPS delivery, with nothing from Miniatures Market, I called and asked for the UPS tracking number. Apparently, it didn't ship UPS, but USPS. Even less cool was the fact that once I entered the tracking number, it turns out that it wasn't even MAILED until yesterday (order submitted 14:05 CDT, P/U @ 15:27 and Processed by USPS @ 18:30).

So it didn't even mail out until AFTER he emailed me back saying that it had already shipped UPS.

Now, again, I'm not a terribly impatient person, but I hate when people shine me on. If I had gotten an 'oops, sorry we assed this up' or even a 'due to delays beyond our control', I could excuse this... but to lie about it when directly asked just eats it.

If anybody needs a coupon for an additional 10% off their next web order from MM, just let me know.

Edited January 26, 2010 by artificer

[SuicideCommando]

I bought a few Malifaux things last Thursday from TheWarStore. I received them yesterday (Monday). I think you might consider changing your preferred online retailer.

[artificer]

I bought a few Malifaux things last Thursday from TheWarStore. I received them yesterday (Monday). I think you might consider changing your preferred online retailer.

I always try to buy my stuff at my VFLGS, but they don't have access to Malifaux yet. That may change now that Alliance is distributing for Wyrd.

That said, Neil from the Warstore is truly the man. I've never, ever had a single issue with TWS.

I'm hoping that my little issue with Miniatures Market is an isolated case. Their eBay feedback is near 100%, so maybe their moving the warehouse IS the problem... but something really amazing would have to happen for me to use them again, and to be frank... I don't know what that could even be.

[witchfire]

they (& noble knight games) are the only one that i

never ever had problems with

& i order from Canada

[SuicideCommando]

It might very well be because of their moving issues, but I'm of the opinion that they should have been a bit more transparent if they are having issues with getting shipments out in a timely manner.

[MiniatureMarket]

Hello, this is the owner of Miniature Market. I looked over this issue and figured out what happened.

On 1/17/2010 Artificer purchased 3 items from us on ebay. He sent us two pay pal payments (one for the deck and the other was for a book and a box set).

The morning of the 18th we processed his single deck order and shipped it out first thing Tuesday morning via US mail (as stated in the auction).

The other payment was not processed right away because over the weekend we sold out of rulebooks in our retail shop. We contacted our distributor and had more shipped in. They arrived on Friday and we processed and ship out the box set and the book the following Monday.

Where did we go wrong? First, Monday morning we failed to recognize that Artificer placed two orders. Normally we combined the orders and ship everything in one package. When Artificer made an inquiry into his order we saw a tracking number and assumed everything was on the way. This was our mistake. The book and box set hadn't shipped yet.

We also made another mistake by not contacting Artificer on the 18th to tell him that there would be a slight delay.

I've personally spoke to both my customer service manager and our ebay sales person and these types of mistakes won't happen in the future.

I also took a few moments to read some other threads about competitors listing items on ebay and not having them in stock. I've heard this complaint before and we've taken additional steps to help prevent that from happening as well. I can't guarantee that we won't have an out of stock item in the future but I can tell you that the percentage of our of stock items has fallen drastically over the last few months.

We have live inventory on our website and we only list items on ebay that we have plenty in stock. Our website inventory is 99.5% accurate and we are striving to bring our ebay listings to the same level.

I take pride in our customer service and appreciate any feedback (even the bad because the only way to improve service is to know what we are doing wrong.)

Thank You

Steve @ Miniature Market

[artificer]

Hi Steve,

thank you for coming on to explain the situation. It's always heartening to see a business taking these matters in hand. There are a few of your details, though, that are a little inaccurate.

1) There was one paypal payment made for the two separate purchases. Paypal's order details list all three items on the payment.

2) The deck didn't ship on Tuesday, it wasn't even acknowledged to me as 'order received' via email until Wednesday. It shipped Thursday via USPS. This was emailed to me as a shipping notice on Thursday with a tracking number.

3) When I asked via email on Friday 1/22 for more information on your shipping notice, that should have sent up a red flag. I asked if the order was mailed all together, or if only the deck had posted. I was told via email on Monday 1/25 that the book and minis had shipped separately via UPS.

4) It was not until after the reply email above that it was sent via USPS. I was not told of this and only found out when I called on Tuesday.

Again, I don't have a particular axe to grind here. I really appreciate your registering on the forum and taking the time to come on to explain what happened. I spent 6 years in international sales and logistics, so am somewhat familiar with the trials of e tracking things, in and out-bound.

I think your overall feedback, both here and on eBay probably speaks for itself (and is excellent, which is why I ordered through you). The reason I chose to ask the question here was not to air dirty laundry, but that I'm new to both Malifaux and your business. I wanted Malifaux players, who were likely to have ordered from you, to give me their personal experience with your handling of Wyrd product.

All that said, there were multiple occasions on your end to have caught this error (or at least just tell me 'oops, we assed up'), which never happened. Even when I was on the phone Tuesday there was no recognition of the peculiarities of the order on the MM side of the phone.

Thank you again for coming on to help iron this situation out.

[HandsomeDan]

I've also got nothing but good things to say about miniature market. You're the first I've ever heard of to encounter a problem with them. Its bound to happen sooner or later.

And since so many in here are singing the Warstore's praises, I feel compelled to say I've had the opposite experience with them. In my case it was always switching out a box for a blister, sometimes a blister of something unrelated to the missing box outside of they were both by the same manufacturer. They screwed up 2 of the 4 orders I've had with them, and never seemed particularly apologetic about it. I don't shop with them anymore.

Just goes to show even the best of them screw up now and then.

Fortunately my LGS stocks Malifaux now so its not an issue for me.

[RangerRob]

I've had a similar story with the Warstore. Everyone does rave about them, so I'm sure that they are good. But my one order took several days to ship after they had sent me an email saying it had shipped. No company will be perfect, but I think its safe to say that both the Warstore and Miniature Market will be good more often than not, and they will fix any problems that do come up.

[SuicideCommando]

I've also got nothing but good things to say about miniature market. You're the first I've ever heard of to encounter a problem with them. Its bound to happen sooner or later.

And since so many in here are singing the Warstore's praises, I feel compelled to say I've had the opposite experience with them. In my case it was always switching out a box for a blister, sometimes a blister of something unrelated to the missing box outside of they were both by the same manufacturer. They screwed up 2 of the 4 orders I've had with them, and never seemed particularly apologetic about it. I don't shop with them anymore.

Just goes to show even the best of them screw up now and then.

Fortunately my LGS stocks Malifaux now so its not an issue for me.

Very true, you can't be 100% all the time. It's what you do when you can't be that makes a great person/company. While there still seems to be some issues at hand, I'll say good on Miniature Market for taking the time to come in and make a post about the issue.

[artificer]

To hopefully end this on a good note, my package arrived today.

Anything else aside, it was expertly packed. The book was crisp and perfect, and came wrapped in brown paper to prevent scuffs in shipping. The box of minis was likewise in perfect condition and everything was surrounded by foam peanuts. The outer shipping box was very thick and of good quality.

I'd also like to add that Steve sent me a very nice PM this morning as well as his posting here.

[DarkLegacy]

Yay, now I can experience fighting Pandora some more.

[Druthu]

Ordered three mini's from them....they had two, gave me a refund.

it was off evilBay. I was just pissed that i buy it now and then a week later they get in touch with me to say were processing your order and were out of teddy...

hey DipSH___ your not supposed to auction items you dont have...

I buy from here...