Declining Customer Service from Forge World

[sturguard]

Corswain,

 

If you read my original post I did indeed try to resolve with the seller (for many months) and I did indeed send FW a picture of the model including the box- recasts don't come in official FW boxes. Furthermore, I'm not really faulting FW for sending me the PDF or not, if you read my posts I am more concerned about the fact that FW fails to respond to an email when they don't want to answer. Do I think its trite to not send a PDF for assembling a model- yes, do I think its bad business, yes, but again, the focus isn't that, its more the fact that my experiences with FW indicate their communication through customer service has been bad. Several other posters here have indicated they have had issues in this area as well.

[Corswain]

Ok. I’ve re-read it and can see that you are/were working with the seller.

In that situation, I would assume that the seller would replace all missing components and I see no reason that you should have to become involved with FW at all. Your seller should have handled it start to finish, either by sourcing the parts and pdf or providing a complete replacement.

And again, photos of a model and it’s box are not proof of purchase. As far as FW is concerned in this scenario, you are not a customer. You haven’t proved that you purchased that model.

 

Emails not being answered is a problem. My experience with FW in that regards has always been positive. I don’t always get the answer I want, but they usually reply in a day or two. Allowing for time difference, I think that’s ok.

It’s not good to hear others are having a problem with it though.

 

Have you got all the parts for Magnus now?

[sturguard]

Yes, it took a long time to resolve on my own, but the seller was going through some issues and I didn't want to compound things. I was pointed in the right direction as far as instructions go as well, so I am hoping to get Magnus assembled this weekend.

 

But like I said, given the multiple emails and weeks of waiting and non replies, I am not impressed with FW at all lately.

[Corswain]

Good to hear about Magnus at least.

 

As I say, my experiences have been good but I think I’ve only needed to speak to them twice in the last few years.

 

I might have missed it in the thread but did you hit them up on Facebook? I loathe facebook but it comes in handy for things like this. The public forum cannot be ignored, unlike an email. Or at least not usually.

[Shield-Captain MacGucci]

I have contacted them twice, both times I provided my batch code and pictures of what was wrong. It took them on average 5 business days to get back to me, however for a Legion Fellblade they sent me the part that was missing from the kit and for a custodes dreadnought they sent me a whole new kit.

 

Edit: This was between October and December of last year.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I have never had any major issues with FW... really like these chaps tbh .

[Beaky Brigade]

I don't think the policy on PDF's is new, I had that problem a couple of years ago. Annoying, but fair enough with the recasting problem/ epidemic, they should not have to provide CS for a product they are not making, and while some companies will support a product no matter who owns it, we don't have to expect it.

 

 

When I accidentally bought a recast on ebay last year due to blurry pics GW legal were actually very helpful and non judgemental, and offered to test the model and help with my paypal claim. They even offered to send it back to me after they tested it.

 

GW main are in some ways more helpful with spares, I messed up a clear plastic canopy and admitted it was my fault and I got a new one free of charge, no proof of purchase required or anything.

[Semper Fortis]

Just for the record, a FW box doesn't necessarily prove it isn't a recast. I made an ebay purchase several months ago where the picture showed the model pieces next to the FW box. The lighting was a bit odd, but then not everyone is a photographer. When the order arrived, I found a genuine FW box looking a bit like it had been used to store paints. The model was a brittle yellow recast. I had to be a bit... assertive, but got my money back.

[Koryn]

It is a little self centred to involve FW in a purchase of their product from a 3rd party. I believe they are within reason to not supply the pdf. My thoughts would be very different if you had bought the product direct. Very sad the person you bought it from was not honourable.

 

That aside I have had problems with my last 4 purchases from FW. first being a storm eagle missing part 9. I have been waiting for this part to arrive for over 30 days since bringing it up with FW.

 

Secondly is the buying of HH and master class books that arrived as if they were bought from a second hand book dealer that were dented on the spine and corners. Customer service said they would not warrant replacements as the damage was only minor. I have a few choice words I would like to add but I will not let this get the better of me but I will say they should arrive in mint condition and not like they have been thrown around in a high school students bag.

 

Thirdly mould slippage on a Sekhmet terminator box set with snapped power weapons. To customer service credit they are replacing the items and I thank them very much.

 

Fourth and foremost is the latest purchase of numerous kits which included the Spartan tank kit. This arrived with the left chassis assembly with a mould slip problem underneath on the tracks and also snapped tracks that were not in box. Also a lower hatch door with a mould slip problem where the vertical detail lines on the outer face slopped down from right to left that was noticeable with the right side of the door being 2.5mm taller then the left. Customer service said there was no issues that necessary extra hobby could not fix. I put my argument forward again and was told to send the kit back for a refund as they do not deem the issues worth sending the parts to replace. To stick with their parent company and their straight forward plastic kits and to not buy from the FW web store in a very condescending way.

 

My only thoughts on FW customer service at this very moment is very hit and miss and depends on whom you speak to and or replies to your emails. Though these thoughts may change later tonight after I have had a few whisky's.

[Khornestar]

Don't buy their kits? That's what they said? Sometimes I really do think they'd rather have things their way than make money, but I realize this isn't totally fair and doesn't apply to the whole company. There's gotta be one super snarky customer service rep working for them, as the majority of the resolutions are pleasant, but then :cuss like that pops up.

[Beaky Brigade]

The other side of the coin is, whether FW customer service are helpful or not, I probably have had to contact them much more than is reasonable. I'd rather my castings have less problems and never have to contact them. It's definitely in their business model to hope a certain % of customers won't complain about problems and save on quality control.

 

At some points I've pondered starting a blog where I exclusively post about fixing problems with FW models or build them and paint them without doing anything about awful mould slips/misalignments as a sort of shaming exercise. Depending on how grumpy I'm feeling there may or may not be a bill for the time for each piece of work.

[Dark_Master]

My Typhon was missing one cable for the Heavy Bolter sponsons.

 

FW sent me a full cable set special delivery, can’t get better than that

 

DM

 

Edit: this was several months after I’d bought it as I hadn’t gotten round to building it

[Koryn]

I have had the same idea. Maybe we should colaborate @Beaky Brigade.

 

@Juggernut  Yes the particular customer service rep who started dealing with me after my second email on this issue did.

 

So to be an :cuss I called two of the gents I play HH with asked them to meet me at the local GW store. Gathered all the kits that have issues and went and sat down with the store manager to show these kits off to ppl thinking about buying from FW. My main reason for doing this was to brainstorm a fix for the lower door on the Spartan. We cut and filed down the vertical lines on the face of the door so the slip would be less noticeable. The big problem is where the right side of the door being 2.5mm taller then the left. I filed it down and now it looks a little orcish. I hope with a bit of green stuff I can make more aesthetically pleasing.

 

@Dark_Master When they are understanding they are good. Though I will say they are more then happy to remedy the smaller kits. As for the larger higher priced kits they become dubious and tend to push the issue into the extra hobby criteria to fix the issue and send links to whtv and fw on youtube to make me feel like this was my only option.

 

Above all this is my experience with ForgeWorld and may not happen to everyone.

[Withershadow]

it seems sculptors quitting (from what I understand the SW guy quit, which... thank the gods)..

I’m conflicted about this, because he has sculpted some Mechanicum stuff and that’s all gold. But yeah, Space Wolves are so bad they even exhaust my schadenfreude.

 

Regarding FW, my issue with them is how often they screw up the resin mix and you get a kit that sweats all the paint off. Yeah, you can varnish it before painting to fix it, but that eats into the fine details. Frankly, I’ve seen a few of those so called “neoresin” recasts that apparently are fixed up before being cast, and it makes it difficult to resist (better quality and 75% cheaper? Ghh). I still buy all the Black Books and the occasional extra, but if they send me a janky Alpharius, that’s it...

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

So, after being mad about them taking a while to ship my KoS, it arrived in three days 'cause they upgraded the delivery option to a faster one (which I didn't pay - or ask - for).

 

There were a few mold-lines to clear up (but there always are, with every mini) and one right across Her bare-butt that might even qualify as a slip, but even for a noob like me it only took twenty minutes to clear up. There were a few little blue blobs on Her, that I'm guessing are bits of the mold, but they came off real easy and left no trace.

 

Her sword is warped to the point that I'm not even going to bother trying to fix it, though. That's a bummer, I guess, but I was kinda always leaning towards replacing it with a whip anyway so it worked for me.

[Withershadow]

There is a secret way to get FW stuff super fast, and that is to add FW solution to your order. It's basically a watered down thinner, so not too much use, but because of the thinner content they ship it via hyperspace.

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

I didn't buy any of that.

[DuskRaider]

 

it seems sculptors quitting (from what I understand the SW guy quit, which... thank the gods)..

I’m conflicted about this, because he has sculpted some Mechanicum stuff and that’s all gold. But yeah, Space Wolves are so bad they even exhaust my schadenfreude.

 

Yeah... and entire Legion's line is subpar to the rest because of one sculptor. I never thought I'd stick up for Space Wolves of their players, but it really is a travesty and I genuinely do feel bad for the furries. 

[Paradigm]

I’ve had hit or miss from them as well.

 

I’ve had emails about some damaged product completely ignored after sending multiple times; eventually I stayed up till one am and just called. That actually led to a solution, even if the person on the phone sounded unhappy to hear from me.

 

The next time I emailed them about an order that hadn’t shipped after an inordinately long time. That one was resolved before the day was up, and they expedited the order for free and gave me a free shipping voucher as well.

 

Another time, I ordered some weapons before they were switched to have hands molded on. I recieved the ones with hands and couldn’t use them. They basically said tough luck, we’ll take a return. Since the mold had already been changed, I don’t hold it against them, but I didn’t feel satisfied either.

 

The most recent issue I had ended up being unresolvable, but it was due to exceptionally fast order fulfillment and was entirely my own fault as I forgot to put something in my order. They were exceptionally polite, and explained how to fix it if it ever happened again.

 

I just think they’re doing the best they can. They are constantly bombarded and it burns people out over time. It isn’t really excusable, but everyone has bad days.

[USNCenturion]

That’s unfortunate to hear about all the unanswered emails and snarky phone conversations. I’ve never called FW but every call I’ve made to GW has only been positive. The FW calls may be a result of an overworked customer service department or company cutbacks, but it still doesn’t excuse mistreatment of a customer in any way. First rule of business/sales and all that.

 

I do agree with the notion that Proof of Purchase should be required; the times Ive received instructions or pieces from GW it was through their tracking of my order. It makes sense from their standpoint to ensure the model in question came directly from them and through legitimate means. As others have said, the third party seller should be the point of contact for resolving issues; if they can’t satisfy the buyers needs, then that’s what the feedback options are for.