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Missing issues of White Dwarf


Black Knight

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Has anyone had their White Dwarf subscription just stop since March?

 

I live in Germany and get the English subscription, but since they skipped two months when Covid hit us, all I have not seen a single copy, a total of three missing issues now.

 

I have contacted Customer Service and they have been replying to my emails every 10+ days with absolutely nothing being done for three months now. I expected some hiccups but five months on I no longer see it as an excuse. Especially when I have been receive regular parcels from other UK companies  for two months now, at normal delivery times.

 

Is anyone else experiencing this? I am mostly interested in EU deliveries as I have seen the UK Youtubers getting their copies, so I can guess at least some normality has returned back home.

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Yes, I'm in Germany and have a subscription for the English version.

 

Since the lockdown I've had to contact GW every month to have them re-send my issues themselves directly from Nottingham instead via their subcontractors. None of the issues have arrived twice, so I assume there is some problem with those subcontractors. Recently the reply times of GW's support have been at least 2 weeks, so I won't get the actual subscriber version of issue 454, because it took them so long to respond and it was out by the time they got to me. 455 hasn't arrived either and they told me to contact them again last week if it hasn't arrived the regular way yet, because they supposedly 'did something' to fix the problem (which doesn't seem to have worked so far). Still waiting for their response on that. So far I have gotten one month added for free to my subscription out of it...meh...stingy bastards. :P

 

I just don't understand how the lockdown can have such an impact on writing emails. Is home office a foreign concept to them? Also how can a company that makes so much money not exert an amount of pressure on their contractors or even find a different solution for the time until they fix the damn problem? And I know it is rather common among Germans to not get their WDs. How have they still not issued a damn statement via their outlets to let people know that there is a problem and install a damn email or web form dedicated to this?

Edited by gorg_graggel
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Has anyone had their White Dwarf subscription just stop since March?

Mine have been fine, except for issue 455, which never showed up (and obviously ignoring the dropped issues).  I e-mailed them, and got a response 2 weeks later (the time-frame their auto-responder said) saying they were sending another one out from Nottingham, but it might take 2 weeks for that to be sent.

 

I just don't understand how the lockdown can have such an impact on writing emails. 

Don't forget that they're probably getting more e-mails than normal, and those working from home aren't just working from home - they may also be having to entertain a small child, etc.  This is before factoring in the adequacy of IT equipment (do they have their own laptop/PC, or are they using their phone/tablet?), the ease of accessing other corporate systems to check things (has the order been sent/allocated, etc), staff sickness rates, etc

Edited by Firedrake Cordova
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I didn't get issue issue 453 and mailed them. 8 days after I got a reply (the written one, not the auto-answer) from them, I got the subscriber version of the issue. Same with 454, after mailing them I got it 8-9 days from their reply. I got 455 on the usual date, so am hoping it work properly now.

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I understand those problems Firedrake Cordova, my wife and I were at home with the kinds until they opened up the Kindergardens this month. I am sorry but after five months it is no longer an excuse for me from a Multi-Billion pound company, they have the money to fix this and should of been able to do so by now. I know a lot of other companies that have done it and done it well, so GW shouldn't really have an excuse. They aren't a small player anymore.

 

I have been in contact with them for three months now and so far three subscriber issues are missing and two replacements, which earlier this month I was told I couldn't have 453 because they had fully run out of stock, even though I have been talking to them for two months prior about this issue. The last message I got from them told me to buy the PDF instead... How about they deliver the issue they said they would or at least offer the PDF as a good will gesture. Five missing issues is beyond my ability to let slip.

 

Up until now GW has been very good when it came to replacing badly moulded kits but they have completely failed on this one for me that I have now asked for a full refund. I am not sure whats wrong their end but the fact they are not even willing to say "We dropped the ball" has left a very bad taste.


Are you all Europe above?

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my wife and I were at home with the kinds until they opened up the Kindergardens this month. I am sorry but after five months it is no longer an excuse for me from a Multi-Billion pound company, they have the money to fix this and should of been able to do so by now. I know a lot of other companies that have done it and done it well, so GW shouldn't really have an excuse. 

I think things may be better in Germany than they are over here - it's only this week that the children have started going back to school (next week in some areas), which is obviously highly disruptive (especially when you combine that with British properties generally being a lot smaller and not having spare rooms for offices, etc).  Where I work, we've only been able to get IT hardware in the last month, albeit with a multi-week lead time (supply chain issues), which has created some issues (non-IT staff don't always own a computer at home, software doesn't work remotely/isn't licensed for off-site use, etc). It's something I'd have hoped would have been sorted now, but recent experience suggests remote working is still an issue for multiple places that weren't already doing it pre-COVID. :sad.:

 

Of course, they could also decide that as the wargames industry is doing so well at the moment, they don't need to spend the money :sad.: (I've lost count of the number of people I've spoken to since March who thought this would all blow over in a month or so)

 

I have been in contact with them for three months now and so far three subscriber issues are missing and two replacements, which earlier this month I was told I couldn't have 453 because they had fully run out of stock, even though I have been talking to them for two months prior about this issue. The last message I got from them told me to buy the PDF instead... How about they deliver the issue they said they would or at least offer the PDF as a good will gesture.

Yeah, that's a completely unacceptable response from them and deserves a complaint :sad.:

Edited by Firedrake Cordova
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Don't forget that they're probably getting more e-mails than normal, and those working from home aren't just working from home - they may also be having to entertain a small child, etc. This is before factoring in the adequacy of IT equipment (do they have their own laptop/PC, or are they using their phone/tablet?), the ease of accessing other corporate systems to check things (has the order been sent/allocated, etc), staff sickness rates, etc

Um no, this is in no way an excuse.

 

I had written up a bunch of stuff talking about GW's shortcomings in this regard, but I deleted most of it, because I don't want to derail the thread too much. But I'll say that much, IT equipment for work is the employers responsibility. The kids probably already existed when the employees had to go to the office.

 

It has been 6 months, they had plenty of time for implementing contingency plans. Subscribers pay upfront and now we have to make sure ourselves that we get what we paid for and due to bad management, we sometimes don't even get that, because by the time they get back to us, they have run out of replacement copies. And also there is no damn communication via their outlets to address the situation, nothing! And if it's their subcontractors who are the cause of the issues, then effing set-up a temporary deal with a courier service and send the stuff directly until those issues are solved, just as they do anyway when they send a replacement.

 

Edit:

 

I think things may be better in Germany than they are over here - it's only this week that the children have started going back to school (next week in some areas), which is obviously highly disruptive (especially when you combine that with British properties generally being a lot smaller and not having spare rooms for offices, etc). Where I work, we've only been able to get IT hardware in the last month, albeit with a multi-week lead time (supply chain issues), which has created some issues (non-IT staff don't always own a computer at home, software doesn't work remotely/isn't licensed for off-site use, etc). It's something I'd have hoped would have been sorted now, but recent experience suggests remote working is still an issue for multiple places that weren't already doing it pre-COVID. :sad.:

 

Of course, they could also decide that as the wargames industry is doing so well at the moment, they don't need to spend the money :sad.: (I've lost count of the number of people I've spoken to since March who thought this would all blow over in a month or so)

The situation in Germany is actually quite similar. Most people live in smallish apartments with no office space. It is just a matter of bad management of a bad situation and getting their priorities wrong. If the customer support people don't have a PC or laptop at home in 2020, they could just, I dunno, let them take their office hardware home. I assume they write their emails on a computer and not mail their responses on a sheet of paper and then let some tech priest scan that into the big mysterious cogitator...although that would probably explain those response times... ;) Edited by gorg_graggel
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Depending where you live in Germany its a lot of small to medium flats, they really like their high rises near Berlin thanks to GDR building plans. Down in the south its more larger three level buildings spit into flats. Home ownership is very low over here as the Status Quo has always been to rent, not like the UK where you are expected to take that first step on the ladder of ownership early on. It was something my Dad couldn't understand when he first visited me over here. His generation was taught to get on that ladder, although a lot has changed since I left 12 years ago as money is a lot tighter now.

 

But anyhow from my regular BBC news dumps you are about two weeks behind us in opening up and especially for all the money GW has right now they really haven't an excuse.

 

I just wanted to know if I was the only one being taken for a ride but it seems that a few over here are experiencing something similar. Its just annoying that we had 10 months of on time deliveries and then nothing, now they just don't seem to want to fix it. I have had better customer service from Hatchette Partworks(There's a whole other thread on them) at least they sent the second replacement recorded delivery so we could work out what was going on.

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I just received issue 455 from what seems to be the regular subcontractors. They finally seem to have fixed their supply chain or are on it at least. Still waiting for the re-sent 454 and any responses to emails I had sent recently. Progress, yay!

 

I'm still super pissed at their information and communication policies. They should finally pull their heads out of the 90's butt and embrace a more open communication style.

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Just had a reply, seems that asking for a refund caught their eye. Apparently they have 453+ in subscriber issues so they are sending them Tracked(Thank the Omnissiah).

 

A complete 180 from the last reply so something seems to be happening, a good end to this and what they have suggested has at least made me happy. Now to wait till next month to see if it all starts again :D

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WD 455 just turned up on local newsstands this week so GW, like several companies, are having trouble with either getting their mags printed and/or getting them shipped to the marketplace in the age of COVID. I expect my sub copy to arrive next week. The Emperor alone knows when 456 will arrive.
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On a slightly different tack, when gw announced that we would be down two issues this year due to nurgle's shenanigans, they said they would extend current subscriptions by two months. Does anyone know how that works with rolling direct debits? They haven't reduced the payment that I can see and I've got no plans to cancel so is the customer just taking that one on the chin?
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From what I have been told in the emails you should just be charged the normal amount two months later that what was planned. Now when it comes to a planned future direct debit I am not sure how that works if a bank is expecting it on a certain date? 

 

When I recently redid my subscription(I had two months still on the old one) I just ended up with 14 months instead, so maybe they will do it that way.

Edited by Black_Knight
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Just had a reply, seems that asking for a refund caught their eye. Apparently they have 453+ in subscriber issues so they are sending them Tracked(Thank the Omnissiah).

 

A complete 180 from the last reply so something seems to be happening, a good end to this and what they have suggested has at least made me happy. Now to wait till next month to see if it all starts again :biggrin.:

Good to see it worked out well in the end :smile.:

 

I think (hope?) things may be settling down, as I received my copy of 456 on Tuesday, one day after the replacement 455, so I had a lot of reading to do :laugh.:

 

Um no, this is in no way an excuse.

Less excuse, more explanation. :smile.:  To be honest, I'd have hoped they'd have got things sorted, but so many of my friends, neighbours, and colleagues are suffering from the various issues I mentioned (particularly childcare/home-schooling), it appears it's fairly endemic across the workplace generally :sad.:

Edited by Firedrake Cordova
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