Problems, seeking guidance...

[mattrock]

I\'ve ordered from Fantization.com several times in the past and they have always been prompt and reliable. I referred two family members to them for Christmas gifts and both ordered right around the beginning of December.

Neither had received their orders by Christmas and both have called. The first order (a 54mm Leogante by Andrea) was apparently out of stock and so they sent the 30mm version in lieu with promise of the larger when it was available. The smaller one got there by Christmas but my mother was charged for it in addition to the other one. The larger one just got there late last week. Since she was charged for both she just gave up and sent them both to me (which works for me but I feel bad for her).

My wife ordered a Brahyn 28mm model (I believe it\'s freebooter). This model has still not arrived and the order hasn\'t been completed as they are still saying it\'s out of stock though they say they placed a reorder for it over a month ago.

Is this typical? Has anyone else had any trouble with Fantization? Where do you order from? Who\'s reliable?

In their defense, they haven been very nice on the phone (though not really apologetic) and I have had no trouble with them on multiple orders in the past, but I feel like they could have placed a notice or sent an e-mail to let folks know that these items were out of stock (they still show available on the website).

The most reliable company I\'ve ordered from is Reaper. They really seem to value their customers in my opinion.

Your thoughts...

 

[mattrock]

*bump*

...no one has a reliable source?

 

[tooshy]

Sorry to hear about your problems. I have only dealt with them once myself and that was a couple of years ago. However they were very helpful and even called me here in the UK with a query about my order. I don\'t really know what to suggest other than hang in there and maybe drop them an email voicing your concerns and disappointment at being charged for the 30mm figure when it was supposed to be a sweetner.

oh and I would check out Freebooters website. The model is bound to be in stock and they are awesome to deal with. So you could always cancel your order with the Fantization and order direct from Freebooter.

PS I don\'t know where you are located so my suggestions might not be feasible, but its a start!

 

[Dragon Forge Design]

Steve who owns Fantization.com is a good friend of mine and I can vouch for his character..hes not trying to rip you off in any way I can guarantee you that.

This is the troubles small mail order companies have to order products from over seas..they are virtually at the mercy of the manufacturer to fill orders. then at the postal system to deliver them timely and then for Customs NOT to seize the product and charge outragious dutys and fees. When they finally get the out of stock products they need to fill orders in order of order status.

New Wave (yes Im going to say something nice about them when they were in business) suffered the same thing.. most of their order problems dealt with the fact that they couldnt get the product in a timely fashon to fill orders timely. If they had a problem they took orders and payment before delivery and sometimes it took months or in many cases never for people to get their products.

I for one would never open this kind of business as well its total f-ing hassel but I give the owners credit for what they try to offer.

 

[mattrock]

Originally posted by Dragon Forge Design
Steve who owns Fantization.com is a good friend of mine and I can vouch for his character..hes not trying to rip you off in any way I can guarantee you that.

No, I never got that impression. Steve has been quite responsive and helpful when we spoke though I didn\'t realize he was the owner.

This is less of a commentary on my displeasure with Fantization as I have really had great service from them in the past. I guess my real question was should I be concerned about the situation or just sit tight. I don\'t know Steve personally and I know mistakes are made. I just expected the issue to be resolved by now and seeing that it\'s not I\'m looking to see if my expectations are reasonable or if I\'m just being impatient.

And secondarily as Fantiation won\'t always have what I\'m looking for, I was additionally curious as to what other companies those around here use that they can rely upon.

 

[jahminis]

i\'m waitin\' on some freebooter stuff to come in too...i\'ve had an order on stand-by for about a month and a half now...i pre-ordered a lot of stuff, so i just have to be patient and wait for the minis to get to him...
i\'ve been homies with steve for a few years now, and he\'s a stand up guy...everything that dfd said is true...
he\'s waitin\' on a restock, but christmas and new year have slowed the post down a bit...not to mention steve\'s own backlog of orders, and the need to spend some quality time with the family around the holidays...

the big advantage that ya have with fantization is the huge amount of european munufacturers that ya can get your hands on all in one spot...
if you\'re only after freebooter and andrea, the cool mini store has \'em...plus they have enigma minis now...i\'ve never had a hassle with orderin\' from here...

cheers
jah

 

[Wren]

I\'ve ordered several times from Fantization and haven\'t had a problem with them. On one occasion I ordered something that they didn\'t have in stock and which I think had been discontinued, so they called to ask if I wanted to drop the item from my order or have them call around to see if they could find an alternate source with some still in stock, which they successfully did. I\'m guessing that the problem is just stuff like DFD mentioned, the difficulties of keeping overseas stock at desired levels. Given the complaints I\'ve heard from overseas people about trying to buy Reaper and similar miniatures over in Europe, my guess is that\'s a problem that goes both ways.

I\'ve also ordered from CMON and don\'t recall any problems. Though I\'m not one of these people who sits by the mailbox counting the days, so if something took a couple of weeks I probably wouldn\'t really notice.

I miss Fozzbozz, which was another good store that had a lot of stuff from different smaller companies, and I wish there were a few more stores like that. I have no problem with the idea of ordering directly from a manufacturer, but since I usually only want one or three figures from each I\'d spend a lot more in shipping that way.

 

[bullfrog]

I would like to think of myself as a reasonable individual so I can understand the trouble with mail order companies trying to fill orders. Things do get sold out and there may be problems when you have to wait for somebody to ship to you before you can forward elsewhere.
I would be happy to wait but not too impressed if I was charged for something I hadn\'t even ordered...in regards to the 30mm mini.

Let them know if you haven\'t already as it may have been an oversight charging you for the 30mm. One person might have sent it as a sweetner and somebody else billed you for it.
They may not be trying to rip you off but if they can\'t sort such a minor matter out...what is going to happen if it is a major issue you have?

 

[SteveP]

This is Steve owner of Fantization Miniatures, normally I do not post publicly but another customer informed me about this post and I\'m kinda erked about it. Just to clear up the scenerio the item shipped on Dec. 17th and was never back ordered at that time, it was however out of stock as of Dec. 21st with only 2 shipping days left. I shipped the order on Monday Dec. 17th and it didn\'t arrive at the place of work on that Friday so the person called me and said it had not arrived and she wouldn\'t be in the office for the remaineder of the work days. So I said I\'m sold out of the 54mm version right now but how about I ship you the 32mm version of the same figure and I\'ll overnight it completely at Fantization\'s expense and she said that would be fine and that she would ship the 32mm back after the holidays. So right now I\'m out the $18 for the overnight S&H and the $15.00 for the miniature that still hasn\'t been returned.

From what I understand is that they have received the original 54mm miniature, when exactly I don\'t know but it\'s a three day shipping time normally from California to Texas. My guess is it would be longer the week before Christmas. So the fact that Priority Mail was selected and it shipped with 6 possible days to get there before Christmas and that she had it sent to her work and was out of the office for the last possible day or two to receive the shipment isn\'t our fault. I really bent over backwards to get her something to at least give as a gift since the other item hadn\'t shown up yet since we were sold out of the 54mm as of that Friday she called. I\'m not sure why you\'re posting this when I spoke with you on the phone and have done everything humanly possible to give you and your Mom customer service. I tried everything I could with only two shipping days left before Christmas to get her an alternative and give her customer service.

Is there something else I\'m missing? Please let me know and I\'ll be more then happy to address it for you.

Steve P.
FM