Voltron Force by Mattel...and other signs of the apocalypse

Yeah, I too can attest that it takes them a while.

Mine had gotten lost in the mail, and it took them an exceedingly long time to deal with it. On the plus side, they just went with shipping me an entirely new one at no extra charge, so I can't say I'm exactly outraged by the result.

Oh that's okay then..

eitlobsaboo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It took Matty Collector exactly a week to get back
> to me about my missing Lance head and this is what
> they respond with:
>
> "Thank you for contacting the MattyCollector.com
> online store.
>
> We have contacted the shipper on your behalf for
> detailed information
> about your order. You should be contacted back
> within 72 hours with
> further information about your request. We
> appreciate your patience.
>
> *sigh*

I've been lucky enough to have no problems with any of my orders with them, but this seems like par for the course with them. There are any number of online retailers who could handle this a whole lot better. Why not contract with them to distribute the merchandise?

More serious than thou

Yeah seems like a whole lot of mess created for no reason..

Why are there 2 entities? Seems silly. If anything, don't confuse your customers and just give us a direct answer, not the ring around.

I wonder what the product run was like? In the hundreds? Thousands? It's obviously not anything in the scale of toys that hit the retail shelves.. So it puzzles me why quality control is so low.

Oh and I got another email today (not directly related to my problem but) which further confuses me:

"As a MattyCollector.com subscriber, we'd like to make sure you're aware of how to update the payment and address information for your subscription(s).

If you need to change your subscription information (credit card, shipping address, email) please call 1-877-GO-MATTY. Be sure to tell the agent you're changing your subscription information, not just your regular store account (they're separate). If you change your information in the My Account section at MattyCollector.com, your subscription information will NOT be updated! My Account is only for standard purchases made in the shop during the month, so you will need to change your information both there and at 1-877-GO-MATTY.

Thank you for being a valued MattyCollector.com subscriber - we appreciate your business!"

I don't need to change my details, but I'm confused as to why we'd have to do this.. We don't set up our account with the "agent".. The matty website does this for us.. WEIRD.

As I'm thinking about this, I can't help but wonder: Do we have to UNsubscribe once all the lions/pilots have been delivered? Or does it automatically end.. I guess there's no news of any new releases like their other lines..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2012 05:47AM by eitlobsaboo.

fujikuro Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> eitlobsaboo Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It took Matty Collector exactly a week to get
> back
> > to me about my missing Lance head and this is
> what
> > they respond with:
> >
> > "Thank you for contacting the
> MattyCollector.com
> > online store.
> >
> > We have contacted the shipper on your behalf
> for
> > detailed information
> > about your order. You should be contacted back
> > within 72 hours with
> > further information about your request. We
> > appreciate your patience.
> >
> > *sigh*
>
> I've been lucky enough to have no problems with
> any of my orders with them, but this seems like
> par for the course with them. There are any
> number of online retailers who could handle this a
> whole lot better. Why not contract with them to
> distribute the merchandise?


Because Digital River... I don't know what the hell. I can only assume that they lowballed a turnkey fulfillment operation (that may or may not have involved under the table kickbacks to someone, just saying) because Mattel management must feel this whole internet thing is a passing fad and it's not worthwhile to invest the capital in creating a permanent ordering/warehousing/shipping department. Seems to me such a thing turns out to be cost effective because you don't get hit with hidden additional costs like CLEANING UP THE MESSES OF OTHERS and such like.

But Digital River doesn't even ship direct, they outsource THAT to some bulk mailer agency.

arrgggh.

Don't mind me, I don't have skin in this game, just some online friends are Masters of the Universe collectors and the stories I read about-were I the head of Mattel there'd be a lot of people fired over the crap Digital River has pulled. And the crap the Chinese factories pull as well. But I'm a crazy man. :)

Posted a thread on the matty forums then same time I sent them an email and got this reply from user "Toyguru" today:
"You can return the figure for a new one through customers service. Yeah, sometimes human error happens in China at our vendor. Sorry about that. It is not intentional and I am sorry to hear about your figure. Always breaks my heart when anything is not perfect. We work really hard on this stuff!"

Return? Screw that. I should not have to pay MORE for something that's not my fault.

For instance, a couple weeks ago I bought a letter set off an ebay store in the states. It had a duplicate letter and was missing another. I notified the seller and without having to return the whole item, they sent out the missing letter USING EXPRESS POST and NOT at my own expense.

Really what benefit do they get for getting me to send back the figure. To prove that it is indeed missing? I'll happily send it back IF they refund postage costs and not charge me to send out the new one.

Also "working really hard on this stuff". HA! Good one.

Also for some reason I can't reply to my OWN thread on the matty forums.. WHAT.

UPDATE:
Was reading a few other threads of people who have the same problem. This is what one said:
"You need to send back the full toy including the lion for a replacement. We can't just send out parts."

INCLUDING THE LION?! I think I might just put up and shut up and hope future releases are fine.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/2012 05:02AM by eitlobsaboo.

So I got a response yesterday:

"We apologize for the damaged and/or incorrect product you received. In
order for us to send out a replacement we will first need to pick up the
damaged and/or incorrect item. Please reply with the information below
so that we can arrange the pickup with UPS.

When we create the pickup, we will email you with the tracking number.
UPS will arrive with the shipping label in hand, all you will need to do
is have the product packed in a box which they can put that label on.

We can have UPS pick it up at a different address from the delivery
address, if it is more convenient. Upon receipt of your e-mail, UPS will
be attempting to pickup the product on up to three consecutive business
days if necessary. The first attempt may be as early as the next
business day. Please have your package ready for pickup."


I then replied with does this still apply if I'm in Australia. Next thing I know I get an email saying "they've replaced my order with new order" then I get an "order is confirmed email" which has a 100% discount on the invoice. Followed by an order sent email.

So they're sending me out a new one without picking up the old one? :|

eitlobsaboo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Posted a thread on the matty forums then same time
> I sent them an email and got this reply from user
> "Toyguru" today:
> "You can return the figure for a new one through
> customers service. Yeah, sometimes human error
> happens in China at our vendor. Sorry about that.
> It is not intentional and I am sorry to hear about
> your figure. Always breaks my heart when anything
> is not perfect. We work really hard on this
> stuff!"
>
> Return? Screw that. I should not have to pay MORE
> for something that's not my fault.
>
> For instance, a couple weeks ago I bought a letter
> set off an ebay store in the states. It had a
> duplicate letter and was missing another. I
> notified the seller and without having to return
> the whole item, they sent out the missing letter
> USING EXPRESS POST and NOT at my own expense.
>
> Really what benefit do they get for getting me to
> send back the figure. To prove that it is indeed
> missing? I'll happily send it back IF they refund
> postage costs and not charge me to send out the
> new one.
>
> Also "working really hard on this stuff". HA! Good
> one.
>
> Also for some reason I can't reply to my OWN
> thread on the matty forums.. WHAT.
>
> UPDATE:
> Was reading a few other threads of people who have
> the same problem. This is what one said:
> "You need to send back the full toy including the
> lion for a replacement. We can't just send out
> parts."
>
> INCLUDING THE LION?! I think I might just put up
> and shut up and hope future releases are fine.


Welcome to the wonderful world of dealing with Mattycollector! You are not alone in all this, given what I've read over the past couple of years.

'Toyguru' is actually the brand manager, Scott something or other. He is at once all-powerful and completely helpless if you read all he's written in response to problems and questions.

Yeah, you'd think the solution to a known problem would be get a couple of boxes of replacement parts and just drop the part in an envelope and mail it, right? That's what they used to do, but in those days the factories were in the U.S. and customer service was actually a bunch of people in an office who could just walk down the hall and talk to someone to solve a complaint.

Not in the 21st Century!

eitlobsaboo Wrote:
>
> I then replied with does this still apply if I'm
> in Australia. Next thing I know I get an email
> saying "they've replaced my order with new order"
> then I get an "order is confirmed email" which has
> a 100% discount on the invoice. Followed by an
> order sent email.

You're from Australia, so they trust you.

-Paul Segal

"Oh, the anger is never far, never far." -SteveH

asterphage Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You're from Australia, so they trust you.

Well in that case I hope there is something wrong with every release that way I get 2 voltrons for the price of 1 *evil laugh*

Replacement Red Lion & Lance arrived today. AWESOME.

Hunk and Yellow should be coming in the next couple weeks too.

Well I don't know what was wrong with the Red Lion design, but Yellow is pretty fantastic. Clicky joints in the legs and just feels a whole lot better than Red. The loose neck is a bit unfortunate, but at least there's a half way locking point. Neck twists easy and joint isn't stiff.
Apart from the neck the only other downside is how big the cockpit door is. IT's HUGE.. and then the seat is too small.. Well the corners near the shoulders make it tough for Hunk to squeeze in. He fits. Just.

I like the spring loaded trap door for where Black's leg goes in. Nice touch. Also the tail isn't spring loaded like Reds too.

This release makes me feel better about this toy. After Red I thought is was going to be a bit dodgy, but Matty has redeemed himself with this one. Lets hope Black is the same if not better.

My package was perfect too, so unfortunately can't opt for a replacement :P

My black lion arrived today.

Its pretty massive.

In fact the size reminded me of a jumbo, and that's basically what it is. A jumbo combiner.

Yeah, I caught Atom's review of it last week on CDX:
[www.collectiondx.com]

It doesn't look bad, but as usual, there are QC issues here and there. And VERY questionable design choices.

The Voltron lions are available again in Mattycollector's pre-BF sale... oh, except for Red Lion, who's already sold out... Oh well.

Haha! Metal gurrrlll tries to straighten out gripey geeks about diecast Toynami release. :
[www.youtube.com]