The CmdStore difference...

[Executioner]

So I ordered my Shadow Weaver figure from the secondary market from CMDStore in Canada and the Preternia Map unfortunately came damaged. I was pretty disappointed, so I emailed them and asked for a replacement. They couldn't offer me one as they didn't have one to send me, so they said I could send the whole order back for a refund. I said this wasn't viable because I am an overseas customer and I didn't want to pay the return shipping. In the meantime I had purchased a replacement map from a fellow ORGer for a very reasonable price ($11.73 for shipping and PayPal fees!). So I told the CMDStore people about this and they agreed to refund me this amount. No fuss, no drama. All it took was a few email exchanges so both sides understood the situation, and presto!!

This is the kind of customer service Digital River ought to be offering its customers... and this is precisely why some people skip Mattycollector altogether and go directly to the secondary market.

Thanks CMDStore!!

[shadowfall1976]

Actually I have had similar experiences with BBTS & HTS....leaving Matty / DR as one of if not the worst online toy shop I have ever used. I just don't understand how Mattel can accept this, I'd be damned if I put my name or company name on something and have it run by such inept people as DR....no way.

It's a sad affair when ripping people off for profit, is more important than doing what's right, and standing by your name....since Mattel and Matty are all over MC.com.

It's no wonder Mattel is so high on the Fortune 500, if making profits by basically stealing from collectors and regular shoppers is how they get their money. I know it's rare but even in this day and age some companies still stand behind their product, and while making money is #2 on the list, the customer is #1, and Mattel does not use that philosophy. With them it's take what we give you no matter how bad the product, and be glad you're getting it....now hand us the bills, and move on.

[iron_pride]

I have had a lot of good fortune with CMDStore before. They were great. All the way around.

[bezem]

Actually I have had similar experiences with BBTS & HTS....leaving Matty / DR as one of if not the worst online toy shop I have ever used. I just don't understand how Mattel can accept this, I'd be damned if I put my name or company name on something and have it run by such inept people as DR....no way.

It's a sad affair when ripping people off for profit, is more important than doing what's right, and standing by your name....since Mattel and Matty are all over MC.com.

It's no wonder Mattel is so high on the Fortune 500, if making profits by basically stealing from collectors and regular shoppers is how they get their money. I know it's rare but even in this day and age some companies still stand behind their product, and while making money is #2 on the list, the customer is #1, and Mattel does not use that philosophy. With them it's take what we give you no matter how bad the product, and be glad you're getting it....now hand us the bills, and move on.

Don't forget about the many CS improvements we've been promised; I'm sure they'll change everything Seriously though, can we stop acting surprised that all Mattel cares about is profits? Duh; they're an American Corporation. They're not here to better mankind, they're here to fleece it.

Mattel doesn't care if you buy from them or the secondary market because they get the money no matter what. If you want to feed the secondary market and pay a premium to the secondary seller so they can deal with Matty, more power to you. CmdStore was very admirable in their handling of this situation though, so I commend them for not being just another scalper.

And not to derail the thread but just to address a specific point made by shadowfall, any company that puts the customer 'first' is only doing so to ensure their money continues rolling in. So ultimately the money is still, and will always be, #1. That's capitalism.

[urbanmyth]

The strange thing is that Matty actually had pretty good customer service in regards to replacing defective product until about November. Something changed around Swiftwind time and everything has been terrible about the Matty experience ever since.

[lizardman]

my febrery order came with no map, and send email to dr and they send me the map for free 24 hs later. pretty good.

[shadowfall1976]

Don't forget about the many CS improvements we've been promised; I'm sure they'll change everything Seriously though, can we stop acting surprised that all Mattel cares about is profits? Duh; they're an American Corporation. They're not here to better mankind, they're here to fleece it.

Mattel doesn't care if you buy from them or the secondary market because they get the money no matter what. If you want to feed the secondary market and pay a premium to the secondary seller so they can deal with Matty, more power to you. CmdStore was very admirable in their handling of this situation though, so I commend them for not being just another scalper.

And not to derail the thread but just to address a specific point made by shadowfall, any company that puts the customer 'first' is only doing so to ensure their money continues rolling in. So ultimately the money is still, and will always be, #1. That's capitalism.

Yes but you get better treatment from Hasbro, and they are an American company as well, they have far superior customer service, and if something you get is defective, they do what needs to be done to fix it. And I have no problem with a company making sure the customer is happy being the way they keep the dough rolling in....so long as they do that first, but Mattel is not. That was my point, plenty of other American companies still consider the customers first, because....no customers = no sales.

And others like to deal with stores like CMD & BBTS, because with BBTS if you buy and store 6 months worth of figures in their Pile of Loot, you can actually save money over buying from Matty, if I wanted all of the MOTUC I would certainly Pre-order from BBTS and wait 6 months just to assure I got the figures and never had to deal with Matty and DR or the sub.

And who said anyone was surprised? Just because many are content with the way the world is today, doesn't mean everyone has to be silent and like it.

[EtherianChronicles]

I had a completely different experience, and will never use CMD store again.

Supposedly they over sold their Shadow Weavers, so some pre-orders went unfulfilled with an "oops, sorry".

Worst part is they didn't tell you until just a couple of weeks ago, long after the cheaper ones on eBay, etc. were already gone. I could have gotten a few cheaper than the pre-order price, but I stuck by the pre-order commitment I had made (especially since they charge a 15% fee for cancelled pre-orders, which is pretty unheard of). Of course once the prices started to go up, that's when they tell you.

I didn't buy their BS reason, either. Supposedly they under-ordered and made a mistake. Such BS, because since subs started in January, wouldn't they already be aware of the fact they bought fewer subscriptions than they thought? They weren't clued in when less Sorceress, Fisto, etc. arrived?

I assume they thought I was some reseller for buying more than one, which isn't the case. I had a specific display in mind so I bought several. That doesn't matter, though, because either way, unless they put up an order limit, it's none of their business where they end up.

I'll never use them again, and I'll recommend to everyone I see never to pre-order from them, as they do not fulfill their end of the bargain. And if I had cancelled, I would have gotten a %15 fee - but they cancel (and I'm sorry, but their reason was total BS, unless they are completely incompetent and can not count the first months shipments they go to know they would get less Shadow Weavers long before a week or two ago) and you are left with nothing. The least they could have done was offered a coupon or discount on another purchase for 15% off since their policy would have required me to do so.

My guess is they are keeping the extras until the prices really go up. That's just my guess, I do not know, but I didn't buy their story and I find it very odd they waited until a week or two ago to come clean, JUST as the prices on eBay were going north significantly.

[Uki]

Just to play "Devil's" advocate, I've never had a problem with Matty or DR.

[EtherianChronicles]

And not to derail the thread but just to address a specific point made by shadowfall, any company that puts the customer 'first' is only doing so to ensure their money continues rolling in. So ultimately the money is still, and will always be, #1. That's capitalism.

Yes, that's why MattyCollector is so dumb.

I get packages from Amazon almost every day. I have free Amazon Prime (I don't have to pay the yearly fee, though I don't get the video streaming - which is fine, since I have multiple other ways to stream though I never do anyway). I order everything from there. Not just books and Blu-rays, but household stuff like disposable razor cartridges, batteries, etc. I pay less than I would if I drove to a store, and it arrives at my house two days after I order it. Any time I've ever had a problem, they have bent over backwards to fix it. And that's why they continue to get more and more of my money.

Mattel doesn't care because they know we'll buy the stuff one way or another. If not through them, through a reseller like BBTS. They want that, so the resellers keep buying from them, too. They don't care where you get it, they still profit. Thing is, though, as they put more and more people off, some are just giving up entirely. That's why TG gets away with the attitude he presents so often to people. Now that the DR issues have gone from bad to worse (I feel terribly for the international buyers who have 2 or 3 months worth of packages that haven't shown up, and with the shady dates on the packages they do get it's not just the postal system - i.e. they are told it shipped in Dec, and the package shows it wasn't shipped until Feb, etc.) it's all snowballing.

A smart company doesn't do this, because in the long run - I'll never start collecting anything MattyCollector sells again. I don't care if they offer the figures of my dreams - I'm already in with MOTUC, but I'll be danged if I get sucked in to another MC line, no matter what they start to offer.

Just to play "Devil's" advocate, I've never had a problem with Matty or DR.

It's telling, though, that you feel you have to say it.

You are definitely in the minority of posters. Over here and at MattyCollector's site, once in awhile someone starts a "I have no issues" thread. And they are usually very lonely threads that disappear rather quickly.

My great-grandfather, who died about 20 years ago at the age of 88, smoked Camel unfiltered cigarettes from the time he was 11. So he smoked for almost eighty years one of the harshest cigarettes ever sold. When he died (of unrelated causes) he had a "touch" of emphysema, according to the doctors. He didn't get lung or throat cancer, and suffered no obvious effects. He had no issues; but that doesn't mean that many, many other people didn't.

I do hope your good (exceptional!) luck continues, though.

[Sky Breaker]

CDMStore should rename to Scalpermart. Their prices are stupid, and you have to pay shipping on top of that?