International Fans: The "lost figures" thread

[TuShan]

Hi all,

sometimes, packages get lost in the mail. Since Matty has changed policy and does no longer give replacements or refunds on lost packages sent via non-trackable (affordable) snail mail, I started to wonder how many figures vanish on their way to the fans. What has prompted me to start this thread now is my missing Castle Grayskullman, who has not arrived so far. And since I received my december figures last week, I believe he's gone. I'm still pondering if I should find a replacement on the secondary market.

So please post here if you've lost a figure thanks to the new policy and postal mishap. Which figure did you lose? Did you buy a replacement? Do you consider switching to a trackable shipping method?

[MC Modulok]

I have been lucky as someone who's pretty much had a MOTUC package sent every month for four years, I've only ever had one lost package - possibly related to Demo-Man's delay until 2012 - I never got my D-Man/Battleground Evil-Lyn. Matty then sent a replacement. I'm actually surprised that they haven't lost more than that one. I haven't missed anything yet under the new postal regime. My Dragon Blaster Skeletor's armour came melted and I didn't know if it was worth dealing with Digital River about it.

[Arkangel]

I've lost a few orders form matty, luckily, they were still offering replacement figures. The most hilarious was Icarius,

1. Placed the order for Icarius (original sale date September or October)
2. By the end of November i still hadn't Icarius so i placed a claim
3. In December a replacement figure is sent and in January i finally receive ICARIUS !!!!

[Haephestus]

I've been very fortunate and I haven't had any parcels from Mattel lost in the mail.

There have been a couple of times when I thought that they must have been lost due to how long the shipping took, but they eventually arrived.

It's very unfortunate that Mattel is no longer offering replacements unless customers pay their substantially higher shipping prices.

[Nianotreve]

I have had 3 Matty orders lost in the mail (over 4 years that's not bad! compared to many other lost parcels and birthday cards) And every time DR have sent replacements within 48hours of making the claim.

Personally I'd ignore TG's remark about not replacing lost ones as many of his statements have either been ignored or not communicated with DR and make the claim.

I usually start my e-mails to them with a cheery good morning/afternoon, then a piece about understanding how mail can take longer to travel International blah blah however it's been x weeks since shipping notice etc. and finish with a nice friendly "please help" and "thank you" The way i see it Customer service get a lot of abuse, so a nice polite email is more likely to be dealt with favourably.

[lizardman]

I´ ve lost demo man and bg evil lyn, stinkor and slushhead, and I m not sure of my tod sorceres and castle grayskullman is gone to arrive because I received my december order but not this that is of november. Ohh! Shadow weaver comes without the map.

[Mad Scientist]

I have almost lost a package but it arrived 4 months later. Then I have never received Horde Prime, I never complaint because I knew it could take longer. Four months later they send me an email telling me that they received the figure. So it seems that somehow the package arrived to Argentina an went back, but never arrived to my home!

I am not considering to switching to the other method since DHL is twice the price of the other. It is indeed more cheaper than the previous UPS but not at all. In that point I don't understand why they can't have a good international service. Usually it takes 1 month to get the figures, but if you buy on ebay they charge you between 15 and 20 and your package arrives in 2 weeks. Now the shipping for Nettosa was approximately 15 but I don't think we will be seeing her before February.

[EuroCoin]

During last four years, I've had one package that I thought to be lost and one that really was lost. The first package was my subscription package from April 2010 containing my 2x Wun-Dar and 2x Evil-Lyn. I asked and received a replacement for this package, which arrived in June 2010 and then August 2010 the initial package arrived. The second package was my subscription Clawful from July 2011 that never arrived, for which I also received a replacement.

- Joni -

[Vikor]

Just for the record... Mattel CANNOT legally claim they are not responsible for missing figures. When you place an order with an online retailer they are responsible for the item until it reaches your doorstep. If it never arrives the company has to refund or replace it, if they refuse file a complaint with your credit card and the BBB. But better yet, phone them up and let them know that you are aware of your legal rights and they should also equally be aware of their legal obligations. Amazing that this company tried to pull this kind of nonsense on its customers.

Oh, and thankfully I've never had a figure go missing.

[Morningstar]

Last year a Merman figure took 6 month to arrive home.
I'm still waiting from the black friday one pack of TOD sorceres+clawfull, one pack of Draego man +TOD sorveress and one pack with skeletor + man-at-arms.

[Crusader]

It happened to me twice. Two times a larger shipment:

- BF/CM order of 2 Battlecats, 1 He-Man and 1 Skeletor
- February 2011 shipment containing Bow, Shadow Beast and Preternian Disguise He-Man

Luckily, both got replaced.

[motuportugal]

I'm still waiting for my november figures, also december and january but november are the ones I'm worried the most

[atlas0413]

I have lost a few shipments in the past using International Post. The worst one was my Black Lion with Rattlor and Netossa as they sold off the remaining CS stock in the CM sale.
I chose to use DHL worldwide saver for my 2013 sub and actually received my January figures in Australia before the sale date 1/15/13.

What is my time worth waiting and checking my PO Box every day for a month - more than the extra $10 per figure i pay for DHL

By the way, im still waiting for my December figures.

[Jor-El]

Have been fortunate enough to not lose any personally. Longest wait was about 3 months for some Eternian Guards during the 2011 Cyber Monday sale (funnily enough my first order took over a month longer to arrive than my second order in that sale).

Also part of a group of Aussies who order together, so have taken advantage of DHL shipping this year (was insanely fast for Netossa).

Still waiting for December stuff to arrive, so touch wood it gets here.

My friend who does our group order was sent one less Grayskullman than the purchased via subscription (I didn't go in on the 30th sub). He contacted them and they have NO replacements and are only offering a refund. That is an absolute joke.

[TuShan]

I'm glad to see that missing figures seem to be rare. I'll see if my Castle Grayskullman will still arrive. I'll give him another month. Then I'll go for a refund.

Fingers crossed for all future shipments, as I really do not want to pay 50+ Dollars per figure with DHL shipping.

[MrRoboto]

I have nothing on some of you who waited months on end but i think the longest i've had to wait was two and a half months for Icarius ~ i thought he was a goner at the time. More often than not though, and being in Melbourne, there'll always be a long wait with the slow shipping method. I truly believe that it's customs and the local post office for whatever reason that delay my figures arriving. In 2013 i've decided to use fast shipping. Netossa, for example, got here before she went on sale on Matty.

[Odrakir]

I ordered two Vykrons in November sales. They failled to arrive in the beggining of January, so I contacted DR about it. They said I had to wait another day since it might take 6 weeks for a figure to arrive in Portugal.

I waited 3 days and the figures didn't arrive, so I sent them another email. This time they asked me to wait since they were working to solve my case. The figures arrived on Monday and I sent them a mail, asking to cancel the issue because the figures arrived. Yesterday I got an email from DR saying that they were issuing me a refund for the figures...

Talk about bad internal communication...

Right now I'm waiting for December sub figures and Granamyr

[Vikor]

I ordered two Vykrons in November sales. They failled to arrive in the beggining of January, so I contacted DR about it. They said I had to wait another day since it might take 6 weeks for a figure to arrive in Portugal.

I waited 3 days and the figures didn't arrive, so I sent them another email. This time they asked me to wait since they were working to solve my case. The figures arrived on Monday and I sent them a mail, asking to cancel the issue because the figures arrived. Yesterday I got an email from DR saying that they were issuing me a refund for the figures...

Talk about bad internal communication...

Right now I'm waiting for December sub figures and Granamyr

Take the refund and laugh! Their fault for being so incompetent!

[Patrick Bateman]

My Star Sisters never arrived. Not that I would have kept them, but I was very lenient in waiting for them to arrive before contacting CS - result: the time to make a claim had expired by then and I got nothing...

[SLO-MAN]

I've been buying MOTUC since it's inception in 2008 and have always used the cheap International Post.
In all these years I only had one package go missing, Battleground Teela.
Everything else always arrived. Granted it usually takes almost a month, but it arrives.

Still, I'll be spending extra for shipping, when Ram Man goes on sale. I suppose I could rely on International Post, but for Rammy I want extra inssurance.

[Odrakir]

Take the refund and laugh! Their fault for being so incompetent!

I sent them an email immediately after reading their's, telling them to cancel the refund since the figures arrived the day before... no answer whatsoever from DR...


Update

Got this email from them minutes ago (bold is mine):

Dear Ricardo Saramago,

Thank you for contacting the MattyCollector.com online store.

We understand that you received the order.

We show your order was refunded on 1/23/13. Please allow 5 - 7 business
days from this date for the credit to be applied to your account. Due to
billing cycles, the refund may not appear on the same credit card
statement as the original charge. If you are unable to locate the
applied credit, please contact the issuing bank for further information
regarding when it will be applied.

Please be advised that we can no longer reverse the refund/ cancellation
for the order.

Sincerely,
Jolli Mae D.
MattyCollector.com online store
Customer Service
mattycollector.cs@digitalriver.com

I'll wait for the refund and then I'll see how I can send them the money back... I don't want to be branded by DR as a scammer like they did to some fellow MOTUC collectors who complained about missing figures...

[motuportugal]

Now waiting for november, december and january figures...
Dekker, eternos palacre king randor, procrustus, castle grayskullman, netossa, mosquitor and granamyr...

No sign of any of those figures behing held on customs for me... In fact, no sign of the figures in nowhere...

Motuc is gone for good for me... I cant stand this frustrating wait anymore
Thank you matty!

[CanadaClassics]

Last year I ordered the May stuff (Catra etc,)with UPS since Canada was about to have a postal strike. Catra arrived with 2 right hands, I called Matty to get an exchange, I told them about the possible mail strike and using UPS, they said okay, and a day later I got shipping confirmation and she was sent out in the mail. The mail strike did happen, and I called back about 3 weeks later, Matty rep read me back the notes on file " mail strike, 2 right hands...send UPS" She said it is all here, we will send out another one, I asked if it was going in the mail, can they wait a few weeks, note it on the file so I can call back. She said no, best to send it now and "WE WILL SEND IT UPS". Got a shipping e-mail next day - regular mail. Neither Catra ever showed up. I called back 3 weeks later and they gave me a refund - Catra was "gone for good"

Doesn't matter what the reps say - Matty happens!

[paulioscorchio]

I had a shipment of She-Ra and Keldor get lost (think it was June 2010) and also the Palace Guards. Sadly, my December sub items aren't here yet either...