Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => General Wargames and Hobby Discussion => Topic started by: Too Bo Coo on July 19, 2018, 06:28:54 PM
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I know when some companies are about to go bankrupt they take as many orders (and money) that they can... and then disappear. I've been ordering from Hasslefree since 2012 and never had a problem. I ordered from them in late April. Got a shipping notice (I'm in Holland they are in the UK) about two weeks later and.... nothing. I waited 30 days before sending them a note. Nothing. Tried again. Nothing. Then complained on their FB page, and got this,
"Hi There. I'm currently busy in the warehouse. If you have an existing issue, it is on my worksheet and it's what I'm currently fixing and you can expect a message/email reply tonight 🙂 If you have a new issue, please email bwartemis@gmail.com.".
I exchanged a couple of emails with Daemon and was told that it would be sorted out and he would get back to me buy the end of that week. That was a month ago... I sent four more emails to follow up, no reply.
Complained again on their FB page... and got the same exact form email.
So, are they playing games or legit still? Because I'm at the point I'm going to contact my credit card company and get my money back for non shipment.
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They've always had trouble with comms, sadly. I had an issue where I was trying to reach them before placing an order last year and it took my posting on here and Artemis Black seeing it to get a response.
I DID get a response in the end though.
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Righty oh.
1) They are fully legit, always have been. There have been some real life things behind the scenes which there have been posts of facebook, and possibly on the front of their website about. Last I heard, Dameon was the one pair of hands at the warehouse for quite a length of time, so was run off his feet dealing with everything. Like I say, there is more to it than that and it's all out there on facebook and the KS updates etc.
2) Someone told me off for being harsh on Fram. Lets just say in my experience of many years, comms have been reliable and consistent.
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I have had nothing but good experiences with them and I somehow *feel* a sense of integrity and ethics from them. Not sure how to explain it.
I hope to God they are not going out of business! I like them a lot, both their minis and the folks, themselves.
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I hope to God they are not going out of business! I like them a lot, both their minis and the folks, themselves.
Yeah, I'm don't know them all personally or anything but I can say with confidence that this is not the case. No need to fret.
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My order is outstanding since April, it's July now. That seems like an awful long time, with no replies to my emails but the one, for a 'reliable' company. I've been buying from them since 12' and while things are not fast, they arrived. But this... I'm ready to get a charge back on my card.
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if it houses "wares" then its a warehouse, also HF dont do casting in house so the workshop will be a packing bench and a computer terminal.
snigger ;)
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Humakt appears, derailment attempt . . . . . . . . epic fails.
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I remember seeing a lot of complaints over on the Dakka Dakka forum whenever anyone posted about them. Mostly delays in shipping, products taking forever to be released and communication issues. Something about them having personal issues on their end.
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'warehouse'...snigger snigger...'warehouse'...
Bless 'em.
'Dexion racks at the back of the workshop' will be what that is.
'warehouse', indeed.
Yeah, I noted that too. The entire email, which I was sent twice, is a slag off
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Fantastic! What a golden opportunity to replay the best of Frothers circa 2010.
Player A: My minis were late.
Player B: Kev White is a fucking genius and I want to have his babies.
Player A: I was just saying...
Player C: You are complete twat and for the record I am having Kev White’s babies.
Player D: I bought some brilliant new minis from X and they arrived on time.
Players, E, F & G: You utter prick! The hands on those are massive and nowhere near as good as Kev’s work. If Kev wasn’t such a massively talented genius he’d have the time to make sure the orders went out. Now fuck off you aren’t worthy.
Etc, etc, etc.
For what it’s worth I’ve never ordered. Many of the items I would have included in an order have been ‘out of stock’ for over two years. That must say something.
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Apart from wishful thinking.
The frothers discussion you mention were normally started by someone called 'Rob' who had a vendetta against Hasslefree and rarely, if ever, involved mini's being late etc.
I simply love the attempt by some here to derail this thread into a slagging off session. Who bloody cares what happened on frothers back in 2010?!! What has it to do with here?
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Chaps, please.
I'll lock this thread for the night. Unless there is more substantial evidence than admittedly unreliable service and frankly risky communication practices, I'd say it's not really warranted to assume the worst.
They really should get their ship in order, though.
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There have been various personal and personnel issues which have been openly written about in various places online. From memory, the main problems now lie in the past, although it will always be considerable work to catch up once a backlog established itself. If you do not want to wait any longer, don't. But I fail to see the point in baseless conjecture, when the actual underlying problems are known, and do not indicate that they are going out of business. Complete radio silence would be worrying, but there have been ample newsletters and no doubt posts elsewhere. It just takes a lot less time to explain the situation in one message there, than it would to write personnally to all customers involved - time better spent packing outstanding orders.
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How about not taking orders for a bit to catch up with sales already made?
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My order is outstanding since April, it's July now. That seems like an awful long time, with no replies to my emails but the one, for a 'reliable' company. I've been buying from them since 12' and while things are not fast, they arrived. But this... I'm ready to get a charge back on my card.
Whatever problems they’ve been having - whether down to unavoidable illness and circumstances, avoidable bad planning or ineptitude, or possibly a combination of the two - three months waiting for an order with no further comms, surely isn’t acceptable for any business. ‘We posted an explanation on Facebook’ isn’t good enough when you’ve taken someone’s money, sat on it for three months, failed to provide the goods, and not answered repeated enquiries. Under the circumstances, ‘is this business going down the pan?’ seems a pretty reasonable question to ask. Not really baseless conjecture. Quite a lot of base there...
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Very well put Captain Blood.
I've ordered in the past with no issues. They even sent a replacement figure with no problems when one came mis-cast
I was actually going to place another order for a few models but this thread has me thinking that maybe I won't.
Three months with no comms and no figures isn't good despite whatever problems they're facing at the moment.
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For what it's worth :
http://www.facebook.com/notes/hasslefree-minis/were-back/1930928800272721/ (http://www.facebook.com/notes/hasslefree-minis/were-back/1930928800272721/)
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Anyone know where in that magnificent country he's based?
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Anyone know where in that magnificent country he's based?
Think they're near Alfreton somewhere, just off J28 M1
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Think they're near Alfreton somewhere, just off J28 M1
Lol, no he's somewhere in Wales.
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From the website:
To comply with the E-Commerce Regulations 2002 we provide the following information:
Company Name: Black & White Games Ltd. trading as Hasslefree Miniatures, HF Minis & Artemis Black's
Company No. 09197984
Our VAT registration number is 204904826
We trade at Unit 21 Greenway Workshops, Bedwas House Ind Est. Caerphilly. CF83 8HW.
Our office telephone number is 02920 888639
Our main contact email is admin@hfminis.co.uk
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Close then!
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Yes, I didn't mean to be unduly harsh, which I think came through in my saying "I did get a reply in the end."
I'd buy Hasslefree stuff again, though I'd definitely want to wait for things to have calmed down first. But a delay waiting for a problem to blow over is quite different than wanting to be done with them entirely. That said, it's also different from placing an order and not getting anything or any word.
I'd agree it might have been best for them to shut down orders for even just a week to try and climb out from under things (likely cheaper and simpler than hiring and training help you only need for a week or two). Of course I don't know what the state of their finances is, but if they're "Far from going out of business" as has been said, they ought to be able to afford taking a week's closure on the chin.
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For what it's worth :
http://www.facebook.com/notes/hasslefree-minis/were-back/1930928800272721/ (http://www.facebook.com/notes/hasslefree-minis/were-back/1930928800272721/)
And then later than that:
Hasslefree Minis
26 May ·
Okay Sally here.
Instead of replying to individual queries I thought that I would just post one statement.
I am aware the last 8 months have been crap for everyone, most of all me.
I sense everyone’s frustration and I add to it tenfold. Nobody with a complaint can be more pissed off about it than me I assure you.
I started HF in 2004 with nothing except 3 small children and a husband that loved to sculpt. We didn’t take a wage for 8 years and still only now take enough to cover outgoings... everything we have is ploughed into HF. I built HF up with the core values of speedy shipping, good quality products and efficient customer service and for many years there were no major problems.
If I thought anything could have been done to avoid the current issues then do you not think I would have done it? Do you honestly think that I would sit by and watch whilst HF implodes through circumstances that couldn’t even be imagined in a soap opera? No, I wouldn’t. Anyone that knows me knows that I would not have let this happen. WE COULD NOT HAVE PREDICTED IT.
I see a lot of the regular customers sticking up for us which is great and I really appreciate the loyalty. I see a lot of new customers getting fed up and telling all and sundry on various groups and forums how awful we are. DO YOU NOT THINK THAT IF I COULD DO SOMETHING TO RESOLVE IT THEN I WOULD DO, SERIOUSLY?
HF is not Amazon. We don’t have a direct line to a post office or hundreds of staff .... it’s just Kev, me and a cantankerous anti-social welsh guy (Dameon) until we can replace the key member of staff we lost last year.
So I am really sorry that everybody is fed up I really am but we are trying to get it sorted. Yes I know you are all fed up with being asked to be patient and I cannot apologise enough but hopefully once this backlog is sorted we are back on even ground and can start to operate efficiently again.
Dameon is replying to all of your messages and emails as fast as he can. If you want a rant then message me personally on my individual account and rant away... it won’t make anything faster but it might make you feel better.
Thanks for listening
Sally x
Also worth noting that they have been shut for a week at the end of June as well.
And I'll say this - anyone that is jumping on the band wagon here needs to consider why it is they are doing so. Hasslefree have been honest, they're not hiding anything and this is massively not in character for them, at all.
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Fair enough, however they could have stopped taking orders while they sort things out, which would have been a reasonable step to take. Shutting for a week in June obviously wasn't long enough to catch up. So, I have to say the statement Sally posted doesn't do her any favours.
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I've not ordered for a few years but put in a couple of orders when they had the sale. I've had two orders not arrive which are marked as completed in my account. Emails to different addresses and facebook messages over the past week have as yet raised no answer so to be honest I'd avoid them at the moment.
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I'm very happy to say I chatted with Sally from Hasslefree last evening via email and they are still in operation. She apologized my order got misplaced and said she and Dameon would get it sorted. Happy to know I'll still be able to purchase from them!
Thanks for all the replies everyone and trying to allay my fears that they closed shop!
Admin, I think we can close this thread :D
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Fair enough, however they could have stopped taking orders while they sort things out, which would have been a reasonable step to take. Shutting for a week in June obviously wasn't long enough to catch up. So, I have to say the statement Sally posted doesn't do her any favours.
I thought it was a little, uh, brusque in places. I'll give her sort of a pass on this though, since usually it's Dameon who talks to the customers rather than her.
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Fair enough, however they could have stopped taking orders while they sort things out, which would have been a reasonable step to take. Shutting for a week in June obviously wasn't long enough to catch up. So, I have to say the statement Sally posted doesn't do her any favours.
In an ideal world that works. This isn't an ideal world. Closing for several weeks doesn't always work. So you end up with situations where people try to work with what they've got. And in this instance have been very honest about delays etc.
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I love those guys and hope things improve for them.
I'm still a loyal customer, for the record.
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I'm very happy to say I chatted with Sally from Hasslefree last evening via email and they are still in operation. She apologized my order got misplaced and said she and Dameon would get it sorted. Happy to know I'll still be able to purchase from them!
Thanks for all the replies everyone and trying to allay my fears that they closed shop!
That's terrific news. Usually some of the best people to deal with so was very sorry to hear of the problems. Really glad it's being sorted for you.
Admin, I think we can close this thread :D
Can it be locked now? As Too Bo Coo started the post and is now satisfied, can it be laid to rest?