Issues with Black Tree Design - ongoing

[Ockius]

Hi all, new member here.

Just wondering if anyone knows if BTD have stopped making/selling their ancients range? Recently when I click on Ancients on the site it says there is nothing to display. They still seem to do Romans, but I have had my eye on their Ancient Germans for ages but worried I may have missed the boat!

Moderator Edit: This was originally a separate thread posted to the Ancients board.

[Westfalia Chris]

It might be a stretch to say they have "continued" any ranges at all, given the continuous customer complaints...

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=112741.0

Caveat emptor applies in this case, very much.

[steve29651]

I have had a order with the BTD UK site since July on one of the many sales, no reply to emails and of course no sign of my order, so it may be they have discontinued any form of service.

Steve M

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

It's strange that over the years there have been constant complaints about BTD service and yet, the four times I have used them (over about a ten year period) I have had prompt service.  They are clearly a bit hit and miss.  Perhaps I just rolled 6's on the delivery dice 

[Ockius]

It might be a stretch to say they have "continued" any ranges at all, given the continuous customer complaints...

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=112741.0

Caveat emptor applies in this case, very much.

Thanks for that thread.

It's funny, I had an issue myself with an order that never went through - assumed I had put the wrong name on the card details, and emailed to ask but no reply.

It's a shame, I really want some of the Ancient Germanics. I have some Foundry ones which are great, but am put off by the high price of getting more and the BTD ones look like they'd fit in well style and scale-wise.

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

Their site has a bug in that if you are on page 2 or 3 of a sections - say WW2 - and go to another section that has fewer pages then it displays a message similar to what you say. So, one might think there was nothing there, but there is, only just on a single page.

To get around it you have to make sure you are on the first page of a section before switching to another section.

[Shahbahraz]

Just don't risk it. They are not a company that you should give money to, as there seems to be a very high risk that they will:

a) not communicate at all, and not send you the order
b) communicate with lots of excuses and apologies and not send you the order
c) combination of a) and b) and send you someone's order but not yours
d) combination of a), b) and c), and then disappear from the planet when you try to get the order corrected
e) all of the above, but with the added insult of running a dozen kickstarters

Despite solemn pledges to fix my order, it's now 12 months later and still no answer.

[Shahbahraz]

I'm about to contact them again. The only thing you can do is threaten their livelihood by telling people what to expect, though I am going to lodge a complaint with the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK.

We shall see. In my view they should either be shut down or compelled to recompense customers.

[Duncan McDane]

Looks indeed like they oop'd a.o. their Germans & Picts. Best if they sold their stuff ( molds masters and reproduction rights ) to someone who actually knows how to run a business...
They running some kickstarters now atm, depending on the critics if the deliver when funded it might be tempted to order again from them, but up to then, no way. Too risky after all insiders have told me.

[FierceKitty]

It's strange that over the years there have been constant complaints about BTD service and yet, the four times I have used them (over about a ten year period) I have had prompt service.  They are clearly a bit hit and miss.  Perhaps I just rolled 6's on the delivery dice 

Name your price for that die! I must have it!

[Atheling]

I'm about to contact them again. The only thing you can do is threaten their livelihood by telling people what to expect, though I am going to lodge a complaint with the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK.

We shall see. In my view they should either be shut down or compelled to recompense customers.

Good idea. Please keep us informed as it might be a way out for a lot of their customers.

[Shahbahraz]

Looks indeed like they oop'd a.o. their Germans & Picts. Best if they sold their stuff ( molds masters and reproduction rights ) to someone who actually knows how to run a business...
They running some kickstarters now atm, depending on the critics if the deliver when funded it might be tempted to order again from them, but up to then, no way. Too risky after all insiders have told me.

Yep. Or if they wanted to maintain a lower but steady income stream for tax reasons, rather than selling, license a reputable manufacturer to sell them and retain a %.

I really like some of their figures (for example, I have been hunting for their Heer M/c combo for ages.) but I simply won't order from them as it appears to be a lottery as to whether you receive your order, and whether it is correct.

[fairoaks024]

I’m owed part of an order ( a regt of 20 romans) from a Xmas sale in 2017!

Sent the rest if the order over 2 deliveries, the second part only after a lot of emails and queries. Came with a note saying they would be delivered later, but never sent and every email after that just ignored.

[The Inscrutable Dr. Huang]

 I always had good service from the now defunct BTD USA.

[v_lazy_dragon]

For what it's worth, I always got my order although once it was 2 months or so waiting.

More productively, 2nd hand BTD seem to turn up often on Colonel Bills - so maybe keep an eye on their webstore?