Troubles with Sgts' Mess & communication issues with Grubby

[Menelduir]

Hello

I hate this type of thread, I hate seeing them and I hate having to post it. I am having (had) trouble with two merchants and I am wondering if I am alone in this or is it common place when dealing with these two companies.
 
I recently had to get a refund from Paypal for a Sgt's Mess order (well over 100 GBP worth of stuff) as I never got any response from them beyond the automated order received message. The order was placed September 29th no reply to any email, even the email where I told them that I wanted to order more stuff! Finally escalated through Paypal and got a refund at the end of October (but never did get any emails)

Now the disappointing news, Grubby.
I have always had a good experience with him. We had good communications for this order including follow ups after I had requested more stuff. However for the last 15 days it has been radio silence. Does anyone know him, deal with him? Is he okay, perhaps something has happened to him (or family). As I said I have had actual email conversation with him since the order was placed (Oct 14th) and he had committed to me to send an update on October 31st but did not and there has been no other communications from him!

It leaves me concerned on a couple of fronts. 
Hopefully the Grubby issue is just some miscommunication error.

Thank you

[has.been]

I can't speak for Sgt's Mess, only ever dealt with them at shows.
Grubby is totally reliable, if often under pressure. When I last
chatted to him at a show he told me that nearly all his time was
taken up with casting. May I suggest you send him another
e-mail.

[SJWi]

I can't comment about Sergeants Mess as I have only bought a few things from them at Shows.  As regards Grubby I've found him pretty reliable but not the best at e-mail communication. That said there are quite a few traders who fall into this category but get there eventually. I last dealt with him back in September. I e-mailed him for some stuff to collect at the Colours Show. Radio silence but it was there at the show. I didn't sour the moment by mentioning e-mails. He is meant to be at the Warfare show in Farnborough this weekend so will see if he is there and let you know.  One thing I would  also add based on recent experience . We have all got used to ordering and receiving stuff within 1-2 weeks .I have found that now many of the smaller traders take 4+ weeks. In one case I waited 3 months. They cast to order, have problems  sourcing raw materials and quite often the gaming side isn't their main line of work. Add to that e-mails issues and you have a perfect storm!       

[Menelduir]

Hi

Thank you for the replies.

Just to clarify, I live in Canada, so my expectations of quick receipt of products from the UK (or almost anywhere, including Canada ) is not an issue. I often wait many, many weeks before I get stuff, I am used to that. I am also not too concerned about slow prep time prior to shipping,  I understand that smaller operations can run into time constraints.

It is that lack of communication that concerns me. I used to work in an office and emails were a daily thing, but even if I did not have a full answer to a question I would at least send an acknowledgement email and a timeline for resolution.

Silence was, and is, not an option.

[Menelduir]

I can't comment about Sergeants Mess as I have only bought a few things from them at Shows.  As regards Grubby I've found him pretty reliable but not the best at e-mail communication. That said there are quite a few traders who fall into this category but get there eventually. I last dealt with him back in September. I e-mailed him for some stuff to collect at the Colours Show. Radio silence but it was there at the show. I didn't sour the moment by mentioning e-mails. He is meant to be at the Warfare show in Farnborough this weekend so will see if he is there and let you know.  One thing I would  also add based on recent experience . We have all got used to ordering and receiving stuff within 1-2 weeks .I have found that now many of the smaller traders take 4+ weeks. In one case I waited 3 months. They cast to order, have problems  sourcing raw materials and quite often the gaming side isn't their main line of work. Add to that e-mails issues and you have a perfect storm!       

If you get a chance to talk to him that would be great.
As I said I have only had positive interactions with him in the past and hope to have them again!

Thank you

[SJWi]

OK, to be honest I didn't plan to talk to him as I don't know how he will react. A few years ago there various negative comments about him here. I dropped him an e-mail saying that he might want to read them and react but no response.

[Menelduir]

OK, to be honest I didn't plan to talk to him as I don't know how he will react. A few years ago there various negative comments about him here. I dropped him an e-mail saying that he might want to read them and react but no response.

Thank you but really no need to get caught up in this. I am actually concerned for him/the business. I can always go through Paypal for a refund.  I am trying to give him the benefit of the doubt and trying to see if anyone had any info that would explain the lack of response from him. We had been talking, he had sent me pictures then nothing. On Thursday October 27th he had committed to sending a follow up on Monday. Nothing! It does not seem like the same helpful person that I had been dealing with when I first placed the order.
 
I would hate to sound harsh only to find out some terrible thing happened to him. I would be very happy to change this post around and sing his praises.

Thank you

And yes I have sent another email, 2 days ago.

[SJWi]

Menelduir, no problem.  I guess the least I can do is let you know that he is still turning up at shows. If he's not there that could be an indication of other issues. 

[SJWi]

Hi, I can report that Grubby Tanks was alive and well and trading at Warfare this weekend.

Regards

[Menelduir]

Hi, I can report that Grubby Tanks was alive and well and trading at Warfare this weekend.

Regards

Curiouser and curiouser...

Thank you for the information

[Peterem]

Interestingly Sergeant's Mess weren't there though, and they were always Warfare regulars. I wanted to have a word with Andy Grubb to apologise for only giving him six days notice of a Britannia order I wanted to pick up on the Saturday, but he told me I was one of the earliest pre-orderers he'd had! I can only assume your initial order caught him at the height of work for SELWG last month, and sort of dropped off his radar once the show was over.

[Just a few orcs]

In had trouble with Sergeants Mess after Warfare last year, Just an acknowledgment of the order and nothing else. Got my money back via Paypal. It changed hands a year or so ago, it seems the new owner are nowhere near as the original ones.

As for grubby, i have found him to be completely honest and reliable. He was at Warfare, and said he had been very busy.  Give him another email.

[Menelduir]

In had trouble with Sergeants Mess after Warfare last year, Just an acknowledgment of the order and nothing else. Got my money back via Paypal. It changed hands a year or so ago, it seems the new owner are nowhere near as the original ones.

As for grubby, i have found him to be completely honest and reliable. He was at Warfare, and said he had been very busy.  Give him another email.

I did, again.
Got a reply. Minis shipped last week, thought he had sent an email to me about the shipping. I have nothing, no spam.

So we will see in about 2 weeks more or less.

Despite my issues with this order, I actually still have faith in him, just not his communication skills 

[vodkafan]

Mr Grubb is sadly not so good on emails. I always contact him by text message on his phone (the number quoted on his website) and he sometimes replies instantly. He also appeared in my whatsapp contacts recently and  I have messaged him there too. I think he just rarely sits down at a computer if he can help it.
If you have met the bloke personally you know he will do anything to help a fellow wargamer, he just don't like computers. He doesn't read LAF.