Are one man bands operations falling foul of their success?

[Albiscuit]

It does seem communication is key in these instances!!  

People really do appreciate a heads up, in any field not just retail. 

Be open and honest and 90% of customers/end users will be the most reasonable people in the world and understand and not cause an issue.

The other issue mentioned above regarding stock also pisses me off. I have lost count of the amount of times I have not bought stuff or started projects because I couldnt order everything from one place and needed to pay £6+ postage for a item worth a few quid. When you have a long list and need to pay over £50 to various people for delivery charges for items not worth double that it becomes more of a matter of principle to not buy them!

it really is off putting!

 

[Wo1f]

Communication is key as everyone else has said. Not only because silence leads to uncertainty, but also because you may have sent a shop a gun that cost you a small fortune. I want to be very sure of who I send mine to as some of them cost over £1k

As for FRV.. I messaged him first to ask questions and he answered, explaining the multicam material was on order and was I okay with a few week wait before I ordered. I was happy to wait so I ordered it.

 

[Skara]

£6 postage would be a dream here. Most retailers go for €10 up to 3kg, which sucks when you have to order from 3 different shops at once. Some don't even accept orders with less than €40/50 worth of material -.-

Retailers not having anything in stock also piss me off. But that's based on what the ignorant mass asks for. 99% of the bb warriors here want the cheapest crap they can get and pretend to perform. So retailers stock hugely on cheap stuff and charge you a lot for "rare" items like laylax/pdi/aa upgrades..

Come on I had to order a valken goggle from the UK because most Italian retailers don't even know valken exists -.-

Next order will be from France, because it's the only place where I can get my striker parts all from the same shop..

 

[Albiscuit]

£6 postage would be a dream here. Most retailers go for €10 up to 3kg, which sucks when you have to order from 3 different shops at once. Some don't even accept orders with less than €40/50 worth of material -.-

Retailers not having anything in stock also piss me off. But that's based on what the ignorant mass asks for. 99% of the bb warriors here want the cheapest crap they can get and pretend to perform. So retailers stock hugely on cheap stuff and charge you a lot for "rare" items like laylax/pdi/aa upgrades..

Come on I had to order a valken goggle from the UK because most Italian retailers don't even know valken exists -.-

Next order will be from France, because it's the only place where I can get my striker parts all from the same shop..

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Not just like that over here then....

Totally sucks.

 

[Lozart]

Not just like that over here then....

Totally sucks.

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I just recently had a conversation via social media with the guy that runs WhoShotFirst, he sells through Etsy and his postage costs were hiked up by his carrier to the point where postage costs almost double the product - in this case £10 to post a PVC patch to the UK. OK I thought, I'll get a couple to make the postage worthwhile but for every extra item I added the postage went up by about £1.50. So in many cases you need to be aware that the seller isn't always directly in control of shipping costs!

 

[Skara]

I just recently had a conversation via social media with the guy that runs WhoShotFirst, he sells through Etsy and his postage costs were hiked up by his carrier to the point where postage costs almost double the product - in this case £10 to post a PVC patch to the UK. OK I thought, I'll get a couple to make the postage worthwhile but for every extra item I added the postage went up by about £1.50. So in many cases you need to be aware that the seller isn't always directly in control of shipping costs!

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Lol, really? Charging money for extra items? That's plain stupid and will cost you customers..

Tell the guy to switch to another carrier..

 

[Lozart]

Lol, really? Charging money for extra items? That's plain stupid and will cost you customers..

Tell the guy to switch to another carrier..

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From the gist of the conversation I think he's already looking. The uplift that his carrier put on recently all but killed his international business so he needs to sort something out!

 

[Rogerborg]

The grinding sound you can hear is my teeth as I'm reminded that China-China-China sellers enjoy discounted postage, which is why it's cheaper to send a small parcel to London from Shenzhen than from Sheffield.

 

[MagpieTactical]

Thought I would post on here, rather than start a new thread, especially as its it's not THAT old.

Anyway, I ordered an FRV Tailoring shooters belt at the start of May based on the fact he posted saying 1 week lead time.  Still dont have it.

Other than a confirmation of order email at the time, I have had no further comms initiated by FRV.

I got in touch to ask if lead time was still correct as I hadn't received, and was told it was because he was out of stock of the inner belt webbing, but was getting a delivery and my belt would be sent next week (week beginning 13th May) .

I then see he is at Northern Shooting Show and pictures clearly show inner belts of various sizes.  Now bearing in mind he has my money, and so a confirmed order this irked me a bit.  Then no message and no belt as promised.

I am this close to requesting a refund.  I have no doubt the belt will be excellent, it's the poor regard for a customer who has already paid, and lack of comms about the lack of materials, and then the failure to deliver within the second time period that makes me feel like that.

 

[Druid799]

Thought I would post on here, rather than start a new thread, especially as its it's not THAT old.

Anyway, I ordered an FRV Tailoring shooters belt at the start of May based on the fact he posted saying 1 week lead time.  Still dont have it.

Other than a confirmation of order email at the time, I have had no further comms initiated by FRV.

I got in touch to ask if lead time was still correct as I hadn't received, and was told it was because he was out of stock of the inner belt webbing, but was getting a delivery and my belt would be sent next week (week beginning 13th May) .

I then see he is at Northern Shooting Show and pictures clearly show inner belts of various sizes.  Now bearing in mind he has my money, and so a confirmed order this irked me a bit.  Then no message and no belt as promised.

I am this close to requesting a refund.  I have no doubt the belt will be excellent, it's the poor regard for a customer who has already paid, and lack of comms about the lack of materials, and then the failure to deliver within the second time period that makes me feel like that.

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Did you pay with PayPal ? if so I wouldn’t fanny around I’d slap a dispute on him ASAP as he’s lied to you so there endeth ANY grace due to him , and when he does then contact you (and he will) tell him his customer service is atrocious and you shall be voicing this on the net .

 

[MagpieTactical]

Did you pay with PayPal ? if so I wouldn’t fanny around I’d slap a dispute on him ASAP as he’s lied to you so there endeth ANY grace due to him , and when he does then contact you (and he will) tell him his customer service is atrocious and you shall be voicing this on the net .

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I did pay with PayPal. I just find they can be hit and miss in their support.  He will argue his website states things may affect delivery. However, messages also show lack of comms and empty promises. Am sure he would refund 8f 8 asked anyway. 

I know to some it isn't, but 70 quid for a belt is quite a bit of cash to me, so to have that with poor customer service makes the bill harder to swallow.

If he had kept me informed I would be disappointed in the delay, but perhaps understanding. To echo sentiments in this thread, part of running a business is treating your customers well, not just taking their cash.

 

[Druid799]

I know to some it isn't, but 70 quid for a belt is quite a bit of cash to me

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To this my friend I say bollox ! ?

immaterial wether it’s 70p/£7/£70 or £700 ! a legally binding contract of sale is just that , nothing more nothing less , he entered in to a contract with you to supply a belt when stated the minute he took your money and he is legally bound to provide the goods in a timely fashion OR to negotiate with you for any delays in delivery or changes to the product . This is the exact reason I never take payment when ever I make kit for anyone to avoid any problems arising because of delays for what ever reason , if I haven’t taken your money then I’ve got some leeway over the time .

 

[Samurai]

This is the exact reason I never take payment when ever I make kit for anyone

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That's also hard. Most of the times I've made stuff for requests without taking the money first, they disappeared once it was done.

One man businesses have high risk. For me, some unforeseen life changing things affected the business, I had to shut down for a while and it was very hard to come back.

I agree, communication is key, and both parties take higher risks than dealing with a company.

 

[Rogerborg]

Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.

Or: once one tale has been spun, I'd expect nothing but spin from then on.

I'd have initiated a PayPal dispute the moment that the initial delivery date wasn't met.

 

[hunter511]

@MagpieAirsoft I've got one of the FRV belts and they are superb. I didn't have comms issues either.

I believe he's been doing some orders for people who are off to play with hot guns in sandy climates recently which would I'd assume take priority over airsoft stuff. THAT SAID a lack of comms and not informing you of this is pretty unforgivable. 

I had a similar issue with Mael Oeien (or however you spell it) where I ordered a radio pouch, was quoted a 4 week lead time and agreed. at the 5 week point I dropped them a message.....which was ignored (but showed as read), at the 6 week point the same, eventually ended up with multiple "oh we didn't see that message, it's finished, it's going out today or tomorrow" promises and it eventually took a paypal dispute to get it posted..... Even then they didn't let me know they'd posted it or give me tracking details. It just pitched up 48hrs after the dispute was raised hence why I won't use them and can't reccomend them. 

 

[Philby21]

It only takes a couple of minutes to let a customer know if there's going to be a delay, it's not difficult and it's highly unprofessional not to.

On the flip side, I run a website for a bike club, we have an online shop where we clearly state (multiple times) that some items are manufactured to order by our supplier and can take up to 28 days.  Bear in mind that this is a volunteer run club and not a business.  My wife deals with all the regalia and we've lost count of the amount of impatient people emailing after a week and asking where their stuff is!  Such is club life, very few offer to help run things but plenty of people complain.

Even in these instances, we email back as quickly as possible - usually within 24 hours at most.  If we can do it as a volunteer run club then there is no excuse for a business (under normal circumstances).

 

[Druid799]

I believe he's been doing some orders for people who are off to play with hot guns in sandy climates recently which would I'd assume take priority over airsoft stuff. THAT SAID a lack of comms and not informing you of this is pretty unforgivable. 

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Couldn’t give a flying f**k who his other customers are , if you give him your money he has a legal and moral obligation to supply the goods or at the least contact his customers and ask if there prepared to wait due to what ever reason , he hasn’t honoured his sales agreement with the OP so dispute it is .

That's also hard. Most of the times I've made stuff for requests without taking the money first, they disappeared once it was done.

One man businesses have high risk. For me, some unforeseen life changing things affected the business, I had to shut down for a while and it was very hard to come back.

I agree, communication is key, and both parties take higher risks than dealing with a company.

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For this very reason I only do it face to face OR with players with visible footprint on the forums , Facebook groups , I only do small volume of work as it is just a way of raising a little extra cash to support Airsofting for me .

 

[E21A]

That's also hard. Most of the times I've made stuff for requests without taking the money first, they disappeared once it was done.

One man businesses have high risk. For me, some unforeseen life changing things affected the business, I had to shut down for a while and it was very hard to come back.

I agree, communication is key, and both parties take higher risks than dealing with a company.

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What do you make out of interest? 

 

[Samurai]

What do you make out of interest? 

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3d printing airsoft stuff.

http://printedairsoft.co.uk

 

[E21A]

3d printing airsoft stuff.

http://printedairsoft.co.uk

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Ah, interesting. You have PM