Are one man bands operations falling foul of their success?

[Skara]

9 minutes ago, Lozart said:

 

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!

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]

1 minute ago, Skara said:

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

Tell the guy to switch to another carrier..

 

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]

1 hour ago, MagpieAirsoft said:

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.

 

 

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]

20 minutes ago, Druid799 said:

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 .

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]

1 hour ago, MagpieAirsoft said:

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

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]

4 hours ago, Druid799 said:

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

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]

8 hours ago, hunter511 said:

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. 

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 .

 

19 hours ago, Samurai said:

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.

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]

21 hours ago, Samurai said:

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.

 

What do you make out of interest? 

[Samurai]

2 hours ago, E21A said:

 

What do you make out of interest? 

3d printing airsoft stuff.

http://printedairsoft.co.uk

[E21A]

7 hours ago, Samurai said:

3d printing airsoft stuff.

http://printedairsoft.co.uk

 

Ah, interesting. You have PM 

[hunter511]

@Druid799 I agree with you the comms should have been better.

 

Personally if it's a choice between my kit for playing pewpew in the woods getting manufactured or kit for people deploying on an OpTour then I'm happy to wait, however I'll be a lot happier about the situation if I'm told about it upfront.

 

On a related note I don't think the community helps itself. I can think of at least 1 tech with horrific customer comms who is treated as the second coming of christ......

[Rogerborg]

1 hour ago, hunter511 said:

On a related note I don't think the community helps itself. I can think of at least 1 tech with horrific customer comms who is treated as the second coming of christ

 

It might help the "community" if you'd actually name them.

[hunter511]

I've struggled with comms with KoA. Not actually managed to get kit to him in the end as I didn't feel like sending £500+ worth of gun to someone who struggle to answer emails. That said I hear he has got better with comms recently.

 

Molyneux Advanced Systems are another conpany with frankly shite customer service, especially when they are trying to hawk a £200 grenade.

 

Mael Oein, Ive detailed my problems with them earlier in this thread .....

[Druid799]

1 hour ago, hunter511 said:

Personally if it's a choice between my kit for playing pewpew in the woods getting manufactured or kit for people deploying on an OpTour then I'm happy to wait, however I'll be a lot happier about the situation if I'm told about it upfront.

Now I’d say yes and no to this , business is business , some how I don’t think he’s going to be supply a whole Reg being deployed with belts is he ? so it would probably delay but not out and out stop your belt being made and delivered for this long ? So yes a heads up of a possible delay would have been a good idea ? 

Having been in the position my self of having to make a lot of the same thing quickly(a shoulder bag to hold link for the GPMP) my self then you fall back on Henry Ford’s ethos of the production line , you need 20 of one thing ? You do the same bit on ALL of them at the same time you DON’T make each one one at a time , simple manufacturing logic .

[Seth_Erebor]

Bought a belt from FRV, I should have got a size up due to my padded trousers (not fat!), sent it back to swap.

That was early April/late March... it's almost June. 

Had a chat confirming my address on the 8/4/19, nothing since.

 

Sure he's a lovely bloke, I even returned a belt that was sent to me by mistake and I covered the postage for it since I knew he'd have to pay to send mine back to me.

 

I'm just feeling like a part of me is missing... 🤣

[EvilMonkee]

14 hours ago, Seth_K said:

 

I'm just feeling like a part of me is missing... 🤣

 

That would be your soul.  Are you ginger?

[Seth_Erebor]

2 hours ago, EvilMonkee said:

 

That would be your soul.  Are you ginger?

 

Sold that a long time ago and no.

 

FRV - If he doesn't reply via email or text, I shall be calling him.

[Shizbazki]

On 20/05/2019 at 09:21, hunter511 said:

I've struggled with comms with KoA. Not actually managed to get kit to him in the end as I didn't feel like sending £500+ worth of gun to someone who struggle to answer emails. That said I hear he has got better with comms recently.

 

Molyneux Advanced Systems are another conpany with frankly shite customer service, especially when they are trying to hawk a £200 grenade.

 

Mael Oein, Ive detailed my problems with them earlier in this thread .....

 

This is too true, i was reading this thread and instantly thought of these two.

 

KOA: I dealt with them back in 2017 when all i wanted was a simple R-Hop mod to be done on my M4, initial communications was excellent, gun got sent to him then nothing for 4 to 5 months. I know he is a one man business and he did give lead times of 6 months but his comms was awful after that. Now i know that family and life come before work but the constant "i thrown my back out" and "the missus is ill" constantly getting in the way of his work lead me to believe that if he is trying to make a sucessful business work (and it is in high demand) then perhaps he should start at looking at hiring and training people to do the same job. That way work doesn't stop when he throws his back out. 

 

I was at one point seriously starting to consider opening a case against KOA when suddenly, out of the blue and email saying your gun is on its way to you.

 

A relatively similar company to KOA would be Umbrella Armouries in the US, they have a warehouse, just like KOA. They make and mod AEGs to a high standard, just like KOA. Provide a raft or products and services, just like KOA. But unlike KOA they have a staff of highly trained technicians, this means when one of them goes sick or ill, the rest and can pick up the work flow.

 

As for the Molyneux Advanced Systems Grenade, i think that was another issue entirely, he started witha concept design and idea which was great, got funding though kickstarter or whatever and began his work, everything seemed hunky dory. Then "FEATURE CREEP" started to set in, he was adding more and more features etc which added more design time and even caused him to have to learn programming. He deviated so much from the core concept that entire project more or less fell apart and he wasted more money than he should of. Im no business man but if i were in his place, get the intial product done, send it to the buyers, build trust and work on further features and projects. Improve the device and release a new model which newer and existing people will buy. NOPE he tried to do it all in one go and FAILED. Great Engineer he was, poor business accumen.

 

Another similar DOOMED airsoft device/idea was the BL Tech BOSS Unit, this was designed, using green gas to simulate the loud crack/report of gunfire from an AEG and apparently did it well. Again the basic unit was simple, attach to gun, charge using green gas and link it to the gun and boom done. The FEATURE CREEP set in as they got interest and they started adding RFID cards etc, then tried to peddle it to buyers for the low, low cost of, wait for it £400, so yeah nah you can keep it mate.

[Seth_Erebor]

I will probably pick up a few modified MAS-Gs from Elliot in the future, to tinker with absolutely no other reason. 

 

The Boss Unit, yeah, Mark ended up going to the military training sector, first in Michigan and then Germany.

It won’t be changing from the M203 form factor as a stand-alone unit as when integrated it takes it blocks the space in front of the receiver so...

www.rdxtech.net

[Adolf Hamster]

So you get all the bulk and weight of an m203 without the ability to yeet stuff at people?

 

Doesnt sound like something i'd be interested in. A short barreled gun set up right has a nice crack which will do, you want a proper bang just start proper shooting.