Thanks, Reaper, for dealing with logistical problems we know not of

[Pingo]

Along with my thanks and appreciation, I thought I'd share a comment about logistics by outgoing Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America president John Scalzi:

 

I am sympathetic to the idea that everyone sees themselves as Alexander, slicing through the Gordian knot, because Lord knows I have been guilty of that myself on a frequent basis. But the fact is sometimes the knot will not be cut and you have to sit there and unravel the damn thing, which takes time and effort; meanwhile people are unhappy and will not necessarily be totally satisfied when the whole untangled issue is laid out before them.

You've done good work, ladies and gentlemen of Reaper.

[dwarvenranger]

Thanks

[Laoke]

Sorry Pingo, but I can't give them credit for something they refuse to tell us about. I'd be full of sympathy if I knew just why the heck I haven't seen a shipping confirmation yet, but as it stands I've got to guess.

 

It's all very well for people who've actually, I don't know, had some communication from Reaper or the courier company or something to laud them, but please don't expect those of us who haven't seen jack yet to join in. I'm getting more and more annoyed at this stage. To the point that I'm seriously considering cancelling my order and buying the figures on Ebay. If I'd done that back when I first considered it, I'd have the figures by now. Hell, if I'd known that the ROW shipments were going to be last I could have done something about it when I pledged, like using a redirecting service to ship them internally in the US and reship them over to me. A GM I know near me did that, and he's had his figures for the past month or so.

 

So, no, Reaper do not get a free pass on logistic issues from me sorry. If I'd been kept informed? Sure! Things happen! I accept that!

 

What's utterly unacceptable, and as frustrating as hell, is not being told what's going on. I still have no clue when I'll even see a shipping notification, let alone receive the product!

 

Sorry for raining on your parade, but I'm getting just a tad tired of people trying to tell me I should be grateful for someone else's mistakes.

[Acuteapathy]

Whoops. I accidentally hit report instead of reply.

 

I'm in the same boat. I'm out in South Africa and we've got a very small gaming community relative to the rest of the world so I doubt there's many more backers from here other than me.

I'm in agreement with my Kiwi friend. The problem is not the delays. I realize that the magnitude of an operation like this is likely to give rise to all sorts of unforeseen complications. The problem I have is that I'm not being kept informed of what's going on.

I love Reaper. My previous interactions with them have been good. But the lack of transparency by the company with regards to updates is really concerning and is likely to be eroding goodwill with many customers who would otherwise have been long-term patrons adding to their bottom line in future.

[Pingo]

Um, I wasn't telling anyone else they should be grateful. My comments were directed towards Reaper. There's no requirement that everyone agree with me.

[TheLazyOne]

Um, I wasn't telling anyone else they should be grateful. My comments were directed towards Reaper. There's no requirement that everyone agree with me.

but - well - you posted it on the forum.

 

I'm with the others: they offered a serviced and they managed it not in a very good way. I'm not Alexander, and for that reason i wouldn't never do something like this campaign. They did it, and they made several mistakes.

 

That said, i'm fine with that, i don't care much about this delay (some communication could be appreciated, though).

But there are too many people defending them no-matter-what. When the mechanic repairs my car he doesn't come to say "eh it's hard, i will probably fail". If he can do it, he gets pay for it. Otherwise... nobody forced him to be a mechanic.

[kimbers]

When the mechanic repairs my car he doesn't come to say "eh it's hard, i will probably fail".

NO, but they do often say, "its probably gonna be a couple more days... we're waiting on parts." Reaper didn't say "eh, we can't get it to you, its to hard". They just said its gonna take longer than expected.

 

Not saying you don't have a complaint, but it was a terrible analogy.

Edited July 21, 2013 by kimbers

[smokingwreckage]

I've lost track of the number of times I've had to tell a client that everything is unchanged but taking more time than it should. Sorry, it's taking longer. Sorry, it's taking longer. Sorry... taking longer. And if you try to explain why, you either end up blaming other people or opening yourself up to further criticism. Well YES, I could have done X while Y was delayed, if I had known in advance it was going to be delayed. And Z could have been retrieved and A put underway IF we weren't waiting for Y, so as to do X, which was higher priority right up until the last 24 hours of the delay, by which time it was too late and now I look like a muppet.

 

So, not getting an email a day saying "A hyup; still waitin'" polluting my inbox, leaving me blind to the email I actually need to see, is not hurting me one bit.

 

However, watching everybody else opening their presents is driving me bananas.

[Vroomer]

I'm getting just a tad tired of people trying to tell me I should be grateful for someone else's mistakes.

Having worked on major distributions (Harry Potter 7, Lost Symbol), be glad you are sitting at your computer and not in the chaos of the warehouse. They could be your mistakes. Therefore, yes, be glad they are not your mistakes.

[kimbers]

I've lost track of the number of times I've had to tell a client that everything is unchanged but taking more time than it should. Sorry, it's taking longer. Sorry, it's taking longer. Sorry... taking longer. And if you try to explain why, you either end up blaming other people or opening yourself up to further criticism. Well YES, I could have done X while Y was delayed, if I had known in advance it was going to be delayed. And Z could have been retrieved and A put underway IF we weren't waiting for Y, so as to do X, which was higher priority right up until the last 24 hours of the delay, by which time it was too late and now I look like a muppet.

 

So, not getting an email a day saying "A hyup; still waitin'" polluting my inbox, leaving me blind to the email I actually need to see, is not hurting me one bit.

 

However, watching everybody else opening their presents is driving me bananas.

Ah, someone who gets it!

 

Its a very difficult thing. Either you take the responsibility of someone else's mistakes and look incompetent, or tell them that someone else is to blame and risk them thinking you're lying to make yourself look good or that you can't handle getting other companies to do things right. Then sometimes you have to try to explain to people that their expectations are beyond what anyone in your position can provide and say it without them getting offended and thinking you're talking down to them like they're idiots.

 

Language is very difficult to get right. Words can often be misinterpreted. This is the main reason I think all of the important people at Reaper decided not to do KS updates without a meeting in the first place. One wrong word in the wrong place which could possibly be misinterpreted by a few out of 18000 people and everything blows up in their faces.

 

I have great sympathy for Reaper. I have no doubt that they have the best of intentions. There is no crystal ball for them to gaze in to, and no magical power which they can summon to make other companies do what they promised them and at the time they promised to do it. No time machine for them to go back and fix their mistakes. I am not envious of them one bit.

 

I think Kickstarter should come with a big warning sign for those hapless enough not to research how it actually goes and get annoyed the day after estimated times have elapsed. But then, Kickstarter wouldn't make as much money then, would they? I have issues with that too, but thats another kettle of fish.

 

On that note, I checked some of the major/popular Kickstarters in the same theme (supplying physical products) comments to see how well they fared and the vast majority of the time its the exact same story over and over again. Complains about delays, complaints about the products, complaints about communication. Pretty much all of them.

[ChristianSt]

 

When the mechanic repairs my car he doesn't come to say "eh it's hard, i will probably fail".

NO, but they do often say, "its probably gonna be a couple more days... we're waiting on parts." Reaper didn't say "eh, we can't get it to you, its to hard". They just said its gonna take longer than expected.

 

Not saying you don't have a complaint, but it was a terrible analogy.

 

 

Mh, In some points for me it looks like Reaper didn't say anything and it just took longer (like the extra delayed ROW-shipping).

[Braxandur]

I too have worked at a location where I had to satisfy customers and deliveries sometimes didn't arrive due to circumstances outside my control. Not only is it very difficult to say anything if you don't have any good news, it's even harder when you are very very busy.

 

I have a lot of respect for the mountain of work that the guys and gals of Reaper are moving. I can imagine that they are too busy to check the fora or kickstarter messages and would rather have everything shipped. I can't understand why people need to have everything immediatly, especially news. It's not that anyones life depends on knowing what is going on with this shipment.

 

The most important part of news (and only important part for me) is that they are doing everything they can to get the packages send out asap. I don't need to know more then that :)

Edited July 21, 2013 by Braxandur

[TheLazyOne]

 

When the mechanic repairs my car he doesn't come to say "eh it's hard, i will probably fail".

NO, but they do often say, "its probably gonna be a couple more days... we're waiting on parts." Reaper didn't say "eh, we can't get it to you, its to hard". They just said its gonna take longer than expected.

 

Not saying you don't have a complaint, but it was a terrible analogy.

 

 

Yep, i get your point, you're right.

But when the mechanic take the order, he knows what parts are in waiting list, and tries to give you an ETA. They didn't. They took the money, didn't tell us much about the business (that's fine as long as everything's ok) and in February they popped out with that delay thing.

It means that they didn't achieve what they promised, and what we were paying for. That's not terrible, again, i'm fine with that, but reading of people saying "in my work delays are normal" doesn't help the situation. And neither does saying "c'mon, those minis are cheap!"... that's definitely not the point.

 

A mechanic that takes three weeks to repair a car instead of one without making a single call is a mechanic that will be unemployed soon...

[Grimreaper71]

Wow Pingo I bet you didnt expect that can of worms. The way isee it they updatedwhen they had news.if they didnt update it meant nothing new to tell you.Disclaimer I didnt buy any Bones so no skin off my back

[Dan Goodchild]

Pingo: I happen to share your sentiment in the matter. That having been said I'm going to out on a limb and try to guess what's on your mind just now…

 

Darn it… ninja'd as I was going for the submit button. Grimreaper71, I salute you.

Edited July 21, 2013 by Dan Goodchild