These pictures were posted on twitter by someone I follow - I won't mention his name. They are cockpit components for a Forge World Marauder Bomber and this is what Forge World sent him.
This model is £190. By any standards it is a premium product and yet Forge World were of the opinion that components so warpt as to be unusable were acceptable to be sent to a customer. And this is not a one-off. I have experienced similar issues with Forge World.
Now this customer was an experienced modeller so was able to fix them using boiling water but why the hell should he? Warping like this happens because the resin is removed from the mold before it is properly hardened. They do this to increase productivity and hence raise profit margins on fixed capital equipment and labour costs.
Games Workshop should in my opinion show a little more espect for their customers. We are not a captive cash cow to be milked.
Or are we?
Forgeworld is long know to have bad quality control but so called good customer service as if you ring them they will generally replace the part.
ReplyDeleteI received a broken epic item in one set so I emailed them and they claimed they would send me another set up it did not show up so when I emailed them again they said that the item was discontinued and refunded me the cost instead,
The real question is why is it cheaper for them to send out bad parts and then replace them when people complain. The only reason I can image is because a lot of people just accept it or fix it themselves.
I suspect you are right and most people can't be arsed to go through the complaint's procedure.
DeleteDo not put up with poor products. Email them and show them the problem and feel free to quote "The Distance Selling Regulations (2000)".
ReplyDeleteThey certainly have no reason to change if we don't complain.
DeleteAfter building a Armageddon pattern Medusa for a friend that was in a similarly dreadful state.
ReplyDeleteI stopped buying from forgeworld, unless it was a new kit with new molds. It seems the older the kit, the worse the quality. That said I haven't bought anything FW in years...
I haven't bought from them for a while. My wallet says 'no'.
DeleteThat is ridiculous! But I wonder if it could have happened in shipment....but it is not like it is really hot now. I would think they would send you another, hopefully.
ReplyDeletetom
Not sure it's ever that hot n England. :)
DeleteI just don't like resin for anything thin or frail like that. I won't touch it for human-scale figures. Even with bigger stuff I'd expect it to sag over time unless it's pretty chunky or is designed to sit flat on the table.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had large resin models long enough to detect super-cooled liquid flow. I suppose it wont make much difference to my chaos Titan.
DeleteI am shocked that they were sent out like that but I hope that they replace them
ReplyDeleteThey apparently are very good at replacements.
DeleteTo be fair, many companies can have things like this slip past, I try not to hold it against them unless they don't replace it in an orderly fashion. If they slip up here, then they can expect my full internet rage, but until then I try to be patient with them. Please understand this comes from someone who has ne great love of GW or their 'fine'cast range.
ReplyDeleteYou are more charitable than me Derek.
DeleteI had a Marauder Destroyer once that arrived with the same cockpit canopy "missing". But then I found that it wasn't missing, it had been pulverized into (mostly) dust in the trip across the pond. I only realized this when I found some 'debris' with rivets. They happily sent me another canopy, but couldn't they have just packed the first one better?
ReplyDeleteThat's a veiled 'why' question.
DeleteThat's pretty poor even by their standards. My only Forge World purchases were from their Aeronautica Imperialis Range, bit even at that scale there was an alarming level of miscasts, warping and, to be honest, downright poor quality resin. By comparison I had a fair few models from Old Crow when they were trading and got barely a bubble.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I buy cheap items from a cheap and cheerful provider that are better quality than Forge World at 10% of the price. It seems to be part of a general contempt for the customer.
DeleteSo they didnt even ring up customer service, instead whined on the internet first?
ReplyDeleteThank you for that Ian. When you have paid for a product you are entitled to comment on it. I do not consider that 'whining'.
DeleteI was at Gencon this summer. I overheard a customer telling the man who was running FW's booth that the tank he bought was warped. A 2nd employee had checked their stock and said it was warped also.
ReplyDeleteThe booth manager then told the customer "this was caused by removing the part from the mold while it was still warm. The worker pinched the part with his fingers as he was pulling it out and caused it to warp." The manager then explained the hot water repair method to the customer. I did not hear the customer's response. I was shocked that the manager basically admitted to shoddy workmanship.