I always see threads about how awesome FFGs customer support is. Well here is my story of how that doesn't always seem to be true. I recently contacted FFG for a friend as his recently purchased Rebel Transport was missing its engines. He discovered this before even opening the package so we took a couple of photos and I promised to do all the mail contact as he doesn't have internet of his own. Here is what I wrote to FFG:

'Hi there

I'm writing this for a friend that do not have Internet of his own.

You see, he recently bought a Rebel Transport only to discover that the ship was not quite as complete as one could have hoped for. Before even opening the package he discovered that the ship was missing its engines. While this certainly doesn't stop him from using the ship, it is a bit of a bummer.

Now I have only heard good things about your customer support, but I don't know if that stretches outside of the US, as I (and my friend) lives in Sweden. How do we go about to solve this?'

The response came a couple of days later:

At Fantasy Flight Games, we are committed to the quality of our games and components and want to help you replace defective materials. In the case of defects in your huge X-Wing starship miniature, the best and quickest solution is to return the product to the retailer from which you purchased it in order to get a replacement or monetary refund. Please note that this refers only to the huge starship miniature itself. We will still cover the replacement of any cards, punchboard, and smaller plastic components (e.g. the turrets and satellite on the Tantive IV™ and the alternate paint scheme X-Wing miniature from the Rebel Transport Expansion Pack). If your retailer has any questions or is unaware of our refund policy for this product, please ask them to contact their distributor. Please contact us directly if you have any further questions or concerns. Thank you.

Now I'm not saying that FFGs customer support is bad because of this but I must admit to being disappointed. An answer that has been cut and pasted from a standardised answer sheet was not what I was expecting. Of course my expectations might have been too high, possibly due to everyone else praising them so much.

Anyway we decided this was way too much of a hassle to deal with. To begin with, I don't think the ship was purchased from a domestic store which would complicate things a bit and that is assuming the retailer know how to deal with their distributor. All in all, not a very big deal since the ship is useable but it is a bit of a bummer.

FFG is pretty good about replacing stuff, but I've never heard of them replacing a model the size of the CR-90.

So it makes sense that they'd ask him to take it back to the retailer for a replacement, and the retailer can send it back to FFG for a replacement unit.

That seems odd, but it must be an arrangement they have with retailers regarding the large ships (maybe FFG doesn't keep their own stock of the large ships?)

Not trying to make excuses for them, but that seems to be the reason since they did mention that had the x-wing that came with transport been damaged, they would have sent a replacement. Must literally be a stocking location thing.

Good information to know, I have a Tantive coming in the mail.

They're unlikely to replace an entire Tantive IV or Rebel Transport. They replace little components but you're not going to get a whole ship off of them.

What were you expecting? I think they definitely offered the most reasonable and quickest solution. Take it back to the store as defective and get another one. Also - aren't there international manufacturers / distributors and if so, then certainly it should be taken up with them first.

He was expecting them to send out another Transport. I think it says a lot for FFG, that somebody would even entertain that notion. I look at that as a positive.

I understand why his friend doesn't want the hassle of mailing the ship back to the retailer and waiting for a new one. Sucks to be all amped up to use it and then be without it. However I don't think FFGs answer or service was bad, just didn't live up to the sky high expectations he had.

FFG is pretty good about replacing stuff, but I've never heard of them replacing a model the size of the CR-90.

So it makes sense that they'd ask him to take it back to the retailer for a replacement, and the retailer can send it back to FFG for a replacement unit.

I've heard of plenty of people who got huge ships replaced.

What were you expecting? I think they definitely offered the most reasonable and quickest solution. Take it back to the store as defective and get another one. Also - aren't there international manufacturers / distributors and if so, then certainly it should be taken up with them first.

As I stated in above, it's not as easy as just bringing it back to the store as the store might be in another country. Even if it isn't, Sweden is a long country and me and my friend happen to live in the northern, sparsely populated part. Just about everything needs to be bought by mail order.

Hey Macross,

It's not FFG who have the responsibility here, it's the seller.

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/shopping/shopping-abroad/guarantees/index_en.htm

If the box was unopened simply returning to the shop should get at least a replacement. You said this might be awkward as it wasn't in country. But these rules apply across all the EU states. If I have a problem with something bought from Sweden then I can still return it (UK resident). Applies to online or physical. Click the link halfway down that page which will give info on cross border purchases.

You may have just found the best advert for the FLGS.

I just saw the bit about mail order. If it was done online, you can return it no questions asked , I think within 14 days.

Here's the link

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/shopping/shopping-abroad/returning-unwanted-goods/index_en.htm

Yeah, I get that it was mail order. You can't ship it back? That's what I was wondering. It just felt like even more of the Derpfender kind of fussing about FFG not rolling out the red carpet to fix things that aren't their fault. I don't mean to sound as attacking or self-righteous as it probably comes off in text so apologies in advance! - mainly just trying to clarify the original idea behind my question. :) <--- see all the smileys? Not trying to be a jerk. Another one for good measure:

Send it back to the store from where it was purchased?.. or was it one of those ebay overnight pop up stores??. I once ordered a 1/32 scale F-15 and discover the canopy was missing. Rather than pay to ship the whole rather big box back they refunded everything. So now I am always browsing ebay for a 1/32 F -15c canopy.l.

Don't worry Nathankc, I didn't think you were a jerk, though possibly not understanding the whole situation. Apparently you did understand. And yes, we could have shipped it back but we decided to see the FFG response first. When we got the response we decided to just say 'eff it and not bother. After all it's just a missing piece and since both he and I are modellers and painters we could most likely botch something together if we wish to.

FFG is pretty good about replacing stuff, but I've never heard of them replacing a model the size of the CR-90.

So it makes sense that they'd ask him to take it back to the retailer for a replacement, and the retailer can send it back to FFG for a replacement unit.

Yeah that is the best way for FFG to handle it, for these huge models.

They are honoring the purchase but doing it in a smart way that will not bankrupt them.

FFG is pretty good about replacing stuff, but I've never heard of them replacing a model the size of the CR-90.

So it makes sense that they'd ask him to take it back to the retailer for a replacement, and the retailer can send it back to FFG for a replacement unit.

Yeah that is the best way for FFG to handle it, for these huge models.

They are honoring the purchase but doing it in a smart way that will not bankrupt them.

Hey Joe,

I'm guessing you're US, trying to remember what the USA rules are from when I was over there, but can't remember taking anything back. :-)

But in Europe, as per that website link, it's the seller who has the responsibility to sort out any problems. So it's not so much a smart way, as the legal way :-)

They're unlikely to replace an entire Tantive IV or Rebel Transport. They replace little components but you're not going to get a whole ship off of them.

Actually they will, when I sent them pics of my transport with the engine parts that fell off in the box, they offered to replace it if I sent it to them. I said I was just informing them for quality purposes, as I had aready fix the poblem myself..

I think they may have figured your friend had bought it locally and that the best option was to return it to that place. Maybe if they had known it was an online purchase they would have responded differently. Has your friend contacted the company, I'm sure they would swap the whole thing out for you.. though that may not be easy for you, it might be an option.

FFG is pretty good about replacing stuff, but I've never heard of them replacing a model the size of the CR-90.

So it makes sense that they'd ask him to take it back to the retailer for a replacement, and the retailer can send it back to FFG for a replacement unit.

Yeah that is the best way for FFG to handle it, for these huge models.

They are honoring the purchase but doing it in a smart way that will not bankrupt them.

Hey Joe,

I'm guessing you're US, trying to remember what the USA rules are from when I was over there, but can't remember taking anything back. :-)

But in Europe, as per that website link, it's the seller who has the responsibility to sort out any problems. So it's not so much a smart way, as the legal way :-)

Yeah I am. I do feel for some of the guys that are in other places, I read that some of them have odd issues to deal with that we here do not.

In my case shipping is equal to or more than the cost of a huge ship, so, I'd be out of luck if I received a defective ship

The pertinent question is why would a retailer mail out an obviously defective product?

The Tantive box is transparent and a cursory glance is all that's required to verify that the model has all of the engines in place. The retailer has provided poor customer service - not FFG.

Something like that would never happen if the box was purchased from the shelf of a FLGS...

The pertinent question is why would a retailer mail out an obviously defective product?

If it is one of the big sellers with automated warehouses hardly anyone will look at it. And indeed, this is an example why it sometimes is worth paying a little more supporting your local game store. I think they were pretty clear at FFG when sending out the first transports that, unlike the smaller expansions, they wouldnt ship out a new ship without getting the broken one back. Make sense even. For orders outside the US they understand that it's easier to just go to the shop where you bought it. So I would definitely not consider this bad customer support at all, even though it is an inconvenience for your friend. I do hope they made the new batch of transports a bit sturdier, because the engine breaking of is something i see coming back a lot.

If the shop sold you faulty or damaged goods it's their responsibility to replace it, they bought it from ffg for less than they sold it to you if ffg sends you another one they are out the money but the store gets to keep its profit.

I worked in argos a catalogue store here in the UK so I'm pretty familiar with the law, as long as the damage isn't a result of your actions the retailers obligated to either replace or refund.

Ffg don't sell individual components and they recognize people don't want to buy a new expansion just for a dial or stand so it's good sense to replace bits, but if it's a whole set it makes business sense to have it returned through retail channels.

Also last I knew they are out of stock of the epic stuff it could be they can't replace it even if they wanted to so getting the store to do the replacement is the only realistic option.

Don't let the place you bought it from fob you off take pictures and explain it arrived in an unsatisfactory state, if they don't respond within a fortnight send another e-mail informing them your lodging a complaint to the authorities, here in the UK they slap a £300 fine before they even start an investigation and if your complaints found to have Merritt the fines can be severe so they'll do a replacement just to avoid the hassle.

FFG's response is about what I would have expected, given you are halfway round the world from them. I imagine I would have similar issues here in New Zealand. Under New Zealand retail legislation, if the product is faulty, it's up to the vendor to put it right with either a repair, replacement or refund - in that order. Clearly a repair wasn't an option, so replacement or refund are the only two alternatives. If it was purchased by mail order, it should be up to the vendor to cover costs to ship it back to them and send a replacement at no charge. You paid for a quality model and deserve to get one. You shouldn't be charged any extra for someone else's screw up.

You shouldn't really have to deal with FFG directly. They have worldwide distributors, that sell to the stores. Just chase it back up the chain. It's clearly a faulty model, so I imagine there won't be a problem.

It's a colossal model. A buddy of mine had to return his because the engines were falling off. The retailer was able to send it in to FFG and get a replacement sent out to cover his losses, but due to the size of the thing, FFG isn't going to send one to an individual. They replace everything else no questions asked, even other stuff from the same expansion. So far the only things they won't replace are the transport and tantive. That's pretty good for a pre-painted miniatures game with fragile plastic minis

When i had that dog related damage to my tantive and some small ships FFG were brilliant in replacing everything except the Tantive, they said at the time they didnt have any stock of it.

I totally believe that and i was just overjoyed they could help in any way.