Just bought imperial royal guards. Extra top, no bottom for one of them. Gotta go back to the game store. Get the, to order a new one. This will be fun and not at all annoying. It certifiably won't mean I cannot get them on the table for who knows how long. Certainly not a bitter customer who hates the new policy.

LOVE IT!!!

1 hour ago, allistorpreist said:

Just bought imperial royal guards. Extra top, no bottom for one of them. Gotta go back to the game store. Get the, to order a new one. This will be fun and not at all annoying. It certifiably won't mean I cannot get them on the table for who knows how long. Certainly not a bitter customer who hates the new policy.

LOVE IT!!!

But...but... Asmodee said it would be "a better experience". They wouldn't lie would they?!!

21 minutes ago, 54NCH32 said:

But...but... Asmodee said it would be "a better experience". They wouldn't lie would they?!!

Yes, but did they say for whom?

I look forward to when I can finally buy a Death Troopers expansion... I won't lie, I'll buy 3 , if I can find them.

Anyway, I look forward to opening my Death Troopers expansion and finding a missing helmet, like what happened in one of my Imperial Scout Troopers expansions; or a missing arm or leg. Then taking it back to my LGS and explaining the situation to the delightful hipster and nerd retail clerks who are living their dream of combining their hobby with their workplace, for minimum wage. I'm sure they'll be very understanding and won't mind granting me an exception to the store's official policy:

Quote

MISSING PIECES

If a game you purchased from us has missing or damaged components, please contact the game's publisher for replacements. Most publishers have a contact page and will be able to ship you replacement pieces free of charge.

Yeah ... that will go great. Thanks , Asmodee! 🖕

Aside from pissing almost every one off (except for those Polly Anna’s who think everything is always fine), I wonder how many people will be driven away from FFG merch. It usually only takes 1 bad experience for most consumers to go elsewhere.

The policy seems to me to be a bad idea. On the one occasion so far that I had a missing piece it was no hassle at all to use the online form to get a replacement. Great customer service, and has been rewarded by me buying pretty much one of every kit release so far for SWL in the GCW era stuff.

Now i'm looking at my collection and thinking 'yep, i'm done, don't really NEED any more stuff'.

Time will tell if it hits the bottom line enough for the bean counters to revert back to great customer service.

Yes, Asmodee's new returns policy has instantly destroyed the goodwill FFG established with us loyal fans thanks to their wonderful customer service.

It seems incredibly foolish and short-sighted to completely abandon the replacement parts program, instead of simply reforming it to curtail abuse.

I mean, most of the time FFG didn't even require me to include my receipt or a photo of the Proof of Purchase token. A photo of the damaged part, or the other components without the missing one, was enough. The only time customer service ever asked for my receipt was late 2019 for the last replacement request that I submitted. I assume it was because Asmodee announced internally that they were discontinuing the replacement parts policy and instructed customer service to cut back on fulfillment of replacement requests.

Anyway, my point above was that Asmodee could have tightened up the requirements for proof of purchase and I imagine that would've cut down on abuse.

Returning to my anecdote: I wonder if Asmodee fired the customer service staff before the returns policy change was announced. Because my last request wasn't fulfilled, despite a personalized notation on my Request page that said it was approved and the status was changed to Processing. That was in December and it was never updated. I didn't receive responses from custom service to my emails inquiring about it either.

There was the announcement last month about FFG laying off entire departments, so it's possible customer service was a casualty of those cuts. That's a real shame because FFG provided the highest customer satisfaction of any company that I've dealt with. And normally I hate all corporations on general principle, so it's unusual for me to sing any company's praises. FFG was exceptional.

11 minutes ago, Reavern said:

Yes, Asmodee's new returns policy has instantly destroyed the goodwill FFG established with us loyal fans thanks to their wonderful customer service.

It seems incredibly foolish and short-sighted to completely abandon the replacement parts program, instead of simply reforming it to curtail abuse.

I mean, most of the time FFG didn't even require me to include my receipt or a photo of the Proof of Purchase token. A photo of the damaged part, or the other components without the missing one, was enough. The only time customer service ever asked for my receipt was late 2019 for the last replacement request that I submitted. I assume it was because Asmodee announced internally that they were discontinuing the replacement parts policy and instructed customer service to cut back on fulfillment of replacement requests.

Or perhaps Asmodee fired the customer service staff -- my last request wasn't fulfilled, despite a personalized notation on the Request page that said it was approved and the status was changed to Processing. That was in December and it was never updated. I didn't receive responses from custom service to my emails inquiring about it either.

There was the announcement last month about FFG laying off entire departments, so it's possible customer service was a casualty of those cuts. That's a real shame because FFG provided the highest customer satisfaction of any company I've dealt with.

For what it’s worth, replacement parts staff wouldn’t be FFG employees or their department.

I am in real in trouble. I’ve bought one box of everything since day one. I’ve bought them from many different online retailers. So the figures I don’t need yet have never been opened. I’ve been lucky so far and never had a missing part. But I guess when I do find a problem, I’m screwed.

I believe rumour has it that there were groups of people reporting that they were missing x part , while another in the group was missing Y and they were building full units of it so while I can understand the viewpoint that this is Asmodee. I appreciate that this hurts the goodwill FFG has built up with the fans, but it would appear that FFG/Asmodee has lost any goodwill the fans built with them and if the rumour is true you can understand the response and I'm personally put out by the new rule because I have a dooku missing his small arm and a Dewback with the wrong base and without the saddle pommel.

4 hours ago, Empire On Ice said:

Now i'm looking at my collection and thinking 'yep, i'm done, don't really NEED any more stuff'.

I had been buying a bunch, but now I have a huge backlog I’d have to pick up to get everything: I still came to the same conclusion. I don’t NEED anything else. I just enjoy painting them all up and I may want some things, but is it worth the risk? I don’t know that it is.

5 hours ago, JediPartisan said:

Aside from pissing almost every one off (except for those Polly Anna’s who think everything is always fine), I wonder how many people will be driven away from FFG merch. It usually only takes 1 bad experience for most consumers to go elsewhere.

I’ve seen multiple forum people say they’re done. Others like me are half done: I’m not bothering to pick up all the soft plastic minis I wanted (would have added up eventually.... I still have two heavies I don’t own, plus all the rogue one content, and I only have one of the new trooper upgrade boxes and I wanted the others).

Because of the nature of sprues, I am gambling it is statistically less likely to have an issue. It’ll probably only take one customer service nightmare for me to be done, but I am going to try and go for the sprue packs and hope for the best. My “queue” is the escape pod and some upcoming packs: Cassian, Padme, some ARCs, and the assets pack. I might look at Iden, but Cassian means more to me as a character while Iden is more “hey look I can field a tie pilot with a sniper rifle”. I don’t do the roger rogers; and I don’t have any keen interest in the Phase 2s yet.

I want to see how the republic tank is boxed first before thinking about that big a risk: if it’s sprue great, but if it’s like the bunker where it’s the plastic but in bags still? That’s risky business with CS the way it is.

It's sad but true that there's seemingly no fringe hobbies you can do today that won't make rich corporate meanies richer. Back when I was a kid a lot of gaming companies were underground little publishers, today they're all big corporations. You used to buy indie records, now you get indie tracks off iTunes and Apple gets a cut. Etc. etc. etc.

58 minutes ago, ScummyRebel said:

Because of the nature of sprues, I am gambling it is statistically less likely to have an issue.

I dont think so and the problem even gets harder. It's easy to miss an entire sprue, it already happened to me since the new policy to a marvel crisis protocol sprue. No Thor in my box. But proving you do not have a part is a lot harder when you miss an entire figure

6 hours ago, syrath said:

I believe rumour has it that there were groups of people reporting that they were missing x part , while another in the group was missing Y and they were building full units of it so while I can understand the viewpoint that this is Asmodee. I appreciate that this hurts the goodwill FFG has built up with the fans, but it would appear that FFG/Asmodee has lost any goodwill the fans built with them and if the rumour is true you can understand the response and I'm personally put out by the new rule because I have a dooku missing his small arm and a Dewback with the wrong base and without the saddle pommel.

It has nothing to do with that (true or not). They just don’t want to pay people and dedicate space to replace parts.

1 hour ago, NeverTellMeTheOdds said:

It has nothing to do with that (true or not). They just don’t want to pay people and dedicate space to replace parts.

Quite possibly I'm just repeating a rumour I heard.

8 hours ago, TauntaunScout said:

It's sad but true that there's seemingly no fringe hobbies you can do today that won't make rich corporate meanies richer. Back when I was a kid a lot of gaming companies were underground little publishers, today they're all big corporations. You used to buy indie records, now you get indie tracks off iTunes and Apple gets a cut. Etc. etc. etc.

Made a similar observation the other day with my local rp gaming group. As soon as investors are calling the shots, gaming companies are in some trouble. Most - baring literally a handful - games just dont have the profitability margins investors look for. Sad times.

This discussion was off the news that FFG's rpg dept wont even be using freelance workers to fully produce games. Its completely gone.

On 2/23/2020 at 8:40 AM, sigidi said:

I dont think so and the problem even gets harder. It's easy to miss an entire sprue, it already happened to me since the new policy to a marvel crisis protocol sprue. No Thor in my box. But proving you do not have a part is a lot harder when you miss an entire figure

The proof is the same and has the same difficulty of proof: it does not exist in your possession. Showing a photo of a mini missing a part just shows you have a partially completed miniature, not that the part wasn't in the initial box. Same goes for a missing miniature. Proving that something isn't there is innately harder than showing that something was misprinted/damaged in transit.

Just buy three of everything from now, loot parts as need to make a complete item, on and sell the spare parts on eBay to the poor womprats that didn't plan ahead. Entrepreneurial spirit for the win!

8 minutes ago, TauntaunScout said:

Just buy three of everything from now, loot parts as need to make a complete item, on and sell the spare parts on eBay to the poor womprats that didn't plan ahead. Entrepreneurial spirit for the win!

Alternately, use conversion and 3D printers to assemble complete kits when possible.

16 minutes ago, Caimheul1313 said:

The proof is the same and has the same difficulty of proof: it does not exist in your possession. Showing a photo of a mini missing a part just shows you have a partially completed miniature, not that the part wasn't in the initial box. Same goes for a missing miniature. Proving that something isn't there is innately harder than showing that something was misprinted/damaged in transit.

I play the games of over a dozen companies. Parts replacement is a huge part of customer service for all of them and honestly, the ones worth buying from have an incredibly low burden of proof. Most of the time if they're asking for a picture, its because they want to make sure they understand the part you're describing and will send you far more than you asked for to make sure you get what you need. Any abuses in the system are paltry to what's gained by having a good relationship with your customers and retailers. It's all pretty baffling, particularly at a time in which distribution is failing the industry.

10 minutes ago, LunarSol said:

Any abuses in the system are paltry to what's gained by having a good relationship with your customers and retailers. It's all pretty baffling, particularly at a time in which distribution is failing the industry.

I jut got a copy of Shards of Arathalon by Dungeons & Dragons Inc . It was missing the 3 kobold warriors. When I complained they sent me 6 orcs and 3 duregar. When I complained again they sent me the 3 kobolds. Honestly, the postage and time cost more than the plastic to them. My guess is, FFG (or whoever's in charge) wants to lay off 90% of the customer service employees. Or cut their hours if it's handled by folks who wear many hats.

12 minutes ago, LunarSol said:

It's all pretty baffling, particularly at a time in which distribution is failing the industry.

If I might posit an explanation: Give it a few months, but business headline "Private Equity firm PAI Partners seeks buyer for games publisher Asmodee."

Seems likely, they are shedding everything that impacts bottom line.

6 minutes ago, Jedirev said:

Seems likely, they are shedding everything that impacts bottom line.

Including customers.

33 minutes ago, LunarSol said:

I play the games of over a dozen companies. Parts replacement is a huge part of customer service for all of them and honestly, the ones worth buying from have an incredibly low burden of proof. Most of the time if they're asking for a picture, its because they want to make sure they understand the part you're describing and will send you far more than you asked for to make sure you get what you need. Any abuses in the system are paltry to what's gained by having a good relationship with your customers and retailers. It's all pretty baffling, particularly at a time in which distribution is failing the industry.

I agree with you completely, my post was just to highlight that it isn't "easier" to prove a missing part than it is a missing sprue/miniature.

The markup SHOULD be sufficient to absorb the relatively minor losses of both replacing misspacks/miscasts and fraud. Even after paying licensing fees.

Plus it should be fairly obvious when someone starts abusing the system due to the shipping address showing up A LOT.

So you catch people abusing the system and your response is to punish the paying customers? This feels a bit like Electronic Arts and their DRM fiascoes of the past.

Here's to hoping that the sprue system will greatly reduce their missing parts issues. Legion was the first FFG game I purchased that had missing parts (a core set). My guess is it had to deal with their cutting and bagging of parts which is going to have a much shorter mean to time to failure.