Roman Arm Swap -- Turning into a sort of fiasco

[Timotheos]

Hi
As you may know:
During the Autumn of 2007, PM ran out of Roman embossed ("injected") arms and released Roman sets in which the male soldiers had female-style, painted arms instead.

Jaimie Jo (Jahme88) on Playmoboard, after much back-and-forth, persuaded PM USA to agree to a swap.

My problem was limited to my trireme, the five figures of which came with incorrect arms.  After receiving the go-ahead from Anthony, a Playmobil rep, I mailed my five klickies to the provided address on 14 Feb.

14 Mar I received my exchange (refer to photos).

I received
1) three correctly exchanged figures
2) one modern sailor (?)(at least he's maritime: re Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court)
3) and a suggestion that I "re-order" the missing fifth figure.

In summary, I mailed five guys, and lost one in the process, plus received an inappropriate (albeit amusing) klicky.

Jaimie Jo fared even worse, receiving back 5 of her original 9, and a suggestion she re-order the appropriated 4.

We weren't given vouchers or assurances the missing klickies would be mailed later.

PM USA simply ate them and forgot about it.

-Tim

[playmofire]

Maybe the next step should be a letter of complaint to Playmobil in Germany both about the problem arms and the disgusting service from Playmobil USA.

[Indianna]

I agree with Gordon - this is really bad customer service.   

On the few occasions in the past that I have had a problem with an item from a newly purchased set (an angel with mal-formed wings and a reindeer with no antlers, to name two that I can remember right now) or pieces that were missing altogether, I have had excellent service from Playmobil USA.  They sent the replacement parts immediately by first class mail with no questions asked and did not expect me to return the defective items to them. 

Tim, your bad experience (and Jaimie Jo's, too) is unacceptable!  I hope you will ultimately receive the correct figures and you deserve a nice bonus from them as well, IMHO. 

- Anne

[Richard]

Hello, Timmy ...

We weren't given vouchers or assurances the missing klickies would be mailed later. PM USA simply ate them and forgot about it.

As I replied on another TOPIC, "Playmobil USA has zero autonomy!"

Playmobil USA's DS gets whatever Zirndorf decides to send them. The US DS probably sent you what they had in stock (which obviously wasn't much). Over the years, I have found the folks at the US DS to be very responsive and helpful. I would be very surprised if they don't send everyone their proper replacements if and when they receive them from Playmobil Deutschland. (However, I wouldn't hesitate to continue to remind them. And, I would definitely send a barrage of email messages to Zirndorf!)

All the best,
Richard

[playmofire]

Hello, Timmy ...

As I replied on another TOPIC, "Playmobil USA has zero autonomy!"

Playmobil USA's DS gets whatever Zirndorf decides to send them. The US DS probably sent you what they had in stock (which obviously wasn't much). Over the years, I have found the folks at the US DS to be very responsive and helpful. I would be very surprised if they don't send everyone their proper replacements if and when they receive them from Playmobil Deutschland. (However, I wouldn't hesitate to continue to remind them. And, I would definitely send a barrage of email messages to Zirndorf!)

All the best,
Richard

Some explanation of what was happening would have helped though.

[Richard]

Hello, Gordon ...

Some explanation of what was happening would have helped though.

You are absolutely correct! An explanation would have helped. I'm sure that you'll agree, that it's probably not very good form to tell the customer that your superiors are the ones at fault. (Especially, if you want to keep your job.) ...

[playmofire]

Hello, Gordon ...

You are absolutely correct! An explanation would have helped. I'm sure that you'll agree, that it's probably not very good form to tell the customer that your superiors are the ones at fault. (Especially, if you want to keep your job.) ...

Ah, the problems of communicating by writing!  I meant in the sense of saying that when the proper parts were available, they would be sent.

[Timotheos]

Ah, the problems of communicating by writing!  I meant in the sense of saying that when the proper parts were available, they would be sent.

I'm sending the rep whose email address I have a brief explanation.  Since my shipping slip lists both the incorrect item I received and the missing item ("please re-order") hopefully this will be easy to sort out with a second mailing.

To confirm your comment, Playmofire:

The packing slip tells me to "please re-order later", giving the impression there is no back-ordering.
==============================
I understand PM USA is constrained by Zirndorff, yet at the same the issue is less with Zirndorff than with PM USA's diplomacy.  Jamie Jo had to undergo a few rounds of re-stating her case to get PM USA to accept the arm exchange in the first place.

On the other hand, we may still be the lucky ones.  A board member in Singapore was flat-out told no to the exchange by his region's subsidiary. 

Granted, it all seems a little trivial this business over shoulders.

And yet... it's like getting a Mona Lisa with a painted mustache...  "C'mon, it's just a tiny mustache."  "But, it's the first place my eyes go whenever I look at it!"
-Tim




-Tim

[Indianna]

   Another thought - though it is probably too late now for Tim & Jaimie Jo - if people who buy these sets would return them to the store with the complaint that the contents don't match the box, then Playmobil would also be dealing with unhappy retailers. 

[Martin Milner]

Very unfortunate situation, which if Playmobil US do not resolve to Tim & Jaimie's satisfaction very soon will only result in a bad taste in the mouth all round.

I agree with Indianna, maybe returning the whole box to the retailer and getting a refund would have been easier, but I understand people were reluctant to do that and have no Romans, especially when it was just one figure in the set as happened with someone's trireme.

It's annoying to see the Roman arm mould being used for other figures like pirates, but not for Romans, because Playmobil misjudged their stocks and ordering.