Quote:
Originally Posted by FreedomGundam
I don't want to doubt any sincere actions from the new owners, but my question is: if the new owners were already concerned about the image that A3U had with its customers in the closing months of its business under Spencer, why does the new management open up the store under the same name? Why not have it a fresh start entirely under a different name, different banner? As it stands, A3U had left a bitter taste in many fans' mouths, and keeping the new business with the same old name is not really helping anything...
(On a side note, though, I must point out that, other that just having a very delayed order last year near the closing months (ordered in Feb/Mar, got my order in October), I didn't end up losing anything due to the delays nor did I receive bad service... in fact, Spencer was extremely helpful when my delayed package was missing one item from my order)
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Thanks for the input on the name stuff. This was one of the hardest parts moving forward to decide on.
See the problem was 2 fold. Whereas Ages when ran by Spencer really upset the customers on closing, at the time of purchase, everyone that I had spoken to in Vancouver had good things to say about the retail store and wished it was still around. I read about the online stuff too and did see a mixed feeling about how he handled things. It was a lot to digest for me.
But the fact remained. I had 2 choices... start a name of my own in an industry where I've been more of a collector and have no real branding or use a brand that people here locally already associate with transformers. I based most of the decision on what kind of products the name was related to more than some of the bad press that it received.
Both would have been a tough challenge. Gaining confidence as a new guy on the block especially doing the retail stuff or trying to salvage a tainted one. It was tough. But after a lot of feedback, it really seemed a lot of people were still more fans of Ages then the bad press had ruined.
And that's the problem, reading through everything a lot of bad press really just came from a handful of people in comparison to all who have shopped there over the years (Ages has been around for around 5 years... I'm starting to get some customers that haven't even shopped with them during all of this and have rediscovered us). I guess because Spencer had already let go of his interest in the business, he just never bothered to correct some of those complaints properly at closing.
Sucks too, cause I know myself when I read any bad press, it goes a long way no matter how little of an indication it is. And after a year hiatus, it's been left to evolve into things that aren't even true.
Up until this post, I was said to not have been a real person by people that have never even met me, my crew or tried to substantiate any of the claims. Everything was speculative at first and then all of a sudden, I was not even a real human being, just a figment of Spencers imagination... lol
It's definitely been some interesting choices. But in May 2009 when I did restock the online store... we sold quite a few items and were able to get some good feedback on our service. It's just been harder for me from a perspective of how do I turn a store that sold everything to just carrying transformers products and also finding the latest stuff at good prices so that I could pass on the good pricing to customers was a challenge.
The retail store is doing well now too with good rotation, so I think people realize that I'm just here to move forward and get things in good shape and most importantly keep those shelves stocked with good product. Leave the past behind kinda thing.
But like I said I pass no judgement on the people that are saying bad things, cause maybe that was their experience... can't take that away from them. Nor can I pass judgement on Spencer, cause when speaking to him, he was very candid about what he did and didn't do for his customers.
