"The email was sent to the address listed on your website.
support@northmencollectibles.ca"
This was already answered to him via email however for anyone else wondering the support email went out of service when the support ticket system went online. An auto-response email goes out to everyone that sends an email to support@ with information on how to proceed and that the email won't be answered. He is right though in that it shouldn't be listed on the site, definitely an oversight, and I'll have that changed as soon as I find out where it is listed.
"In this case Northmen hasn't gone out it its way to find it somewhere else."
As previously stated these items haven't shipped at all to Diamond yet. Contrary to what some people might think I do track delayed items. I just can't provide any updates until I'm given something to update. So I'm not going to go and find them somewhere else only to have my case of 24 arrive at diamond a week later. It hasn't hit that point yet.
"I expect a full refund due to the unreasonable amount of time the order has taken"
I've stated multiple times that this isn't going to happen. I'm not voiding my policy simply because someone makes a fuss versus someone that doesn't.
"I do not want to shop your store again."
Furthermore, why in the world would I go out of my way to void my policy for you at the expense of customers who I did not do this with when you literally just told me I'm never getting your business again?
"I'm not here to exploit your take advantage. I and my friends have been extraordinarily patient."
No one said you were. But people abusing my policies is exactly why they had to change. There is no way to pre-emptively know who will and will not abuse a policy. Thus the policy changes and needs to be enforced. Imagine you're someone who paid a 15% cancellation fee and didn't complain, didn't make a fuss, didn't say shit. Then you find out that someone else in the same situation as you were in was refunded the 15% because they made a fuss? I'd be furious if that happened to me.
"If diamond routinely sucks at this kind of thing, I mean this sincerely, perhaps it's just not something you need to be offering. I don't know for sure."
This isn't a Diamond problem, it's a Hasbro problem. As for not offering Hasbro product anymore I have plenty of customers who are thankful that I am able to put up pre-orders for the stuff they want at a fair prices so that they don't have to go hunting around for it. You might not believe this but you're the anomaly here. Your response and reaction to this situation is a rarity. The rest of my customers are HAPPY I'm offering these products. So I appreciate your feedback but I will continue to offer Hasbro products so long as the vast majority of my customers continue to have no problem placing orders for them.
"For an overworked one man show, this guy sure has plenty of time to write long winded e-mails and crack back on every one of his low star reviews on Google. That and he's not open weekends? Very telling..."
No, writing that post at almost 1am last night wasn't ideal and instead of winding down for the night I had to keep working but these explanations are useful to people who appreciate them, which obviously you aren't one of. Btw you want to know why I even saw your email that late? I was working from home answering customer inquiries.
The store isn't physically opened on weekends because the building is closed on weekends. Nothing I can do about it. I'm not going to pay double in rent for a space that's opened on weekends. My landlords here are amazing and it's a great space for the price. Furthermore, yes, I am allowed to take days off. Not only am I allowed to take days off but it's just unhealthy not to, I'm not going to sacrifice my physical and mental health just to get a few orders out faster.
"haha got sidetracked reading all the negative google reviews, thanks a lot zenith"
It's funny to me whenever someone brings up negative reviews that they completely ignore the even larger number of 5 star positive reviews complimenting me on my customer service.
"End of the day, you're stealing from me. You stole 28 bucks, dude. Is that worth the bad word of mouth?"
Stealing from you? Really? I'm stealing from you because you did not educate yourself regarding the store's policies prior to placing the order? Incredible. Yes 28$ is worth the bad word of mouth considering the context behind it. You know what would be even worse? Having the number of people who have willingly paid the fee without complaint find out all they have to do is make a fuss and post online somewhere bad mouthing me to have me void my policy. I'll take this outcome any day over that one.
"If it is, maybe get out of the preorder business or find a different solution. Cos if you're running into THIS many issues with customers and preorders on a regular basis you have to institute a wild 15% cancellation fee that is unique to your store and far from the norm, I dunno."
Yeah, I'm going to pass on that little nugget of wisdom considering there are far more people out there perfectly happy to pre-order from me under these circumstances than those like you who are not. Not to mention the fact that instituting the policy solved the vast majority of the issues I was dealing with so it was obviously the right move to make. I'm having absolutely no problem continuing to sell Hasbro product even with all of the issues they cause me. Instituting the 15% cancellation fee got rid of 95% of the business I don't want and has maintained a great group of return customers that are a joy to deal with. Furthermore, there are plenty of other online specialty shops that have a cancellation fees, that take non-refundable deposits, or that don't allow for cancellations or returns at all. There are actually quite a few stores that have a "no cancellations" policy, at least I still offer the option albeit with a fee attached to it. The Silver Snail (largest comic shop in Canada) has a strict no returns policy. You can't buy something there, then go back a few days later and return it because you changed your mind.
"So there may be other avenues to pursue if he insists on charging the cancellation fee. If you have time, I'm sure you could follow up with the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Protection to see what your rights are."
This is regarding the delivery of product, not pre-orders. This is to protect consumers from placing an order for a product and the store not shipping it out for weeks. There are no delivery dates provided. The only date provided is an "estimated arrival" date which is just an estimate. I mean you can try contacting the ministry of consumer protection but it is within my right as a business to charge a 15% fee on cancellations. Contrary to what is being argued here I make exceptions to this policy regarding problem items all the time which has recently occurred with the TMNT Batman Mikey and Marvel Legends Mysterio. As Diamond has yet to receive their shipment yet, I haven't been notified of any issues by them, and the items have not been cancelled, I am not willing to void the fee for these items.
At this point I've covered the pertinent points. If anyone reading these posts has any questions for me please feel free to email
info@northmencollectibles.ca and I'll try and respond as soon as I can. I'm passionate about this stuff and I always like chatting about toys. I won't be visiting this thread beyond this response though, so please if you have any further comments/inquiries send them via email.
