The Transformers VENTING Thread

[canprime]

Originally Posted by ssjgoku22

Yeah, it was pretty dumb for TRU to put new inventory on the website at like midnight. Granted, by sheer dumb luck of checking this forum right before midnight, I was able to order a Thrust. Still, really ridiculous way of doing business. I feel your pain. Netflix Bumblebee I feel has been the worst culprit for being understocked (even moreso than Soundwave).

You're welcome 😀

Seriously though distribution has become a real issue. Now I give them all a bit of leeway with Covid, but definitely the heavy use of exclusives is taking it's toll on my enjoyment of collecting.

Really it is just the exclusives because if we are honest, wave 1 & 2 of the main lines are never really hard to acquire. Later waves can be tougher.

[The Nemesis]

The stupidity of not being able ot find even regular run, non-exclusive, wide release figures is honestly making me want to consider if I'll even continue collecting after Kingdom. Garbage online distribution, garbage in-store distribution, unreliable store stock indicators, unreliable staff assistance in stores, an increasing number of retailer exclusives...


I started back into collecting with PotP and the only figure I had trouble getting from a run-of-the-mill trip to a Walmart or TRU was Novastar. Everything else was easy and readily available multiple times during just regular trips out to buy groceries or maybe a weekly/bi-weekly TRU trip.


Siege started forcing me to go to multiple Walmarts every so often just to find some stuff. That was annoying, but not bad if it was only once a month or every other month. But now it's like EVERYTHING you've got maybe a 1-3 hour window on a random day at a random time at a random store if you want to find what you're looking for. The list of figures I have literally never ever seen in the wild on a store shelf is growing with each release. I've never seen an SS86 figure in the flesh and only lucked into getting 3 of the 6 of them via Amazon. I've never seen a retro Headmaster and only have 3 of the 4 from the first wave lined up from a board member who got extras because they were making backup purchases to combat unfulfilled orders or the fact that they also had never seen the batch in store.


and hte most frustrating thing is that while I will always steadfastly refuse to buy from scalpers, this ridiculousness is only making things better for them, which only increases their incentive to snatch up all the stock they can and exacerbate the problem anymore.


I love the brand and the ability to continue enjoying it, but I don't enjoy anything about collecting right now short of the relief when I get home with a box in my hands and know that I don't have to search for it anymore.

[The Nemesis]

Originally Posted by canprime

Really it is just the exclusives because if we are honest, wave 1 & 2 of the main lines are never really hard to acquire. Later waves can be tougher.

I still haven't seen Kingdom Cyclonus in a store. and I only have BW Megatron because I was lucky enough to be standing there when a Walmart staffer brought the 2-pack box of him and Leader Optimus out from the stock room.


I almost miss the days when there was so much Siege wave 1 that there were unsold Chromias on the shelves right up until the middle of last year when they started dumping them at Canadian Tires.

[canprime]

Originally Posted by The Nemesis

I still haven't seen Kingdom Cyclonus in a store. and I only have BW Megatron because I was lucky enough to be standing there when a Walmart staffer brought the 2-pack box of him and Leader Optimus out from the stock room.


I almost miss the days when there was so much Siege wave 1 that there were unsold Chromias on the shelves right up until the middle of last year when they started dumping them at Canadian Tires.

Well to be fair Cyclonus is shortpacked in wave 1 and will carry over to later waves. BW Megatron is not shortpacked, but he also will carry over to later waves.

Everything else from wave 1 is not hard to find at all. If anything, pricing is what will really do in most collectors. I know we all seem to say this time it is too much when there is a price increase. However speaking for myself, I have already cut out most other lines outside of TFs, at least when it comes to collecting at least 25% of releases. SW I have all but abandoned (haven't bought anything new since last year). Marvel Legends is very similar, but I still pick up the odd figure I really want, or if something is dirt cheap (thank you EB). TF and GI Joe are the 2 main lines I am currently collecting at least 50% or more of releases.

[Masta_Skidz]

Mine is the price hike. I took a break from collecting when deluxes cost about 16.99. I come back because of the new beast wars and ss86 stuff and it was 19.99 now 29.99 and 32.99 this is something that I was not prepared for

[The Nemesis]

Fuck toys r us.


I explained this in the BC sightings thread, but I still need to vent more without hijacking that thread any more than I already have...


Yesterday afternoon I phoned my local TRU in Langley, BC to check about Thrust/Runabout being available because the online setup is a shit-show. I was told by the person I talked to in no uncertain terms that they did not have any in stock and did not know when they would be getting more.


Later that afternoon a boardie was in the store and found that they had, guess what, Thrust AND Runabout on the shelves. No purchase limits, no restrictions. free-for-all mode. But by the time he posted his sighting in the thread it was too late to go to or call the store. Which is fine and all. Not everyone can post their stuff immediately. Most of the time I don't.


So I phone the store again this morning, right at opening, 10am PT.


15 minutes of busy signals later I get through to someone to find out that they were all sold out. I would later find out from other boardies that they sold out in that first 15 minutes of store-opening because people lined up for 10am to get in and rush the TF section. Great. because unlike other stores in the area, this one has not clued in to keep the limited run stuff behind the counter and hand out 1 per fucking person like a sensible business would.



So after talking to 3 different people who were no help except to "I don't know what I can do to help you" and me getting progressively more frustrated with them because I kept getting transferred around and having to re-explain the whole situation, I get "do you want to talk to a manager?"


me: "Yes, please. That would be great."


...


...


...


They gave me to the manager OF THE GODDAMN BABIES SECTION OF THE STORE.


Obviously she was no help because she's a department manager and has no idea about the other departments. and she had no power to do anything that would actually resolve the situation. I was nice to her because really she got thrown under the bus here, so finally she said to call back this afternoon to speak to the store's lead manager who would be in between 2 and 2:30 after working the morning in the nearby(ish) Coquitlam location. She would be the one who could actually help me and sort out what was going on.


I phone at 3 to give an extra half hour just in case. 30 minutes of nothing but busy signals later I finally get through on what was going to be my last attempt and.... *drumroll*


said head manager isn't even there yet! When I asked the person who answered the phone to be able to speak to this specific manager, she said "She's not in yet let me transfer you to someone else." and did so without giving me a chance to respond that I don't want to be transferred to someone else because I was specifically told to speak to that particular manager. Then when the next one answers and I have to explain the whole mess for like the 7th time today and that I want that one particular goddamn manager, I get "well... she's not in right now. But you can try again later!"


Defeated and frustrated by this whole day I gave a resigned "I'm not even going to bother at this point." and then silence. Thinking that was it I went to hang up only to hear a voice on the phone say "well... you can always try again..." before I hit end call.


Honestly, I think I am at my wits' end with collecting right now. I know it's COVID. I know stock is short. I know stores are having difficulty. But for fuck's sake, TRU has basically managed to fail at every single goddamn aspect of their customer service and product delivery setup.


Want to order online? Good luck finding a window


Get an order through online? 50/50 or better that it gets cancelled with on explanation.


Want to check store stock through the website? Strong odds that it's never accurate!


Want to phone a store about stock? You'll probably get an employee who doesn't do anything other than check the (inaccurate) website info and then blows you off


Want to get answers about the ongoing utter failure to address a customer concern? have fun getting run around for hours while you talk to people who can't actually solve your problem until you get so wound up that you get annoyed with them and suddenly have to be "the bad guy" in the whole process.


It's maddening. I do understand that we live in crazy times and everything is upside down. But if it was just a matter of limited stock and nothing else I wouldn't be so frustrated. It's that it's limited stock and that the problem is exacerbated by indifferent/incompetent management and process design. They seriously have to be trying to cock up this badly and not take my money.


It's so disheartening. It makes me look at my shelf and ask myself why I'm even bothering. Because it's just so stressful trying to find stuff now that I don't even get excited over finding something new. I get relieved that finding something means I no longer have to spend fruitless hours searching for it.

[UsernamePrime]

Originally Posted by The Nemesis

Fuck toys r us.


I explained this in the BC sightings thread, but I still need to vent more without hijacking that thread any more than I already have...


Yesterday afternoon I phoned my local TRU in Langley, BC to check about Thrust/Runabout being available because the online setup is a shit-show. I was told by the person I talked to in no uncertain terms that they did not have any in stock and did not know when they would be getting more.


Later that afternoon a boardie was in the store and found that they had, guess what, Thrust AND Runabout on the shelves. No purchase limits, no restrictions. free-for-all mode. But by the time he posted his sighting in the thread it was too late to go to or call the store. Which is fine and all. Not everyone can post their stuff immediately. Most of the time I don't.


So I phone the store again this morning, right at opening, 10am PT.


15 minutes of busy signals later I get through to someone to find out that they were all sold out. I would later find out from other boardies that they sold out in that first 15 minutes of store-opening because people lined up for 10am to get in and rush the TF section. Great. because unlike other stores in the area, this one has not clued in to keep the limited run stuff behind the counter and hand out 1 per fucking person like a sensible business would.



So after talking to 3 different people who were no help except to "I don't know what I can do to help you" and me getting progressively more frustrated with them because I kept getting transferred around and having to re-explain the whole situation, I get "do you want to talk to a manager?"


me: "Yes, please. That would be great."


...


...


...


They gave me to the manager OF THE GODDAMN BABIES SECTION OF THE STORE.


Obviously she was no help because she's a department manager and has no idea about the other departments. and she had no power to do anything that would actually resolve the situation. I was nice to her because really she got thrown under the bus here, so finally she said to call back this afternoon to speak to the store's lead manager who would be in between 2 and 2:30 after working the morning in the nearby(ish) Coquitlam location. She would be the one who could actually help me and sort out what was going on.


I phone at 3 to give an extra half hour just in case. 30 minutes of nothing but busy signals later I finally get through on what was going to be my last attempt and.... *drumroll*


said head manager isn't even there yet! When I asked the person who answered the phone to be able to speak to this specific manager, she said "She's not in yet let me transfer you to someone else." and did so without giving me a chance to respond that I don't want to be transferred to someone else because I was specifically told to speak to that particular manager. Then when the next one answers and I have to explain the whole mess for like the 7th time today and that I want that one particular goddamn manager, I get "well... she's not in right now. But you can try again later!"


Defeated and frustrated by this whole day I gave a resigned "I'm not even going to bother at this point." and then silence. Thinking that was it I went to hang up only to hear a voice on the phone say "well... you can always try again..." before I hit end call.


Honestly, I think I am at my wits' end with collecting right now. I know it's COVID. I know stock is short. I know stores are having difficulty. But for fuck's sake, TRU has basically managed to fail at every single goddamn aspect of their customer service and product delivery setup.


Want to order online? Good luck finding a window


Get an order through online? 50/50 or better that it gets cancelled with on explanation.


Want to check store stock through the website? Strong odds that it's never accurate!


Want to phone a store about stock? You'll probably get an employee who doesn't do anything other than check the (inaccurate) website info and then blows you off


Want to get answers about the ongoing utter failure to address a customer concern? have fun getting run around for hours while you talk to people who can't actually solve your problem until you get so wound up that you get annoyed with them and suddenly have to be "the bad guy" in the whole process.


It's maddening. I do understand that we live in crazy times and everything is upside down. But if it was just a matter of limited stock and nothing else I wouldn't be so frustrated. It's that it's limited stock and that the problem is exacerbated by indifferent/incompetent management and process design. They seriously have to be trying to cock up this badly and not take my money.


It's so disheartening. It makes me look at my shelf and ask myself why I'm even bothering. Because it's just so stressful trying to find stuff now that I don't even get excited over finding something new. I get relieved that finding something means I no longer have to spend fruitless hours searching for it.

take the time to learn when shipments come into your local tru/WM and go during those times instead of calling, i typically get my stuff early cause im out and about canvassing multiple stores on their delivery dates the night of or next morning.


so if you called yesterday and it seems they came in yesterday then i advise going in on friday early evenings


my hunt for a netflix soundwave had me drive for 200km and 6 walmarts before getting one in hand in Dec, not fun but it gets the job done


maybe a buddy system? i got my netflix bee from a reasonably local boardie and i managed to get him runabout and thrust, these arrangements work

[The Nemesis]

Originally Posted by UsernamePrime

take the time to learn when shipments come into your local tru/WM and go during those times instead of calling, i typically get my stuff early cause im out and about canvassing multiple stores on their delivery dates the night of or next morning.


so if you called yesterday and it seems they came in yesterday then i advise going in on friday early evenings


my hunt for a netflix soundwave had me drive for 200km and 6 walmarts before getting one in hand in Dec, not fun but it gets the job done

For as much as I can trust anything that any of the people I spoke to said, the babies' section manager said that they aren't getting regular shipments of anything right now and it's more or less just different manufacturers or whoever dropping small lots of whatever at random intervals instead of a truck departing the warehouse with regular stock refills. It makes it seem like I won't be able to count on Friday afternoons being a regular time to get anything. I probably could've gotten more info out of the head manager if I had been able to talk to her but I'm so pissed off at how this has been handled that I don't trust myself to phone the store back without being really super annoyed and alienating them.

[UsernamePrime]

go in next friday and look and while there talk to a couple employees and a manager and just ask when regular truck shipments come in. asking multiples helps to verify and narrow things down. info and connections is power in the collecting game


but you gotta get up and go to these place. armchair pilots always lose out on exclusives

[The Nemesis]

Originally Posted by UsernamePrime

go in next friday and look and while there talk to a couple employees and a manager and just ask when regular truck shipments come in. asking multiples helps to verify and narrow things down. info and connections is power in the collecting game


but you gotta get up and go to these place. armchair pilots always lose out on exclusives

This is the thing that bothers me. I'm not staying home because I'm too lazy to hunt. I'm doing it because BC has had an off/on "state of emergency" and travel restrictions and whatnot the last month+ because there's still a pandemic going on. And because people close to me include immuno-compromised ones, so I have to be extra careful not to get sick not just for my own sake. You would think a retailer might recognize that during a time when people aren't supposed to be going out frivolously and traveling all over the place for silly non-essential things that they would figure out a better way to ensure people can get things sorted out remotely. The fact that the only reasonable recourse to get strong answers during this nonsense is to repeatedly visit a store until you strike gold is hilarious.