just for clarity, if I buy a statue directly from ARH, and it arrives damaged or with significant paint flaws, am I entitled to a full refund? And if so, does ARH pay for the item to be shipped back to them, regardless of destination, or is it destroyed like SS does? Or, am I expected to pay for the return shipping?
ARH Studios will refund, yes. Each case may be different so this question of what qualify as a full return, can't be answered very easily as its not a clear cut answer to this. Each case is different.
If bought from ARH Studios directly then yes you are covered. Destination charges are not refunded. Most cases we give credit for future purchases or a partial refund if need be once you send the full statue back to us.
Again each case may be unique, and do to the nature of International shipping Vat and other taxes are not refundable for obvious reasons.
Most of our products are high quality but being manufacturing is done in China each will vary, most people who need repaints just send the section of work to us and do not send the entire package. The cost may be minima this way.
Inherently, international customers have to understand that most of these issues that occur during shipping occurs due to improper handling. It is also an understanding that Vat and taxes are unavoidable and not the responsibility of the company your purchase is from. I believe this is the case for Sideshow.
The difference may be that you are asked to destroy the item, but we have a group who take the time to repair. In extreme cases of damage yes ARH Studios does full refunds.
Im not sure if you have read here, most of the guys who are complaining here DO NOT WISH to give up or return the products we made, they are asking for help to get them to condition they are happy with.
Hope this answered your questions