Sorry for the long post, but I just need to vent.
Back in July, I ordered the Zombo Retro Cloth figure from The NECA Store's online flash sale. It took nearly a month to ship out. In that time, my life took an unexpected turn and a move was in my immediate future. I'd heard horror stories about NECA being useless when it came to changing a shipping address, so I asked them if I could please cancel the order. Over a week went by with no response before I got the shipping notice. A few hours later, The NECA Store finally responded (pointlessly) to inform me it was too late to cancel. As the move hadn't occurred, this thankfully wasn't an issue.
Cut to delivery and I discovered some flaws with the figure. A hand was detached in the package. When I tried popping it back in place, it kept coming off - like the socket was too wide for the post. The torso was also very loose. I own at least twenty retro style figures from NECA and none of them have these problems. Not acceptable considering it cost $65 shipped. I knew the figure was a sold out convention exclusive, but I asked for instructions on returning it for a full refund. I had to send about three messages over a couple weeks before NECA CS finally responded. They told me to send pictures of the defects. I asked what they wanted me to photograph - the detached hand? The other is an internal joint covered by fabric. They would not answer, but told me to send it back at my expense if I expected a refund.
I told them I didn't think I should have to pay for shipping both ways under the circumstances. They finally provided a return label, with the caveat that a refund would only be provided for the figure after "evaluating its state and the history of your order". Their wording raised a red flag, so I asked them to clarify. They replied that they had to "prove the issue could not have come from a customer opening the product and damaging it before we can finalize the refund". That raised a larger red flag, so I sent this message:
They replied "If that is true then there will not be any issues with you receiving your refund." I told them it was true, but that a statement like this doesn't really instill goodwill. I told them a manufacturer should stand behind their products instead of inferring blame on their customers.
Before driving to the FedEx store, I asked them to please verify that I would receive the full refund amount once the figure passed their inspection. I wanted to rule out any bogus restocking fees - or late return fees because it had taken almost a month to get a shipping label from them. A simple thing to answer, but they ignored the question twice and then told me they would no longer be responding:
I asked why they gave such a rude response instead of answering a basic question. Their reply:
So they canceled the return label, lied about me trying to return the order for multiple reasons (the "second time" they mentioned never happened) - then refunded only the shipping charge... as "our apology".
I looked up NECA's phone number and (after two tries) managed to get connected directly to this person. He attempted to put me on blast from the start of the call. "You've sent an insane number of messages already. You've pushed this further than ANY customer all year. You realize that, correct? (dramatic pause, like he wants it to really sink in) Yet here you are, still trying to push it over one figure. You need to accept our decision. From our end, the matter is closed." I told him the matter would be closed when they fixed the issue, not just refund the shipping charge. He then accused me of arguing and called my messages "extremely circumspect". Why? Because I asked them to confirm a full refund would be given once the figure passed "inspection"? That warrants implying return fraud?
I asked if he would reissue the return label or if they at least had a replacement body to send for the figure. He said absolutely not and that I should just rip the return label off the package because the matter was still closed. After being stonewalled for fifteen minutes, he finally told me to file a dispute if I wanted my money returned - which I did after hanging up in disgust. Not even remotely close to being worth the fifty dollars I might get back, but it was the principle. I'd never dealt with that level of BS from a retailer in my life.
Back in July, I ordered the Zombo Retro Cloth figure from The NECA Store's online flash sale. It took nearly a month to ship out. In that time, my life took an unexpected turn and a move was in my immediate future. I'd heard horror stories about NECA being useless when it came to changing a shipping address, so I asked them if I could please cancel the order. Over a week went by with no response before I got the shipping notice. A few hours later, The NECA Store finally responded (pointlessly) to inform me it was too late to cancel. As the move hadn't occurred, this thankfully wasn't an issue.
Cut to delivery and I discovered some flaws with the figure. A hand was detached in the package. When I tried popping it back in place, it kept coming off - like the socket was too wide for the post. The torso was also very loose. I own at least twenty retro style figures from NECA and none of them have these problems. Not acceptable considering it cost $65 shipped. I knew the figure was a sold out convention exclusive, but I asked for instructions on returning it for a full refund. I had to send about three messages over a couple weeks before NECA CS finally responded. They told me to send pictures of the defects. I asked what they wanted me to photograph - the detached hand? The other is an internal joint covered by fabric. They would not answer, but told me to send it back at my expense if I expected a refund.
I told them I didn't think I should have to pay for shipping both ways under the circumstances. They finally provided a return label, with the caveat that a refund would only be provided for the figure after "evaluating its state and the history of your order". Their wording raised a red flag, so I asked them to clarify. They replied that they had to "prove the issue could not have come from a customer opening the product and damaging it before we can finalize the refund". That raised a larger red flag, so I sent this message:
They replied "If that is true then there will not be any issues with you receiving your refund." I told them it was true, but that a statement like this doesn't really instill goodwill. I told them a manufacturer should stand behind their products instead of inferring blame on their customers.
Before driving to the FedEx store, I asked them to please verify that I would receive the full refund amount once the figure passed their inspection. I wanted to rule out any bogus restocking fees - or late return fees because it had taken almost a month to get a shipping label from them. A simple thing to answer, but they ignored the question twice and then told me they would no longer be responding:
I asked why they gave such a rude response instead of answering a basic question. Their reply:
So they canceled the return label, lied about me trying to return the order for multiple reasons (the "second time" they mentioned never happened) - then refunded only the shipping charge... as "our apology".
I looked up NECA's phone number and (after two tries) managed to get connected directly to this person. He attempted to put me on blast from the start of the call. "You've sent an insane number of messages already. You've pushed this further than ANY customer all year. You realize that, correct? (dramatic pause, like he wants it to really sink in) Yet here you are, still trying to push it over one figure. You need to accept our decision. From our end, the matter is closed." I told him the matter would be closed when they fixed the issue, not just refund the shipping charge. He then accused me of arguing and called my messages "extremely circumspect". Why? Because I asked them to confirm a full refund would be given once the figure passed "inspection"? That warrants implying return fraud?
I asked if he would reissue the return label or if they at least had a replacement body to send for the figure. He said absolutely not and that I should just rip the return label off the package because the matter was still closed. After being stonewalled for fifteen minutes, he finally told me to file a dispute if I wanted my money returned - which I did after hanging up in disgust. Not even remotely close to being worth the fifty dollars I might get back, but it was the principle. I'd never dealt with that level of BS from a retailer in my life.
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