ANOVOS just canceled my order!

Just so there's no confusion. I'm not talking about being nasty to a customer service rep. Just being justifiably angry at a company who took money and didn't deliver and saying so. Someone can do that calmly without being nasty. Also, I don't think the OP was talking to an employee, but posting to a social media site. If he was swearing at somebody on a telephone, then that's a different matter. :)

He chatted with a rep online and: called them turkeys, accused them of being 1 step away from fraud, told the rep to pass on a "swift kick in the ass" to the higher ups, and when the rep finished the call asking if there was anything else they could help with, he replied, "else? You didn't really help me with anything, period."

I agree with you. It is absolutely justifiable to be angry for the delays.

It is not justifiable to be rude and abusive to a customer service rep, or really, be a jerk on their social media, and then after you've been a jerk, get mad when the company decides your business is no longer worth the money and they refund you.

Just be happy you got your money back, don't buy from them again, and place an order with a different company. Lots of people on here have spent a lot more money on other companies only to never receive the product OR the option of a refund. Just know that you'll likely be waiting a while for a lot of the things you buy in this hobby.


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While I don't condone treating anyone with disrespect, I certainly think the very position of customer service rep is bound to field complaints from customers.
That's the job.

People don't call customer service unless they have to amend a contract or complain about something. When was the last time any of us called customer service because we wanted to?

That being said those that defend Anovos over the OP isn't really right. Anovos may or may not have a great product, but that hardly matters if it was not delivered in a timely matter.

Anovos made the very big mistake of not being transparent about its delivery times to the customer. Wether intentional or not leaving expectations up to speculation is not good business.

Whatever the case may be Anovos should have called everyone on the preorder list after the first major delay and let them know why there was a delay and what happened.

At this point it would have been reasonable to offer a refund or credit. If those customers wanted to stick it out for a specific item then it would truly be on them to wait.

Transparency is the key to good business practices and Anovos has really dropped the ball. If companies I worked for promised a product and were half a quarter late without explanation than that company would be gone here in Silicon Valley in days.

Delays are not part of this hobby, people and companies are. Why anyone would say that is beyond me.

Anovos sold a product it didn't have, and didn't know how to produce or distribute. This back end work should have been done before the first one was even sold. Good business strategies do not include lack of foresight and deflating customers expectations through delayed delivery times...repeatedly.

The OP wrote this thread to vent his frustration at surely an infuriating predicament. I believed we at the RPF should stand behind him and not bash or belittle him for his choice of purchase. Surely he did nothing wrong, except trust a licensed company to fulfill his expectations.

Sorry OP, I get your frustrations and hope you get your lid from Anovos at some point. They really owe you an apology and I hope they stand up and make things right again.
 
While I don't condone treating anyone with disrespect, I certainly think the very position of customer service rep is bound to field complaints from customers.
That's the job.

People don't call customer service unless they have to amend a contract or complain about something. When was the last time any of us called customer service because we wanted to?

That being said those that defend Anovos over the OP isn't really right. Anovos may or may not have a great product, but that hardly matters if it was not delivered in a timely matter.

.......

At this point it would have been reasonable to offer a refund or credit. If those customers wanted to stick it out for a specific item then it would truly be on them to wait.

......

The OP wrote this thread to vent his frustration at surely an infuriating predicament. I believed we at the RPF should stand behind him and not bash or belittle him for his choice of purchase. Surely he did nothing wrong, except trust a licensed company to fulfill his expectations.

His complaint here is that he is mad they cancelled his order and refunded his money.



Yes customer service reps have to be equipped to handle upset customers, but when the point comes that they decide nothing can be done to help the customer, and the customer is being combative, they can make the decision to end the transaction. If you are rude and abusive to customer service representatives, you can't be mad if the company does cut ties and cancels the order. It's not like he just said, "hey guys, it's been almost 2 years. Do you have any idea when this is going to ship?" and then it got cancelled.

Anovos DOES offer refunds to people who no longer want to wait. Lots of people have taken them up on their offer. They DO issue refunds to those who ask. The OP, in fact, GOT his money back.

Again, it is fine to be upset about delays, but don't expect sympathy for having your order cancelled because you were acting like a jerk.

Get your money back and invest it somewhere else or continue to wait. Those are your options.


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I dont agree.

You wanna be a professional company? (act like one)

You cant/dont/wont deliver the goods/product in a timely manner? (suck it up and deal with the bad press/backlash YOU created)

Sitting on peoples money for ....YEARS? (really? If I had a million dollars of other people money.. I could live on the interest alone most likely.... so YES, they ARE benefiting IMO)

Its not like things 'were on track' or even SLIGHTLY delayed. THEY created the attitude people have toward them.

Even in bad situations, full disclosure and communication trump all.

Expressing your discontent does NOT warrant an unsolicited refund, without warning.

I do agree they should have offered it (refund) or wait it out again. Putting ownness back on the OP/customer.... but thats NOT what happened.

I also dont buy the 'they used just be a small trek dealer... then they took on SW stuff.. much more to deal with.. yadda yadda' excuse either.

Noone forced them too.

If they couldnt handle it.. they shouldnt have let the allure of making money influence their decision. If this was just some member,. and another member hadnt gotten their goods/products for over 2 years. people would be up-in-arms...with pitch forks and fire!

The seller would be banned,.. and they would be flamed for all eternity with all their personal info drudged up off the 'net, and posted on all available outlets and prop forums.. with a call to arms/riot.

Why should this/they be any different?

Because some people havent got "scammed'?

They fact they only seem to be active on facebook pages also screams RUN AWAY to me.. (only active on pages THEY control and dont have to answer to the powers here/elsewhere)

Only spreading the word on how things are, will people be enlightened/educated.
 
LTsmash1200

"His complaint here is that he is mad they cancelled his order and refunded his money."


Exactly. That's the point.

Regardless of how he acted towards Anovos it's not an excuse.
To take away his choice to keep waiting or just get a refund is really a low blow.
This person has been waiting two years for his purchase. As I explained above that
is unacceptable in any market. We all love Star Wars, and sometimes we know we have to wait for products.

However, he was not told it could be a two year plus wait, what would you like to do.
To bash him for lashing out at a company (mildly) is ridiculous. He held up his end of the bargain, (patiently
I might add) only to have Annovos fail on their end with a reasonable delivery date. To have the attitude
that implies this is somehow the OP's fault is crazy.

I mainly posted on here because i've seen a lot of this in the threads lately where people defend the actions of companies that
clearly have problems and customer service issues. Clearly the OP was looking to vent his frustrations
by starting this thread and justifiably so. Regardless of what you think of Anovos I think the appropriate response here
is "hey dude" we understand and it does suck. Not it's your fault for venting to the company on Facebook, you get
what you deserve. Empathy.

What does this really say about us as RPF members. Kick him while he's down. It's his fault when it's clearly
not.

Good luck OP.
 
I'd complain to the better business bureau. I'd also ask them to send me whatever proof they have that I cancelled my order.

Totally pointless exercise on both points. The BBB isn't what it used to be. No one really uses it as it was intended and a few bad eggs have spoiled it for the majority.

Case in point, the company I work for has an F rating because one a small handful of customers who have flooded the BBB website with complaints. The majority of our customers love our company and as a completely objective review from my point of view, they do their best to ensure everyone has a good experience. But still, our rating shows that we're the worst and it's untrue.

As for getting a copy, it's not going to prove anything and honestly does anyone want to deal with a company who has questionable business practices? Why not take that $400+ and buy from someone on the RPF?
 
The whole thing is "Deceptive Marketing" to put a vague date on a release only to get a huge amount of early adopters money. and to say there not using the money to fuel there product line is foolish most companies who do this usually take a small commitment money up front and then charge the full price upon shipping. I guaranty there running the business check by check if every one dropped out tomorrow the company would belly up and some people may not receive there money. If you think differently why has every single product become a pre-purchase? why have thy never actually sold anything pre-manufactured? Its because they need your funds to support it. What company ever needed to test the market when it came to a Star Wars storm trooper costume. every body starts with good intentions what happens in the end is a different story. I bought there first OT at a discounted rate so I knew the wait I have not seen may tier systems since then so why are there still a long wait?
 
You all realize that part of customer service is thing called a database, right? That database has your order history in it and your call/contact history.

Customer service reps are trained to handle abusive calls, callers, posts, etc. Seems as if the rep did his job properly. One of the things you're told in training is to log calls in the persons history. Typically, you're also to forward it to a supervisor for review. This could very be a case of hitting the magic number as well. The current rep you're talking to may never have spoken to you, but has your record in front of him saying you've been a jerk 7 times in the past (just making up a number there). He handles the call properly, records #8 and the powers that be make the call.

Everyone agrees, you've got the right to upset. But you're responsible for how you conduct yourself and voice your anger/opinion. It's is very easy to get across massive anger without offending people. This case doesn't imply that ever occurred. But he is on record as having called, chatted, and used their FB page multiple times. If every call came off the same, you can't say you're surprised at the result.
 
The whole thing is "Deceptive Marketing" to put a vague date on a release only to get a huge amount of early adopters money. and to say there not using the money to fuel there product line is foolish most companies who do this usually take a small commitment money up front and then charge the full price upon shipping. I guaranty there running the business check by check if every one dropped out tomorrow the company would belly up and some people may not receive there money. If you think differently why has every single product become a pre-purchase? why have thy never actually sold anything pre-manufactured? Its because they need your funds to support it. What company ever needed to test the market when it came to a Star Wars storm trooper costume. every body starts with good intentions what happens in the end is a different story. I bought there first OT at a discounted rate so I knew the wait I have not seen may tier systems since then so why are there still a long wait?


Well. This claim is already false. Death Trooper helmet and Shoretrooper helmet were both pre-manufactured and ready to ship upon purchase. Hoping this becomes more the norm with Anovos going forward.
 
None of the conspiracy theorists here seem to understand a thing about the replica business. Don't you realize how much capital it takes to front a project of this scale? It would be WONDERFUL if a fan-started company had enough capital to get into a notoriously non-lucrative business. Guess what, it will never happen. The pre-order model is a necessity because there would have been no company without it.

At this point, every unfounded gripe and moan has been rebutted with reason and knowledge. Now we are just stuck in a back-and-forth between conjecture and speculation vs. logic and facts.
 
Sitting on peoples money for ....YEARS? (really? If I had a million dollars of other people money.. I could live on the interest alone most likely.... so YES, they ARE benefiting IMO)

This is describing efx with no refunds. At any point with Anovos if they are unhappy with the wait or delays they can get a refund and be on their way.
 
None of the conspiracy theorists here seem to understand a thing about the replica business. Don't you realize how much capital it takes to front a project of this scale? It would be WONDERFUL if a fan-started company had enough capital to get into a notoriously non-lucrative business. Guess what, it will never happen. The pre-order model is a necessity because there would have been no company without it.

At this point, every unfounded gripe and moan has been rebutted with reason and knowledge. Now we are just stuck in a back-and-forth between conjecture and speculation vs. logic and facts.


Sorry Benhs, this is NOT a project it's a business, and any company that uses pre orders for funding is basically using them as venture capitalists who don't get a huge percentage back for their investment.

Logic? Name one successful company that funded its interest by taking customers money without mentioning to the customers they were the funding capital for said company.

This is not a fan based business. This is a Lucasfilm licensed company, and along with that comes an expectation to run a sound business model.

Once again your missing the point. This isn't about Anovos per se, although they have really screwed the pooch. It's about just supporting a community member who in essence got screwed. You have made this conjecture by not stating the facts which I will.

1. OP paid in full for OT storm trooper helmet.

2 . Two years later OP is growing more upset about not receiving his helmet, and receiving no solid answers on an ETA complains on Facebook and through customer service to Anovos.

3. Anovos cancels his order without his consent, leaving him no ETA, no explanation, no apology, and no option to keep on waiting.

These are facts. Not conjecture.

Regardless of how much complaining he has done he is certainly within his rights to be dissatisfied with there apparent lack of transparency.

Let's not forget this is not just one time, Anovos has done this with multiple products across its line, and I for one have never seen them provide real customer service. At the very least they could have offered him a gift certificate or a discount on his very tardy purchase imho.
 
I've never called a company's costumer service line and assumed the person answering the phone is the dude making command decisions or doing the actual work. They're just somebody making a living who has no control over what their companies practices may be. Even when I am I pissed off, I've found it goes a long way to say "Look, I know this isn;t on you-- BUT..."

Even if you're in the right, it's possible to be hard on somebody who doesn't deserve it cause they picked up the phone.

Unless of course they get aggro with you, in which case game on.
 
BB8, everything you just said is incorrect.

Almost every major replica company(past and present) funds its products using pre-order commitments. See: Unobtainium LTD, Icons, Master Replicas, EFX, Factory Entertainment, Prop Shop, and Hollywood Collectibles to name a handful. They don't say explicitly because most people understand that preorders help fund and guarantee return-on-investment.

It most certainly IS a fan-based business. Anovos started out as fans like you and me.

OP was being an ***** so Anovos was withing their rights to sever business with him.

As Sherlock Holmes would say "do your research".

What have you purchased from them? Do you have any orders with them?
 
1. OP paid in full for OT storm trooper helmet.


2 . Two years later OP is growing more upset about not receiving his helmet, and receiving no solid answers on an ETA complains on Facebook and through customer service to Anovos.

3. Anovos cancels his order without his consent, leaving him no ETA, no explanation, no apology, and no option to keep on waiting.

These are facts. Not conjecture.

.

1. No one is disputing that. Anovos' original page did say suits would be fullfilled first, then helmets. It also had a wait time listed that wasn't exactly pdq either.

2. No one is disputing that he has a right to be mad about that. Also, numerous reasons have been given as to WHY they can't give an accurate date.

3. Give his behaviour, it's likely he wore out his welcome. The business is entitled to server whomever they choose. "No shirt, no shoes, no service" as an example. After repeated hostile exchanges they don't owe him anything.

Those are facts as well, not conjecture.Some of the reasons listed in this thread as to why they can't give precise timelines is pure fact, some is conjecture but accurate conjecture.

Again, NO ONE said he has no right to be upset. They said, act poorly and this is what you get. And it's true.

Additionally, more than 1 person in this thread said they had quick enough and pleasant exchanges with their CS staff too. Me included. This is also a fact.

To put a question right back at you, how many times should a company have to endure poor behaviour from a customer before sending that customer on his way?
 
BB8, everything you just said is incorrect.

Almost every major replica company(past and present) funds its products using pre-order commitments. See: Unobtainium LTD, Icons, Master Replicas, EFX, Factory Entertainment, Prop Shop, and Hollywood Collectibles to name a handful. They don't say explicitly because most people understand that preorders help fund and guarantee return-on-investment.

It most certainly IS a fan-based business. Anovos started out as fans like you and me.

OP was being an ***** so Anovos was withing their rights to sever business with him.

As Sherlock Holmes would say "do your research".

What have you purchased from them? Do you have any orders with them?

You're absolutely right. Most of those companies did indeed fund their companies using their first customers payments as capital for cash flow and seed money.

What I'm now forced to say is that is not how a legitimate business runs itself. Reardless if it's fan based.

The OP had no idea that his payment in full was being used as capital to fund their other projects as well while not delivering on the product he purchased. If they told him that his money would be tied up for 2 years and that they are using his money for other priorities I don't think the OP would have bought the product. I don't think anyone would.
As Sherlock would say "it's elementary".
 
Plenty of us have and still would preorder because we actually understand how preorders work. I welcome you to speak for yourself. Without a dog in the fight, I also welcome you to disengage with a topic you have no knowledge or stakes in.
 
Plenty of us have and still would preorder because we actually understand how preorders work. I welcome you to speak for yourself. Without a dog in the fight, I also welcome you to disengage with a topic you have no knowledge or stakes in.

So unless I preorder something (which I'll never do because of threads like this) I'm not allowed to make an observation? Also, you belittle me of my knowledge in this topic?

The fact is that I don't know you and you don't know me...personally. Your right I don't have a personal dog in this fight but I will speak my mind when someone is being unfairly taken down through no fault of their own.

In essence what your saying is that if the OP behaves like an ....ole, than he gives up all rights as a consumer. But given what standard? Did he wait 1 year and 9 months before blowing up? Or was it just a few weeks past the due date? You admit he has a right to be mad, yet you don't hold Anovos accountable for the very situation which ignited the OP's ire. At the very least THEY should be held accountable for grossly misleading customers. Yes, I've heard about the factories, and the QC problems. These are all a part of business and should have been sorted out before selling for exactly this reason.

Just because this is the replica market Doesn't give them an automatic pass. The very companies you mentioned all failed. Why do you think that is?

If people like you enable them they'll continue to run their business model this way. I'm really surprised that anyone would defend their practices.
No other businesses in the world that offer goods could ever survive doing what they do.

I would say by most metrics that I have a fair understanding of businesses from start up's to well established conglomerates. Dealing with these companies I certainly understand the basis for a successful model, which this isn't. Where does your knowledge base stem from? (Besides having pre-ordered something).

Best
 
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