ANOVOS issues (ANOVOS ONLY discussion)

Oh huh... I had 2 issues, the gun holster strap was too short, this is supposedly fixed with wave 1 and 2 belts. And I needed a large belt to fit better.

I am literally told a box with my name and address is sitting in their shipping dept at Anovos.... now since Nov 20. They say the delay is due to holidays and their small staff. I am just guessing they will ship out the official wave 2 orders then ship these replacements out. I will remain cautiously optimistic until I hear otherwise... but increase my polite nudges in January.

Good luck Leeway... I'll report as soon as my belt ships.... May the force be with us..

1. No reason to be "polite" unless it is your own personal standard. 2. Holidays should not be an issue as they do not deserve them.
 
1. No reason to be "polite" unless it is your own personal standard. 2. Holidays should not be an issue as they do not deserve them.

1) I understand the frustration ( believe me), but I've never made headway with any CS rep by being impolite... I can be firm, direct but polite and respectful always... they're people too.

2) By holidays I mean the are dealing with Holiday orders. I still do not understand their shipping process at the moment... it boggles the mind if what they told me is accurate... but anyways... it would not surprise me if they prioritized tons of "small high profit" orders to likely new customers versus my order.... does it bother me, sure does, but it makes sense from a business perspective.
 
1) I understand the frustration ( believe me), but I've never made headway with any CS rep by being impolite... I can be firm, direct but polite and respectful always... they're people too.

2) By holidays I mean the are dealing with Holiday orders. I still do not understand their shipping process at the moment... it boggles the mind if what they told me is accurate... but anyways... it would not surprise me if they prioritized tons of "small high profit" orders to likely new customers versus my order.... does it bother me, sure does, but it makes sense from a business perspective.

First of all, thank you for responding. The only thing we have as customers of this company is our thread here. But some of what you say makes me bristle. I am speaking to the notions, please understand, and not to you per se.

1. Of course you share the frustration. But there has been no headway with CS either polite or rude. They just have personable ways of sharing the info on their shipping calendar and flat out always say that they have no more information than that. There is no reason to be rude but my god I resent being called upon on this site (by a few) to maintain civilized demeanor when, no, Anovos does not see us as "people too." TWICE now they have said "DELIVERY" in separate shipping windows. As in stating that all that is left is the mail between them and us. And they end up getting our hopes up by knowingly making what amounts to a promise, knowingly breaking that promise, knowingly disappearing, making us feel like idiots, knowingly fostering anxiety that we will lose our money, and then having representatives HERE ask us to be cheerful and patient. The "we're all human beings" thing does not work unless it is mutual.

2. That does not make good business sense at all. In the sense of "business practice" as you state it here, that is a usory practice enacted for the sake of profit which necessitates NOT viewing prior customers as "people too" but obstacles due to the difficulty of fulfilling their order over someone who wants a ****** patch.

I know that you and I are big time on the same side. And wonderful that you are able to maintain more maturity I guess than I have. But Anovos sees us on paper only and, as a result, continues to wipe smiles away from this hobby.

If they deserve sympathy they need to demonstrate it.

Again, not trying to start an argument or anything of the kind. But I have developed a huge knee jerk reaction to anything that even remotely calls for sympathy re: Anovos.
 
First of all, thank you for responding. The only thing we have as customers of this company is our thread here. But some of what you say makes me bristle. I am speaking to the notions, please understand, and not to you per se

No I enjoy discussions, but I'll try to be brief.
To point 1:
I dont think this site is asking us not to voice an opinion... but asking those that do to be careful of the language chosen. If the RPF is seen as a promoter of libelous banter, the RPF can be legally held responsible.

Does Anovos need to greatly improve communication to preorder holders... you bet your bippy they do... Do they need to work on turnaround times, YES. Can they do it in a timely manner of my wishes ... I dont know. I dont know the challenges they face nor the legal constraints they have. I'm not happy with that answer but that's life... i choose to think they are trying to improve... and that can be a long arduous slow process depending on the challenges they may have.

To point 2:
Im only guessing here, but... Again it's about numbers. In stock "smalls" generate higher profit margins for retailers than larger items. And they get more foot traffic from first time customers at the holidays... my first purchase was in stock smalls at the holidays.. they shipped fast and I tried the pre-orders... they got a repeat customer, long ui8 customer. So it can work.. do they do that... I dont know, its a guess of mine... I could be way off... maybe the Luke belts need LFL shipping labeling approval and Disney is prioritizing Ep IX design proofs at this time.... weird stuff happens...

I know it stinks not to have that costume all there... and it's totally fair to feel put off or dissapointed...

Anywhoo... just my $0.02.
 
I agree Kal Argos, never a wrong time to be polite. The people in customer service are the people that work long, stressful hours and they are just trying to make it through the day. Doesn't mean you have to be a doormat but there are more effective ways to express frustration than coming down on a poor CSR.

I expressed my frustration by starting the refund process because I know that businesses exist to make money and when that starts becoming an issue, the right people pay attention. And if they don't, the business fails, as it should.
 
No I enjoy discussions, but I'll try to be brief.
To point 1:
I dont think this site is asking us not to voice an opinion... but asking those that do to be careful of the language chosen. If the RPF is seen as a promoter of libelous banter, the RPF can be legally held responsible.

Does Anovos need to greatly improve communication to preorder holders... you bet your bippy they do... Do they need to work on turnaround times, YES. Can they do it in a timely manner of my wishes ... I dont know. I dont know the challenges they face nor the legal constraints they have. I'm not happy with that answer but that's life... i choose to think they are trying to improve... and that can be a long arduous slow process depending on the challenges they may have.

To point 2:
Im only guessing here, but... Again it's about numbers. In stock "smalls" generate higher profit margins for retailers than larger items. And they get more foot traffic from first time customers at the holidays... my first purchase was in stock smalls at the holidays.. they shipped fast and I tried the pre-orders... they got a repeat customer, long ui8 customer. So it can work.. do they do that... I dont know, its a guess of mine... I could be way off... maybe the Luke belts need LFL shipping labeling approval and Disney is prioritizing Ep IX design proofs at this time.... weird stuff happens...

I know it stinks not to have that costume all there... and it's totally fair to feel put off or dissapointed...

Anywhoo... just my $0.02.

I agree Kal Argos, never a wrong time to be polite. The people in customer service are the people that work long, stressful hours and they are just trying to make it through the day. Doesn't mean you have to be a doormat but there are more effective ways to express frustration than coming down on a poor CSR.

I expressed my frustration by starting the refund process because I know that businesses exist to make money and when that starts becoming an issue, the right people pay attention. And if they don't, the business fails, as it should.


I agree with you both. Truly. And thank you. But we did not pay thousands to meet anyone "half way." In the least. And CR knows they are the punching bag - they can leave. Trust me, I am not arguing with you guys. And I do not cuss out their CR either. But yes, I know that I am not being fair in what I post here but the soup they are brewing has now all kinds of ingredients and that is my contribution: It is THEIR OBLIGATION to calm these energies to everyone's satisfaction.

P.S. - I will be taking a break from RPF. Folks do not need to be reading what I have to say right now.
 
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From Ryan at ANOVOS:

Ryan
Hello,

According to what our production team tells us here in customer service as of today, In regards to your orders that were due fall season, we want to let you know that an official update is coming soon, and that your orders will be fulfilled though there is a need to reassess the timeframe in which these products will become available and sent out.

We will do our best to keep you updated as soon as our team sends out the new information.


To paraphrase: "We don’t know what’s going on. We're told a couple of things might be going out, but not your order, However we have thousands of Stormtrooper thigh pieces if you want one of them?

We'll send out the new Shipping Calendar soon, which will again have no bearing on reality as everything will be miraculously 'due spring 2019'. Please pre-order more from us so we can keep the company running. oh and don't tell Disney!
"

Cheers

Jez
 
I just read in the STD Phaser thread that the fall 2018 shipping date of waves 2 thru 6.1 has now been pushed back to the spring of 2019. So I think it is safe to say they didn't meet their fall 2018 target for much of anything.
 
Saw elsewhere that Anovos is giving people refunds in installments. One example is a guy has only gotten $9 so far with one installment of 2.50 another of $5, etc.
 
From Customer Service?!!! They are going to let this window expire in complete silence?! Customer Service doesn't count if they are not allowed to say anything. And "coming soon" means NOTHING COMING FROM ANOVOS.

Anyone else want to join me at their booth at Wondercon in March? Like seriously - a demonstration with signs/ cards like a strike? Something that potential customers can easily see? I'm thinking about it.
I'll join you, but the only thing you are going to see of me is the back of my head as im running off with the display gold leader helmet that I paid for a long time ago.
 
So it sounds like they pushed everything to Spring '19? And are giving out piecemeal refunds?

Yikes... Conspiracy theory time, but it sort of sounds like they're out of money and sinking fast. May need to call my bank on Monday...
 
I had a refund of just over $10 at the beginning of December and one for around 50cents today.
My only dealings with Anovos are from a couple of years ago when I bought a Deathtrooper helmet. I have never asked for a refund or contacted their CS.

It would appear they do not know their arse from their elbow?
 
I believe these small refunds are because they over charged state tax... I was talking with another friend effected by this last week
 
Not sure how serious the WonderCon on-site protest idea is but, however tempting it may sound, we need to ask ourselves: will it help - or make things worse? What's better: to vent? Or to resolve?

IMO, it would make for additional bad PR that would increase our chances of never getting our stuff - or our money back. Some might see this as naïve or over-optimistic, I'm just trying to see this from an unemotional perspective. Not an easy thing to do for me, but I'm tryin....
I currently don't have a constructive solution to offer, because I have no clue what's going on. I've read a lot of detailed assessments, all of which make sense, but none of it is official. As far as I know this mess could be anything from bad luck with the manufacturers to owners giving themselves Xmas bonuses instead of delivering the goods.​
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Here's a question: would hiring a law firm, or an attorney, to investigate and officially assess the situation, be a reasonable start? Let's evaluate this step-by-step. Forget the costs for now. Step 1. would hiring an attorney be a start? If you think it's a bad idea and are willing to provide a good argument against it; please do. I personally don't know if lawyering-up is a good idea or not - that's why I'm asking.​
What I do know is that for any action to be taken, we need to know what's going on. And as far as I know, none of us do.​
For example: if the merchandise has been produced and packaged, but waiting in a warehouse somewhere so that the manufacturer can get the balance of its payment: then that solicits a different approach than if the merchandise has never been produced and ANOVOS burned the funds. Those 2 scenarios would trigger 2 different reactions.​
Think about it and let us know. Set all emotions aside and think about it from a business perspective.​
If you were a corporation, and John Q. ANOVOS was your underperforming contractor that hasn't delivered something you already paid for: what would your legal department do?​
 
Just from past experiences with attorneys...if you hire them, they will end up taking any refund money we had. That's why I might pursue them in small claims court. It's under $4k, no attorneys can be present and I can get a court order to get my money back. Plus the prospect of a CA company having to spend money to come to KS and defend might just make them refund my money.
 
If you protest at their booth at wondercon the convention can remove you... standing on the side walk outside of the event that’s another subject...

Nothing they can do about that... my political action committee and I have protested many of times...
 
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