Far away creations Moncal armor
- Thread starter mac3kuby
- Start date
Yorkie Fett
Sr Member
I ordered my MC armour back in April '15, and looking at other peoples' experiences, I will be surprised if I see it before next Summer.
I think you have to accept stated delivery times with most prop makers are very optimistic.
I think you have to accept stated delivery times with most prop makers are very optimistic.
Snowtrooper
Well-Known Member
I ordered some hoses from moncal for my DL AT AT driver and it took longer then their estimate, but they did show. I would guess you'll be waiting longer than that, probably over a year. Its pretty much the norm for companies now to quote ETA and take longer. The list is long and distinguished.
Sith Lord
Well-Known Member
Yes, the buyer accepts quoted delivery times, but when those times blow out with no excuse, that is not acceptable. My order with him is now a paypal dispute.
Yorkie Fett
Sr Member
I'm afraid many of the makers have us by the ******** , and if we want to own some of these goodies, we either stay for the long haul or get out.
I waited 3 years for a certain maker to deliver, but stuck with it and was rewarded with some of the finest props you could ever wish for.
Sith Lord
Well-Known Member
Yep, they sure do.... I guess each buyer has to make their own judgement call. In one of my emails to Moncal, I explained that the price/product/8weeks was an acceptable combination, however my valuing of price/product/26weeks was not.
mac3kuby
Active Member
I haven't heard back from him (surprise). As of now, I only have rumors and other people's problems to list as my reason for a refund. IF he doesn't give one, I will play the wait game. I am a very persistent and annoying person, when I want to be. Hope he gets it done in a reasonable amount of time, or he's gonna have me as a headache
tubachris85x
Master Member
I find it funny how people berate Dan Laws over his times, yet gladly throw their money for Cal's stuff. There's quite a few people who ordered his snowtrooper armor almost 2 years ago...still hoping. At least Dan has changed his "business model" and delivering in respectable time frames
Sith Lord
Well-Known Member
I think if you've originally accepted his terms, then you probably don't have much to stand on... My situation was that he was more than double past his quoted estimate, but still within dispute times, so I was lucky.
One reply of his to me, that after a couple of days he can no longer provide refunds as the money is 'allocated'. I sent another email to Cal - no reply. So I lodged a paypal dispute. Surprise, surprise, he "was more than happy to provide a refund". He is also "working on changing his business model so will have stock on hand, but that will take time"
You better file before the pay pal window closes or you will be SOL.
I hope you get what is owed or your money.
I hope you get what is owed or your money.
Into my 5th year of waiting for my Tie Helmet from Dan Laws.
He has not returned my last three messages. Told me in late 2014 I would have it in a week.
FYI
I also pointed out to him that I have been told by numerous members that others are not waiting nearly as long for their stuff.
I guess my money was not as good as theirs even though he has it.
Tom
TooMuchBBQ
New Member
Forgive my innocence, or niavete, but what is the hold up on any of this stuff? I understand that it's a second job for most of these guys, but considering how expensive most of these items are, it seems like a pretty lucrative second career.
They're not reinventing the wheel every time they make something either, right? They're pulling a vacuform, or making a resin cast of a buck or a mold that they already have. The cost of materials should be figured into the price of the product - that is paid up front - so what is the holdup? Is it just because they can?
They're not reinventing the wheel every time they make something either, right? They're pulling a vacuform, or making a resin cast of a buck or a mold that they already have. The cost of materials should be figured into the price of the product - that is paid up front - so what is the holdup? Is it just because they can?
I've had an order in limbo for close ot two years now. I'm a little grouchy, but at the same time, since I know Cal, I've been keeping up on his life and know how messy things got for him when he started working with ANOVOS to help master the hard parts. Took him a bit to realize he couldn't do that AND stay on top of his own business, as the approvals process was dragging things out far longer than he was used to with his own efforts. And the backlog built as they were getting things sorted. I've held off on placing any further orders more to avoid adding to the pileup than out of lack of faith. My order is now close to the front of the queue, and he's also mentioned roughly how much of a lineup there was behind it, and, through, dialogue, I'm probably going to place my other order around my birthday this fall.
And that's not even getting into things like sculpts that he's had in his workshop glaring accusingly at him for not finishing them while he's been busy with all this other stuff.
And as for the post above mind, from @TooMuchBBQ... Even without all the extra work he's taken on, it's hard to find multiple hours in a row during a day to work on this stuff. Some things, like ordering the plastic and cutting the sheets to size for the vac-forming frame, can be done in bulk. But "just vac-forming something you already have bucks for" consists of: putting a sheet in the frame, putting the frame in the oven to heat, mounting the frame to the table, doing the vac thing, taking the formed sheet out of the frame and setting it aside, putting the next buck or group of bucks on the table, repeating all these steps one or several more times until all the pieces for a particular order or group of orders for the same item are formed... Each of those steps only takes a few minutes, granted, but those minutes add up fast. And that's not even getting into cutting the pieces apart, or finishing them to whatever degree was offered/requested (rough, clean, assembled). Now that he's got a couple people helping out, there should be more collective hours available for doing all that...
--Jonah
And that's not even getting into things like sculpts that he's had in his workshop glaring accusingly at him for not finishing them while he's been busy with all this other stuff.
And as for the post above mind, from @TooMuchBBQ... Even without all the extra work he's taken on, it's hard to find multiple hours in a row during a day to work on this stuff. Some things, like ordering the plastic and cutting the sheets to size for the vac-forming frame, can be done in bulk. But "just vac-forming something you already have bucks for" consists of: putting a sheet in the frame, putting the frame in the oven to heat, mounting the frame to the table, doing the vac thing, taking the formed sheet out of the frame and setting it aside, putting the next buck or group of bucks on the table, repeating all these steps one or several more times until all the pieces for a particular order or group of orders for the same item are formed... Each of those steps only takes a few minutes, granted, but those minutes add up fast. And that's not even getting into cutting the pieces apart, or finishing them to whatever degree was offered/requested (rough, clean, assembled). Now that he's got a couple people helping out, there should be more collective hours available for doing all that...
--Jonah
mac3kuby
Active Member
Thanks for the helpful insights. I hope with all of these extra hands that he gets back up to filling the orders in a regular time frame. I am used to waiting a long time. I have ordered custom paintball guns from Palmer's Pursuit Shop several times, and the wait time is 3 months to a year. The difference here is that PPS will answer the phone immediately when I call, and the owner is on FB and will message me back in the same day. Moncal on the other hand, only deals on email, and it takes over a week to get a reply. In 2016, when someone emails a business, they should reply within a business day or two, not a week. OR he should have a phone number we can use, OR be on Facebook. I think the main frustration is that he doesn't respond promptly, and when he does respond, it is never quite the entire story. People just want an honest answer when they ask a question that pertains to hundreds of dollars.
