I thought I'd signed up here years ago, but I guess not! This thread has piqued my interest in the forum once more, so I thought it's time to change that and say greetings from the UK!
As I placed my order for a skateboard at 11:45pm California time on 24 October, I always assumed I would be one of the last to receive mine... I was right!
The site said orders will stop being taken on the 25 October, but not whether that was at the stroke of Midnight, the end of the day... or some time in-between (10:04 pm?)
I don't want this post to read as a complaint. I fully appreciate that the event was put on by a small group who didn't appreciate just how massive the demand for tickets and store items would be, and were overworked, under-staffed... and underpaid!
I speak from experience when I say I understand what a long, gruelling, arduous, thankless task putting on an event can be. You work throughout your free time for months beforehand, overcoming hurdles only to have more thrown at you. Too much pressure, too much to do, too little time in which to do it! Any issues are your fault... even when it's a supplier not having enough parts to manufacture something! It's a stressful nightmare. So I applaud and salute those who made the event the success it was - your countless months before and after the event don't go unnoticed... by me, anyway! That knightlife (Joe, is it?) continues that unenviable task by picking up someone else's mess with a smile on his face, wanting to be open, honest and informative to customers, is both testament to his dedication and goes a long way to keeping faith in the event/brand/company (whatever you want to call it). Thank you.
I think it's fair to say, as several have here, that there was a breakdown in communication from the outset with the skateboards. As mentioned, there were no pictures of the final product but a rather ambiguous promise of "the most screen-accurate McFly board possible!" I'm sure we all thought that leaving this statement without description was asking for trouble as many die-hard fans are... well, shall we say meticulous to detail!
Still, if it looks pretty close, that's what I was looking for! There was a statement initially, I'm sure, that skateboards would only ship to the US... in fact, I remember finding the info elsewhere on the site that you could have it shipped elsewhere for $75, I think it was. I sent a Tweet to confirm this, as the order page didn't allow me to change the shipping amount. I never had a reply. I couldn't find contact details on the website (as someone who has worked in marketing, I would say always make sure contact details are prominent. I appreciate that a bunch of friends don't want phone calls... but if you were a full-time business, you'd ideally put your phone number on the top of the page
As for e-mails, my first issue was that Gmail insists on filing them in "Promotions" so I don't even get a notification that they've arrived! I've received a total of three e-mails - my order receipt on 24 October, the update of 15 November (stating "As you know from our previous email, we are doing everything we can do to handle all of the orders as quickly as possible" and "we promise better communication"), and finally the second update of 4 December. It seems that the promise to keep us in the loop wasn't really kept, as we heard nothing for three weeks after that e-mail... and I hadn't received the previous e-mail at all! Perhaps it was sent before 24 October. I can't sign into the website (I guess I didn't create an account. Maybe I thought there was no need as the shop was closing!), so I can't see the status of my order, sadly.
In the scheme of things, though, it's a skateboard. Yes, they've taken my money and I've heard precious little in the six weeks since. I could get irate, but what's the point? I'm sure they're trustworthy people, especially if this thread is anything to go by... I mean, it's ultimately in Madrid's hands now. I could say that, considering contact info was sparse and I got no reply on Twitter, I was a fool for placing the order - I nearly didn't as a result. I ordered last minute and asked for the board to be shipped to a friend in the US, in case there were issues sending it over here (and it'd avoid hefty customs fees if I'm going to visit her in the near future). I'm patient and, considering it will be in my friend's wardrobe for months, there's no great urgency in my case. I'm still looking forward to receiving it!
A couple of questions for knightlife (apologies if I missed the answers - I skimmed certain parts of the thread):
- As the site still seems to allow orders to go through, are they still being taken? Or were they stopped on 25 October as stated?
- Do we know how many boards were made in total?
- Is my board on your photo of the rack?
I'll PM you so you can update me on my order process, but there's really no hurry - don't worry!
I'd be interested to at least know the cost of:
- the (stickered) copers (if the cast of the original happens, awesome! Any other more accurate solution would be of interest, though)
- the wheels (if a cast happens and works well)
- the deck without trucks and wheels (what would that come with? Artwork? Grip tape?)
I see that the board arrives shrink-wrapped. Did anyone else have a NRFP dilemma when they saw that?
I'm interested to know how many people will actually use theirs (and as part of a costume, or just in general?), and how many want to display it / keep it in the packaging.
All in all, it's great that this happened! Yes, there were communication issues, but I hope the organizers learnt from this for any future events (probably to run a mile if anyone asks them to organize anything! heh). Seriously, though - keep in touch with customers (or farm responsibility to manufacturers) and they'll appreciate it and come back. This thread proves that!
This is what mine is like as a photo, but I am still having it mailed out as I don't think printing my own COA is how it's ment to be!! I want an original .
