supgreg
Well-Known Member
***Be Warned! Stay Away From Action Costumes!***
I'm here to share my most recent experience from a company that I'll never use again- Action Costumes.
Background- I've made several transactions with them in the past, dating back to 2006. Their quality and customer service have been top notch until this most recent transaction. Being a returning customer, this experience bothers me, and I feel that I should warn people that may be interested in their products. This purchase had to do with their "Golden Edition" Superman replica costume. Yeah, the really expensive one.
Let me be clear, the main person that I have a problem with is the "owner" of the company, Sebastian Molchasky, NOT Sebastian Colombo. The latter, did the research for these costumes and is no longer affiliated with the company.
I ordered this costume on December 16th, 2013. Their advertisements on Ebay claim 30 days until the costume is completed and ready for shipping. Well, that was a joke. I was told the for first time on day 30, that they needed another week...I thought, ok, no problem, it's the Holidays. When did I finally receive the first costume? March 3. That's 3.5 months after ordering. But it doesn't end there...
Now, I did make a few small custom requests, none that should have added more time. For example, I wanted black cape snaps versus gold, hook an eye closures on the belt instead of Velcro, and a slightly different but screen accurate finish on the cape hem.
Sebastian's customer service may seem accommodating at first, but he rarely checks his email. I would go upwards of 2 weeks without hearing a response from him after I would write him emails like, "Where's my costume?" And if I wasn't fast enough to reply right after an email he sent, then I had to wait possibly another week to get information from him. It was very frustrating.
Oh, and here's the product that I received:
Holes in the stitching, and overall poor craftsmanship.
So, like any reasonable person, I contacted him with these pictures and politely said "WTF?" I had never received anything from them that was sub-par. Especially for this price. At first, he claimed that I must have pulled all the stitching apart because my mannequin was too big. He wanted to argue that they had done nothing wrong. Really? Did you see the pics? Well, that's when I started an Ebay claim. That got his attention.
He then contacted me and told me to lift the Ebay claim or he couldn't do anything. He knew that if I lifted it, I would be screwed with no recourse, so I called the Ebay help line. Ebay said absolutely do not lift the claim until it has been resolved, and he had 30 days to get me a replacement. I tried to explain to Ebay that it would take much longer. Heck, it was going to take 2 weeks to ship it back. Ebay said that after 30 days the claim would self-close if I did nothing. So, back to Sebastian again, and I told him I wasn't lifting my claim, and I was going to have Paypal get my money back. Sebastian said he didn't have my money anymore, and he agreed to re-make the entire costume.
So I had to take a leap of faith, and close the Ebay claim and ship the costume back. Sebastian receives the costume on March 22. Guess when I got the replacement? JUNE 28th. Six and a half months, start to finish. You would think he would rush me another suit to make things better? No. Back to a week and a half between emails again, starting from scratch. By June, they tell me they are having trouble finishing the cape and would need two more weeks. I told them that enough is enough, just ship it as is, and I can finish it myself. Which, I shouldn't have to, but I was so sick of the whole process. Two weeks after that e-mail, at their convenience, they shipped it, unfinished.
It's not over...So a day or so after having the replacement suit, my wife says, "What's that stuff all over the cape?" I look closer, and there are probably 40-50 black ink spots all over. Almost like someone had drawn with a sharpie on something on top of it, and it bled through. What made me madder, was that I could now see small rings where someone had realized this, and tried to clean some of the spots. They had tried so hard, that they took some of the red dye with it. So, I contact Sebastian again and said politely, "WTF?" Well, silly me, he claims that I must have done it again, because he personally inspected it, and they were not there when he shipped it. Hell, I missed it at first, but they are definitly there as the pictures below show.
One of several dozen spots:
I shot for the moon, and I told Sebastian I wanted another cape. One without ink. He then sends and email saying "no", and then sends me another email with a bill for a new one at $650!!! Can you believe this guy!?! I'm furious now. I said, no, I'm not buying a new one for something that shouldn't have ink on it in the first place. It's too late for Ebay claims and credit card claims at this point. It's been 7 months. What I really want is just my finished suit. So, I ended up purchasing the raw fabric from him at $150, and I'm going to take the old one apart and copy it and make myself a new one. That was July 8th. When did they finally find the time to just fold up some fabric and ship it to me? August 11th. Anyone want the pattern of a so-called original?
Sebastian Molchasky cares about money, and nothing else with his company. He's pushy, doesn't care about keeping you updated, and doesn't complete anything in the time he promises. I have every email to back this up as well. It's a shame because they used to be great. Yeah, their stuff is way overpriced, but it's one of a kind stuff. This is just one fan to another saying, stay away at all costs!
Oh, and if you'd like some of the measurements of an "original" suit, here they are. If my costume has all the measurements of the real suit, like they advertise, I now have them because I took all the measurements down. I measured both suits they sent me, and they're consistent. The way I see it, they don't own the rights to the measurements anyway. Warner Brother's technically does. It should be info for everyone to use on this forum.
Cape: 48" Long, 120" wide
Cape Emblem: 7x10" exactly, located 8 & 1/2" down from the neck line.
Inner Cape Pleats: 2" apart
Chest Emblem: 8x11" exactly, located exactly 2" down from the collar.
Belt: 1 & 7/8" wide x 36" long
Buckle: 2" tall exactly
Belt Loops: 1 & 1/4" wide, 2" long.
Leggings: 50" long, 13" across
His blurred out measurements:
My Measurements:
I'm here to share my most recent experience from a company that I'll never use again- Action Costumes.
Background- I've made several transactions with them in the past, dating back to 2006. Their quality and customer service have been top notch until this most recent transaction. Being a returning customer, this experience bothers me, and I feel that I should warn people that may be interested in their products. This purchase had to do with their "Golden Edition" Superman replica costume. Yeah, the really expensive one.
Let me be clear, the main person that I have a problem with is the "owner" of the company, Sebastian Molchasky, NOT Sebastian Colombo. The latter, did the research for these costumes and is no longer affiliated with the company.
I ordered this costume on December 16th, 2013. Their advertisements on Ebay claim 30 days until the costume is completed and ready for shipping. Well, that was a joke. I was told the for first time on day 30, that they needed another week...I thought, ok, no problem, it's the Holidays. When did I finally receive the first costume? March 3. That's 3.5 months after ordering. But it doesn't end there...
Now, I did make a few small custom requests, none that should have added more time. For example, I wanted black cape snaps versus gold, hook an eye closures on the belt instead of Velcro, and a slightly different but screen accurate finish on the cape hem.
Sebastian's customer service may seem accommodating at first, but he rarely checks his email. I would go upwards of 2 weeks without hearing a response from him after I would write him emails like, "Where's my costume?" And if I wasn't fast enough to reply right after an email he sent, then I had to wait possibly another week to get information from him. It was very frustrating.
Oh, and here's the product that I received:
Holes in the stitching, and overall poor craftsmanship.
So, like any reasonable person, I contacted him with these pictures and politely said "WTF?" I had never received anything from them that was sub-par. Especially for this price. At first, he claimed that I must have pulled all the stitching apart because my mannequin was too big. He wanted to argue that they had done nothing wrong. Really? Did you see the pics? Well, that's when I started an Ebay claim. That got his attention.
He then contacted me and told me to lift the Ebay claim or he couldn't do anything. He knew that if I lifted it, I would be screwed with no recourse, so I called the Ebay help line. Ebay said absolutely do not lift the claim until it has been resolved, and he had 30 days to get me a replacement. I tried to explain to Ebay that it would take much longer. Heck, it was going to take 2 weeks to ship it back. Ebay said that after 30 days the claim would self-close if I did nothing. So, back to Sebastian again, and I told him I wasn't lifting my claim, and I was going to have Paypal get my money back. Sebastian said he didn't have my money anymore, and he agreed to re-make the entire costume.
So I had to take a leap of faith, and close the Ebay claim and ship the costume back. Sebastian receives the costume on March 22. Guess when I got the replacement? JUNE 28th. Six and a half months, start to finish. You would think he would rush me another suit to make things better? No. Back to a week and a half between emails again, starting from scratch. By June, they tell me they are having trouble finishing the cape and would need two more weeks. I told them that enough is enough, just ship it as is, and I can finish it myself. Which, I shouldn't have to, but I was so sick of the whole process. Two weeks after that e-mail, at their convenience, they shipped it, unfinished.
It's not over...So a day or so after having the replacement suit, my wife says, "What's that stuff all over the cape?" I look closer, and there are probably 40-50 black ink spots all over. Almost like someone had drawn with a sharpie on something on top of it, and it bled through. What made me madder, was that I could now see small rings where someone had realized this, and tried to clean some of the spots. They had tried so hard, that they took some of the red dye with it. So, I contact Sebastian again and said politely, "WTF?" Well, silly me, he claims that I must have done it again, because he personally inspected it, and they were not there when he shipped it. Hell, I missed it at first, but they are definitly there as the pictures below show.
One of several dozen spots:
I shot for the moon, and I told Sebastian I wanted another cape. One without ink. He then sends and email saying "no", and then sends me another email with a bill for a new one at $650!!! Can you believe this guy!?! I'm furious now. I said, no, I'm not buying a new one for something that shouldn't have ink on it in the first place. It's too late for Ebay claims and credit card claims at this point. It's been 7 months. What I really want is just my finished suit. So, I ended up purchasing the raw fabric from him at $150, and I'm going to take the old one apart and copy it and make myself a new one. That was July 8th. When did they finally find the time to just fold up some fabric and ship it to me? August 11th. Anyone want the pattern of a so-called original?
Sebastian Molchasky cares about money, and nothing else with his company. He's pushy, doesn't care about keeping you updated, and doesn't complete anything in the time he promises. I have every email to back this up as well. It's a shame because they used to be great. Yeah, their stuff is way overpriced, but it's one of a kind stuff. This is just one fan to another saying, stay away at all costs!
Oh, and if you'd like some of the measurements of an "original" suit, here they are. If my costume has all the measurements of the real suit, like they advertise, I now have them because I took all the measurements down. I measured both suits they sent me, and they're consistent. The way I see it, they don't own the rights to the measurements anyway. Warner Brother's technically does. It should be info for everyone to use on this forum.
Cape: 48" Long, 120" wide
Cape Emblem: 7x10" exactly, located 8 & 1/2" down from the neck line.
Inner Cape Pleats: 2" apart
Chest Emblem: 8x11" exactly, located exactly 2" down from the collar.
Belt: 1 & 7/8" wide x 36" long
Buckle: 2" tall exactly
Belt Loops: 1 & 1/4" wide, 2" long.
Leggings: 50" long, 13" across
His blurred out measurements:
My Measurements:
Attachments
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