GW's Customer Service

[crazyredpraetorian]

This was mentioned on the BoLS Blog the other day and I thought it would make a good topic for The Lounge. I used to own a pair of stores and have been through just about every situation with GW that I can imagine, from lost shipments to missing/wrong pieces in a blister. In my experience, they give better customer service to customers than they do to their dealers. I have had a few isolated incidents where my customers were not getting anywhere and I complained to my rep. He handled the problem for me.Overall, I have to say that their customer service is okay, it's the company structure that sometimes causes the problems.

What do think? What are your experiences? This is not a GW bashing thread. Please, give examples to support why you have the opinion that you do...................and price has nothing to do with customer service.

[Brass Scorpion]

Back in my first decade in the hobby things were terrible to okay at best. However, the past ten years things have improved dramatically and I generally get good to great assistance when there is a problem. Occasionally things go wrong more than a little and it takes more than one contact to get it fixed and occasionally one deals with someone that is not all that helpful, but on the whole things generally are quite good when it comes to customer service. It's not perfect, but usually pretty good.

I will agree with your comment about corporate structure though, especially this year since a lot of shake-ups in company rules have occurred and many good people have been let go for one reason or another. From around 2005-2008 it seemed GW was on a real ascendence to me and my family, with great improvements in service, in the stores, in staffing, in policies, events and more. This year it seems like they have no plan at all other than to cut costs any way possible and this has had a negative effect on many things that used to run a whole lot better, at least from the customer view of being outside looking in. Among other things, GW US community building definitely took a huge hit late in 2008 that is still being felt nearly a year later. I really hope things get back on track in 2010. I know the community building changes resulted in a particularly ugly incident recently for some of us who helped GW out with something earlier this year. Fortunately, one good guy there has come to the rescue and it looks like it will get straightened out, but I had my doubts there for a while.

For the moment though, to borrow a comment from my spouse, it used to look like GW had a clear direction just a year or so ago, now it looks like some guys in England just keep randomly calling on the US staff and telling them what to do and they are forced to do it without any coherent plan.

[wittdooley]

I talk pretty extensively to my FLGS owner about his dealings with GW, so I can see this from two sides of the coin.

As a consumer/customer, I think their customer service is almost so good that I don't like to use it if I can help it. I've had 6-7 boxes of stuff missing various SMALL things. I got a box of termies once with the leg sprue missing. I've had a rhino with the accessory sprue missing. These were the first two occurances and I called them, and the fixed it....by sending me completely new boxes of terminators and a brand new rhino. This is great, but at the same time, makes me feel terrible. I realize the product should be in the box when I buy it, but I actually wish they'd just send the pieces I was missing. I got a Mephiston blister and his sword was broken. I tried my damndest to repair it, but because it was so slight, I couldn't get the glue to set without it sticking to something else. In short, I've recently had those other boxes missing SMALL things (a single horse from an Empire Knightly order box, for instance) and I don't call them because I don't feel comfortable with them sending me an entire new box to replace the ONE item missing. I know I'm probably in the minority in this aspect, but I wish they would just send me the single piece. I understand that they probably don't have assorted pieces just laying around, but I sincerely wish they'd just go back to a full-fledged bits selling deal like they used to have.

Anyways, from my FLGS perspective--he's changed reps 3 times in the past two years, and has had issues dealing with them in the past, particularly when it comes to direct order stuff. I don't see why it isn't more readily available, or why they're separate enterprises, but I digress. He's also had issues getting restocks on time, and has been shafted on preview copies of certain things (Space Hulk being one) when he is the largest seller of GW products in our area (you'd have to go 80 miles to find another store that moves close to the same amount). It frustrates me a lot, and I even called on his behalf when he didn't get preview copies of things in, but they gave me a bit of the runaround, claiming the departments, "didn't work together like that," (meaning the customer service and the retalier distribution). In that regard, I do think it's an issue of GWs infrastructure.

Overall, I do think the company is very good to its customers, and is very fair in terms of a lot of things. However, I think there is always room for improvement--and for them the ability to make more money with sales of bitz, etc.. I mean, I'd love to be able to get them straight from GW instead of a 3rd party.

[Lord Azaghul]

No bad personal experienced, but when I talk to the (non-gw store) store owner/manager is sounds like the gw reps are amoung the most difficult to work with.

[the one]

For me I had a spray paint go... off. It turned A poor guard squad into a pile of thick blobby paint... not good. Next time I'm in store i tell the manager what happened. Next time I was in store he said he'll give me a free guard squad & can of spray as replacement. Execellent. Hope nobody takes advantage of this service they provide, they're just to good.

[Brass Scorpion]

No bad personal experienced, but when I talk to the (non-gw store) store owner/manager is sounds like the gw reps are amoung the most difficult to work with.
I used to buy a huge amount of my GW and other game items from a couple different local independent stores. I used to hear complaints like that all the time, especially in the 1990s. Last I heard from a friend of mine who owned his own store a few years ago, things had improved quite a bit, but perhaps changes in policy over the last year or two have made things tougher. I'm sure who you are dealing with in the way of individual sales rep is also a factor.

[Aldramelech]

Ive never had any problem with them at all. Everything Ive ordered has turned up promptly with all the right bits. (Perhaps that should be a poll option?)

What I do not like is being pounced on as soon as you walk in the door, that person pretending to be interested in what I'm painting at that time and asking you the same question the next day when you go back in for something you forgot!
If you don't listen to the answer don't ask the bloody question.

I would much prefer to walk in and be left alone, if I want help I'm more then capable of asking for it.

[The Green Git]

GW Customer Service as a department has been very good. I've never had an issue that was not corrected on the first call.

Customer service from the store reps in the various stores has been spotty but that's just the nature of face to face retail sales. I've not had a BAD experience in a GW store but some have been better than others.

[crazyredpraetorian]

Wow, this is really a surprise. I half expected this to turn into a @#%$ fest. Do you think GW gets a bad rap due to their pricing policies?

[TheBitzBarn]

As a former Store Owner The Trade reps are Horrible. Not Bad People take it But the direction of the Company and Treatment of Retailers is Poor I say they are a Great Miniature company that has no IDEA how to do Retailing. In One year i had 4 Trade reps. Heaven forbid if your rep goes on vacation NO ONE wants to answer the call and no one does you have to beat down doors to get your order in. And They for some reason until lately were unable to provide quick email with Tracking numbers. Orders were erratic as to when they arrive. I have always asked why they do not function like Alliance games and have an online ordering system. Why do I need to talk to someone every time I place and order. They have 14 Trade resp and they do not even really know the areas they rep and some states have multiple reps. Real dysfunctional and WASTE of Money keep one for each US region and two for Canada and then cut the rest. If you want to save Money there you go and create and online order system for Retailers.
As a former retailer I never understood the need for a Direct Lien and Trade Line so I have to pay more for BFG and Mordhiem Minis' No wonder they do not sell It cost a retailer more to carry that product Line. While they force Bored of the Rings(LOTR) on use or we pay shipping cost. As for most of the country NO ONE BUY the stuff. No as a retailer if the wrong product was shipped they will replace it and not ask for the mistake back and and VERY nice about that!

As for Customer Service as a Customer THEY ROCK! No one treats their customers better. I know I got a Predator with Broken Autocannon gun and they shipped me a NEW pred in 3 Days All i wanted was the sprue. But WOW what GREAT Service. I know many people with similar stores and they keep track of this stuff so if someone starts abusing it I know they will be flagged.

I do not HATE GW. I hate the Mean nature some of these post get. If you do not like the Company do not buy and play the game. You have chooses I do not Love them but they are generally a good company. As for the US Community Support, They never did it right in MANY years. They are currently better off NOT doing it and Letting Gaming Clubs and stores doing events and Supporting them Better.

[wittdooley]

Wow, this is really a surprise. I half expected this to turn into a @#%$ fest. Do you think GW gets a bad rap due to their pricing policies?

I think they do, and I think it's a really unfair rep. GW has their pricepoints RIGHT in line with everything else on the market. There is NO ONE that makes plastic miniatures with the options GW has. Privateer has started to make plastic sculpts, and they're about in the same price range, but they offer ZERO customization options.

In terms of the metal units, the blisters are a BIT high (a comprable sized Warmachine fig usually costs $3-5 less than a GW fig), but the boxes are VERY fair. I'll use Canis Wolfborn as an example: Canis is a brick of a metal... I mean, you could put him in a sock and whack a guy... and he is $42. A comparable Hordes fig...lets use the Skorne Rhinodon (http://www.thewarstore.com/product33643.html) as the example. He's MSRPed at $44.99. He's rougly the same size, is of a similar quality in sculpt, and is around the same price. I figure once you get the GW 20% and a 35%, they're pratically even.

Anyways, any hobby is costly. That's why no one force people to participate in hobbies. I think GW is right in line with the industry, and I think they are very fair to their customers. Again, there's always room for improvement, but I'm pretty darn happy with how things are going.

[wittdooley]

[QUOTE=TheBitzBarn;30741]I have always asked why they do not function like Alliance games and have an online ordering system. Why do I need to talk to someone every time I place and order. They have 14 Trade resp and they do not even really know the areas they rep and some states have multiple reps. Real dysfunctional and WASTE of Money keep one for each US region and two for Canada and then cut the rest. If you want to save Money there you go and create and online order system for Retailers.
As a former retailer I never understood the need for a Direct Lien and Trade Line so I have to pay more for BFG and Mordhiem Minis' No wonder they do not sell It cost a retailer more to carry that product Line. While they force Bored of the Rings(LOTR) on use or we pay shipping cost. As for most of the country NO ONE BUY the stuff. No as a retailer if the wrong product was shipped they will replace it and not ask for the mistake back and and VERY nice about that!


Man, I hear you there. It is beyond me why they don't do an online system. Blows my mind. It would have to save them the cost and the headache. As for LotR... I know that stores are "supposed" to carry so much, but none of the stores around here do. It sorta unfortunate, as it is a decent game.

[TheBitzBarn]

Actually No one I know find the LOTR to be a good Game but the War is a kinda good game but NO one wants to start a new Game on the scale you have to. so it does not sell

[Psychosplodge]

5+ years ago
I once got charged twice for a copy of a special edition book, once on ordering, and once on shipping. A quick phone call to the black library, fax of the credit card bills, and instant refund and apology.
Top off brand new spray varnish snapped, instant replacement no quibbles.

However
Nowadays, I find the mail order staff far less helpful, whether this is just as they now have targets or less leeway to discount, but you used to be able to order say 3 "random" storm troopers for £5 and if you asked the mail order trollz for only stormtroopers wearing gasmasks, they'd sort it no questions, last time I tried you had to buy the models individually if you wanted specifics like that, now I'm not even sure you could buy the individual model? Just the random 3 for x amount.
That to me is poor customer service, really how much longer does it take to do that? they are probably all together anyway in the warehouse...

[Col.Gravis]

Thats the side effects of their cost cutting for you Psychosplodge.

That said I cant personally fault the customer service, either through Mail Order (be that GW, Forgeworld, or Black Library) or in store, every problem I've ever encountered has been solved quickly and without any unpleasantness.

Infact my only complaint is they'e never sent me the wrong thing, given GW's tendancy to say, 'oh keep it and we'll send you our what you should of recieved straight away!' Life just aint fair sometimes! ;)

[TheBitzBarn]

5+ years ago
Nowadays, I find the mail order staff far less helpful, whether this is just as they now have targets or less leeway to discount, but you used to be able to order say 3 "random" storm troopers for £5 and if you asked the mail order trollz for only stormtroopers wearing gasmasks, they'd sort it no questions, last time I tried you had to buy the models individually if you wanted specifics like that, now I'm not even sure you could buy the individual model? Just the random 3 for x amount.
That to me is poor customer service, really how much longer does it take to do that? they are probably all together anyway in the warehouse...


It is not as easy as you think and I can put up with that if the end result is more cost savings equals less price increases and better and more frequent releases and updates which it seems to be the case. I mean 3 Armybooks/Codexs and at least 6 new plastic boxes in 4 months that is unheard of in the past ( Space Wolves and 2 boxes, Skaven and 3 Boxes, Bugs and 1 Box)

[crazyredpraetorian]

Actually No one I know find the LOTR to be a good Game but the War is a kinda good game but NO one wants to start a new Game on the scale you have to. so it does not sell

WOTR actually has a good following here in Austin. The system looks fun but, 40K is enough for me.:D

[Brass Scorpion]

they are probably all together anyway in the warehouse...
Actually, no they are not. In the US, the trade sales people are on the coasts while the warehouse sits in the middle in Memphis, TN. As for the UK I don't know, but even if they are in the same building, the guy taking the orders on the phone all day probably has little to no contact with the people pulling and packing orders in the warehouse. The guys on the phone are pretty much stuck there all day and the pullers and packers do their own thing in their own little world.

Regarding LotR and WotR, I constantly see posts online on forums about how no one plays these games and how they collect dust in stores, etc. That may or may not be true in some places, but those games are relatively popular with a good solid following in other places. Not as big as 40K, but fairly solid nonetheless. In fact, a bunch of children who just finished the Academy in one of my local GW stores all picked LotR boxed sets as their "free" set at the end of the class when they could just as easily chosen 40K or Fantasy. My son plays both games and while there's been a bit of a downturn on finding games for it lately, in general he's been able to spend many happy hours playing those games for the past few years. I guess to cut directly to the point, just because a game is not popular in someone's local area doesn't mean it's not a popular product over the wider market.

[Psychosplodge]

I meant the UK warehouse, And as all the stormtrooper models in this example are probably on the same mould, they are probably in "bins" together until boxed, but maybe the ROW never enjoyed the same bitz ordering anyway idk. I do understand that yes it would be different people packing/picking to taking the order, but the point was they used to go that little bit further, when the hybrid devastators were first released, 3rd edition?, I heard of a couple of people phoning up and getting a different weapons mix to the standard box set, for the price of the box set - the point I was trying to make was GW used to go THAT little bit further...

[TheBitzBarn]

Actually, no they are not. In the US, the trade sales people are on the coasts while the warehouse sits in the middle in Memphis, TN.

They are all in Baltimore now



Regarding LotR and WotR, I constantly see posts online on forums about how no one plays these games and how they collect dust in stores, etc. That may or may not be true in some places, but those games are relatively popular with a good solid following in other places. Not as big as 40K, but fairly solid nonetheless. In fact, a bunch of children who just finished the Academy in one of my local GW stores all picked LotR boxed sets as their "free" set at the end of the class when they could just as easily chosen 40K or Fantasy. My son plays both games and while there's been a bit of a downturn on finding games for it lately, in general he's been able to spend many happy hours playing those games for the past few years. I guess to cut directly to the point, just because a game is not popular in someone's local area doesn't mean it's not a popular product over the wider market.

Well It is not popular in the Southeast and I know that it accounts for less than 10% of the company's total mix in sales.

[Commissar Lewis]

I haven't had any issues in regards to ordering in the past. The only real hiccup was when I ordered a Straken mini back in, about June-July or so and it took two weeks to get it. In fact, the store employee gave me the one he ordered that had arrived and instead waited for the one I ordered. Which was pretty cool.

[chazhick]

I have had really good luck with both games workshop direct and forge world. My friend bought a kit at a FLGS and it was broken beyond repair. He called the 1-800 number and told them what had happened. I thought that they would tell him to take it back to the store, but instead they said sorry about that asked for his address and dispatched a new kit right away. It was a fairly costly kit and they sent it out no questions asked other then the place that he purchased it. Personally I received a piece from forge world that was in terrible shape. I called them and they apologized. They sent me out a new piece right away. They even sent it UPS express. When I got the new piece it was the wrong piece. I called and he apologized and then he sent the correct part. They never asked for proof that they were messed up or for me to send any of the parts back. They were very kind and understanding. I think the key is to call if you do have a problem because the email support seems nonexistent.

[crazyredpraetorian]

I have heard that it's a waste of time to email FW but, c a phone call usually gets any problem fixed.

[Cryl]

I had an exhaust missing from a stormsword kit I bought in warhammer world, a single phonecall (around 4pm) had them special delivery the part out to me so I got it the next morning. That's pretty good by anyones standards.

[Wanderingroue]

well speaking as a recent GW customer service dude...thanks all :P

In england at least, the team was very very small and we were always very busy.. so we did our best :)