Rated Retailers?

[Mr Mystery]

How do?

So just embarking on my X-Wing career, and have ordered from two separate retailers. Which is unusual, as with a local GW store not five minutes from my boudoir, I very rarely order gaming stuf online.

First one was Board Game Extras, as recommended by Deadlift. The other was Gameslore, who I have used before for RPG books, and never had a problem with.

Anyone know if there's an existent thread on BoLs where experiences with various online retailers can be compiled with a simple rating system?

If not, should we do one, or would that potentially leave BoLs open to trouble?

[Wolfshade]

Whilst we are able to share our own opinions, they do not necessarily reflect the views of BoLS LLP or its employees :)

There was a 40k one ages ago, but this is more general I feel.

I too have used Gameslore previously and had no issue with them

I also use TotalWargamer, who while on price are brilliant -30% RRP they do not deliver on time in my experiance and some of my gaming group. For instance I am still waiting on my rule book which come tomorrow will 2 weeks over due.

Perhaps a scoring system:

So for instance:

Total Wargamer
http://totalwargamer.co.uk/

Price: 5/5 (-30% RRP for GW, -20% Other systems)
Timliness of orders: 0/5 - No order delivered on time
Customer service: 0/5 - Complaints are responded to rapidly, but this does not seem to have any impact on delivery times
Would you recommend them: 0/5 (0 - least likely, 5 - most likely)

Overall: 25% - While unbeatable on price, they fail to meet their generous delivery times.

[Mr Mystery]

Sounds about right. And good call on the disclaimer!

[ACE01]

Good idea I think!

Some I've used recently:

Wayland Games
waylandgames.co.uk

Price: 3/5 (decent discount on mini's, other items (spray, paints, etc on or just under RRP)
Timeliness of orders: 4/5 - Dispatched and delivered pretty quickly.
Customer service: N/A - Never had cause to use this service.
Would you recommend them: 4/5 (0 - least likely, 5 - most likely)

Overall: 73% - Good pricing, wide range of items and reasonably quick delivery. Wayland are the Mario of UK e-tailers. Good for most things, but don't seem to excel in any area.


Bits and Kits
bitsandkits.co.uk

Price: 3/5 (high-ish standard pricing, but frequents sales for sales sake can lead to some bargains)
Timeliness of orders: 3/5 - Dispatched and delivered neither quickly or slowly on a typical order, though as busy times (holidays, etc) dispatch can be very slow (a week or more).
Customer service: 1/5 - While more often than not my orders have arrived without issue, when you try to contact Bits and Kits, they do not reply. I sent multiple emails, looked for phone numbers, and eventually tracked down the owner on a hobby forum and got in touch via PM. Eventually, only by opening a paypal dispute was my issue resolved (incomplete order), though only by refund, meaning some parts of my order were useless without the missing bits.
Would you recommend them: 2/5 (0 - least likely, 5 - most likely)

Overall: 45% Though I do still place orders with bitsandkits.co.uk I do so with an amount of hesitation and by necessity. If I could change to find another UK based bits stockist, I would. Shame that in this days of always on connectivity some stores simply are not contactable day or night.


Hope those help :)

[Kirsten]

Bits and Kits are terrible, I used them for years only to have a small order never arrive (six whole pounds) and the seller absolutely refused all communication, email, phone calls, facebook messages, don't use him, absolute charlatan. Bitzbox and Let the Dice Decide are great.

Darksphere Miniatures are a wonderful online seller of both GW stuff and X Wing, along with Dust and others., 5/5

[Mr Mystery]

Hmm. Thought....

Delivery times being marked out of five...I think we need to agree what the rating is based on. Is it pure speed, with next-day being 5 stars, or is it meeting their stated/promised delivery times?

I ask because if I order off of Amazon, having Prime I get free next day delivery. Whereas one I used for the first time yesterday, Board Game Extras, posts stuff out 2nd Class, which takes longer but of course is pretty dashed cheap.

Personally, I'm in favour of rating on stated/promised delivery times.

[Deadlift]

Dark sphere.
Very very good, delivery time is up to you and depends on price. If they say it's in stock, it is. Ordered loads from them and so have many friends.

Discount isn't as high as Wayland or Totalwargamer but you do get your stuff on time.

100% satisfied with them.

http://www.darksphere.co.uk

I wouldn't touch Totalwargamer with a barge pole, the service I had with them was shocking. I even threatened to pay them a visit via a post on their Facebook page and "discuss" why they had my money but I had no models after 2 months. Refund was next day.

[Kirsten]

total wargamer used to be good a few years ago, now they are shocking. nothing seems to be in stock, everything takes a minimum of two weeks to arrive if it ever arrives at all. and if it is out of stock and they aren't going to send it, they wont tell you, you have to chase them and chase them to get your money back

[Deadlift]

Have you ever tried phoning them, goes straight to answer phone and as far as I know has done for the past 12 months. Only way to contact them is via Facebook if your lucky.

[Wolfshade]

Hmm. Thought....

Delivery times being marked out of five...I think we need to agree what the rating is based on. Is it pure speed, with next-day being 5 stars, or is it meeting their stated/promised delivery times?

I ask because if I order off of Amazon, having Prime I get free next day delivery. Whereas one I used for the first time yesterday, Board Game Extras, posts stuff out 2nd Class, which takes longer but of course is pretty dashed cheap.

Personally, I'm in favour of rating on stated/promised delivery times.

I would say a combination of:
0 - Total Wargamer (still waiting)
1 - Deliever arrived late, over a week when informed, or late without contact
2 - Delievery arrived late, upto a week and informed of it
3 - Delievery arrived on expected date
4 - Delievery arrived before expected date or within 2 days of the order
5 - Next day! (at no additional cost)

The delievery time is an interesting one, as you have to take into account that when you buy something they quote a turn around time, if I needed something next day from GW I could buy it and get them to ship it as such, but I would pay a premium. Similiarly, if something ahs a 15 day delievery time that isn't too bad because firstly you are aware of it and secondly you can choose to accept it or no.


Have you ever tried phoning them, goes straight to answer phone and as far as I know has done for the past 12 months. Only way to contact them is via Facebook if your lucky.
No, they now have a ticket system, my ticket is over 10x my order number so, that would suggest that there is at least 10 tickets per order, shocking.

[Mr Mystery]

Gameslore.... (www.gameslore.com)

Wot I done ordered - 2 x E-Wings, 2 x TIE Phantoms.

Price - 4/5. Not the cheapest out there, but more discount than most. Each ship was £9.99, down from £11.99. It's also worth noting that although this order didn't benefit, they have an additional sliding discount scale, starting with any order over £50 getting a 2.5%, right up to £250+ orders getting 10%. Combine with the perfectly reasonable 'not quite 20%' base discount, and you can make some serious savings. Definitely one for Games Clubs to consider, as they carry a wide range of, erm, ranges. Reckon 5 people placing a gang order should easily top the £250 :)
Timeliness of order - 5/5 Pre-ordered these ships Tuesday 24 June, with the ships released the day after. Delivered today, 26 June. You can't do much better than that. Well priced, and promised delivery time fulfilled
Customer Service - 5/5 for now, as I'm yet to have an issue with them. They also send an email when your ordered has despatched, which is a nice add.
Would you reccomend them? 5/5 - Absolutely.

Overall - 95%, based off a single order. Suffice to say I will be ordering again.

[Mr Mystery]

Board Game Extras (http://www.boardgameextras.co.uk/)

Wot I done ordered - 1 x X-Wing Core Set, 1 x X-Wing expansion, 1 x A-Wing expansion, 2 x TIE Intercept expansion, 1 x TIE Bomber

Price - 4/5. Much like Games Lore, you can probably find cheaper, but at £10 a ship instead of £12 you cannot really complain at all. And keep your eye out for special bundles. I got the HWK-290 (a ship I'd have otherwise left on the shelf) for £9, as I bought it at the same time as the Core Set.
Timeliness of order - 3/5 Package sent out 2nd Class, and promptly lost by Royal Mail. The 2nd Class postage keeps shipping costs down, but of course takes longer. Given a middling score here rather than low, because the speed is clearly stated on the website.
Customer Service - 5/5 With Royal Mail bodging the job, and losing my order, having confirmed with the post team at work it hadn't arrived, the seller immediately dispatched a replacement, using Royal Mail 24 - That's a faster, more expensive delivery method at no extra cost. Absolutely top notch customer service.
Would you recommend them? Based on this single order, yes. No fuss at all over a lost package, and ensured the replacement was sent out faster at no extra cost to me.

Overall - 85% off a single order. If you don't mind the slower postage time, that is of course higher!