I recently just found a miniature supplier who is rapidly making my Hall of Shame and wanted to get the word out so nobody else gets burned. A bit over a month ago I placed an order with Black Tree and they immediately processed the order. After several weeks and no minis I got suspicious and started to email and call them. No response, they are not even answering phones. That is not good. So then I Googled it and was horrified to find a bunch of the same on a TMP thread. It looks like this is a regular mode of operation for these guys.
I immediately filed a Paypal dispute and am waiting to see if I get some sort of response. Other guys have said that once they did this they sometimes got some response finally. All I can do is keep my fingers crossed.
I will be updating this thread to let everyone know how it transpires.
The moral of the story is NEVER order from a company until you have checked on TMP! Fortunately I did not place an extremely huge order, but still, as a Kiwi friend of mine would say, it PISSES ME ORF!
Just an update to the Black Tree saga. I've managed to get a hold of them a couple of times in the past few weeks and they are swearing up and down that they will get my product to me. John told me it was simply a monumental screw up between Texas and the UK and that they have just been doing the Three Stooges thing. Since I do not have a huge amount of money at stake here I have decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and I am going to let this run it's course and see what happens. Hopefully I will have better news to report in the next couple of weeks.
Another update. It took a couple of months to get through the whole thing but once I had some communication going with them it was ok. I got my stuff! I think that BTD simply has a serious organizational problem and the US location does not have all the molds so they become the red headed step child and get the stuff last when customers are griping. They really do have nice figures and good prices, and since I have been able to get my product I am willing to have another go with them. I will however always make sure I make personal contact before ordering in the future. In fact, I just placed another order for some really nice Polish infantry they make! Yeah, yeah, I'm a glutton for punishment.
I'm sorry to hear you're having so much trouble here, Willy. I can't speak of my own experiences with Black Tree, as I have never ordered from them before but I can confirm that they have a poor reputation. You mentioned that the TMP has comments about their poor service. Well, ditto with the Forum of Doom, which I visit on a daily basis. Quite a few FoDers are pissed off with them as well. I hope you either get your goods you ordered or failing that, your money back. I like to praise companies who offer good service but those who don't deserve every brickbat thrown their way. I'll be watching with interest to see how this pans out.
ReplyDeleteI've just read the headline and my first thought was "Wait, wasn't there something about them on TMP?". Good luck with Paypal, I hope you did't burn too much money!
ReplyDeleteWhiteface / Oliver
ditto and amen to that! i just filed my dispute so hopefully i'll get something for my patience.
ReplyDeleteI had issues with them some time back. It took me over three months to get part of my order and then an additional 9 months to get the rest of it. I was distinctly unimpressed. One of my Norman knights has a three-legged horse because I was not willing to risk sending the defective part back and thus have a completely horseless knight. The figures are nice if you can get them but BTD will never have any more of my money.
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ReplyDeleteNice way to make business... I'm wondering how long they think they can go on that way.
ReplyDeleteBut, LTL Dad, I'm sure there's already a mob waiting for them under they're windows :)
cheers,
Andrea
It too bad cuz I would really like to get some of their dr who minis,but won't risk the horror stories that I've heard!
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