COMMANDER OF THE GUARDIAN KNIGHTS discussion

[Blayze]

But again, why can't Hasbro communicate to TO US?? I don't get why this is so hard.

Think about all the things you know from working where you do that you can't tell customers or the public when they want to know why something hasn't been done properly or at all.
That's exactly the reason we're not learning about the delays from Hasbro, but they can also play Chicken with the other companies and let them break the bad news to us.

[Kurgan]

The companies should each do a general announcement... like "Dear Customers, we apologize, but due to supply chain issues, several products including X, Y, Z, etc. have been delayed. Rest assured we are expecting new stocks will arrive approximately XX-XX date, click here to sign up for email alerts when your order will be filled. Thank you"

Something like that on their website and in customer emails could go a long way, vs. fielding calls and saying "well, we don't know anything, hope you don't mind waiting, sorry" and the company remaining silent as if to say "nothing is wrong, trust us!"

[dungeonsandataraxia]

My order (Gamestop) now says it's available tomorrow. Okay, buddy, we'll see.

[Kurgan]

Gamestop!?

Where was Gamestop when the Westfold fell?

Where was Gamestop when our enemies closed in around us?

Where was Game-- hmph. No, my lord dungeonsandataraxia, we are alone.

My order (Gamestop) now says it's available tomorrow. Okay, buddy, we'll see.

Same here, good call.

[FainFlynn]

And now my 1/28 dates are gone and it's back to just pending. And my credit card charge is gone.

These guys are really unbelievable.

[Kurgan]

Mine just changed to 3/1 (March 1st). Here is my speculation...

Pre-orders were opened in early November (startlingly, with a late November "expected" date). We placed our orders.
By late November, supplies ran out, our orders were delayed.

New supplies were requested, and took 2 months to arrive from overseas.
We arrive at late January and the new supplies are given to fill orders.

Supplies run out for the second time. New supplies are requested.

Next supplies arriving March 1st (also implied by the April 1st date some were referencing).

This process will probably repeat until the orders are all filled, or such time as the supply chain issues are resolved (who knows).

Annoying, to be sure.

Of course throughout this, I at least, presumed that the "pre-order" was for an early delivery in late November, prior to the expected "retail" release of the Knight expansion in mid-January (to coincide with the general retail release of the Game system, KK, ROTWL). We saw videos (and photos) posted from people who got the Knight expansion in (I'd have to re-check the dates, but early December?). Obviously reviewers (those who were either paid or given "Free" review copies for promotional purposes) got them, but at least a few others got them too. So probably a percentage are getting them each time but we don't know how many orders, how many supplies are coming over at a time, etc. Production must be in small batches, but I'm totally guessing here.

[FainFlynn]

Kurgan, you're likely spot on with your assessment. I just can't fathom the processes of communication we've seen so far. The charging of the cards only to walk it back. Why not charge the card once you have a shipping label? Why can't Hasbro give us some kind of expectation?

[Kurgan]

Having worked for a big company, and I'm not saying it's a good system, but I could see how it is slow to change and why it doesn't work well for customers...

I imagine their automated system is all setup and tech support is overwhelmed. Rank and file employees manning the customer service or behind the desk at the physical stores are given a base level of instruction and the corporate higher ups hand down the directives telling them what to do and regardless of what they suspect or know, they're not allowed to get into that with customers (and could get in big trouble if they did).

The better thing to do, is for the higher ups to come up with a talking point to give to their rank and file employees that is a basic explanation. They could paste this on their website(s) and send this out as an email. Thus it could bypass the frustration of the automated system appearing to just randomly charge their cards, then stop charging them, give them release dates and then change the dates, etc.

"Hey Sorry everbody the system is messed up, please keep waiting you will get your products we estimate within 1-2 months, we understand if you want a refund, etc" something!

But I don't run a business, so I can only speculate why they don't just do it. They know the supply line issues related to Covid weren't going to clear themselves up in a couple of weeks by now... so they have no excuse now.

The rank and file employee who deals with customers on a regular basis knows what the customer wants and asks, and if the higher ups don't get feedback from these employees, they may forget how those relations go, at their own peril and at the determent of the owners and shareholders, I would say.

Our faith in their ability to adapt to the situation quickly was clearly misplaced.

[Stairwell]

So, after seeing the other Aussies on the Heroquest subreddit saying they were getting their EB Games pre orders cancelled due to no stock arriving I checked mine, which I ordered from Zing (EB sister pop culture store) after EB had actually already pre sold out so I wasn't expecting much, my status just said "out now". So I called them and they said oh yeah um yeah it's not here maybe shipping delays? But the system says it's still open.

But then I got a call today and it actually arrived!? So I went and got it. So some stock made it here, I was the only person to order one to my store.

[Kurgan]

Cancelling (vs delaying) makes it sound like you'd be sent to the back of the queue (or excluded entirely if they don't plan to ship more to your country), a bit nasty... but at least they should give you a full and timely refund for your trouble (and NOT, say a "store credit" coupon).

But then I got a call today and it actually arrived!? So I went and got it. So some stock made it here, I was the only person to order one to my store.

Gondor calls for aid... and Rohan will answer!

Congrats. I look forward to your review/playtest impressions... !