"Hotz Mats" Topic

I placed an order for two half size hex mats, had an email confirming the order and checking the orientation of the hexes and promising delivery would be four weeks, probably sooner

Five weeks later, nothing delivered, and they're not responding to my emails. Anyone know of any issues there…? Do I get PayPal onto the case yet or wait?

there are previous threads about this

You have a maximum or 45 days to lodge a 'Item not received' dispute resolution claim.-

Looks like I asked the question just right, 42 days since order placed so dispute raised through PayPal…

I placed and order with Hotz and it took three months to receive the mats.

Ed

I think that the strategy to use if you want a Hotz mat is to order it 9 months BEFORE you really have to have it. Good luck.

Just recieved Holtz gladiator mat , got an Email within a week to confirm order and mat arrived this week – all in about 10 days to a fortnight .

P.S.thats shipping to U.K. as well

Auton1,

My group has had mixed results with Hotz. The mats always arrived, eventually, and always looked good. But communication was awful, he didn't live up to promises made on the phone and by email, and never did provide the compensation he promised for the four-month wait.

My take is that, if it is in stock, you get it fast. If it is not in stock, you'll wait. There are other suppliers so you may want to look around.

Bob in Edmonton

Thanks for all the info guys, guess I just wait to see what raising the dispute causes to happen..

I think you're right about the in stock bit, a colleague at my local club ordered a mat the same time and his arrived within 2 weeks too (to the UK)

I have been having problems too – I did eventually get an email after some chasing and the mats are allegedly now on their way. My order was placed two months ago and I too was told 3-4 weeks. I can't see myself ordering from Hotz again. The service just isn't acceptable – there have been plenty of complaints in the past and Hotz has had chance to clean up its act. Terrainguy – please hurry up and make your mats available with hexes!

theterrainguy.com. Fast service. Great product. I will never order from Hotz again for all the reasons cited above. Not to mention that I far prefer the mats from the terrain guy.

I agree with runs with scissors and Martian Root Canal on the theterrainguy.com, great and fast service, but no hexes yet. Maybe drop Allen a line and remind him there are more customers waiting to buy his wonderful products if he can figure out the hex issue.

Jeff

Based on the Terrainguy's website, it should be fairly easy to add hexes using a plastic template (made from a needlepoint grid) and an indelible felt pen. I know that kind of crafty work isn't for everyone but it is easy enough to do.

"it should be fairly easy to add hexes using a plastic template (made from a needlepoint grid) and an indelible felt pen"

I would also think that a spray paint template from Litko would be a good investment if you do a lot of hex wargaming. It would also mean you could do the hexes in whatever color you like rather than what the manufacturer thinks is best. Maybe a Mat from theterrainguy.com and a stencil from Litko would be the perfect solution.

Litko Stencil link: link
Jeff

S&A Scenics do hex cloths in green and light blue felt(www.scenics.co.uk)

"it should be fairly easy to add hexes using a plastic template (made from a needlepoint grid) and an indelible felt pen"

If I have to do that I'll make the matt from scratch myself! That's the lion's share of the work. I ordered my double-sided mat from Hotz, and like many others it took a long while to show up. But the communication was good and the mat was a fabulous piece of work when it arrived. I would order again in a heartbeat. As long as I am aware of how long it might take, what's the beef? It's not like you'll die if the mat doesn't show up IMMEDIATELY…

This seems to be a perpetualy recurring thread. As others have said, if it is in stock, it will be fine transaction but otherwise, odds are it will be 3-4 months and communication won't be good. If you don't need hexes, theterrainguy is looking like a great alternative if the wait isn't worth it.

Nazrat – that's just it, customers are being told that they can expect to wait 3-4 weeks, not several months. Nobody was asking for next day delivery. If the website and post-order emails stated that the mats would probably take several months to ship then the customer could make up his/her own mind whether the wait was worth it. The lack of communication is also a big issue for some (me included) though happily this wasn't your experience. I don't want to see the guy driven out of business, especially as most customers are very pleased with the actual product, I just think he should increase his capacity to deliver promptly or be more transparent about the wait customers can expect.

Runs 'all ready to play Check Your 6 but my hex mats haven't shown up yet' With Scissors.

Yes, my main gripe is certainly the issue of being told a time scale and then nothing happening. Plus when I send civil emails just asking for an update and obviously being totally ignored

If it wasn't for the fact that I wanted large hexes (2 & 3inch) on half sized mats I would have looked elsewhere. I could have had a go at making my own but when I can get an 'off the shelf' item already made then it isn't worth the time wasted. Perhaps in hindsight the time isn't an issue..

Still no reply to emails/PayPal….

If you need a hexed mat, Monday Knight Productions makes them:

link

I've never seen the mats in person, but have bought lead from MKP at a con and they were very nice folks.

Chris

Every time I read about these types of problems with manufacturers I want to scream! Other than fatalities and terminal deseases there is NO EXCUSE for not letting your customer know what is going on. It just shows a lack of care and respect. Customers are like teeth, if you don't pay attention to them and treat them right, they go away, and never come back!

Headless
WargamersTerrain

auton1

If the dispute resolution does not work, ie no communication from seller etc, then you have (not sure) either 20 or 29 days (check with paypal) to cease dispute resolution and make a claim for refund from the seller.

I recently had to go through this with CCG Armory's shananigans over a biggish FoW order.

I have to say that my experience with Hotz Mats is quite OK. I've ordered from this company twice. First order was placed some time at the end of last year – I knew I was in for a long wait after reading comments on TMP, but I was in no rush and I liked the mats with fields, so what the heck… I've got my mat after about six weeks and it was definitely worth the wait. There was a bit of snafu with my second order – I've placed it at the end of this May and prepared for a long wait. Finally, at the begining of this month, I've sent a polite email with a query about my order. I've got a relatively quick answer saying that my order wasn't forwarded by Paypal and that they became aware of it only after my email. My mat was in stock and would be sent immidiately. Don't know if the story was reall or not and I don't really care… In any case, today I've got the slip from the postal office letting me know that my mat was waiting for me.

So to summarise – yes, delivery is slow, more often than not slower than advertised. Yes, there were complications with my last order, but they were sorted out and email comms worked just fine. Finally, and that's perhaps the most important thing, the mat I've got home is really nice and I'm very happy with it. Your mileage may vary, but I'm pretty satisified.

BTW, I live in Sweden.

Update I have had an email stating that the mats I've ordered have been dispatched!

I will never order from Hotzmats again. I had need of the mat I ordered 3 months after the order was placed. The mat was to be delivered in 3-4 weeks. Actual time to delivery was 4 months. The game was long since past and played out on an older mat. I have heard the arguements in support of Hotzmats and Warweb and the like, but frankly, they are weak. There is NEVER any delay in taking the funds. I have some really good experiences from manufacturers such as Scenic Express, Armstrong and MSC who take funds only upon shipping and inform you up front if an item will be late due to lack of stock. When I have experiences like these I simply mark that company off my list. If I see one of their products at a convention I will buy one if needed. Thats the only way. Hotzmats is off my list.

There is NEVER any delay in taking the funds.

Umm, you have noticed that Hotz uses Paypal, right? You know, the system where the company doesn't have your card details at all, so *can't* delay taking the funds. Indeed, the system where the company doesn't "take" the funds at all, but rather *you* send them….

Dom.

Thanks for the…..helpful comments.

Sorry if I came across as rant-prone there, but that quite simply wasn't a fair comment…. Criticisms of delays, fair enough, lack of communication, absolutely, but to have a crack at them for not doing something that they physically can't do, isn't entirely reasonable….

Update Cloths now delivered. They are nice, just a shame it took so much effort to get them

Must have been lucky then.

I've ordered from Hotz several times and always got the mats- which are really good BTW- in a very reasonable amount of time. Especially considering Transatlantic orders and such.

Thanks to this thread found out that he has a 'gladiator' mat.
I'm going to order that one right away.

I got my mats in the end too. Well over 2 months after I ordered them. The mats are pretty good but the experience has left a bitter taste. An apology would probably have been enough to keep me on board as a future customer. There was no apology.