"Is Hotz out of business?" Topic

Placed an order for a few standard river sections nearly 2 months ago, waited patiently the "up to 5 weeks, but you should have them much sooner" and have sent a couple of emails in the last week, to no response.
Is this normal for Hotz? Am I just impatient? A simple "we are working on it" email would be fine…

Pretty normal, from comments I've read.

I think he just gets a bit overwhelmed with orders, but always seems to come through.

Eric does get a bit overwhelmed, not sure his personal issues aren't fully worked out. Be patient.

Lead Asbestos, I'm in the same boat. I also ordered rivers in mid-Feb. An email from him said they were supposed to be shipped Mar 2, but still not here.

I asked on TMP a while ago about how long it takes for mail from Canada to the US & the answer was up to 2 months with customs. So at least for me, it could still be in the mail.

If you go erichotz.com, there's a phone number. I keep meaning to call it, but always forget.

Please post here if you find anything out.

As long as people keep buying, what motivation does he have to change?

He posts on TMP as GreyOne.

It is too easy to blame the Post Office and Customs…Eric is notoriously non-communicative. This has being going on for quite some time… at least 18 months for me. There is little excuse…a quick boiler plated reply to emails stating that he is overwhelmed is most appropriate. Most customers will understand if they are acknowledged. It is a shame because he produces a pretty good product but is just unreliable.

I've found calling is the only way to hurry an order along if it is in limbo. I've waited as little at 10 days and as long as four months (I'm in Canada). The product is really good when it arrives.

I waited a good while for my 4 X 6 hex mat but really liked the product when it arrived. No idea what he's doing now.

Anyone here recall the care of feeding of these mats? Mine came with instructions that I put somewhere safe and cannot find. I took it out of closet where it had been rolled up and it had some kinks.

I ironed the blank side with the iron set on low. That got most of it. The end that was inside the roll could use more. Can I iron it on the hex-marked side if the iron is on low and i use a cloth in between? Any help appreciated.

The river sections slowed us down. We were not prepared for the 100+ orders we received. That was a first. Several customers order over $60 USD worth, which took us by surprise (that is a lot rivers; one customer purchased over $100 USD worth, which is insane). Rivers is what we have been working on this weekend, along with Enhanced European Fields game mats and WWI Trench game mats.

Because the release of our river system slowed us down, we halted the release of several new products. Once we are caught up, we will release these. With the first release, we will have a large reserve of pre-made products to avoid a repeat of the river backlog.

I am working extra hours right now and even have my assistant in for extra hours as well. We mailed out a high volume of orders last week and the week before. No idea why orders picked up this year. Certainly quite different from last year.

I will be mailing out a high volume of river systems orders this week. I only have three customers remaining on my work docket who ordered rivers. These remaining orders is what I will be completing today.

--

vtsaogames: Do not iron directly onto the art side of any game mat. The iron can cook inks and paints. If you have to iron on the art side, always place a "light" cloth between the mat and the iron, or iron on the reverse side. Although we state you should use a light steam setting, I have found that using a heavy steam setting works best and does not harm the mat nor artwork.

GreyOne (who I assume is Eric Hotz), thanks for working extra hours to get the orders out. Please spend some of those extra hours responding to emails to people don't have to ask yet again if you've gone out of business.

I received my mat a couple of weeks ago – Eric said five weeks, and it arrived across the pond in six.

Colin

I will try, Black Cavalier. Thanks.

Eric, thank you for the ironing directions.

Just to follow up, I did finally get my river order within a week after GreyONE posted their plans above.

But I had been previously been told on March 1 via email that they were working on finishing the river orders & I was assured my order would be shipped out on March 2 since I had plans to use them at a convention on March 16.

My order was shipped around April 25 instead.

Seems like they are back to the old ways. I ordered 2 sets of rivers (Different sizes) the beginning of September. Other than the "we got your order and you should have it in 5 weeks, if not sooner" I have heard nothing. And nothing from email follow ups. Glad I didn't need them for Fall In. Would be nice to have them though.

I fell for the "We will be better in the future" message and, based on the reviews, I ordered. Oh well.

Same here, I ordered rivers and fields at the beginning of September for a 18th century scenario I will play at the major French convention in January.

The worse for me is not that he isn't able to deliver the order normally (what I could understand) but that he didn't answer my emails.

So I search TMP forum to understand what happens.

Now I know, I will have to build the river myself :(

I've been in off and on touch with Eric since Oct 2012 for a Christmas present for the kids. A custom mat. A handful of e-mails back and fourth but Christmas came and went with no mat even though it 'seemed' he was going to work on it as early as Oct of last year. I still hold out great hope to get the custom mat and hope he sees this, as I respect his work. An e-mail here or there would do wonders to help figure things out. Nonetheless, I wish him the best and hope to get in touch with him at some point.