"Maelstrom Games- Are they about to go bust?? " Topic

well I was mighty nervous with all this news but my last order came into today.. If thet keep going I will keep buying

Just had a dispatch confirmation of the order I put in for the sale.12 Jomsvikings at 40% off.

just got mine as well for an order placed on tuesday: not their quickest response ever (in days gone by Ive sometimes recieved an order before the money leaves my account!) but nothing to suggest any unusual delays beyond perhaps being a bit busy…

Of course Ill reserve final judgement till Ive got the parcel in my hands, but I always take interweb scuttlebut with a massive pinch of salt anyway.

I just received an order today. Same as usual – GW and Fantasy Flight v slow, otherwise stuff coming through.

Here at Maelstrom Games we have decided to clear as much of our hard-earned stock as we possibly can over the next few days – and therefore generate some much-needed cashflow – in order to ensure we can fulfil the orders that you, our valued customers, have placed over the last few weeks. To that end, we have decided – in consultation with our trading partners – to sell our remaining stock of Battlefront Miniatures (at 25% off), Perry Miniatures, Victrix, Plastic Soldier Company, Artizan Designs, Gripping Beast and Great War Miniatures (all at 30% off). All other ranges' stock will now be sold at 40% off UK RRP – we hold good stocks of Gamezone Miniatures, Dark Age, Cool Mini or Not and Scibor Miniatures, and there's a fair bit of Privateer Press and Malifaux left too. As well as that, from this moment onwards we have decided to stop any customer from placing orders for items that are not in stock, simply so that we can clear the orders that have already been placed.

Emphasis mine.

This certainly sounds like a company that is under-capitalized at the moment. Undercapitalization is not a guaranteed death sentence, but it certainly can be fatal to a company.

I hope Maelstrom can build and maintain enough operating capital to stay afloat.

Got my stuff today, I just wish there had been more in the sale that I wanted. Hope that they weather this OK.

Got my stuff today, 24 hrs after the dispatch notice and from an order placed tuesday night, not bad for 2nd class free post!

I had my latest delivery from Maelstrom yesterday, some out of stock FoW item's, that were supposedly in stock when I ordered them several weeks ago, the delivery came as a surprise as I had not had an order dispatch message.

I did have one of the item's delivered three weeks ago but the packing dept had packed the wrong item. Being as I live about 20 mins away I took it back and asked for the correct item to be sent when in stock. I did not see a problem doing that then and I think all customers will get their orders eventually.

I have never had a problem with Maelstrom having dealt with them for years and find their staff and customer service to be first class.

Apart from this hiccup in taking payment for stuff that was not actually in stock, granted this was a while ago, long before any of the 'hysteria' kicked off, however its not the best business practice and I think they will have learned a valuable lesson, providing they survive this trying period, which I sincerely hope they do.

I would have the though that the Paypal issue would be down to Paypal suspending service due to the amount of refunds and claims, again something that cannot be helpful as it just 'fans the flames' even more.

I am going over at some point this weekend, early next week so will hopefully get a bit more 'actual and real' information as to the situation, rather than rumour and rampant speculation that seems to be so rife, a lot of the replies on this and other forum's cannot be helping Maelstrom's case at all.

Ive placed an order and cant find it on my account and been trying to phone them to sort it out, no reply to email or phone for two days,before the phone was always answered quickly and emails replied to promptly. Id quite like the stuff ive ordered so if your reading this Maelstrom read your emails I just want to pay!

Im assuming your looking at your list of orders? at the top it gives options for completed and cancelled orders: try looking there.

the only way i can find it is when i look at my moneyback record. but it does not appear in orders and ive not had an email to confirm, weird.

Well Maelstrom was quite upfront about not having items in stock until ordered – thats better than a lot of retailers do.

As I said before Im not into Fantasy wargaming, but I hope they come thorough this mess and sort out their business model.

And the plot thickens.

I'm getting following error when I load up product pages:

"Got error 28 from storage engine
Warning: Unknown: write failed: No space left on device (28) in Unknown on line 0

Warning: Unknown: Failed to write session data (files). Please verify that the current setting of session.save_path is correct (/tmp) in Unknown on line"

Apparently there's a new Eye of the Storm webstie floating around too that's Maelstrom Games but with a much smaller range of products.

EDIT: Here's the new website.

Seems ok to me…

I'm still waiting on an item from an order back in August! Still waiting for a reply to my email query ……….

I haven't read the entire thread so apologies if this has been covered before but…

A few years ago I worked for a major credit card company and you were virtually guaranteed a full refund from the credit card issuer, regardless of the state of the trader, if they failed to deliver. So (unless the rules have changed substantially) if you have doubts but still want to support then use a MasterCard or Visa and you are at least 99% safe regardless of what happens to the company.

Placed an order on Wednesday for some items shown as in stock (3 packs and a set of rules). They arrived at the post office on Saturday and collected them today.

Just to add my experience. I placed two orders last Monday. One for two rule books, one for a rulebook and a varnish. Both arrived on the same day on Saturday.

I think they are probably legitimate.

I ordered some FOW stuff with the 25% discount and it all arrived within a few days.

I can well believe cash flow is a problem. Their approach to solving the problem seems reasonable enough….

Andy

"A few years ago I worked for a major credit card company and you were virtually guaranteed a full refund from the credit card issuer, regardless of the state of the trader, if they failed to deliver. So (unless the rules have changed substantially) if you have doubts but still want to support then use a MasterCard or Visa and you are at least 99% safe regardless of what happens to the company."

As long as your order meets a minimum amount, which iirc is £50.00 GBP Anything you buy below that amount isn't covered by the consumer credit act for third party responsibility.

Just to add balance to the argument – my friend at work ordered a pile of stuff last week, all safely arrived on saturday.

On the other hand, I've now waited seven weeks for a stock GW order, and the template email I received suggesting shipment in 7-10 working days was over two weeks ago …

Well I placed an order last night (I'd missed some of the available categories, so should probably have looked sooner). Any, with 40% off, I thouhgt it worthwhile going for a paint set and some rules. FIngers crossed, as despatch should apparently be within three days.

…and within twenty minutes of posting I get an email telling me my order is split due to one item being out of stock…who knows what it could be?

"As long as your order meets a minimum amount, which iirc is £50.00 GBP GBP Anything you buy below that amount isn't covered by the consumer credit act for third party responsibility"

Nothing to do with the CCA. All credit card issuers and acquireres have to participate in a system called "chargebacks", when I was involved the lower limit was £10.00 GBP (ten) and anything below that was almost always settled out of hand by the bank as a matter of goodwill.

It IS possible that this has changed since I was in the industry, but I think it very unlikely as it was one of the major underpinnings of the credit card industry.

If anyone at a bank tries to fob you off then ask them to do a "chargeback". They should do this as a matter of course, but occassionally you'll get a frontline customer service person who doesn't know their job. Conversely if the bank tell you that they can't recover something for you via "chargeback" that is when you threaten to take them through the small claims court with a claim under the CCA (for amounts over £100.00 GBP) or simply threaten to report them to the FSA. They are legally obliged to then fullly investigate the matter and if the FSA gets involved the credit card issuer has to meet the costs of all parties in full regardless of the outcome. Thus the bank will almost immediately cave in and give you whatever you want unless the amount involved is VERY substantial.

I'll emphasise that it is a few years since I was in the industry, but I've just done a very quick check and as far as I can see this is all still true.

I placed an order on the 10th of october, vallejo paints and brushes, all on stock and 40% off, and today I received the Email informing that today my order is dispatched.

Not ultra fast but not so bad either.

i placed a mall order 12/10/12 arrived this morning (17th)
good service.

I placed an order on 5th October for items listed as 'in stock'. I spoke to one of their staff to clarify a couple of things and he confirmed everything was in stock and would be dispatched on Monday 8th to arrive by Tuesday 9th (Next Day delivery). Nothing arrived by Wednesday the 11th so I rang them and spoke to the same guy. He told me that there had been a problem with their system and someone else had allocated the items I had bought to somebody else! He then offered to replace the order with more stock they were apparently supposed to receive on 11th October. This certainly aroused my suspicions so I requested a Paypal refund which he said was fine. However, he then told me Paypal wouldn't accept the refund!! He asked me for my Paypal account name and said as they seemed to be having problems, he would refund the payment directly to my account by close of business that day. I'm still waiting! I was also told he would call me back and I'm still waiting on that too! Have a feeling it's going to be a long wait.

I've emailed them 4 times and rung them on countless occasions but the line is either engaged or they just aren't answering. I've also been monitoring their stock levels and they've received nothing that was on my order so it seems they are just building lie upon lie to me. They have clearly decided to keep my money and not send my order. I've logged a complaint with Paypal but they aren't in a hurry to do anything and from what people have said on here I think I can kiss it goodbye…

My advice is to stay well away.

Could be so many people piling in to take advantage of the discounts available that its rather overloaded their system and people are as they say allocating stock which has already been sold perhaps?
On a side note I see Caliver are offering 20% off FOW if you spend £250.00 GBP, I wonder if that will cause the rumour mill to start bleating about them too now? This could end up like the BBC witchhunt over Jimmy Saville if not careful.

After waiting almost two months (and getting the run-around via email) for an "in stock" order I finally cancelled the order and filed a dispute in PayPal.

If it's just a question of being 'out of stock' why aren't they refunding money as they've always done in the past? Why are they promising refunds they are not making and why aren't they even answering the telephone?

I would happily order from Caliver. Always had very good service and he's not actively avoiding my communications!

I don't want others stung so just passing on the information.

This could end up like the BBC witchhunt over Jimmy Saville if not careful.

Are you suggesting those that failed to act at the time should not be held to account?

Nothing of the sort, don't read into what I put that isn't there.

They still list as "processing" an order I placed on the 5th for stuff that was supposedly all in stock at the time – a mixture of FiB tanks, paint, Perry 28mm plastics and some scenic material.

Oh well..

"This could end up like the BBC witchhunt over Jimmy Saville if not careful."

"Vietnam Wargaming, young man?!? Apocalypse Now Then Now Then."

Correct position with credit card purchases.

You are actually only covered by law for a refund from the card company if the item cost is £100.00 GBP or more.

Chargeback is a goodwill action by the Card company. They dont have to do it, and can't do it if there is no money in transit in the Traders credit card account.

link

Some of these very recent excuses from the retailer seem rather convenient, and more than a little suspicious.

Caveat Emptor.

Order placed on 11th shipped 15th Oct
Tim you must just be lucky mate – they probably do not have the scenic material in stock or something silly like that. I would contact them and see

Order placed and acknowledged Oct 6th. Didn't actually get a shipping confirmation email but the goods turned up on the 15th, which since they're traveling from the UK to New Zealand is just peachy with me.

Second order placed Oct 13th. Shipping notice received on the 16th. So far so good. :)

I'd be very sad to see Maelstrom go. While I too have had orders in past with out of stock items take more time than I would have liked they've always turned up eventually -- sometimes after a split or join, or both. :)

I placed a small order (Fow, Malifaux, Helldorado) of instock items on the 16th, had a despatched on the 17th e-mail and arrived just now morning of the 19th all present and correct

Likewise, placed a small order for a few WW2 items, took a little longer than usual perhaps, but arrived yesterday, complete.

Their usual good service.

DB

I must be one of the unfortunate ones, ordered perry plastics on sept 3rd , 5 emails and 3 unanswered phone calls later recieved part order. More emails to see if orders would be filled , no reply. Phonecalls unanswered. I next wrote an email to cancel order no reply. Now I am on to a paypal claim. I know we belong to a tight knit community of gamers, but im sure there are many of us who run our own companies, who despair when they see the woeful customer services displayed by some companies, i do , i employ people ,i pay wages, i make orders,i fulfill contracts etc all this would go down the drain if i ignored the concerns of my client base.Like all of us i want maelstrom to succeed, but i wont throw hard earned money at a bad buisness model.

Hmmm. I put in an order on 27/09/12 with Maelstrom for some paintbrushes and static grass, nothing huge I grant you and I wasn't in too much of a hurry for them when I ordered. I just logged in to check up on the order as nothing arrived yet, and it says order status 'processing'. Good job I popped into a local shop and bought some brushes yesterday after all. Having said that I ordered some 2x2 and 2x1 tiles from TSS on 15/09 and they turned up today when previously I'm sure they arrived in a week or so, so perhaps business is very brisk in the hobby in general and there's a backlog, or there is some other plausible explanation? To be fair I did add another tile onto the TSS order a week ago but that's 5 weeks from ordering to arrival. Again, I wasn't in a tearing hurry for these, but I'm sure some people would be pulling their hair out by then.

Over the last couple of days I have spoken to a couple of FOW retailers I use regularly and they both say that they have seen a huge decrease in their internet sales since Maelstrom Games started their sale and it is putting severe pressure on their business.

Now Caliver Books have also joined the discount band wagon that is only likely to get worse.

So when Maelstrom have gone bust or gone back to normal maybe there won't be so many alternatives out there!

My LGS owner told me today that one of the BF reps has said that Maelstrom wont be getting a restock.

They are gonna go bust!

My LGS owner told me today that one of the BF reps has said that Maelstrom wont be getting a restock.

Gott, did he say why they won't be getting a restock from BF ?
LES

What I know, is what you know. They were told up front: don't rapid discount our . That is exactly what they are doing now.

To screw over Battlefront right after you make nice, says one thing: all hands abandon ship.

I went over to 'The Eye of the Storm' late Saturday morning, I needed to speak to Tim the events manager and pick up a few Valejo paints I was running short of while I was there, as I live about 20 minutes away in Chesterfield its a trip I make frequently.

After reading an earlier post in this thread about some one taking pictures of the shop stock being really low and doom being forecast, I was actually really surprised to find that not the case at all, yes some of the lines were low, the Valejo paints for example, bear in mind that they have recently stopped stocking some ranges completely so the shop is not as well stocked as it was say three months ago.

The FoW stock levels were only slightly lower than the restock they did the week after the Euro GT. The racks and shelves were not bulging on the Saturday of the FoW GT, however when I called in to drop off a book I had purchased for Tim from Games Day on the following Thursday, I had never seen as much FoW stock on their shelves, and I have been going there since they opened.

Granted the on-line stock has all but been obliterated but the shop stock is still quite extensive.

They had a couple of events on go this weekend the place was bulging while I was there, 110 people gaming so it was pretty busy, that is only 10 people off max capacity.

From what I can see the problem is the failure to relocate the warehouse and that is costing them dearly, however from what I could see of the actual store and the venue its as busy as ever.

I did pick up a few boxes of FoW British models out of the shop stock, 15% off and no longer listed on-line, so not too sure what the deal is with BF or is likely to be in the future, however I would have thought that BF might have shown some good will and thrown Maelstrom a life line to help them out, if that is not the case, then it will be no more BF products on the shelves again like the first half of 2012!

We will have to wait and see….

I ordered from them eight days ago and the order arrived the day before yesterday. Given that it is coming from the UK to NZ I think that is excellent. I made an order from Baueda on the same day but it is not here yet…does that mean they are going broke?

I got a pair of orders outstanding with them, total value of £80.00 GBP, one item is FoW, other 6 FiB.

thankfully I am not in a rush for them but i am worried since they are not answering phones and not even responding to the contact us query system.

Things is some of the orders where shipped, but the other stuff they said was not in stock..

24th August is the oldest order..

I am just hoping its a warehouse screwup..