"Miniature Figurines Brouhaha Part II,....." Topic

Dave at Cavalier Books wants me to publicly apologize for my earlier poor service remark. I told him that I can't do this because I still haven't received my second order placed on 04/13 ($104.87) They did give me a refund for my first missing order though. I've also repeatedly asked him for some kind of verification that this 2nd purchase was ever sent but so far he hasn't given any. His latest message to me was: "Sort TMP first then get back to me and all will be revealed". Sounds like stonewalling to me, or worse.

My biggest bone of contention with Mini-Figs is their apparent lack of having any kind of a viewable account record where a customer can see what they've purchased and when it's been sent. I've repeatedly searched their website for this but have yet to find any type of account record of purchases and order fulfilment. Most companies I've done business with have such a tool in place but apparently not Mini-Figs. The only record of a transaction with them is on Pay Pal and that just shows the amount and date payment was made.

It sure does – even if you were in the wrong; and I so not think you were – a good businessman would never pull that sort of game with customer or potential customer.

However it plays our I would never order from them again.

Just my two cents.

My biggest bone of contention with Mini-Figs is their apparent lack of having any kind of a viewable account record where a customer can see what they've purchased and when it's been sent. I've repeatedly searched their website for this but have yet to find any type of account record of purchases and order fulfilment. Most companies I've done business with have such a tool in place but apparently not Mini-Figs. The only record of a transaction with them is on Pay Pal and that just shows the amount and date payment was made.

They are far from being the only offenders though. Be grateful that they even have a orderable website to begin with. I should know, having conducted numerous transactions via email! As customers we all tend to give such rudimentary arrangements a free pass given our recognition of the supposed limitations of cottage industries.

But there is no excuse for not making your customers aware of the status of their orders – a day or two perhaps, more than that and you are ignoring them – and quite honestly convincing them to never use you for a source again. Basic customer service, business etiquette, and gratitude.

Sort TMP first then get back to me and all will be revealed".

Caliver's way of dealing with their customer in this case gets worse and worse. It beggars belief that a supplier, apparently at fault of, at the very least, tardy service and poor communications, should send such an insulting message.

I'm frankly amazed…..

DBDD

Guys, the bottom line is I JUST WANT WHAT I PURCHASED.

I don't want to make trouble for anyone BUT I also don't like being given the run around for poor service.

Please find below the exchange of messages between Dave and I and draw your own conclusions.

On Saturday, May 15, 2021, 08:01:22 AM CDT, <stuff@caliverbooks.com> wrote:

I leave it up to you to decide how you want to handle TMP. Eventually cut the post but first something for those who have read and believed you

You'll also need to cancel any PayPal claims you've made

Cheers

dave

From: Randall Carlson <randallfrederick@yahoo.com>
Sent: 12 May 2021 16:14
To: stuff@caliverbooks.com
Subject: Re: My missing figures

Dave,

You didn't answer my questions from my last e-mail :

"why doesn't your company send notifications (like other companies) when orders have been received and then second notifications when the order has been filled and sent?"

Or am I missing something on your website? I've looked over & over and can't find any place where account information is shown. Having that alone would be a big help in preventing communication breakdowns.

As far as "apologizing" on TMP I'm not sure what I'd say,……..what do you want me to say?

Randy

On Wednesday, May 12, 2021, 09:24:26 AM CDT, <stuff@caliverbooks.com> wrote:

Hi Randy

Thanks for reaching out. I assumed that was the case and that you had forgotten our email conversations hence the get out I gave you in my TMP reply, so I was indeed annoyed when you decided to ignore that chance and continue to claim we ha d ignored you

So please go onto TM and apologise – I suggest that you had indeed got us mixed up with someone lese or had now investigated your junk mail

Then we'll take it from there. Note that a small packet went to you a while ago and I was just getting the next lot together when this blew up.

In haste

Dave

From: Randall Carlson <randallfrederick@yahoo.com>
Sent: 09 May 2021 21:41
To: stuff@caliverbooks.com
Subject: Re: My missing figures

OK,….may we start over? This has been a big misunderstanding on both of our parts. Believe it or not, I'm not out to hurt your company or ruin your reputation. All along all I've wanted was to receive what I paid for. But here we are feuding like two children on the school ground. If I said anything that was misleading or untrue it was not intentional. And I apologize for any insults I threw at you. Your company had always been one of the best when it came to service and products. But I know in life things change sometimes and I thought maybe Mini-Figs had deteriorated to the point where service wasn't a priority anymore.

I would have never posted my message on TMP if I thought you were being attentive to my purchases & e-mails. But you were slow (in my opinion) in responding, or whoever handles these inquiries was slow to respond (Annie?). Then when I did get that first response it was something to the effect that if my card had been charged then the miniatures were probably on the way. That's really not a very good answer, is it?

May I ask please, why doesn't your company send notifications (like other companies) when orders have been received and then second notifications when the order has been filled and sent? The customer shouldn't have to contact you wondering if their purchase has been filled & sent out. As far as refunds are concerned I see you gave me one via pay pal for my Feb 24 purchase only. I've yet to receive that second order I placed though. Was it sent out? If so, could you possibly provide me with a date it was sent?

Thank you,

Randy Carlson

On Sunday, May 9, 2021, 10:53:40 AM CDT, <stuff@caliverbooks.com> wrote:

Please do

Make sure you put this in as well. I'll put our correspondence up alongside it so the readers can judge

I am not the idiot who , rather than fighting his own battles, went scurrying to social media. You read and replied to various emails we have sent, then lied about not being contacted, then lied about not lying!

So either 1) idiot or 2) Liar

Now you attempt to steal from us by asking for a refund for items already on their way to you.!

Make sure you get it all up their please

From: Randall Carlson <randallfrederick@yahoo.com>
Sent: 07 May 2021 17:00
To: stuff@caliverbooks.com
Subject: Re: My missing figures

Wow,……you're truly an idiot, aren't you, sending that little petulant tirade to a customer. No one is trying to "destroy" your reputation,….as is your doing a great job of that yourself. Maybe I'll copy it and post it in TMP.

JUST GIVE ME A REFUND,….got it?!?! FOR BOTH ORDERS. If I don't receive a full refund I'll register a complaint with Pay Pal

.

On Friday, May 7, 2021, 10:48:30 AM CDT, <stuff@caliverbooks.com> wrote:

My point is that that rather than contact me- I think I was awaiting one reply – you went bleating to social Media and claimed that you had contacted us and HAD NO REPLY AT ALL (see emails!)

I gave you an out by saying that perhaps you'd forgotten and you then told the world that you only fib to your wife and the IRS !

Trying to track down delayed delivery of figures is one thing, lying to destroy our reputation is another

I shall expect an apology on TMP before your 2nd batch of figures leave here

I'm not interested in customers who go on SM and lie

From: Randall Carlson <randallfrederick@yahoo.com>
Sent: 07 May 2021 16:39
To: stuff@caliverbooks.com
Subject: Re: My missing figures

Yes Dave,……what exactly is your point? I'm not interested in e-mails, I want what I paid for, which I still haven't received.

Randy

On Friday, May 7, 2021, 10:09:27 AM CDT, <stuff@caliverbooks.com> wrote:

Randall

DO you recognise the emails and your replies I have just sent?

Dave

From: Randall Carlson <randallfrederick@yahoo.com>
Sent: 06 May 2021 17:32
To: stuff@caliverbooks.com
Subject: My missing figures

Dave,

I still haven't received either of these orders:

Caliver Books

- negativeŁ73.13 GBP

Apr 13Payment

Loading transaction details for

Caliver Books

- negativeŁ73.13 GBP

Apr 13Payment

Paid with

eBay Mastercard x

$104.87 USD

Exchange rate

$104.87 USD USD = £73.13 GBP GBP

1 USD = 0.6973 GBP

Ship to

randall carlson

United States

Transaction ID

7AE907011Y891770C

Caliver Books

- negativeŁ39.66 GBP

Feb 24Payment

Loading transaction details for

Caliver Books

- negativeŁ39.66 GBP

Feb 24Payment

Paid with

MidSouth Bank x-

$58.80 USD

Your backup is MasterCard x-

Exchange rate

$58.80 USD USD = £39.66 GBP GBP

1 USD = 0.6745 GBP

Ship to

randall carlson

Transaction ID

1AF80460EK683933A

Any additional information on when I can expect these? Your service really has been pathetic and if I didn't like the 15mm Matchlock ECW/TYW's I would not be using your company anymore.

Why don't you have order updates and e-mail confirmations (like other companies) when orders have been submitted?

I want to buy more of these Matchlock's from you but what's the point as I haven't received my first orders yet. Very disappointed in you folks.

Randy Carlson

Notice the guy calling the other guy an idiot then uses ‘their' instead of ‘there'. That's rich.

On Sunday, May 9, 2021:

"Now you attempt to steal from us by asking for a refund for items already on their way to you.!"

On Friday, May 7, 2021:

"I shall expect an apology on TMP before your 2nd batch of figures leave here"

So, which is it? On the one hand the figures can't leave before an apology is given and then suddenly the items are already on their way to me? Very confusing.

Get your money back and don't buy from this guy again – he should not be in any kind of business. I also bet he has never apologized to anyone for anything in his life.

He probably wouldn't make a good MD either – can't imagine what his bedside manner would be…. :)

I have ordered from Caliver precisely twice. Each time, the service was just abysmal. I thought the first time had been bad luck, but the second time was far worse. So, never again. The gist of randy51's email string tracks very, very closely what I had received also. I wish Caliver well, but it will receive no more of my good money.

I hope randy51 receives the goods or his refund, in rapid order.

I have ordered many times from Caliver and they have given proivded an excellent service. Even got an order (via our onshore depot) to my rig out in the middle of the sea. I note Randall you didn't provide all the email evidence "On Friday, May 7, 2021, 10:09:27 AM CDT, <stuff@caliverbooks.com> wrote:

Randall

DO you recognise the emails and your replies I have just sent?

Dave"

Why is that?

Marcus, it's truly wonderful that you've gotten "excellent" service from Cavalier. I wish I could say the same. I used to get good service from them once upon a time.

As far as your question on the e-mails, I'm not sure I understand the point you're trying to make: "why is that?"

As I've REPEATEDLY said, I'm not out to make trouble for Cavalier/Mini-Figs, I JUST WANT WHAT I"VE PAID FOR,….OR a refund OR proof of when my order was sent to me. None of those things have happened yet.

Well Randall I hope it all get sosrted soon as I say they have given me a good service and when a mistake was made they were very quick to rectify it. Hope it all goes well.

You mean, this issue is still going on?

"You mean, this issue is still going on?"

Unfortunately, yes. Dealing with Dave has been akin to trying to reason with a know-it-all teen,…..doesn't matter what you say or or proof you give, they're always right and you're always wrong.

@Bill do not shoot the messenger please.

Dave @ Caliver has asked me to forward on his reply:

"Essentially Randal Lied about not having any contact from me. I gave him a "Get-out" by suggesting he may have been confused but he then claimed he never lied.

He then obviously realised he had made a mistake and emailed me… not going on TMP

I replied, not unreasonably, asking that before I sort out his problem he apologise or admit his mistake on TMP as, after all, he had called us out for no reason and there were bound to be some who took his side as people on SM tend to not bother waiting for both sides of an argument ( I see already that some are happy to support a liar but seem bemused by the fact that I should get annoyed by it)

I also told him that the 1st part of his order was well on his way to him, that delayed delivery was a totally separate issue from his lies and that after he sorted out his TMP rant I would help him out. He then ignored this and kept asking questions,

I asked him to deal with TMP. He then claimed I was a liar and that he was not. I once again pointed out what he had accused us of, demonstrated it was a lie and asked him to apologise on TMP. He then said that he had not lied, hence my Delusional comment

He has now

1. Caused a storm for which he has refused to apologise
2. Has no doubt had part of his order by now
3. Had all his money back from PayPal

As you can imagine I am sceptical about number 2 but …

Dave"

No, I never lied about anything (lie: a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth), AND Davey boy has never proven any of the things he's said, maybe in his own fantasy world, but not in the real one most of us occupy.

The bottom line is this: I have still not received my second order and have not received all of my money back from Pay Pal.

If I had known that simple purchase orders were going to be this convoluted I'd of never placed it with him. Silly me, I was assuming that the Mini-Figs of old was still operating as it once was, i.e, efficiently.

One more thing: why doesn't Cavalier have a viewable record of orders that their customers have made and when they were filled and sent? I believe it's called a customer account?

It does not appear either side of this dispute is without fault and both are dug-in and not budging. A plague on both their houses.

No indeed, I won't "budge" until I get what I paid for OR a refund OR some kind of proof that the miniatures were ever sent to me at all.

And may a "plague" of poor service fall on your house.

It has. Hope that makes you feel better.

Keep ranting, I'm sure it is making you feel better and making those around you happier.

No, I never "rant",…..but if I did it's not to make me feel better.

So, you've also experienced a plague of poor service? Did you complain or just roll over and take it?

Final reply on the matter from Caliver Books:

Will readers please note that this all came about because Randall complained on Social media about bad service because we HAD NOT REPLIED TO ANY OF HIS EMAILS

My first reply via TMP was that we had- I sent him copies privately, and publicly gave him an out to save face and to prove to the world that he does not lie

All I am trying to do is to disprove his initial assertion…..How hard is it for him to be a man and apologise when he is wrong, that's all I ask

I had hoped my last comments would be sufficient and that would be an end to this time wasting

So in support I offer the following, clearly a response to his email

From: Randall Carlson <randallfrederick@yahoo.com>
Sent: 09 April 2021 22:47
To: stuff@caliverbooks.com
Subject: Re: {Spam?} Miniature Figurines Web Site Message

Anne,

Thank you for your response to my inquiry. I have a much larger order for the Matchlock ecw's that I want to submit but wanted to wait until after this first order arrived, so hopefully that will be soon.

Regards,

Randy

On Thursday, April 8, 2021, 09:42:54 AM CDT, <stuff@caliverbooks.com> wrote:

HI

If your card has ben charged then the order is on its way

I'll take a look

Cheers

Anne

"HI

If your card has ben charged then the order is on its way

I'll take a look"

That response is what triggered this whole episode.

It's about as foggy an answer as could be given. It didn't tell me if the order had been filled or when it was sent.

As I've repeatedly said Mini-Figs needs to have a customer account page like so many other efficient companies do.

>I have ordered many times from Caliver and they have given proivded an excellent service.

Lucky me is in that category, though sometimes orders can go awry.

I had similar problems of "no response" from some companies once in a while, and once handed one over to Paypal, resulting in a refund (some 10 month after the order, but thats fine).

If – as Caliver claims – Paypal has refunded the money the issue could now be laid at rest, with both partys agreeing not to do business again.

"As I've repeatedly said Mini-Figs needs to have a customer account page like so many other efficient companies do."

This recurring theme seems to have risen to the level of fixation as it features repeatedly in your email exchanges and your comments here. Mini-Figs does not "need" to do anything regarding their business practices. It is their business to run any way they want. If they value your opinion, they can hire you as a consultant. In the meantime, if you don't like how their web-site is constructed, or anything else, don't do business with them. Quite simple really.

Glad I came across this. I was planning to place an order with Minifigs. I'll definitely be looking elsewhere.

Empgamer, ditto here, I was planning to make an order with Minifigs. Now, I'll still to much more reliable Peter Pig!

I have 1500+ crimean war models, every man-jack one of them minifigs collected over a period of several years.. I live in the US. Sent to Ohio, then to Kentucky…. Collection is finished and painted and actually quite nice, (I'd post pics if it wasn't so bloody complicated to do so here)~
Ahem,
I have never had anything but fantastic/timely service from minifigs at anytime…. And yes, that is from minifigs UK,,,,,,
I do hope all these issues are resolved in a gentlemanly manner without vitriol and bad feelings….