Your experience with Big W's Devastator offering so far?

[doublespy]

Just wanted to know how of us have got theirs and how many are still actively seeking one.:D

I think the majority of metro Melbourne store have yet to receive their stock so personally I still have hope...and sometimes that's not a good thing:p

[Handsprime]

So instead of doing the sensible thing (other than of cause not buying him :p ) and waking up early so I could go to Big W and pick him up, I decided to go up to Erina Fair since I had a really good feeling I was gonna find him up there. Much to my surprise there was 1 left and I asked the woman out front if this was reserved for anyone. She asked someone else if this was reserved for anyone else. Since it wasn't for reserve I was able to pick one up. I was gonna look around Big W for the $10 deluxes (that's actually what I spent the rest of the day looking for), but I could not find them. Apparently I learnt they are in the most ridiculous places like behind the menswear.

[Sinnertwin]

I still haven't got one and I'll just wait for the later release. I still function!

This :)

[unicronsblood]

Ive given up considering perth big w's never got them (yet). So, now I will wait for the takara version.

[davieanix]

I went to the midnight opening and was told they hadn't come in. Put my name down on a list (first person too) and they said they would call me when it came in. Apparently a shipment was expected in the next 24 hours.

My mate spotted someone with one the next day but said he couldn't find them in store. I rang Big W and got put through the ringer of "They all sold out" (which I told them was ridiculous as I supposedly had one reserved) and then got told they hadn't come in yet. I said my mate saw one there and they were just all "umm ahhh". Couldn't get a straight answer.

Nothing Friday. I rang and said still not in.

Saturday I got the call after lunch saying he was in. A member on here also said they got theirs from the same store and saw another behind the counter. I presume the one they saw was mine. When I went to pick it up the Big W staff weren't overly helpful and once again told me they weren't in, despite me saying I got a phone call. Basically, before I could blow my stack, they found it.

Honestly if I just plain missed out on buying Devastator, I would have been bummed, but I would have gotten over it and secured it through other means. It's just all of Big W's bullsh*t and they way they could never give straight answers that really frustrated me and I imagine mostly everyone else.

[llamatron]

I'm on the magic list but I don't think that's going to come through.

I'll just get one at full retail or, failing that, order the Takara release online.

[CBratron]

I don't have Dev, but then again, I'm not looking for him.

[Mythirax]

I went in at midnight as soon as the toy sale started. Went rushing around the store to find one with no luck. Went to the front counter and was the first to put my name down. Went in again a couple of days ago to make sure my name was on the list and they were actually getting them.

And today I got the phone call he was ready to pick up. So apart from them not having him as soon as the toy sale started, it all worked out fine.

Yay! :D

[Omega Metro]

I don't have Dev, but then again, I'm not looking for him.

Same here.

[philby]

I'm probably going to go for the Takara one so I didn't bother. It does seem like there wasn't much consistency or communication across the board.

[Thurmus]

I went to Eastland Big W in Victoria. They had no stock but put one on layby. They said it would guarantee I got one.

They took my number to ring me when it was in so I could pick it up. Heard nothing since.

[GoktimusPrime]

More toys will hit Aussie shelves in August.

[UltimateGalvatron]

Me: Wait, I still function!
Big W: Wanna bet?
Me : BIG WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Later
Planet sized store: I, am Toys R Us....

[DarkHyren]

Big W sold Devastator? That's news to me, I thought they only sold to scalpers :p
Completely put off shopping at Big W, I'll take my business elsewhere and hopefully save a few bucks :)

[Lint]

Me: Wait, I still function!
Big W: Wanna bet?
Me : BIG WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Later
Planet sized store: I, am Toys R Us....

I loled :p

[doublespy]

I loled :p

Me too. lulz

[BigTransformerTrev]

Yay. - looks like from the votes so far quite a few got their Devastator! Good to see a positive thread about this topic :)

I'll post my story once it comes to a close - hopefully by tomorrow night or Friday morning :)

[drifand]

I'm probably going to go for the Takara one so I didn't bother. It does seem like there wasn't much consistency or communication across the board.

Same here. And I meant on the communication bit.
I mean metroplex was easy.

Quite disappointed.

Though I am not crazy over it, but still....

[Jetfire in the sky]

Yay. - looks like from the votes so far quite a few got their Devastator! Good to see a positive thread about this topic :)


Yeah, good to see the top bar nice and long :) And some positivity about this awesome item, I still have my fingers crossed to get one but there will be plenty of more opportunities to come if I miss out.

[prjkt]

Put my name down Thurs, got the call on Monday, put him on layby

[MayzaPrime]

I was one of the lucky ones to grab it in the morning...

With another release only a few months away, I hope that all members who missed out end up getting one.

[millhouse]

Hedging my bets by calling a number of stores, no luck so far. Store staff have been a range of really helpful to absolutely useless.

[UltraMarginal]

I'm most likely going to track down the Takara version, but I really would have liked to see one in store, I haven't gone out of my way to go to various stores, I sort of just expected to see at least one on the shelf somewhere so I could check it out.

http://img.ifcdn.com/images/6a5617af75237e645e29e975bd988e20251373694ddcd4d69c 082deca44023c5_1.jpg

[5FDP]

I sort of just expected to see at least one on the shelf somewhere so I could check it out.

If you've seen pictures dude, that's all there is to it. It's a box with no windows, so unless you open it up, there's nothing to check out.

[millhouse]

Big W: Great help with no results so far, or useless. How much of it is due to Hasbro's failure to deliver at the planned time due to the distro relocation, I don't know, but Big W have dropped the ball this year.

[GoktimusPrime]

IMO Big W should've enforced 1 toy per customer. That's what my local Big W did to me when I bought mine and tried to buy another one for a fellow OTCAer (thankfully he was able to find one for himself at his local Big W). The also really shouldn't have shelved any of those toys until after their stores closed before reopening at midnight. For the midnight sale, my Big W actually kept the remaining Devastators in the back room and only ONE out per customer upon request. I spoke to someone from another Big W on Monday, and she was utterly surprised that this toy has sold so quickly and that all the requests for it have come from grown men, so it seems that some Big W staff are completely unaware that this toy would be highly sought after by collectors rather than kids. She actually asked me to explain to her why this was so, and still found it hard to grasp after I'd explained it to her. :o So I think part of it seems to come from general ignorance about this toy's primary demographic market on Big W's part.

Anyway, Big W was the first to receive this toy, but they won't be the last. I'm expecting to see more hit shelves in other majors after August.

[Jetfire in the sky]

IMO Big W should've enforced 1 toy per customer. That's what my local Big W did to me when I bought mine and tried to buy another one for a fellow OTCAer (thankfully he was able to find one for himself at his local Big W). The also really shouldn't have shelved any of those toys until after their stores closed before reopening at midnight. For the midnight sale, my Big W actually kept the remaining Devastators in the back room and only ONE out per customer upon request. I spoke to someone from another Big W on Monday, and she was utterly surprised that this toy has sold so quickly and that all the requests for it have come from grown men, so it seems that some Big W staff are completely unaware that this toy would be highly sought after by collectors rather than kids. She actually asked me to explain to her why this was so, and still found it hard to grasp after I'd explained it to her. :o So I think part of it seems to come from general ignorance about this toy's primary demographic market on Big W's part.

Anyway, Big W was the first to receive this toy, but they won't be the last. I'm expecting to see more hit shelves in other majors after August.

It's a good point, we do tend to get caught up in the apparaent importance of our hobby, every time I've gone in to ask about a toy in the catalogue, the first question is which one? Inside I'm thinking, seriously, you don't know what I'm here for? LOL Then I explain it and they flick straight past it in the catalogue, page 30, means page 30 :p Anyway then they say we have had so many people asking about so many toys that have had such a high demand, and that's the reality, when you see the huge line of Mums with trolleys full of toys at the lay-by section on the first morning of the sale, you can see who their main buyers are.
We are a small drop in their very big pool of toy goodness.

[Sinnertwin]

IMO Big W should've enforced 1 toy per customer. That's what my local Big W did to me when I bought mine and tried to buy another one for a fellow OTCAer (thankfully he was able to find one for himself at his local Big W). The also really shouldn't have shelved any of those toys until after their stores closed before reopening at midnight. For the midnight sale, my Big W actually kept the remaining Devastators in the back room and only ONE out per customer upon request. I spoke to someone from another Big W on Monday, and she was utterly surprised that this toy has sold so quickly and that all the requests for it have come from grown men, so it seems that some Big W staff are completely unaware that this toy would be highly sought after by collectors rather than kids. She actually asked me to explain to her why this was so, and still found it hard to grasp after I'd explained it to her. :o So I think part of it seems to come from general ignorance about this toy's primary demographic market on Big W's part.

Anyway, Big W was the first to receive this toy, but they won't be the last. I'm expecting to see more hit shelves in other majors after August.

implemented a little too late if they only had 3 to start off with at midnight, me thinks

[Stug]

Mentioned this elsewhere; my wife got one first day.

I went past the CBD store as it opened but was told they weren't receiving any stock at all (and in fairness, they were listed as not getting any on the website).

My wife was at Brookside later in the day and asked there for me. She was told they sold out just after opening but when looking in the pre-school section found one hidden there behind other toys and grabbed it.

As my wife said, it looks like their state of the art paper based inventory management system wasn't working. :)

[jazzcomp]

Mentioned this elsewhere; my wife got one first day.

I went past the CBD store as it opened but was told they weren't receiving any stock at all (and in fairness, they were listed as not getting any on the website).

My wife was at Brookside later in the day and asked there for me. She was told they sold out just after opening but when looking in the pre-school section found one hidden there behind other toys and grabbed it.

As my wife said, it looks like their state of the art paper based inventory management system wasn't working. :)
She's legendary to have found it ;)

[Ultra Mackness]

My experience sounds a lot like others here. The staff seem to have two default lines:

1) Oh, our store didn't receive any stock. Perhaps try again later in the week or early next week - you could try ringing up first. Sorry, what was that? No there won't be any stock out the back.

2.) Oh, we sold out of that item in the first ten minutes, it was very popular! Perhaps try again later in the week or early next week...(finishes same as first line).

And if one doesn't work try the other. If both don't work, plead ignorance and put customer on hold or go for extended tea break!

You get the picture! Sounds like lots of people have experienced the same picture!

After ringing the first couple of stores I gave up on actually finding Devy, and instead just asked as an experiment. I got the same reaction at all 5 of the stores I called - and I was even using my "nice" phone voice!

[Maruten]

It really depends on the individual staff. Usually you get the dudes who just don't care, or somehow aren't smart enough to figure anything out.

I arrived at my local store at 8:15, thinking they were opening at 8:30 as normal rather than 7:00 (you people with your midnight openings!). Checked the shelves, nothing; asked on the way out and was told "sold out in ten minutes."

So I left the store ready to trek to the others. But before I was out of the shopping centre, one of the Big W guys caught up to me. He had rung around the other stores, found the one that still had stock, asked them to hold one for me, and literally run out of the store to catch me before I was gone. So that was cool.

[5FDP]

Surely people aren't surprised by Big W's customer service or lack thereof. Sale or no, the most common response I receive is "If it's not on the shelves we've sold out". They just can't be arsed even looking.

Instead of constantly whinging that people are buying online, maybe the big retailers need to take a good hard look at themselves. I'd prefer to spend the extra dollars to Aussie businesses if they knew what the heck they were talking about. Instead, I'll continue to buy online - door to door delivery without the attitude.

For the most part, online retailers also know how much stock they have on hand so there's no guess work. Why do bricks and mortar stores find it so hard. Perhaps they are using a paper-based inventory system. Time to wake up.

[GoktimusPrime]

So true, 5FDP. The one edge that retailers still offer over online shopping is personal customer service, yet it's Incredulous that they're not capitalising more on this.

[prjkt]

Most big box stores don't even let staff access their inventory, allow them to check if something's on order, or even show floor staff how to look for things in the stockroom. You've really got to speak to a manager, preferably a fulltime, not duty/shift manager, to get a decent answer.

[Zechariah]

My relentless detective work and ultimately ringing night staff unloading stock who said there is only 2 and having them put mine aside for collection at door opening 8am on sale day. There was meant to be 16 yet I got the only one that day. I am pretty sure I was also first to post a picture or maybe second:D remember 9 said no to reserving item yet 1 come through.

[Jetfire in the sky]

So true, 5FDP. The one edge that retailers still offer over online shopping is personal customer service, yet it's Incredulous that they're not capitalising more on this.

As the saying goes............if you pay peanuts........... :rolleyes:

My Big Dub customer service has ranged from a one to an eight of 10 in these last couple of weeks, despite them wearing minion shirts and pumping up the toy domination sale with plenty of in store advertising most seemed pretty nonchalant about it.
Heck, today I received an e-mail alert about the sale saying there are only a few days to go, and guess which toy was front and centre? Yep, the big green and purple thing for $198, it seems even the head shed has no idea what's going on.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I did put a bit of this story briefly in another thread a week ago but I'll tell the saga here since it's more pertinent to this thread :)

No Big W in Swan Hill so got a pal to check in Bendigo and my niece to check in Echuca. Both came up empty handed.

Thursday night decided to give Bathurst a call since we would be driving there the following week. Guy said he couldn't see any but admitted to not knowing what they were. I explained they were in the catalog and he went "Oh, think I've seen'em. Hang on" A few minutes later "Oh yeah, we got four but 3 were reserved so we never put them on the shelves. We've got one left sitting here in the office". When I asked if he could put it aside for me he explained that he could only hold it until the morning and it was best to pick it up that night since he was off in half an hour and couldn't garuntee what other staff would do. I explained I was a 10 hour drive away and I would get back to him.

Rang the in-laws. Convinced my septuagenarian mother-in-law to go out in the dark and cold to grab it for me then and there. Rang back Big W and the bloke agreed to go meet her at the service counter and hand it over in person.

Long story short(ish) - got him last night! Got to Transform the six individual bots as all my missus Dutch rellies were amused and wanted to see what the fuss was about. They lost interest by the time it came to make Devastator so he is sitting in my hotel room awaiting construction :D

[drifand]

Waited till now and saw PC is listing Takara version for $209. Decided not to waste my time on calls and wild goose chase.

Poor for bigw and not my first time.

[Jetfire in the sky]

Waited till now and saw PC is listing Takara version for $209. Decided not to waste my time on calls and wild goose chase.

Poor for bigw and not my first time.

$h!t yeah! I would have liked to have got him in this first "wave" but this makes me smile :)

[Thurmus]

I am going to cancel my lay-by because I just ordered the Takara one from Premium Collectables.

Unless someone wants my lay-by one when it comes in.

[Demonac]

I am going to cancel my lay-by because I just ordered the Takara one from Premium Collectables.

Unless someone wants my lay-by one when it comes in.

Which store is the lay-by at?

[drifand]

Isn't there a penalty for cancel?

[prjkt]

$12 cancellation ontop of the $5 layby fee

[drifand]

Just pay it off and offer it to someone here.

[Thurmus]

Which store is the lay-by at?

Sorry. Eastland in Victoria. I am happy to pick it up and whoever wants it can get it off me.

[Ultra Mackness]

If you're happy to wait a couple of weeks for the cash, I'll grab it from you :)

[drifand]

Looking through the polls, I realised I went through several of the answers indirectly.

I am choosing the last Takara one not because is superior.
Is because the flow of events leading to it.

For $10 more saving me the hassle of waiting for a phone call is worth it.

[GoktimusPrime]

For $10 more saving me the hassle of waiting for a phone call is worth it.
I think that's fair enough. Sure beats paying an extra $130. ;)

[drifand]

I think that's fair enough. Sure beats paying an extra $130. ;)

I gave bigw the chance but feels like my name got lost in the list.
I was prepared to pay up to $50 more for Takara version, so when it comes to only $209 it isn't a bad deal at all.

Unless reports are saying takara version is not stable in devy mode. I think I am happy with it.

[Firestorm]

went to the midnight opening at Sunbury, then when I couldn't find Devy there went straight to Watergardens. no Devy there either.
the next day I checked Melton and Sunshine and the day after that Highpoint.
then started calling around and received mixed results from every store I called ranging from "sorry we haven't got any in stock" to "sold out" to "They haven't arrived yet but try again next week" to "we don't accept questions about toys during the sale" (HUH?)
after hearing about people getting to put their names down for when Devastator arrives I tried asking about that and was told "no we can't hold catalogue items, you must have been misinformed"
I tried my local Big W every evening after that, just in case they finally had some but never saw any.
finally just gave up and Pre-ordered the Takara version from PC

[drifand]

I guess is just disappointed in how this was rolled out. They should have ensured all stores had him before releasing the catalog.

Basically the last 4 points of this poll was my result.

[millhouse]

I guess is just disappointed in how this was rolled out. They should have ensured all stores had him before releasing the catalog.

Basically the last 4 points of this poll was my result.

I found an extra this morning. Available in this thread: http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=21181

[BigTransformerTrev]

Seems so far the scores are that 28 got him and 19 didn't. So about a 60% success rate. Not bad but not great, especially for those that missed out

[drifand]

Seems so far the scores are that 28 got him and 19 didn't. So about a 60% success rate. Not bad but not great, especially for those that missed out

Have to agree with you there, though my experience wasn't best result doesn't mean is bad. I was not lucky.