The Little Toy Company feedback

[dirge]

Well I sent an email last night calmly stating that he had advised my pre-order would ship this week (after kicking the can down the road a few times) & that if it wasn’t shipped today I wanted a refund as the item is now in stock elsewhere.

I got a shipping notice at 4:54pm. Similar to Maruten, I think he shipped today only to avoid the refund.

Clearly he’s not trying to rip people off but I don’t think he’s properly set up for preorders & needs to understand that reputation is everything for a small business such as his. Using “we” in emails when (by accounts here) he’s one guy operating out of his home/garage isn’t enough to convey professionalism; setting realistic expectations and *meeting* those expectations does.

I am happy my order has shipped but I will most certainly not be pre-ordering through TLTC again.

[M-bot]

TLTC is at least 2 people that I am aware of by meeting them. I believe they also have had people help them out with side portions of their business on at least one occasion.

They have a small warehouse (I actually don’t know what constitutes big or small in terms of warehouse space - I can tell you it’s smaller than the one at the end of Raider if the Lost Ark ) in Moorabbin that has *way* more stock than would fit into a garage.

So they’re not huge, but not exactly a backyard operation.

[dirge]

TLTC is at least 2 people that I am aware of by meeting them. I believe they also have had people help them out with side portions of their business on at least one occasion.

They have a small warehouse (I actually don’t know what constitutes big or small in terms of warehouse space - I can tell you it’s smaller than the one at the end of Raider if the Lost Ark ) in Moorabbin that has *way* more stock than would fit into a garage.

So they’re not huge, but not exactly a backyard operation.

Fair enough. I recall someone talking about having met "him" on a few occasions. Maybe they've grown?

At any rate, my pre-order is shipped... but I have not been instilled with confidence. In stock is different, but pre-orders I'm done here.

[DELTAprime]

To be clear. I don't think TLTC are trying to rip anyone off like PC, but they seem to be in over their heads to the point if there's an issue it's easier to ignore the customer than fix the problem.

[Ravagecat]

Here's my insight on what is causing the delays in shipping and communications - This is my best guess based on previous experience. I have no proof and it is pure speculation on my part. I believe TLTC wants to get all our orders to us and is not deliberately trying to rip us off, but just doesn't seem to have the staff to accommodate their growth. I have received all my orders to date bar my last which is for a few wave 3/4 POTP figs albeit the last 2 or 3 orders have taken longer to deliver, sometimes a couple of months after release.

1. The clientele has increased with the fall of PC and they were/are not equipped/staffed to deal with the extra customer sales/pre orders

2. With the increase in pre-orders due to point 1 and quite possibly some have missed their ETA. Now we are emailing them to ask where our orders are, because they are so busy they don't get to respond to everyone in a timely manner. Some of us start to email again and again adding more emails to respond to and increasing the response turn around. We saw this issue with PC

3. People may not be adding postage to all there orders which is delaying them being sent which means TLTC is waiting until they have a complete order with shipping paid before sending (this happened to me until I asked them to just ship what they had using one of my postage payments - I had 4 orders and paid postage on two). Basically if you place order 1 with 3 items and pay shipping, then place order 2 with 4 items and choose the option to combine to previous order. Lets say all of the items for order 2 come in a week or two later but only 2 items from order 1 arrive they don't ship your your stuff until order 1 is complete.

As pointed out by others communication is key and this is where they are lacking...they need to be letting us know when a preorder ETA has been delayed or when they are just waiting on your last item from order blah before we ship. Some of this could be set up as automated emails as stock comes in or website updates on outstanding pre orders etc...leaving us in the dark is not working and just creating angst, distrust and turning us else where...

[Jetfire in the sky]

Its becoming a bit of a pattern, and I think it's the demand that surprises people who essentially start out doing this as a little side gig to import toys sell them at a competitive price to pay for their own collecting and then it gets out of hand because if you have a job that pays the bills and one that pays for toys, the balance gets skewed when one won't provide for the other and you still need to do both.


Ravagecat has made some good points and with the whole TFI and PC bollocks I think Aussies have definitely become a lot less tolerant of communication being poor from the seller's end.

[DELTAprime]

I've still not gotten a reply from TLTC.