Transformers Venting thread!

[Sinnertwin]

I do try and select the best option available at the time, but that's probably more to do with me trying to have the best looking toy and/or sealed box to display -i spent weeks tracking down a MiSB Generations Metroplex that didn't have a damaged box i'm also a chronic perfectionist sometimes, which never helps.
There are some factors that i can't control like international orders, in which case i have no choice but to just roll with what comes out of the PoL carton.

As for damages that i've caused? No, i wouldn't take it back, i'm just not comfortable in doing so. I'd just curse profusely at my heavy handedness & start looking for a replacement.

[Omega Metro]

Does anyone else have that sort of quality requirement (paint scratches/smudges) with toys, that are mostly bought by people who don't see any value in them (as mere toys), and produced in such a cheap, sweat-shop way that quality of the end product is what you'd expect of a mere play-thing... so if it is opened to play with (not being bought for investment/value), is it right to exchange them as if they were faulty?

Surely exchanges are for items that are broken before they are removed from packaging, or missing parts, or constructed wrong. Isn't making the store pay for an item that was damaged by the customer, or only have an insignificant paint smudge that is a parameter of the cheap construction process, cheating the system?

If it was a car or fridge or computer that had a noticeable scratch on it, or missing paint, that would matter because those are higher-end, higher-quality items... but a toy that is taken out to be played with, to already start getting play wear, wouldn't be something I'd exchange just over a small bit of smudged or missing paint.

Just curious... does anyone else return toys that they broke or had some minor paint issues that are minor enough to be expected of these cheaply made products that are just toys?

I think it's quite disgusting for someone to take an item back (especially a toy) for an exchange just because it has a little scratch on it. No wonder Australian retail don't give a crap. Sure, if it was broken, fair enough.

[GoktimusPrime]

When I bought this toy, I took it to my TF room last night and opened it. I then transformed it very carefully as I was following the instructions. I then took the toy out to the lounge room to take photos and type up a review of it. Then when I got home, I noticed that the broken tab was lying on the TF room floor. Although the broken tab was lying right next to where the card and blister were, which was in a different location from where I was handling and transforming the toy. i.e. when I opened the toy, I set the packaging stuff aside, and then transformed/fiddled with the toy in another part of the room. The tab was with the packaging stuff. It was about the put the packaging stuff away when I noticed the tab there, then I examined the toy to see where it would've broken off from, and sure enough, it was from the grill section. I didn't notice the broken tab until 24h after I opened the toy... I'd just assumed that it must've broken when I transformed it for the first time (didn't really put any more thought into it beyond that assumption ), but now that I think about it, the tab was in a different part of the room from where I first handled the toy, which suggests that it may have already been broken when I opened it.

At the time that I took the toy back to TRU, I was under the assumption that I must've broken it myself after opening it. I told the staff that, "it snapped off when I transformed it for the first time," (assumption) and the staff member happily allowed me to exchange the toy. I didn't say that the tab was "already broken" (though in hindsight, it's rather likely). <shrugs> I didn't go there with the intention to "cheat" the store. I merely felt that the product was not of acceptable quality and brought it back under that belief.

In my 30 years' of collecting Transformers, this is the first time that I may have had a brand new toy break on me like this. Every other time I've taken a toy back for exchange or refund, it was clearly defective as a manufacturing flaw.

I think it's quite disgusting for someone to take an item back (especially a toy) for an exchange just because it has a little scratch on it. No wonder Australian retail don't give a crap. Sure, if it was broken, fair enough.

Yeah, it had a broken off tab. I wouldn't have bothered if it was just a little bit of scratched paint. And as I said, looking at it in hindsight, it was more likely to have been broken before I handled it (unless that broken tab took flight and flew across the room... but I would've noticed a chunk of cadmium yellow plastic darting across if that'd happened! (not to mention that there would've been a snapping sound if it'd broken like that) )

[Kapryiath]

I wouldn't take say a delux classics figire back for a paint defect unless it was huge , but if I bought hasbro mp prowl and it had paint issues I would certainly be taking it back. if it wasnt such a hassle I would have tried to replace my bluestreak which has a large paint scratch on his shoulder which is noticable even from a distance. I personally feel that anything more than 40 bucks worth of plastoc crack should be in pretty damn good nick from the package

[aduthie1980]

Not sure if this is the right place, but I would like to vent about my current experience at Big W.
It all started when I did a layby during the toy sale as there was some stuff I wanted to get once my tax return came through and I had some spare cash.
I was asked if i wanted to do a Christmas layby or normal one, the difference between the two was explained and I decided to do the former just in case I didn't get it paid off in time. Made a couple of payments over the last few weeks and then went to pick it up today.
The guy who served me went to grab it and then came back about 5 minutes later and told me he couldn't find it, but would continue to look. I was told it could take anywhere up to an hour to find and that he would call me when he had it. So I left empty handed.
Five hours passed and I had heard nothing so i gave them a call back.
I was told that the person who had served me left about half an hour after I was there, and there was no record of it being looked for at all.
I was told that they would try and dig it out for me but it could take a up to 3 days and that they would call me back, I asked why it could take this long and they explained to me that due to it being a Christmas layby it could be harder to find or may even be in another location. I was not told this when I placed the layby and there is no fine print on the receipt to state this! I mentioned that I had said I would be picking it up in a couple of months and to just come into the store when ready to collect.
2 hours later they rang back and said that they still couldn't find it and seemed to have no record of my order number.
I have been told that they will look over the weekend, but if they still can't find it they will offer me a refund if replacement stock cannot be sourced. I have never had a problem with layby before and I'm not sure if this common practice that if an order is lost then all that is offered is a refund. Fingers crossed and hopefully they find it over the weekend.

[Seraphim Prime]

Not sure if this is the right place, but I would like to vent about my current experience at Big W.
It all started when I did a layby during the toy sale as there was some stuff I wanted to get once my tax return came through and I had some spare cash.
I was asked if i wanted to do a Christmas layby or normal one, the difference between the two was explained and I decided to do the former just in case I didn't get it paid off in time. Made a couple of payments over the last few weeks and then went to pick it up today.
The guy who served me went to grab it and then came back about 5 minutes later and told me he couldn't find it, but would continue to look. I was told it could take anywhere up to an hour to find and that he would call me when he had it. So I left empty handed.
Five hours passed and I had heard nothing so i gave them a call back.
I was told that the person who had served me left about half an hour after I was there, and there was no record of it being looked for at all.
I was told that they would try and dig it out for me but it could take a up to 3 days and that they would call me back, I asked why it could take this long and they explained to me that due to it being a Christmas layby it could be harder to find or may even be in another location. I was not told this when I placed the layby and there is no fine print on the receipt to state this! I mentioned that I had said I would be picking it up in a couple of months and to just come into the store when ready to collect.
2 hours later they rang back and said that they still couldn't find it and seemed to have no record of my order number.
I have been told that they will look over the weekend, but if they still can't find it they will offer me a refund if replacement stock cannot be sourced. I have never had a problem with layby before and I'm not sure if this common practice that if an order is lost then all that is offered is a refund. Fingers crossed and hopefully they find it over the weekend.

Hey aduthie,

I used to work for Target, and I can say that over 99% of the time, laybuys work without a hitch. Unfortunately, as the process is manual - wrapping, storing, locating - sometimes (particularly in the busy times) the there may be a mix up in one of those stages (eg: not all items included, item gets put in the wrong location). Alternatively, sometimes the Christmas laybuys get stored in a different storeroom and/or off-site.

When there's an issue, we always made an effort to make up the laybuy with stock on hand or transfer items from another store. Refund would be offered as a last resort.

As I said, over 99% of the time, no issues. Sucks that this has happened to you.

[UltraMarginal]

Does anyone else have that sort of quality requirement (paint scratches/smudges) with toys, that are mostly bought by people who don't see any value in them (as mere toys), and produced in such a cheap, sweat-shop way that quality of the end product is what you'd expect of a mere play-thing... so if it is opened to play with (not being bought for investment/value), is it right to exchange them as if they were faulty?

Surely exchanges are for items that are broken before they are removed from packaging, or missing parts, or constructed wrong. Isn't making the store pay for an item that was damaged by the customer, or only have an insignificant paint smudge that is a parameter of the cheap construction process, cheating the system?

If it was a car or fridge or computer that had a noticeable scratch on it, or missing paint, that would matter because those are higher-end, higher-quality items... but a toy that is taken out to be played with, to already start getting play wear, wouldn't be something I'd exchange just over a small bit of smudged or missing paint.

Just curious... does anyone else return toys that they broke or had some minor paint issues that are minor enough to be expected of these cheaply made products that are just toys?

I would return stuff if it were broken, if I have a couple of something to choose from on a peg, I'll sit there for a few minutes comparing paint jobs to decide which one I think is better, as you say, quality control on lower end items isn't always that tight, some can have OK paint while others have good paint.

I don't think I've ever returned something after breaking it myself, but if I was in the process of using something for the first time and it didn't function as intended either because it broke in my hands or arrived like that I'd take it back.

I've noticed some paint coming of my AOE slug, he's an import and it's not enough to be upset about but something I've noted for future handling. It's not unreasonable to expect a retail product to stand up to 'normal' wear and tear. <define that as you like>

[GoktimusPrime]

I called Hasbro again on Monday (in hopes of asking them about Generations). Got through to a machine which diverted me to another machine which diverted me to an answering service. (-_-)

[Sinnertwin]

Call from a private number next time, they won't know who it is

[CyberiusPrime]

My TF frustration would have to be how flaming hard Titan Metroplex is to transform into city mode.

But a real annoyance piece for me would definitely have to be the pictures vs the real thing. First Edition OP picture shows alot of Chrome, real thing has alot more grey plastic to it.

Australia's amazingly low volume of good quality TF stuff. All the overseas premium we have to pay.

Finally the TF game the rise of the dark spark, please do not get me started on this!!!