This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.ProtonDefender wrote:Out of curiosity, I'd like to ask, in a respectful/non-sarcastic manner, what prompted you to write this? You mentioned now is the time to write something (paraphrasing)--has something specific occurred recently that we're unaware of? Everything you said, whether any of us agree or not, has been brought up before in some fashion....
When I saw the page last night and your piece posted front & center, it made me wonder if there was a proverbial straw on some poor camel's back....
This has been a long time in the making actually. I had been writing this story for weeks, and had it in the back of my mind for a while. If anything the "free" Slimers and overages on shipping lead up to this. I had been fighting with Digital River's customer support over the shipping problem since November of last year.
Now. I would like to add to this whole thing.
One thing I did not mention or make obvious is that many / most of the problems stems from Digital River. The shipping, customer service.. etc is all handled by them and is their fault. However, as Mattel / MattyCollector pay them, they are the ones that are ultimately responsible for the treatment. It would be no different than if you had purchased the item from Target, and opened the box and the item had a flaw. You deal with Target to handle the problem, but ultimately it would be Mattel's fault. The difference there is that Target would handle it quickly and courteously with good customer relations. Digital River does whatever it can to not have to handle it, as that cuts into their tiny profit margin.
If Digital River hadn't been involved the whole time. I'm guessing I wouldn't have to write any of this. Imagine for a second if these items were sold and fufilled by Amazon.com instead of Digital River. We would all have gotten free shipping on orders over $25, Amazon prime people could have gotten Free 2-Day Shipping or $3.99 overnight shipping. We probably wouldn't have had to pay the taxes we had to pay... and any problems would have been handled by Amazon's wonderful customer service department. Orders wouldn't have taken 5 days to ship, and then a week to be delivered by Newgistics. They would have been out UPS and delivered quickly all over the country. The items would have been in stock until sold out, and it wouldn't have been a mystery. If Amazon cost more than Digital River, and I don't think it really would have... we certainly could have all paid $25 per figure (with free shipping) instead of $20 (plus $10 shipping)... there wouldn't have been many complaints.
In addition to all of this. I went and looked at the photo listing of Mattel's action figures that Ghostbusters Mania put together. I am in the end, impressed with what we did manage to get. I just think the Digital River problems, coupled with cut corners and high pricing have really put a damper in the whole thing. The whole MattyCollector concept is poorly managed... and while I did mention that Mattel made 700+ million dollars profit, I did neglect to mention that individual figures, and portions of Mattel's business can be losing money in comparison to the work put in. It isn't business smart to keep putting money into a system that isn't working, or a line, or a figure.. etc.
I get that.
I just find it hard to believe four characters, using the same heads, bodies, and accessories over and over could possibly lose money compared to MOTU, He-Man.. whatever... that has newly sculpted figures and accessories every other month. There is a lot they could have done, but didn't... and I think that boils down to poor management.
And one last thing. In regard to those Early Access things for subscribers. Matty posted on their Facebook page today that one of the figures has sold out, prior to being available at the regular sale at all. I'm sure there will be more subscribers next year... if they don't piss off all the people they lost this year. Is this really that hard to figure out?