One thing they do have right is that people only post when they have a problem and it can appear one-sided. I would hope that people that have had good experiences with this retailer would also speak up.
I do not doubt for a second that if a impartial poll was conducted that over 90% of Mothers Basements customers would state that they are satisfied with the service they have received, possible closer to 100% if the poll was only for in stock items. If this was not the case they would be out of business by now or close to going out of business.
Their problems with the dissatisfied customers for which I am one, is/was their operating practices. I am sure no one would like to pay in full for an item that is due in stock within 14 days and still not receive it after 4 months. If Mothers Basement had informed me that unfortunately their could could not fulfil all orders with their initial supply and provided me with an option of a refund or to wait for restocks then this would have addressed my concerns. However they informed me that they had not received stock form the UK distributor whilst all other UK retailers had. Obviously after several weeks I grew more concerned that I would miss out on the item I had pre-ordered and would have to resort to ebay My other concern was I was unsure if the company were mis-leading me. Eventually in December I was told the truth that the initial supplies had sold through. When I requested a refund I was informed that my initial deposit would not be refundable. At this point I had to make them aware that Kate had promised me a full refund if the item was not in stock by december and that they were breaking their own terms and conditions in regards to breaching their 14 day contract. Ultimately I believe my feedback has led them to change they policy to requesting payment once the item is in stock. I also alerted them to the feedback on this forum which I informed them I was contributing to.
My reasoning for his was that hopefully they would read the feedback and understand that a percentage of customers were unhappy and address our concerns. Unfortunately, there have taken the view that we are morons and do not deserve good service. Another interesting issue I think will arise is their pre-order price promise in regards to offering to beat competitors prices by 10% (this may I have changed since I place my orders in august). aN example being that currently one-sixth bruce is taking pre-orders on the new Hot Toys batman set at £375. If Mothers Basement were to meet their price promise I would expect that their would make a loss on this item.
I am also confused by the fact that on one hand MB are stating they are a small family business, whilst on the other hand stating they are a big retailer. I appreciate that in the current economic climate business is tough, however to survive you need to go that extra mile. MB state that they received over 2,500 items before Christmas and could only dispatch between 75 to 100 orders per day. Although I appreiciate that everyone deserves a family life, if this had been my business I would have been working round the clock during Christmas and New Year in order to meet customer demand. This would eventually ensure more repeat customers, which would allow the business to expand, take on more staff and make greater profits.
Finally in terms of this type of thread, I have also been let down by other retailers (FP, FPI, Toy Palace) in the past in regards to orders not being fulfilled. Although at the time I was disappointed the difference was that these retailers had not taking any money from me. Also, even though I have always had excellent customer service from Sideshow I do not post my experiences on forums as this is the level of service I expect, although I do tell them in emails.
