Flaccid Member
I received the exact same emails, both of them, in regards to my query about my missing NTAE PC that still has yet to arrive. Does not even make sense, as 1) that tracking number is from aug 11 and shows as Pre-shipment/Awaiting Arrival... and 2) that was almost certainly for the AV 12". Great... a canned reply and some BS non-resolution. Ugh. I just want my stuff... Is that so much to ask for?Originally Posted by kevinbeetle
Flaccid Member
Finally got my deviations replacement sleeve. It was well packed and aparrently from the european distribution centers. Finally caught up with all my pre-orders and vinyl releases and i only got screwed once, which was fixed today. They even carried over my address fix which was with firebrand over all the pre-orders in december. I feel very lucky.
Flaccid Member
Quick update on the absolute nothingness that has been going on with my order... (the one sent to the wrong country) :
9 days ago, got this email from sandbaguk regarding my multiple packages (Deviations, Ghosts and possibly NTAE) stuck in the Cayman Islands with three different shipping companies :
Thank you for your email.
We have received your query and are investigating it, or escalating it to the relevant department. We will get back to you shortly with a resolution.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Best regards,
Kim, on behalf of the Customer Service team.
Side note: is "Kim" their only employee or is it a fake name use by everyone answering emails ?
I HAD opened a ticket asking (for the 5th time probably) to change my address in their database but still no answer about that issue. Then 13 days ago, got the typical email regarding my order (The Fragile) being "packaged up and is now on its way to you." and yet it still doesn't show up on the asendia tracking page.
This means I still can't tell if it has been sent to Canada... or the Cayman Islands. Keepin' 'em crossed for this one !
Captain Rustleboots
Well, if you go to their site and watch their little video that looks like it was shot on a VHS recorder this is a picture of their office. No wonder it's such a clusterfuck.
Throbbing Member
And they are apparently responsive, with out of the box solutions! We can see it in action indeed.
Banned
My Deviations replacement sleeve arrived damaged as well. The spine is creased. I can't be arsed doing anything about it, I'm happy with the effort they put in to replace it.
Received TDS, Broken and TF today - all perfect condition.
Throbbing Member
Well, if you go to their site and watch their little video that looks like it was shot on a VHS recorder this is a picture of their office. No wonder it's such a clusterfuck.
Hairy Member
Had my remaining records delivered today and they seem fine.
Minor thing though, they were shipped from a different courier than my tracking number suggests, and have my original order number (which was cancelled).
So I guess I can expect another batch soon...?
Throbbing Member
After seeing all of the horror stories (a lot completely warranted, and some just a product of whiny impatience), I'm here with a message of hope. Here is my story.
Ordered TFD1, NTAE and NTAE PC on 12/17/16.
NTAE PC kinda showed up out of the blue when everyone initially started receiving them. No shipment e-mail. No tracking. Packaged in a plain white mailer (not pictured.)
I received a shipping e-mail for TFD1 on 06/28/17. No tracking number was provided (although there was one on the shipping label on the package received.) Package was shipped via ASENDIA UK / Asendia FC out of the UK in a simple, vinyl shipping box. Series of events according to the tracking number:
29/06/2017 10:55 Shipment created 03/07/2017 09:38 Asendia UK Heathrow Shipment Processed 03/07/2017 14:23 Posting List created/Pickup by Carrier 03/07/2017 22:22 30875846341 Received at Origin Facility 04/07/2017 06:04 30875846341 Departed Operations facility In Transit 06/07/2017 08:56 30875846341 Cleared from Customs 06/07/2017 15:22 30875846341 Out for Delivery - Beyond Delivery Area 06/07/2017 18:01 30875846341 Departed Operations facility In Transit 10/07/2017 06:09 30875846341 Out for Delivery 10/07/2017 08:21 30875846341 "Delivery Rescheduled" 10/07/2017 08:48 30875846341 Out for Delivery 10/07/2017 08:48 30875846341 Delivered
Ordered AV PC 07/14/16.
I received a shipping e-mail for AV PC on 08/10/17. No tracking number provided (as was the norm, apparently, for this PC, if I understand correctly.)
Received AV PC 08/29/17. Package was shipped via USPS International Priority out of the US (Philadelphia, PA.) Packaged in a plain brown mailer.
I received a shipping e-mail for NTAE on 08/18/17. Tracking number was provided. Package was shipped via ASENDIA UK / Asendia FC out of the UK in a double folding vinyl shipping box. Series of events according to the tracking number:
15/08/2017 10:42 Shipment created 21/08/2017 10:33 Asendia UK Heathrow Shipment Processed 21/08/2017 13:49 Posting List created/Pickup by Carrier 22/08/2017 12:14 30875923363 Received at Origin Facility 22/08/2017 21:23 30875923363 Departed Operations facility In Transit 26/08/2017 16:17 30875923363 Cleared from Customs 31/08/2017 10:28 30875923363 Out for Delivery - Beyond Delivery Area 01/09/2017 06:50 30875923363 Out for Delivery 01/09/2017 08:48 30875923363 Delivered
Vinyl box for TFD1. Just a simple box. No bubble wrap or any other extra protection. Only problem with the item itself was a slightly creased spine. Nothing to lose my shit over. Granted, if I was able to buy this in a store I potentially could have picked out a pristine copy, but this is nothing you wouldn't potentially see in a store anyway. I didn't, and will not, bother opening a ticket for a replacement sleeve, because there are plenty of other people opening tickets with more urgent and warranted complaints, and I don't want to further clog the mailboxes with whiny/nitpicky little shit I see a lot of people opening them for.
Vinyl box for NTAE. A bit better than the TFD1 box, but still no extra protection.
Status: Fulfilled.
Throbbing Member
The same box with 'Fragile' stamped everywhere was what I received my latest TF, NTAE, TDS in. They came in unscathed, but it was more luck than anything, as outer corners of box were dinged in their "impact zone". It's just fortunate that in my case it wasn't bad enough to reach the sleeves. This kind of protection is marginal, and still depends on good courier handling too much. The box that shipped from US with my older vinyl however left a lot to be desired, had zero 'crush zone' protection and was very neat fitting around the enclosed vinyl and also had visibly open corners, so it was evident after 20 days in international transit that sleeves/corners were going to get damaged. I had Broken ship on it's own in a 'Fragile' box and it had one corner dinged that I've decided to live with.Vinyl box for NTAE. A bit better than the TFD1 box, but still no extra protection.
Status: Fulfilled.
I think the issue really is that couriers more often than we'd like, ding boxes in transit. Some of their trucks are jammed full to minimise costs etc. Things get stacked, knocked, thrown and accidentally dropped on their corners. Packaging should be chosen to at least stand up to some of that eg. crush zone corners on every edge, multiple side card layers etc. It likely would only have cost $1-2 more to do so, but would have saved a lot of damage/angst and extra work etc. I'm sure if they offered an enhanced shipping protection option at checkout for that amount we'd all have paid for it.
Banned
Apparently Levi got some minty-fresh vinyl deluxe packages on the (TR) house while the rest of us got banged and blown through copies from Sandshit?
Thanks, Trent!
Administrator
I know! When I saw his, I was like "where's mine?!?" My deviations replacement is no where to be found and it seems my other records are lost in post office oblivion. I've tried to be positive about this shit but it's fucking September and I have one fucking record in good condition. One.
*ranty*
This Cannot Continue
I was reading this as he got them straight from TR's house, took me 2 hours before i read it as it was intended...i think i need sleep!
Hairy Member
Broken and TDS arrived today and... in perfect shape. At least in Spain all has been really smooth... one in a million?
Last edited by jfsaudio; 09-01-2017 at 09:33 AM.
Throbbing Member
My copy of QOTSA Villians Deluxe Ed. ordered from the bands US site (as its UK site was out of stock) arrived today. A very heavy LP release , sort of similar in weight to TF DE.
Packaging quite a bit better. despite cardboard corner dings, there is approx 1/2" crush zone on the packaging for every corner and on every edge.
This was enough for it to arrive in mint condition. It also shipped from US->UK on 24th Aug and arrived today 1st Sept so was only in transit for 1 week.
Also sent via USPS. The inner protective card had flaps holding the vinyl in place at the centre of the package leaving it well away from the crush zone.
I've not seen this design before, but it seems quite effective.
Last edited by afors; 09-02-2017 at 03:56 AM.
Administrator
Update on my AV PC -
So, I was supposed to get this delivered Friday, August 18th. After my tracking info showed that it was never dropped off, I submitted a request for it to be redelivered. The post office couldn't find it. JoJo at the post office called me and recommended I submit a claim for lost mail. I did.
Today, JoJo calls and tells me that they found the mail.
Sandbag didn't put my apartment number on the package. nin.com has my address listed with my apartment number.
So now, after thinking it's not Sandbag's fault, it IS Sandbag's fault.
Administrator
As someone very well versed in the ins and outs of ecommerce, I find this interesting - it makes me wonder what order management system @Sandbag is using. Their ecommerce storefront is Shopify, which definitely handles multi-line addresses, but if that second line is getting lost when the order is transferred from Shopify to their OMS, that seems like a pretty rookie mistake. But maybe the order management system handles addresses correctly, and their shipping label software doesn't, or isn't receiving them correctly. Integration between these systems is a pain in the neck, for sure.
Were there any fünń˙ characters, quotation marks, or other special characters in the line with your apartment number?
Administrator
Nope. Apt 102
I did it the same way with my other orders and they arrived just fine. It's USPS standardized as well, which also kills me.
Unintelligible Whispering
Opened 2 more tickets. I'm getting a broken LP sleeve sent to me without tracking, and a long overdue tracking number for my AV PC and t-shirt which reveals it's been stuck in Canada Customs since the middle of the month.
This Cannot Continue
Well this is certainly...different. Having worked in franking departments before this really seem's very strange, that's one of the most important piece's of delivery information. Even if it is being done by a franking machine...surely someone is checking this stuff, like the post master collecting them at least?
Throbbing Member
I don't know which OMS they might be using and I'm sure you know those things better than I do, but from what I gathered it seems that Firebrand sent Sandbag its store.nin.com database (or likely two databases, one for US customers and one for the UK store) but probably they were unable to import or merge them successfully. There are reports of fast shipping methods being ignored because Sandbag doesn't know which postage the customers paid for back in December 2016, plus it seems that some orders are being shipped to incomplete or outdated shipping addresses, and some orders were even fulfilled from the wrong store (US instead of UK).
Also, some refunds were processed in June (I managed to get my money back) but probably they weren't able to edit the database at all, therefore some orders were shipped anyway. I personally got at least Deviations, TF and Ghosts but they were shipped to a friend's address in the UK, even though I wrote Sandbag multiple times to make sure that my order was successfully cancelled and they reassured me that it was. Well, it wasn't.
Stubby Member
Well I feel pretty lucky after reading this thread. Last of my orders arrived today. So far everything has arrived pretty much flawless with no additional delays, other than the actual production delays. NTAE PC, AV PC, 2 shirts, NTAE vinyl, TF DE, Deviations.
Administrator
Oh man, you're right, I completely forgot about the data migration. Given the shape that Firebrand was in, just doing day-to-day basic retail things, getting them to correctly export data at the end of an obviously acrimonious relationship where they already had nothing left to lose (I'm guessing everyone involved in the initial fuckup got shitcanned, and the replacements had no way to ramp up, and saw how the bosses treated the people they replaced), there was obviously no motivation to get it right.
Hairy Member
This is what I've personally been suspecting is the case since its been everything I've ordered pre-Sandbag that has been getting sent to my previous address regardless of making sure to let Sandbag know of my updated address. My latest info from them is Louise via Sandbag is investigating my query. Also got some random Firebrand email about 1/3 of my packages being delivered to my previous address, I'm like cool story, bro.
Administrator
So of course after getting "ranty" earlier today, my deviations replacement sleeve showed up. The packaging is much better but it has some damage on the spine. Lines that show pressure on the package. It's definitely better than the bent spine that showed up originally but I do wonder if better materials could've been used for the sleeve. Something less flimsy and more resilient to today's shipping realities.
she/her/hers
^^^ your cat looks pretty cute
Stubby Member
I'd say you'll receive your original (cancelled) order and any order you placed there after.
Administrator
The AV PC arrived today with t-shirt in tow.
Still waiting for my Capital G shirt. Then this is over.
Throbbing Member
Until the next round of DE's + AV Vinyl pre-orders ...
This Cannot Continue
Hopefully not. I can see TR waiting for all the previous orders/pre-orders to be completed and fulfilled before starting anew with a new distributor and no handover for the next batch, 3rd times a charm.
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