Pathfinder 1E An "unexpected" present from Paizo

[ssampier]

The Emperor was playing with your Nazgul. You had to wait until he got tired of it.

- Olgar, who used to live in the Empire, but never met the Emperor

Noo I didn't see you playing with your dolls again.

 

[Keith F Strohm]

So some time back I see this online ad from Paizo that specifically features a miniature from the LotR miniatures game that I decide I can't live without. It might have been an email directly from Paizo; it might have been an ad here on ENworld. I can't remember which. The ad says, "Buy from US! Buy from US!" so I do. Time passes. More time passes. I send an Email inquiring what' happening with my order as the website lists it as "Awaiting Shipment". No response. I send another. "Where is my shipment?" I wait some more. All my emails to them go without any response. I start getting insistant, "Give me my order or give me my money back."

My order was placed on April 12. Today, August 30, I recieve my order. 140 days (that's 20 weeks to you and me) after placing it. I'd actually forgotten about it! Effectively written it off as, "You'll never get anything more from this one-armed bandit. You put your credit card in the slot, pulled the lever and lost. Care to play again?" I should have actually cancelled the charge yonks ago but whenever I'd think about it I was away from my computer. I'd try to remind myself to get to it when I get home but kept forgetting for one reason or another and eventually never thought about it again.

I will certainly never order anything from Paizo again aside from magazines as it's rather apparant what kind of service I'll get. I am kind of happy that I finally GOT my Nazgul on Fell Beast to use in my D&D games - even if they do deserve public humiliation for such poor performance in getting it to me.

Man in the Funny Hat,

I am sorry that you had such a negative experience with our online store at Paizo. As many EnWorlders know, we strive to offer the best customer experience for readers of our magazines, those who play our games, and those who shop on paizo.com. I wanted to first publicly apologize to you for the service you received, and I hope to shed some light on what happened.

The Fell Beast was originally scheduled for a Spring release from Sabertooth Games. That release date changed ultimately to Gen Con. We received our orders from distribution soon after Gen Con and turned them around as fast as we could.

As paizo.com, as well as Paizo's other publishing efforts, have grown, we have experienced an increase in customer service contact. There were several months where our CS staff was not large enough to handle the volume. We searched for the best possible candidates and have now staffed up accordingly. Unfortunately, we did not do so fast enough to provide you with satisfactory service. You should have received an email informing you of the release date change, and that never happened. You also should have received a timely response to the emails you sent. For both of those things, I deeply apologize.

Our webstore handles a large amount of transactions, most of which occur without a hitch. We have good turnaround speed on customer orders and we have a large selection from which to choose. I certainly understand your frustration with your experience, but I do hope you will give Paizo another chance to provide you with a positive experience.

All the best,

Keith Strohm
Chief Operating Officer
Paizo Publishing, LLC