Bryan,

You stole my thunder. ;)
But, thanks because it wouldn't have been very pleasant.


The next comment is directed squarely at Mike:

Work on your people-skills. If I was one of your 'paid in full' customers and had to tolerate that barrage of self-righteous indignation that you exploded with a few threads back, I'd have told you where to go, what to do with it, and would have requested a full refund.

A simple heads up about the production delays and weather factors would have gone a long ways toward easing your customers' concerns and would have taken you no longer than a visit or 2 to eBay.

For Mike,

As one who has spent many years in the customer service field I'd like to offer a piece of friendly advice. No matter what the manufacturers unforseen circumstances may be, the *customer is always right*. They come first, and paid in full customers go straight to the top of the list.
In other words, bending over backwards speaks volumes, irregardless if you cannot meet the demand then and there or not. If they are given the impression you do in fact CARE about their purchase, and are working to resolve the problem or delay on your end, they will be patient.

Courtesy works both ways, but moreso on yours. You have their money.

I hope you keep that in mind.

Tracy

PS. Pete regarding your post. Right on the money.

To the last three who posted here. (Moderators, and Administrators)

Very , very eliquently said.

And as one of the paid in full customers.... Thank you for your support.

And for CSR, a good and calm come back on your end my fellow Warrior.

Now, we go back to waiting for the postman to show up.

Thank You Bryan. I understand your point and except that. The truth is if someone fails to use common sense and throws acusations at me on a board that is a real honest and friendly board, they have problems coming that won't fade quickly. I have been late but never dishonest. All that have ordered from me have my number and personal e-mail address, I suggest that they use it. The newbies on here are the only ones posting such things and it would appear that they have nothing better to do than stir trouble. I'm late, so what. But I'm not dishonest. It's a proven fact.
Thank You again Bryan. I appreciate you. :salute:

Everyone that has ordered is a paid in full customer? Well of course they are, we don't have lay-away plans. :D
That a customer is "always" right, is incorrect. When a "customer" becomes agitated and makes the decision to falsely accuse someone of theft, no they are no longer right. I appreciate your opinion, but it does'nt work with me.
Thanks Tracy. :D

My people skills go out the window when falsely accused of theft. And I don't go to e-bay, your making assumptions. People that are, and this is ridiculous..."paid in full customers" are intitled to answers, and everyone that calls or writes gets that, and are met with kindness and friendly discussion. Those that falsely accuse, well, they are in for something else.
Nice talking to you, but I've got to work now. ;)

From here on out, conduct all communication with me personally. P.M. or private e-mail or by phone. I appreciate you ordering a viper, and I'm late, a lot later than I wished, but all said and done, you'll get a nice big pretty viper soon.
Ask questions off of the board, no more slinging accusations. :salute:

People of the Fleets.........LOL! That's too funny.

I have to address this one last time, and no more.
This project as Gordon has put it has been cursed :D with being late, bad molds, death, lost parts in the mail, :muffit: and bad weather, just to name a few.
All vipers are being shipped, all will get their orders. The 1st, will be 1st, and the last will be last. No thefts here, no need for accusations or slinging negative thoughts. Theres no room for it.
This project has also been a blessing and alot of them. Coming together with Cobywan, making friends with almost all who ordered and new contacts, as well as learning from the whole process.
The friends that have been 1st on the list are the ones that have the most right to "fuss" about where their kits are. And they have been kind and easy to communicate with. Thank You, you know who you are. Gordon, Peter Noble, Barry, John, Dilbertman, and the list goes on. You are friends and appreciated.
From here on out, this thread is about positive things. It should be about build-up questions and people wanting to post pics of their progress.
I'll not entertain another accusation, nor will I answer it. Save it. Those who have an order will get their viper, those that have not and are just posting their opinions are noted, but not taken seriously. ;)
Further more, I'll answer each question placed towards me in a civil and friendly manner, anything other than that will usually be met with :barf:
Well LOL! You get the point. I'm not doing this for my health or sanity, because the latter is GONE! :rotf:
I appreciate all that have ordered and rest assured you will get your order. They are late. And there is nothing to do about it, but ship them as fast as we can. Maybe in the next shippment, they will all be gone and all orders filled, if not, then the day after will ship more.
I'm done with the bickering, and business opinions. I'll handle it as it comes. If those that want to dish out opinions new me, they know all they have to do is e-mail or call and their answers will be there for them. I'm friendly, but I draw the line at telling me what to do. :D
Thanks to the fleet moderators. Mainly Brian. I respect you, and look forward to future communication. You have been kind. :salute:
Enough, now back to harmony.
By the way, if you have anything negative to add, save it. It'll be met with just nothing, I'm not wasting my time, and my time means cash. $$$$$ :D

Hi my name is Barry and I have pre-paid for my Viper way back at the end of Nov 05.
If any one has a right to complain it’s us guys that pre-paid immediately.
I’m really not a patient guy at heart but feel no need to complain, even though it’s been quite the haul.
I know it’s been a long wait for everyone that has been waiting for this kit to materialize and arrive on your doorstep.
I plan to wait and not sweat about it because I have so many other models piled up that this kit will only add to the “to do pile”.
As I wait I am busy with a lit R/M Raider that is nearing completion and a newly delivered Wishbone fighter (Y-Wing) from SSM.
I could go on and on with the kits that are waiting to be built, so if I have to wait a bit longer for a kit that is only going to be added to a host of other kits waiting, so be it.
I’ll just sit at my hobby desk and keep building what’s there.
Now that’s just me I don’t expect anyone else to feel that way or expect him or her to think the same way I do.

Mike and Terri are great people and I expect them to deliver on what they said they would.
Be it now or later, it’s no big deal to me, as long as I get it.
In my opinion, Mike should have a list that states who is waiting and who’s model is in current transit.
This way everyone knows where he or she stands and there’s no disputing it.

AGAIN, I DON’T EXPECT ANYONE TO FEEL THIS WAY OR THINK THE WAY I DO.

My TWO cents

I have been in this one for the long hall. Mike told me I was the third person to order the DeSanto Viper. If any one should bitch it should be me. But, I know Mike, been to his place for a visit this summer. Him and Terri are good people. When he thinks he's being attacked he will attack back. Yes, this is later then all of us would like. But there is light at the end of the tunnel, lets hope it's not a train. Part of the is due the Tom DeSanto himself, he sent Mike the latest designs for the Viper which had Mike redo part of what he had started. Latest happens to everyone, when did a comicbook not come out late. Lets not forgot that Mike also lost his best friend this year to. Looking forward to getting my viper soon.

Jim :salute:

Mike,

I originally got involved with this because of difficulties folks were having contacting you. I was trying to avoid having a "lynch mob" mentality creep into here.

Then, you came back and responded to folks and pretty much treated them like they were at fault because they hadn't heard anything from you.

Read that again because THAT is the crux of the whole issue. If you had taken a couple of minutes to post a message, all of this could have been averted.

Your problem is that you don't feel the slightest remorse .. you seem to have all of the answers .. well, good luck to you.


I'll be reviewing, with the rest of the Staff, whether we're going to continue providing this type of service going forward. Don't interpret that as a threat, just a statement of fact.

BST

Jim,

I appreciate this but, like I mentioned, all folks wanted, was to hear something. I think most could have accepted the fact that there may be a delay, regardless of the reason but, no one heard anything. THAT was the problem and things were exacerbated when Mike came back and reacted in the manner that we've seen in this thread. Folks may have been out of line for being accusatory and Mike was out of line for blasting off at them. In other words, wrongs were done on both sides.

Agreed.

Jim

It is a perrennial problem with this medium of communication.

One cannot always determine the tenor of a posting or a response and smileys don't always make good bedfellows.

Mike, I gotta say, as a friend, you jump to offense very quickly. And you waste no time bringing all guns to bear. But on the other hand, patience can be a premium commodity for others as well. Especially when an investment of real $$ is involved.

Frankly, I have to agree with BST. Communication is the ONLY thing that would have headed this off. We all have lives outside of this community and I know that it's not always convenient to post every step of the way, but sometimes it is necessary. That's my two cubits.

So...who's for a game of pyramid? :salute:

-Gordon

Mike and Linda are good people. Mike and TERRI are also good people.

Personally, I don't have any concerns about Mike's integrity or his intent to fulfill these orders.

Mike, I may suggest that until everyone gets their orders, a weekly update will alleviate a lot of fears and keep some from filling in the blanks for you.


Russell

Like Mike said and has been suggested in this thread (I think I said it pages back), if you've got a concern, take it to email, telephone or PM.

CF wasn't set up to be a site for commerce, it's here to discuss Battlestar Galactica. I'd suggest if anyone wants to sell anything in the future, whether it be model kits or their BSG collection, they do it in the merchandise section with their contact information and then the mods close and sticky the initial post and put a disclaimer in there to say that all matters pertaining to the post are the responsibility of the original poster and not CF.

This project's had more than its fair share of bad luck, but even so I still haven't had to wait on this project as long as one kit I ordered from another seller, and another where the kit was cancelled completely!

I really think it's going to be worth the wait for everyone.

I also think everybody involved as learned something from the experience and things should run much more smoothly for project two.

Keep the (DeSanto) Vipers flying!

Best,

Peter

Sorry Terri, I was thinking of Linda over at SSM.
To many boards and to many models in my head.

Linda Evangelista?

Christy Brinkley?

Kate Moss?

:blink: :eek:

;)

I am
Dawg
:warrior:

ooohhhh, aaaahh.
I'll never tell.

I have to chime in on this...... BST is absolutely correct!!!!
The entire problem was the lack of simple comunication.
And as for Mike himself saying that all we needed to do was to call him or e-mail him....... well, I personally called him at least three times, and left messages everytime asking for nothing more then some kind of update on what was happening. CSR did the same thing and unfortunately had a phone # that did not work. There were e-mails sent. And there were pleads on this very thread by myself and CSR for the smallest of posts to at least let us know what the delay was.
Everything went unanswered.
The phone calls were not returned, the e-mails were not answered, the posts were not addressed.
Until the Moderator and Administrator sent thier own PM to Mike...then we finally hear from him.
What would anybody start to think with that level of non-comunication?
And then for Mike to come back on here and go on the attack, instead of just saying..... Ok guys...I know I've been out of touch, and I'm sorry, but here's what's going on...and here's what held us up.
We are all understanding people in this GK community. All we need to remain understanding is simple communication.
I pour resin. I know and understand what the inherent problems are. And if I was told that, then that would have been ok.
But I was never told that. My calls were not returned.
So, to put this all to rest...... I am glad we know ...now.... what is going on, I'm glad the kits are going out again. And I'm glad to be getting mine....(still watching the post)
But, to reiterate the Moderator and the Admin..... communication goes along way.