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Bugs: Recent Topics Paging, Uploading Images & Preview (11 Dec 2020)

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× A place to talk about stuff that doesn't belong anywhere else.

Asmodee’s awful new replacement parts policy

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18 Feb 2020 17:51 #307221 by Josh Look
Read it here.

In short, you now how have to return the ENTIRE game to the place you purchased it from, along with proof of purchase/receipt, who then sends it to Asmodee. Once they receive it, they inspect and then they send you an entirely new game. It’s insanely wasteful.

I’ve had countless issues with FFG games in particular when it comes to missing parts. Knowing that I might have to do some footwork for their fuckup, I will certainly be thinking twice before purchasing any in the future.
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18 Feb 2020 18:04 #307222 by n815e
It seems like a way to further inconvenience online shoppers.

Perhaps the inconvenience will also dissuade customers from bothering to go through all of that just to get a missing token, which they paid for and should get.

It’s also a big way to keep me from buying even though I mostly shop at my flgs.

In the past, I’ve gotten replacements from FFG with zero hassle. This just makes me not want to risk being bothered.

They just laid off a bunch of people.
To hire returned merchandise inspectors?
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18 Feb 2020 18:04 #307223 by Ah_Pook
So their new parts replacement plan is "go fuck yourself", check.
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18 Feb 2020 18:15 #307224 by Josh Look

n815e wrote: It seems like a way to further inconvenience online shoppers.

Perhaps the inconvenience will also dissuade customers from bothering to go through all of that just to get a missing token, which they paid for and should get.

It’s also a big way to keep me from buying even though I mostly shop at my flgs.

In the past, I’ve gotten replacements from FFG with zero hassle. This just makes me not want to risk being bothered.

They just laid off a bunch of people.
To hire returned merchandise inspectors?


It’s just as inconvenient with an LGS and I saw some pushback from store owners on Twitter. Do you think a small time shop is going to want to deal with bullshit? Hell, do you think Amazon with their efficiency algorithms is going to want to deal with this?
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18 Feb 2020 18:19 - 18 Feb 2020 18:20 #307225 by Gary Sax
Man, this sucks. Sometimes people overreact to little changes but this is seriously bad and shitty.

This is wild because the usual thing is that manufacturers are *desperate* not to have their consumers return things to the store they bought them and will go to great lengths to have you contact them instead. Every minor electronic thing or appliance has "CONTACT THIS NUMBER IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS" on it because of this. I'd be curious to hear from someone who does this sort of retail stuff why Asmodee would be directing people *to* stores for returns?
Last edit: 18 Feb 2020 18:20 by Gary Sax.
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18 Feb 2020 18:23 #307226 by n815e
Manufacturers don’t usually like things returned to stores because managing that is a problem for their retailers and costs retailers time/money as well as makes the company look bad to the people that push their products.
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18 Feb 2020 18:24 #307227 by Rliyen

Ah_Pook wrote: So their new parts replacement plan is "go fuck yourself", check.


My thoughts exactly. :pinch:

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18 Feb 2020 18:26 #307228 by Gary Sax

n815e wrote: Manufacturers don’t usually like things returned to stores because managing that is a problem for their retailers and costs retailers time/money as well as makes the company look bad to the people that push their products.


Maybe this is partly a result of their market power after all their acquisitions? They feel like they can force people back to Target because who else will you buy most hobby games from? I don't feel like an independent Z-man or Fantasy Flight could *dream* of doing this.
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18 Feb 2020 18:39 #307231 by dysjunct
I think this will mostly hurt small shops and online retailers. Amazon's current return policy is "print out this barcode, then take the item to the nearest UPS store." The UPS store will box up the item and handle everything for you. It's super convenient. But I don't see how coolstuffinc or whoever can really compete with that.
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18 Feb 2020 19:30 #307234 by Michael Barnes
This is a total slap on the face to small shops that can’t be arsed with doing returns for giant corporation. It does no harm to Target or Amazon- you can easily return stuff there, even opened, and just get an exchange off the shelf. But for a small shop...imagine if there’s a big QC problem like the oily bits in Clash of Cultures.

This is bizarre. As pointed out, it makes me think of the inverse of those “STOP! don’t take this back to the store!” inserts. But this is corporate, private equity fund business- somewhere a number went down a tick on a spreadsheet and a decision was made by people who have no fucking clue about the games industry.

The waste of it is just astonishing. I’m sure the returned games are discarded- rather than being recycled to use for parts replacements. Plus the shipping, transport, packing, rather than just emailing customer service and having them drop a .000001 cent piece in a baggie and shipping it to the customer.

Fuck Asmodee. I’m not buying anything of theirs anymore anyway, maybe the occasionally Target thing but from now on I’ll wait for second hand.

I’m sure they’ll be parceled out and liquidated within the next year or so anyway.
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18 Feb 2020 19:58 #307238 by charlest
Not that this is the beginning, but it's a clear marker to me that FFG have entered a similar dark period to early 2000s Games Workshop. Wonder if they will emerge out the other end like GW did.

I can't see this policy lasting more than a couple of years.
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18 Feb 2020 20:02 #307240 by Sagrilarus
Just maximizing their numbers for a few quarters so they can sell at a higher price.
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18 Feb 2020 20:10 #307241 by Sagrilarus

charlest wrote: I can't see this policy lasting more than a couple of years.


This may be the key quote in the thread. We should start a pool for the exact date.
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18 Feb 2020 21:12 #307243 by WadeMonnig
So I would have returned Kemet for one missing card and Western Legends for one missing blue base. And, guess what, I seriously doubt my FLGS had multiple copies of either to provide me with a replacement while they shipped the entire game back. Completely and utterly insane.
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18 Feb 2020 22:49 #307247 by Jackwraith
This is a sure sign of one thing and one thing only: capital investment firms.

Most of the time, those firms look at basic numbers. They don't really care what makes up the numbers because, by and large, they don't really understand how the industry functions. They just see someone succeeding in it and they want leverage in that someone so they can skim off them for a couple years and then sell when they think the wave has ended.

What that means is that they want to "cut costs", even if they have not the first fucking clue what actually comprises said "costs". This is the perfect example. "I bet we're wasting a ton of money on employees, postage, warehousing, and overproduction dealing with people who break/lose/or otherwise lie about 'missing' components. Let's tighten that up and we'll save X%!"

Of course it sounds bizarre/offputting/utterly fucking insane to most people who regularly buy and play games because the people making said policies don't really understand how that industry functions. Asmodee is the "fatted calf" example. They bought. Someone bought them. Now it's time to "lower costs" so someone else can somehow make a profit based on numbers that are rooted in ignorance. Awesome! Usually means a lot of people losing their jobs in what was formerly a successful or at least functioning business, too. Double awesome!

Sigh...
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