The Energon Pub

[Sid Burn]

I have been having a terrible time dealing with Canadian online toy store Ages 3 and up, it all came to a head today and I wanted to share it with the seibertron community.

Ages relaunched recently, supposedly bigger and better. I was quite happy to see a Canadian alternative to BBTS or TFsource (who are great but international shipping can be a financial pain in the ass)
and immediately canceled much of my BBTS preorders and reordered with Ages.

My new order with Ages consisted mostly of preorders in February for Henkei Megs, Henkei Astrotrain, Encore 'Cracker and Skywarp, Metroplex and the minibots set among various other items. All total the order was about $400.00

Everything was going along fine, I was awaiting my preorders, but as BBTS and TFsource starting filling their preorders, nothing was happening with my Ages order. I inquired with Spencer the owner about the delay and he said that his Japanese contact was running behind.

Months went by and all of my items like Henkei Megs never came out of preorder, I wasn't in a rush so I assumed that they were still delayed, maybe it was taking longer to get these items to Canada or something. Well its october now, and that is getting ridiculous, I was actually at the 80's action figure expo here in
Ontario recently and saw items I had on preorder on dealer tables!

So now I am pissed off, I contact Spencer and he tells me that his Japanese contact for all his Henkei and Encore orders screwed him and ran off with his money and he is now struggling to refill the orders with another supplier. He has no timeline on when this will happen and I will just have to wait, I ask to cancel my order and he tells me that their is a 15% restocking fee. 15% on items he never had in the first place!

Now during the nearly 9 months I waited for him to get his act together, he had a sale on some items that I had only a week before added to my order with him. I contacted him and asked if he could give me a retroactive discount on two items so they would meet the sale price. I am only talking $18 here, on a $400 order but he told me to forget it, that is against their policy.
I emailed him back to state my case, and the email was picked up by one of his staff who granted me the discount and refunded me the $18.

So here is the kicker, today I get an email from Spencer saying

"Sid Burn, I have gone over your orders and noticed you did receive a retroactive discount which is against our policies and I can only assume you inquired with Mike regarding this as you asked me twice about it and I had said that it is against our policies both times.

I have canceled all three of your orders and am issuing a Paypal refund on $374.04, the total amount you paid for these orders.

At this time I would ask that you use Kool Toyz or Automation Toys for your future orders as there has obviously been a breach of trust on both sides here. Thank you for your previous business and I wish you luck in your collecting in the future."

Can you believe this guy? Not only did I give him the benefit of the doubt when he was delayed, I stuck with these preorders for months afterward only for him to cancel them all and tell me it was MY FAULT!

This is not a good businessman, and definitely not someone to shop with.
Sorry about the rant, but I dont want any of my fellow collector's getting dicked around like this.

Please avoid Ages 3 and Up

[Barrelass]

That sucks. Never ordered from them, but heard pretty decent things from the Vancouver folks about them over the months. Thanks for the heads up, a have been browsing their WSTs lately.

I know you were talking about ordering from a Canadian retailer, but I would suggest Lost and Found Toys. He doesn't have the selection of BBTS, but if you are looking for Henkei and Encores, he has most of them (just noticed that he removed Henkei T-Cracker, and Skywarp, damn), and at pretty decent prices. The couple times I ordered from him, I thought the shipping was pretty reasonable (although I am in the states), and he packaged the stuff very well. He (Carlos I think) should be able to give you a quote on shipping atleast. He answered the questions I had pretty quickly.

[Mkall]

I visit their brick and mortar store religiously and I've never had a problem, but then again I use BBTS for all online orders and just swallow my pride at the postal charges.

I'm sorry to hear about your issues with them. But you're not the first person I've heard complain about their online services.

[Bonger]

Seconded. I have had an WFUL experience with them. I had pre-orders dating back to 18 months ago. They failed to come through and offered me a store discount, store credit and free KO versions of the figures...... So I used my discount and placed another order....they failed again and I placed another order. Then they "shipped" the items but they never arrived and they could not provide another tracking number...then they shipped them again apparantly and still nothing. 18 months later, I am still awaiting the receipt of product from them that they keep telling me is on the way in their emails. For 150 odd bucks, all I ever received was a pair of KO spotrslabels........

Absolutely AWFUL. They are why I stick with BBTS. THis would never ever ever happen with BBTS and I will gladly pay them an extra couple of % to never have to deal with stores like 3 and up again. Absolutely hands down my worst shopping experience ever.

[flamewavex]

Yea, i'm still waiting for my pre-order on henkei megs and henkei starscream....

i almost kind of forgot about them for a couple of months

but yea....it kind of sucks, and that 15% off policy is such bullshit when you've waited 9 months.

what are you "restocking" anyway?

[Skice]

Hmmm... I'm not Canadian (thought one day I would like to be) so I'm not sure about the law there. Is there any sort of legal action you can take, because from what I've read they sound like scammers (online at least). It's just me but I wouldn't stand for something like that.

[Counterpunch]

F' them.

I don't have to learn from personal experience when NOT to use an online service.

I spend a lot on toys through online retailers and I know a lot of people that also spend a lot online retailers.

I'm just going to pass the word along.

And you know what? It matters that I do this. It really does. That's money straight out of their pockets.

Bad reputation is the bane of small business.

You should really post this up on TFW as well. There's a large Canadian group there who should know.

[Sid Burn]

Yea, i'm still waiting for my pre-order on henkei megs and henkei starscream....

i almost kind of forgot about them for a couple of months

but yea....it kind of sucks, and that 15% off policy is such bullshit when you've waited 9 months.

what are you "restocking" anyway?

I think you might want to inquire about canceling your order with no penalty, I know for a fact that he isn't even close to filling those Henkei orders. Spencer the owner is scrambling around trying to find a new supplier so your Henkei Megs and Screamer aren't even on their way yet.

So bloody ridiculous since people have had their Henkei Megs for a long time now.

[Sid Burn]

F' them.

I don't have to learn from personal experience when NOT to use an online service.

I spend a lot on toys through online retailers and I know a lot of people that also spend a lot online retailers.

I'm just going to pass the word along.

And you know what? It matters that I do this. It really does. That's money straight out of their pockets.

Bad reputation is the bane of small business.

You should really post this up on TFW as well. There's a large Canadian group there who should know.

I appreciate that CP, I was really surprised that he would alienate a customer who had tried to stick with him.

I will post this at TFW as well, there are probably people still waiting for their Henkei and Encore preorders that feel trapped by his %15 restock fee.

Total crap and bad business, and here is the flip side of it. I asked BBTS if they would let me reorder my two Henkei Megs at the recent BBTS sale price of $31.49, and they did. No fuss, and an overnight response, THAT is customer service.

[Gutter Bunny]

that does sound like BS...

then again, I've always thought restocking fees were...but I'm not a business owner(I know we have at least one on here that could drop a little insight on us)

After reading this i will be more than hesitant of ever using them.

Thank you for the warning.

[Sledge]

Good Jesus. Stuff like this really makes me appreciate consumer law in the UK, which is generally a bit more on the side of the customer. That just plain sucks. And a restocking fee on items that were never in stock? Wow. Just wow. **** that guy. And let's all make a note to tell everyone never to buy from this asshole again.

[Sid Burn]

Glad this message it getting out, I am posting this story around the other TF forums as well.

I just cant get over how badly he handled my business. He accused me, the customer of a "breach of trust!" What trust do I owe an online toy vendor, I paid for my items he never gave them to me, and then canceled the whole thing because one of HIS crew gave me a discount.

Very very weird. I havent received my refund yet either, that money had better show up on my visa before friday.

[Koloth]

Out of curiousity why not file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau? File a complaint with them and they will intercede on your behalf. At the very least they can talk to the company and work to resolve its business practices.

[OPTIMUS MAGNUS]

Wow...that's a sad situation there dude. Burns my ass and I ain't even the one who got screwed! I have looked around on thier site before and was thinking of buying...glad I did not! He treated you like a chump! What a worthless retailer. Wish you all the best in the future Sid Burn. BBTS/TF SOURCE all the way for me.

[Malikon]

Sounds like this guy (*store owner) screwed the pooch and now he's scrambling trying to fill orders that he probably knows he's not gonna be able to fill. His "restocking" fee is total bullsh*t and he's just using it as a way to gain some money because he knows a lot of people will cancel their orders once they realize they're NOT gonna get their stuff.

C'mon waiting almost a year on a toy? In a year he couldn't find another distributor? He couldn't personally place some online orders himself for the products his customers ordered?

No, course not. He'll make alot more profit by waiting people out and hitting them with a "restocking" fee.

He's scamming people.

[Sledge]

The restocking fee is a good way of stopping people demanding their money back. Makes you more likely to think "Might as well stick with them, or I've going to lose some cash, and still have to go buy the items elsewhere." Good reason not to use that store again.

[Malikon]

So basically you could just start a website with absolutely no stock. Say you've got a bunch of stuff. Take a bunch of orders from people. And then just sit there and wait.


Eventually they'll get tired of waiting and demand a refund and then you can charge a %15 restocking fee on an item you never actually had.

It's actually pretty brilliant in an evil scammer/con artist kind of way. Making money for nothing.

Congrats to Ages 3 and Up for being the A$$hole of the year apparently.

[OPTIMUS MAGNUS]

Congrats to Ages 3 and Up for being the A$$hole of the year apparently.

Hell yeah, i'd say so. I would have half a mind to fly out to his store and kick him in the knuts and take ALL of his "inventory." Bastard

[influence82]

I pre-ordered Takara Battle mode Optimus Prime and Battle mode Bumblebee on May 22 2008. I sent them an email in August 14 and received this response:

I believe those Japanese items are being affected by the delays we reported
on our front page. In any case, you haven't been charged for them yet
because we haven't be told that they're shipping to us from the
manufacturer. The delays appear to be easing so the influx of product to us
should improve soon.

Regards,

Michael Stepney
Webmaster
Ages Three and Up

I am still waiting. I have not been charged on my credit card, so I am not complaining. However, I agree that the wait is too long.

[Arucard]

I've only had one experience with them, ordering a black rifle for my masterpiece prime for $15 (plus another $15 or so shipping). Item arrived alright, but the rifle itself was crap. Being resin, it's a lot heavier than the plastic one he comes with, and it's just a little too small, so it can't be stored in the rifle slot in MP-04's trailer, it just falls right out.

[Sid Burn]

The restocking fee is a good way of stopping people demanding their money back. Makes you more likely to think "Might as well stick with them, or I've going to lose some cash, and still have to go buy the items elsewhere." Good reason not to use that store again.

That is exactly how I felt, I went to a convention and literally saw my preorder items on dealer tables, but couldn't bring myself to buy them because of this 15% hostage fee.

Worst part about this is I have been reading stories where someone will wait up to a YEAR for their product and then upon contacting him will find out he expects to NEVER FILL THE ORDER! This is what he tells his customers. So if they hadn't initiated the contact, they would have never known.

As I said, my money better arrive on my visa by friday, or I will be taking action to get it back.

[Sid Burn]

This showed up on his site, this to me is very unprofessional.
To anyone who has preorders with him, please read this and cancel your orders appropriately.

"Here is an update on what is happening with our Transformer figures:

First off I would like to make a formal apology to everyone involved. I handled this problem very poorly and instead of getting to the root of the problem I chose to allow others to talk me into a sense of security that my items would indeed come on time. Well, as you know, the items in question never did come and I should have started looking for other sources long before I did.

Currently here is a list of items that are currently shipping from either China or Japan:
• WST Sludge and Swoop – all orders will be filled for these figures.
• Revoltech Starscream and Rodimus – one more box is arriving with all remaining orders for these figures.
• Henkei Megatron, Starscream, Bumblebee, Grimlock and Leiger are all currently being shipped.
• Music Label Optimus Prime – G1 Colours.
• MA-22 Bumblebee
• Transcaning Bumblebee
• New Omega Supreme figures

Some of the other items we are currently in negotiations on are the following.
• MA-21 – it does look like we will be able to fill all these orders. I will know for certain within the week.
• Encore 9 Minibots – these are bought and paid for. Just awaiting another item to arrive at the supplier before he will ship.
• Encore 12 Metroplex – These are shipping to us within two weeks. The supplier was awaiting ocean freight delivery.

Because of this supplier issue we have lost 4 months of preorders with overseas orders. I am working very hard at attempting to obtain these items from other sources but without preorders on many items, it is very difficult to get any quantity in. A new supplier has been secured and verified and so all of our fall orders will be filled. No preorders have gone up yet but we will have them set up within the next week.

Several items I do not think we can currently get are the following items:
• Henkei Optimus, Rodimus and Astrotrain
• Transcanning Optimus Prime
• Encore 11 Thundercracker and Skywarp.
• Revoltech Optimus Prime and Megatron

I am working on a deal for the Encore 11 currently and am hoping it will go OK but I do not have 100% confirmation at the moment. The Revoltech figures become available several times throughout the year and so these will become orderable again in the future but they are not going to arrive within the next two months. Orders for these items can be cancelled without any penalty and any funds put towards these items can either be refunded or placed in credit to be used on any other items on our site.

If you have an order for anything not listed here or are unsure of your own order please do not hesitate to contact me through email at toys@agesthreeandup.com. Again I would like to apologize for this heinous screw up and would like to thank everyone with their patience and understanding in this regard. It has been an absolute terrible year for agesthreeandup.com with the Hasbro shut down and this supplier issue, but the support and understanding has been overwhelming by many people and I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. I hope to see you all again soon on the site!

Spencer."

[OPTIMUS MAGNUS]

..."kicks 'Spencer' in the KNUUUUTSS!!!" Sucks so many people got taken by this dude. Mabey he did fall on hard times but don't take money IF YOU CAN'T SECURE THE PRODUCT!" That 15% restocking fee is bogus too. to hell with this site.

[El Duque]

I ordered some repro smoke stacks for me 25th Anniversary prime and reissue Ultra Magnus and it took forever for them to arrive. Granted they are in Canada and I'm in Oklahoma, but over a month seems a little excessive for shipping. This is why I use BBTS, their customer service is excellant.

[coolpop]

I had two orders with A3U and both were very satisfactory.

However I am totally on your side with your case. No customer should pay upfront and have to wait for many months on figures that were already widely available elsewhere, and the 15% restocking fee for something they never sent you was just hillarious, "RESTOCK WHAT?"

Thanks for the heads up sid, this made me wanna stick with BBTS more (no advance payment for preorders & cancel preorders anytime online, WOOT!)