TFCon update regarding Powered Commander and Alex Milne Lithograph

On a somewhat related topic, do you guys who own homes and have display areas for your transformers hang up artwork or posters in that area? I think the IDW and litho pieces that have been done the past few years are incredibly cool and would be buying them to do just that?. Am I the only one who enjoys TF art so much?

IceWilly wrote:On a somewhat related topic, do you guys who own homes and have display areas for your transformers hang up artwork or posters in that area? I think the IDW and litho pieces that have been done the past few years are incredibly cool and would be buying them to do just that?. Am I the only one who enjoys TF art so much?

Yes, I agree and no. Respectively.

I wish I had one of these to put up but I don't think i'll be going after it(although it has made a great wallpaper for everything with a screen I own)

That litho is AMAZING! Everything has been worked in. FP's City Commander, Nemesis and Powered Convoy armors, the Cliffjumper and Natobot Roadbuster upgrades, Music Labels Soundwave, Soundblaster, Rumble and Frenzy, G1 Laserbeak from the TRU reissue, HTS Dragstrip and Overkill, even Hotshot and Dinobot & Cheetor high up the mountain! It looks like there are two Infernos and one of them has an upgrade...? An amazing combination of Classics, Universe, Henkei and fan made items combined to make an astonishing whole. The only thing I could think to add are the unusable Botcon figures like Huffer, Dreadwind and Weirdwolf. Oh well. I'm still going to try to get this bad boy for myself!

THIS IS A SCAM!!! THEY WILL TAKE YOUR MONEY, AND DISAPEAR!!! I'VE BEEN TRYING TO CONTACT THESE PEOPLE FOR A MONTH AND THEY ARE IGNORING ALL OF MY EMAIL, AND THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO CONTACT THEM, NO ADDRESS, NO PHONE #, NOTHING!!!

I too, have ordered and not received it, as have many of my fellow Australian fans. I have heard that shipping from Canada to Australia can be troublesome, so I've been trying to find accounts from people who have ordered this and actually received it. That would at least restore my faith that it wasn't/isn't a complete scam.

Has anyone ordered and received this?

I'm in the US and haven't received this yet either. I contacted them repeatedly since I ordered it in May, and they finally responded in August and promised to reship it. Still nothing.

I've submitted an inquiry to TFCon regarding this. Hopefully they'll answer it, or I post this as news.

First Gen wrote:I've submitted an inquiry to TFCon regarding this. Hopefully they'll answer it, or I post this as news.

Thanks!

I'll update here if I get any info back from them. I suspect that if enough people yell loudly, they'll fix this, because they won't want anymore bad publicity (especially after the Powered Armor snafu).

The delay is one thing but the lack of prompt response from the staff at TFCon is very poor. As I understand it, TFCon is supposed to be the premier Transformers con for Canada. The way that this has been handled is not the best way for TFCon to represent itself.

Back in May of 2009, Seibertron.com reported that the Canadian Transformers Convention, TFCon, was offering non attendees a chance to own an exclusive art piece from the event. Universe Divided, done by artist Alex Milne, was a large poster done to commemerate the 25th Anniversary of the Transformers franchise.



Recently, members of Seibertron.com have been coming foward to claim that the TFCon exclusive lithograph has not been delivered despite ordering the poster. A couple members have even stated that communication between the folks over at TFCon had stopped and email inquiries were not being responded to. Seibertron.com also submitted and official inquiry to these allegations but the email was not immediately answered.

Have you ordered the TFCon 2009 Lithograph and either recieved it or not? Please let us know by clicking Discuss this topic above and help your fellow Seibertronians resolve this dilemna.

Seibertron.com, keeping you in the know, right now.

First Gen wrote:Have you ordered the TFCon 2009 Lithograph and either recieved it or not? Please let us know by clicking Discuss this topic above and help your fellow Seibertronians resolve this dilemma.

ooh... ME, ME!!!

I almost forgot about this... pretty much given up on getting it!

I emailed a few times to advertising@cybertron.ca after I waited what I felt was a reasonable amount of time. Didn't hear back for at least a month after emailing. Got an email from a different account. Said they'd re-send the print. Again, nothing. Tried to reslove via paypal, but waited too long or something. Gave up. The end!

*EDIT don't ask what the "different" account was. As I said, I gave up and ended up ditching the associated emails. I only know the advertising@cybertron.ca address b/c that's the address from the paypal transaction.

Scam isn't the right word your looking for. I know the folks at TFCon very well and I can tell you they are all stand up people. Alex is a good guy too, if somewhat quite. (but that's how you know he's concentrating on his commissions.)

Let me talk to them this weekend at the AFX in Toronto. Maybe, much like myself, some other problems have gotten in the way. In my case, I'm giving members Swerve figures. In there case, they are selling Lithos.

Before you go lighting torches and strapping pitch forks to the barrels of shot guns let me talk to them first.

Not to sound cocky, but mine is sitting rolled up in my room. The only Litho I have out is the Mega-litho from DW all those years back and I had that one framed.

It's GREAT to see this as a news item and getting public traction. Cybertron.ca has been deleting any posts discussing it. And TFW2005 has also had two topics discussing it deleted (Members of TFCon.ca are mods at both sites), although some other mods are investigating the issue there. The worst part about this is the constant silencing of anyone who tries to discuss it.

I ordered 3 for myself and friends. A friend in Melbourne ordered about 10 between him and other collectors. A few other AU members ordered too. NONE of us have received anything.

With all due respect, Down_Shift, I think it's less about lighting torches than it is people who are voicing their complaints about the delay of delivery and lack of appropriate response through normal channels of communication.

Some people have gotten the lithos but others haven't. Most people could have gotten their lithos for all I know but it still doesn't make up for the fact that some people haven't and those people have done their part in trying to get more information.

There can definitely be reasonable explanation for the delay in item delivery and communication problems but as I understand it, a lot of people have tried to get in touch with the staff who handle the litho sales with little to no effect.

If it takes the effort of someone who knows the staff personally to speak with them in person to get to the bottom of the situation, it tells me there was a significant failure in the management process.

Now I didn't order a litho but I thank you for taking it upon yourself to try to get to the bottom of this, Down_Shift. It's a stand up thing to do. I hope that there's a reasonable explanation and the people who have made purchases will be able to receive their lithos soon.

jaydisc wrote:. A friend in Melbourne ordered about 10 between him and other collectors.

aw thanks for the mention Jay

The thing that gets to me the most, is that there was communication for 2 and a half seconds until i paid my money,
only to have $300AU sit on my credit card gathering interest for 4 months cause i order so many and cant ask people to pay for what they haven't received and is likely never going to be received. Once payment was made, TFCon staff are gone like a fart in the wind.

I just want my litho

and i want a little more respect when i shell out $300

Its really about time this got some publicity, maybe now things will finally happen.

Thank you all, the more we speak out, the more likely we'll all win in the end

I havent been active but as jaydisc pointed me here. I too have ordered 4 actually and its been a no show since May. I got a reply Late July IIRC, cant recall right now and cant be bothered opening my email to get exact date. But anyways, they responded saying sorry coz that email wasnt apparently being checked as it is used primarily only during convention times . I have emailed back stating that, basically now they know that people are responding to that email address as it is the only email they provided as contact anyways!! and that they need to ship my 4 posters as I paid already , and quickly too! GAve them again, my address as they asked for it. Still doesnt explain why up til now I havent received any...... and I havent heard from any of them ever again... pardon me but bloody hell!! I couldve had more use getting G1s with that $100....I even emailed the guy who was the recipient for the Paypal payment, thingking maybe if he does receive this he'll look into it and maybe some action can be done, but sheesh they take your money and then do a Houdini!! NOT ONE REPLY AFTER

I've also gotten the "this email wasn't checked when a convention wasn't going on" line.

The thing that galls me is that I even offered to pay *extra* for a trackable, insured shipping option, and was ignored.

I don't want pitch forks and torches raised. I don't want to see anything happen to one of the bigger conventions for our friends to the North. If they had a problem, like they ran out, or something similar, just let us know!

Same story here, I ordered the poster and decided to email them in late July/early August. I was told they do not check that email very often but a new poster would be sent out. Emailed again early September and I was told a second one had been sent out. I asked for tracking info or something and never received a reply. I messaged an admin at the TFCon boards who had shut down a topic about this very subject and never received a response. Seems kind of suspicious to me. Maybe they sold more than they had?

Down_Shift wrote:Scam isn't the right word your looking for. I know the folks at TFCon very well and I can tell you they are all stand up people. Alex is a good guy too, if somewhat quite. (but that's how you know he's concentrating on his commissions.)

Let me talk to them this weekend at the AFX in Toronto. Maybe, much like myself, some other problems have gotten in the way. In my case, I'm giving members Swerve figures. In there case, they are selling Lithos.

Before you go lighting torches and strapping pitch forks to the barrels of shot guns let me talk to them first.

Not to sound cocky, but mine is sitting rolled up in my room. The only Litho I have out is the Mega-litho from DW all those years back and I had that one framed.

Thanks for trying to help with this situation D_S. I too believe that the guys of TFCon are stand up and believe that there must have been a serious breakdown in communication or some big error that prevented the transactions from being complete, but given the number of people that are complaining about this incident, and TFCon's lack of response to it, it was in the best interest of the aforementioned members of Seibertron.com that this topic be front paged.

Again, I don't want to bash anyone. I just want to help out the Seibertornians who were really looking forward to owning this most awesome lithograph. I haven't heard anyone state that they want a refund, they just want the goods.

First Gen wrote:I just want to help out the Seibertornians who were really looking forward to owning this most awesome lithograph. I haven't heard anyone state that they want a refund, they just want the goods.

I'm sincerely happy that seibertron.com is reporting this in the interest of those who made purchases. I also think that the fact that while the purchasers aren't the happiest campers out there, they still want the litho, and this speaks volumes about the desire and appreciation for the product. People just want to have their part of the transaction fulfilled.

Convotron wrote:

First Gen wrote:I just want to help out the Seibertornians who were really looking forward to owning this most awesome lithograph. I haven't heard anyone state that they want a refund, they just want the goods.

I'm sincerely happy that seibertron.com is reporting this in the interest of those who made purchases. I also think that the fact that while the purchasers aren't the happiest campers out there, they still want the litho, and this speaks volumes about the desire and appreciation for the product. People just want to have their part of the transaction fulfilled.

QFT

Alex Milne's art is spectacular.

ok, now I know your upset, and for those who really enjoy Alexs work I would ask that this thread be laid to rest.

IDW is now questioning Alex as if this is somehow his fault. From what I am aware of there is an issue with the postal service used.

I would ask that ANYONE that is having an issue with this, please PM me and I will handle this myself.

Thanks y'all!

Down_Shift wrote:ok, now I know your upset, and for those who really enjoy Alexs work I would ask that this thread be laid to rest.

IDW is now questioning Alex as if this is somehow his fault. From what I am aware of there is an issue with the postal service used.

I would ask that ANYONE that is having an issue with this, please PM me and I will handle this myself.

Thanks y'all!

Why the heck would this be Alex's fault in any way? The proof that he did the litho on the front page and in this thread. All that needs to be done is reproduce it. I would think that would be TFCon's job.

Besides, I got and posted the TFCon response. I am sorry it had to come to this, I hope everything gets resolved well.

PLEASE don't remove this thread/topic/news item. This is the only type of event that actually gets TFCon to discuss the situation!!!

Personally, I have a few issue with their response:

1. Why don't they respond to emails. I've sent repeated emails not only to tfcon@moutaincable.com, but also to advertising@cybertron.ca (the PayPal address we all paid) and colin@tfcon.ca. Like the poster above, I also offered to pay MORE money for a tracked solution when they finally replied to me in August offering to resend. Also, like the poster above, my email was ignored.

2. Not only do they stay quiet until smoked out like this, but they try to make everyone else quiet. Posts and topics discussing it have been deleted, removed or closed. Here's an example at Cybertron.ca. Note that the thread is locked (screenshot attached for posterity). Mods at TFW2005 are reviewing a similar situation there.

3. Some topics that have been deleted have asked for one successful recipient to step forward. NONE EVER HAVE!

4. No "refunds" to Australians have been given. However, two CHARGEBACKS have been initiated and are still being processed. A shipping estimate was once posted that stated 6-8 weeks. Conveniently, that's beyond the time limit to file a PayPal dispute, so chargebacks were only available to those that funded their PayPal transaction with a credit card.

5. As mentioned a few times by others, NO ONE WANTS A REFUND!!! The chargebacks were filed due to the futility of any effort to communicate and were the choice between getting nothing and getting nothing as well as losing money! Those that filed chargebacks would instantly resend the money WITH EXTRA FUNDS for a tracked shipping method to get these lithos.

I found a site that has recently sprung up seemingly as a result of the forum silencing that's been occurring. The domain name is conveniently www.alexmilnelitho.com, aptly named to seemingly stay very relevant in Google search results. He's asking for anyone who's ordered to come and document what happened to them. Since it's outside of any forum and thus not exposed to conflicts of interest, this should end up becoming a good barometer for the scale of this situation. I'd strongly recommend to anyone (especially those successful!) that ordered to go have your voice heard there too!

Blurrz wrote:Convotron, please stay out of this. You aren't representing TFCon, nor are you someone who has purchased this Lithograph, so don't act like you know everything about this situation.

Seriously, Blurrz? Should we apply that logic to the rest of the threads in the forums?

Are we gonna limit the toy forums to hastakomy representatives and Seibertronians with receipts for the discussed toys?

Give Convotron an effen break!

I just got an email offering a refund if I still have not received the poster. Not cool. I don't want a refund, I want the poster. I can't believe two got lost in the mail.

lightsyder wrote:I just got an email offering a refund if I still have not received the poster. Not cool. I don't want a refund, I want the poster. I can't believe two got lost in the mail.

I understand your frustration as Im sure everyone here does as well, but TFCon is run primarily on a volunteer staff, if one person thinks another is supposed to be doing something and vice versa, things get jumbled up. TFCon was not out to hurt you or anyone else. They are by the fans for the fans. I'm sorry you won't be getting the Litho as its an amazing piece, but be happy they've acknowledged your situation and are trying to make it right.

This didn't happen on purpose.

It's absurd to me that TFcon's response is about how hurt they are that their side wasn't heard, when it sounds like many people emailed them many times, over many months, and it sounds like the TFcon folks responded to only a few.

As for the "they mean well" and "they're just a couple guys" defense being mounted, that doesn't count for anything. Don't sell a product if you can't even handle responding to your email address. TFcon has stated they only check the TFcon email address when the convention is on? Completely ridiculous. If that's the email address listed as your main contact, and you're selling a product, check your damn email address.

All of that being said, I am very sure they're good people. I just have a hard time accepting that an organization consisting of a handful of people can't keep themselves coordinated, and it's amazing to me that they can put on a whole convention.

[JRX] wrote:

Blurrz wrote:Convotron, please stay out of this. You aren't representing TFCon, nor are you someone who has purchased this Lithograph, so don't act like you know everything about this situation.

Seriously, Blurrz? Should we apply that logic to the rest of the threads in the forums?

Are we gonna limit the toy forums to hastakomy representatives and Seibertronians with receipts for the discussed toys?

Give Convotron an effen break!

Thanks for the back up, [JRX].

I can only respond to the quote as the original post has been edited so I don't have proper context to judge my addressing but had someone told me to desist earlier in the thread, I would have had no problem doing so.

I did state that I didn't purchase the lithograph and that I also stated that I didn't know for a fact how many people did or didn't receive their lithos.

I do take issue with being perceived as posting in such a way that I somehow came off as knowing everything about the situation. I tried to word my posts as carefully as I could to make sure that it was clear I was being as objective about the situation as much as possible and wasn't insinuating that I, in any way, was an authority on the situation.

My main interest in this discussion is the fact that I'm Canadian and I hoped to see TFCon, the most prominent Canadian Transformers convention I'm aware of, resolve this issue in an appropriate manner.

Despite not being a TFCon staff member and not purchasing a litho, I believe my statements are in line with common expectations of service for purchased goods. I work for a company as a quality assurance manager and staff trainer and we have major contracts with telcos around North America and other areas of the world. I'm confident in saying I have more professional experience with worldwide customer service standards than the average person.

I believed I could contribute to the thread in a meaningful way despite not having either qualification of litho ownership or TFCon employment. I certainly didn't post in the thread to stir up any trouble. I actually support TFCon, otherwise, I would have stayed out of the thread rather than trying to put the situation in perspective from the information I have access to through this thread and other sources.

Sure thing!

I just wanted to clear things up on my part. I love my time here at Seibertron so the last thing I wanted to do was inadvertently cause trouble. This kind of discussion can easily go the wrong way.

We've all had bad days so I totally understand. I hope everything works out.

Yikes, yeah, things can add up and make a bad day for sure.

I think that lightsyder's post regarding a recent offer of a refund is a step in the right direction. It's not what many want. There is definitely demand for the great artwork Alex created but a refund is a standard option for compensation.

When things get lost in the mail, it's complicated because the issue is mainly out of the item provider's hands. The delivery service who has their own procedures to go through to find the package can sometimes be great and find things quickly or take a while. I've experienced this scenario many times when I used to work for FutureShop. The headache Canada Post used to give us...

TFCon has dissatisfied customers on one side and delivery issues on the other. It's not an easy position to be in.

Quick update...

I emailed them to confirm the poster was sold out and they said I can still get one, they just wanted to offer the refund. I'm going to ask if they can provide tracking info this time though. Here's hoping!

So, the poster is already out of stock??!? Well then what is the process we have to do to get a refund to we send a request money from that mountaincable email via paypal or do we just send them an email?

After reading thru this thread I just email back to them using that mountaincable email address. Lets hope this time they check this email more and I do get my refund. Im sick and tired of waiting for 4 non existent posters. Sure their not out to scam anyone. But the way this has been handled has clearly marred TFcons reputation , volunteers or not, the service clearly is very lacking. Ive been polite in my email to them - liegeprime@yahoo.com - yeah that me if anyone from TFCON has read my emails I have been non aggressive nor abusive in my emails but clearly being polite doesn't get results but bitching about it does?! Sad but as we can see now it is evidently and sadly TRUE.

Jaydisc has summed it up in his points reply except the part for me that differs is that I now opt for the refund. Despite the fact that the litho rocks and amazing I have had enough waiting around. I will survive without it.


So if TFCON does read this threads update now that their in the issue limelight. HEEEEYYY GUYS!!! I sent an email guys, please read it (email address using abovementioned) and do my refund whoever is in charge of doing that, Thanks!

Didn't read all of my post, huh? Whoever I was talking to said I could still get one so I'm guessing they still have some in stock. I think they took all of this backlash to mean that people wanted refunds and that was it.

They already refunded me, but I'm in contact to try to "start fresh" as it were, and get a new one shipped out. I have again offered to pay extra to get a trackable delivery option, so we'll see.

I absolutley love this piece, and I can't wait to see it framed along with some other pieces of TF art I own.

What have I learned from the comments posted on this thread? Innocent before proven guilty was not applied. Calm down and think twice before thinking the worst regarding a situation. The guys at TFCon are great. Been to all the shows and the last thing that they would do is take anyone for a ride. This thread is being put to rest with people getting refunds or the poster reshipped. I just felt that I should stand up for Colin and the gang for what they have done for the collecting community in Canada.

Blurrz wrote:Disregard what I said earlier. Didn't mean to start anything. Don't really want to talk about it, bad day and all.

Sorry

I'm a "buy all the hot dogs" kinda guy (see 30 Rock for origin of reference).

Hope things are looking better!

Well, in an even weirder twist, I was finally in contact to get the litho reshipped, made a second offer to spend more money on a trackable shipment, and then got a curt "We've decided to no longer ship anymore lithos, thanks." email.

I'm pretty disappointed now. All I really wanted was the lithograph. I suppose I understand that they just want the mess behind them, and I did get my money back (minus PayPal fees...grrrr) so I'm not really out anything, other than an awesome lithograph.

I wish this all could have been resolved more smoothly.

That's too bad, RC! At least you received a refund, though I'm sure there's little that can make up for your desire for the litho and the fruitless wait for it.

It's unfortunate but regardless of how small a percentage of people who had issues with their litho orders, this experience is something that'll possibly mar some people's perception of TFCon's future exclusive offerings.

The litho is very nice. I would have ordered one but I was out of the loop when it was originally offered.

Well, just got the email about no more posters being shipped. I'm really disappointed here. after all of this time trying to get one and the rest of the stock is just going to sit somewhere? Doesn't make sense to me. I truly do not understand what went wrong here. These guys seem to have a pretty good track record from what I am seeing. I go the Alternators/Binaltech poster without any issues at all when it was offered. And this time posters go missing and emails are unanswered for weeks at a time. Kind of a shame it took a Transformers website reporting about it to get something to happen.

And the moral of the story is that parking in a Metro area is difficult and probably expensive. Help out with traffic congestion by taking public transit when ever it is available.

Also, answering email is a good way to maintain faith in your business practices.

Well, I havent received any refunds... yet. Thank goodness to this forum for allowing this discussion at least it has produced results (an email response - yes it's aliiiiiivvvee )Received an email last Sept 22,2009 stating ...

"You should have a refund in the next few days once funds are acquired into paypal.
Thanks." - tfcon@mountaincable.net

So hopefully for me this does not mean another waiting game....

People are stating this news is already resolved... but for people who have not gotten their refunds,ehm, sorry but Ive yet to consider the issue as resolved

So just a query to those refunded already

Did you guys have to send a "request money" from paypal or do they just automatically sent to you back the amount you paid them?

Im asking this coz I dont want to end up waiting endlessly when apparently it would be my fault in the end if they needed me to send a "request money".

Cheers

They just sent my refund without me having to do anything.

I thought I would update you on my struggles with TFcon...

me to TFcon Sept 19
Please issue a refund for the Alex Milne Litho I paid for on May 15th, 2009. Paypal Transaction ID #xxx

Thank you!

TFcon to me Sept 21
You should have your refund in the next few days once funds are acquired
into paypal.
Thanks.

me to TFcon Sept 29
Hello, again!

A little over a week ago, I was told that I should have a refund within "the next few days." I'm wondering if you can provide a proper estimate of when I can expect to have my money back? Paypal Transaction ID #xxx

Thank you!

TFcon to me Oct 1
Will be coming through in the next 24 hours, just have to cross reference
with the old payment. Thanks.

me to TFcon Oct 3
I'm sorry to be a nag, but I am honestly beyond impatient. I gave you guys the benifit of the doubt, which caused me to miss the deadline for filing a dispute with PayPal.

The transaction ID is xxx, sent from xxx@gmail.com on May 15th, 2009. That should make any cross reference a simple matter.

Please issue a refund literally as soon as possible.

Thank you!

That's where it hangs. Your move, TFcon!

UPDATE: finally got a "refund." $1.47 short b/c a fee got taken out of my end, but it looks like that's what I'm gonna get.

Well. The ordeal is over. Got my refund. Checked my paypal today and its there. thank goodness this is finally over...

well, got my refund. Glad it's all over with. Still really disappointed though. I really wanted taht poster to put with the classicverse one from botcon. I tried contacting Alex Milne on deviant art to see if he had any to sell but so far I've not gotten a response.