Complaint Thread

[bigfanofnu]

Pump the brakes on the USPS hate. As a former USPS employee, it's a tough job. “Because the mail never stops. It just keeps coming and coming and coming, there's never a let-up. It's relentless. Every day it piles up more and more and more! And you gotta get it out but the more you get it out the more it keeps coming in. And then the bar code reader breaks and it's Publishers Clearing House day.”

[KvHulk]

I stop business altogether starting around a week before christmas and start up again after the new year.
I don't have time to be frustrated during the holidays. ho! ho! ho!

[raindog]

I'm lucky.  I keep my LEGO/BrickLink Store/warehouse in a business incubation program.  I'm in a large building with about 20 other start-up companies.  I've been there for 8 years so I should be hatched by now.  We have our own little mailroom with individual P.O. boxes for every business and a room behind it for FedEx/UPS/USPS packages.  When I ship, I just drop bubble mailers in the mail slot and put the larger packages in the outgoing section of the package room.  I don't do Amazon anymore but, when I did, it wasn't uncommon for me to have 30-40 boxes going out a day, particularly in September.  Jeez, what a time saver to be able to just sit them in the room for pickup.  Plus, I can work all night and sleep during the day, when deliveries and pick-ups are made. I haven't stood in a postal line in over 8 years.



Chamber of Commerces generally don't do a very good job of advertising local business incubator programs.  If you are looking to move your business out of your home and would love to have a small warehouse and office area for about the same cost as a good self-storage unit, then I would check my local Chambers of Commerce to see if they have a program in your area.

Edited December 19, 2023 by raindog

[redcell]

4 minutes ago, raindog said:

I'm lucky.  I keep my LEGO/BrickLink Store/warehouse in a business incubation program.  I'm in a large building with about 20 other start-up companies.  I've been there for 8 years so I should be hatched by now.  We have our own little mailroom with individual P.O. boxes for every business and a room behind it for FedEx/UPS/USPS packages.  When I ship, I just drop bubble mailers in the mail slot and put the larger packages in the outgoing section of the package room.  I don't do Amazon anymore but, when I did, it wasn't uncommon for me to have 30-40 boxes going out a day, particularly in September.  Jeez, what a time saver to be able to just sit them in the room for pickup.  Plus, I can work all night and sleep during the day, when deliveries and pick-ups are made. I haven't stood in a postal line in over 8 years.

That's a sweet setup.  Was that building converted from a church? 

1 hour ago, bigfanofnu said:

Pump the brakes on the USPS hate. As a former USPS employee, it's a tough job. “Because the mail never stops. It just keeps coming and coming and coming, there's never a let-up. It's relentless. Every day it piles up more and more and more! And you gotta get it out but the more you get it out the more it keeps coming in. And then the bar code reader breaks and it's Publishers Clearing House day.”

I guess I'm the contrarian because I love the USPS.  Typically, their service is super fast and they've become super convenient now that I realized that they have drop boxes for packages open 24/7 between my warehouse and my house.

[raindog]

16 minutes ago, redcell said:

That's a sweet setup.  Was that building converted from a church? 

Nope, its in a commercially-zoned area of town.  If you are a shooter and familiar with the CMP program, their office is across the street.  The odd shape is due to the number of warehouse slots available, all accessible from outside.  This is a very solid building.  When I get a tornado coming right at me (not uncommon here in the South) I spend time at the business instead of home.  The building hosts all manor of business from maid services to home health.  There's a large, well-know duck decoy business located there (not Duck Dynasty) and a photography business.  Many other varied businesses.  It's a great system.  I actually have two offices.  One is 24 x 60, which is my BrickLink store.  The other office is 30 x 60 and where I have my LEGO racks.  All utilities, including high-speed internet is paid.  Two break rooms with refrigerators and microwaves.  A large (30+) community meeting room and a smaller (about 10 people) one.  Free color copier and fax.  A person that is kind of the building custodian/secretary for the whole building is present 9am - 5pm which means someone to sign for packages. 

Cost: $600 a month.  I'm happy here.

Edited December 19, 2023 by raindog

[keymomachine]

Yeah, I'm putting the latest Lego IDEAS selection in the complaints thread. I literally sent this image to my wife yesterday because I thought it was the silliest submission. I actually love the perfect Taylor Lautner minifig, though and the house build is really quite nice.

[BRIX23]

1 hour ago, keymomachine said:

Yeah, I'm putting the latest Lego IDEAS selection in the complaints thread. I literally sent this image to my wife yesterday because I thought it was the silliest submission. I actually love the perfect Taylor Lautner minifig, though and the house build is really quite nice.

Wow.  These are decent, but out of so many great submissions that were eligible this round I really would like to know more about how they pick the ones they do.  So many great ideas left behind.  It seems nearly impossible these days to be selected for production.

[Pseudoty]

Not seeing this one but keeping with the theme this one will kill the Friends Botanical set.

[Darth Kukoo]

6 hours ago, raindog said:

Nope, its in a commercially-zoned area of town.  If you are a shooter and familiar with the CMP program, their office is across the street.  The odd shape is due to the number of warehouse slots available, all accessible from outside.  This is a very solid building.  When I get a tornado coming right at me (not uncommon here in the South) I spend time at the business instead of home.  The building hosts all manor of business from maid services to home health.  There's a large, well-know duck decoy business located there (not Duck Dynasty) and a photography business.  Many other varied businesses.  It's a great system.  I actually have two offices.  One is 24 x 60, which is my BrickLink store.  The other office is 30 x 60 and where I have my LEGO racks.  All utilities, including high-speed internet is paid.  Two break rooms with refrigerators and microwaves.  A large (30+) community meeting room and a smaller (about 10 people) one.  Free color copier and fax.  A person that is kind of the building custodian/secretary for the whole building is present 9am - 5pm which means someone to sign for packages. 

Cost: $600 a month.  I'm happy here.

$600 for 25x60 = 1500sq ft? That's an excellent bargain. Is that place subsidized by grant or other means? I pay $430 for 400sq ft climate controlled storage unit, with no internet, no drive up, and no mail room. It is very secure though. 

[raindog]

5 hours ago, Darth Kukoo said:

That's an excellent bargain. Is that place subsidized by grant or other means?

From the Center's web site:

The Northeast Alabama Entrepreneurial System, more commonly called the Entrepreneurial Center, is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation.  We are a business incubator that was created as a result of broad community collaboration in 1998. An EDA grant provided the funds for construction of the facility.  The Center is a 40,000 square foot mixed use facility that serves service and light manufacturing companies.

 

[landphieran]

13 hours ago, redcell said:

That's a sweet setup.  Was that building converted from a church? 

I guess I'm the contrarian because I love the USPS.  Typically, their service is super fast and they've become super convenient now that I realized that they have drop boxes for packages open 24/7 between my warehouse and my house.

It's really dependent on your area. My warehouse happens to be next to the distribution center for UPS so its very accommodating and empty. Fedex distribution is out by the airport which happens to be in the middle of no where. USPS is on the other side of town in a "sketchy" area. My town is relatively small so all of the shipping offices are tiny so unless you go to the hubs they aren't ready to receive 50 lego packages. I used to ship out of my home and went to my local UPS for drop offs and they were FURIOUS every time I dropped stuff off.

13 hours ago, KvHulk said:

I stop business altogether starting around a week before christmas and start up again after the new year.
I don't have time to be frustrated during the holidays. ho! ho! ho!

I stopped on Sunday but people are panicking from shipments going out Thursday/Friday that haven't been updated. Every year I regret dealing with the hassle that is FBM. Greed will getcha.

[Darth Kukoo]

2 hours ago, raindog said:

From the Center's web site:

The Northeast Alabama Entrepreneurial System, more commonly called the Entrepreneurial Center, is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation.  We are a business incubator that was created as a result of broad community collaboration in 1998. An EDA grant provided the funds for construction of the facility.  The Center is a 40,000 square foot mixed use facility that serves service and light manufacturing companies.

 

Thank you very much Raindog for your candid info. I will look in my State for such programs. 

[Bricklectic]

Sales dropped dramatically on amazon last couple of days.

[spener90]

46 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

Sales dropped dramatically on amazon last couple of days.

Same thing for me on eBay.

[House Schubert]

On 12/18/2023 at 8:49 PM, gmpirate said:

It's a government organization.  The objective is not to be streamlined and efficient.  I avoid USPS like the plague.  Not worth the hassle or aggravation to me.

Disagree.  That’s not a disqualifier. There are gov agencies that are well funded, well staffed, and can deliver service that beats the private sector. USPS did it for years.

It’s not surprising that it’s sick and dying… politicians have been trying to kill it for years..  and then… PRIVITIZATION!  Yeah!… profits for us and less value for you!

 

[gmpirate]

2 hours ago, House Schubert said:

Disagree.  That’s not a disqualifier. There are gov agencies that are well funded, well staffed, and can deliver service that beats the private sector. USPS did it for years.

It’s not surprising that it’s sick and dying… politicians have been trying to kill it for years..  and then… PRIVITIZATION!  Yeah!… profits for us and less value for you!

 

There is no incentive for the government to provide good service or value.

Edited December 21, 2023 by gmpirate

[Sozial]

7 hours ago, Bricklectic said:

Sales dropped dramatically on amazon last couple of days.

XMAS is over. We will get some uptick, when people spend their Amazon giftcards from 26/27th on.

Edited December 21, 2023 by Sozial

[spener90]

3 hours ago, gmpirate said:

There is no incentive for the government to provide good service or value.

I think it’s less the government and more the employee incentive structure. Provide employees with some way to increase their pay by improving customer experience/satisfaction and you will get better results. Until then you will have locations that are on par with the same experience of a Popeyes.

[Bricklectic]

anyone notice an uptick in chinese and in particular japanese resellers selling sets for too good to be true cheap prices? seems like a new counterfeiting push?

[Pseudoty]

39 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

anyone notice an uptick in chinese and in particular japanese resellers selling sets for too good to be true cheap prices? seems like a new counterfeiting push?

A huge uptick in Japanese resellers from zero to X but the sets are not counterfeit. There are only 14 BL stores active in Japan and out of those only 5 that sell sets while on some listings there are 10+ sellers from Japan. Maybe there is a new importer in the region. 

Edited December 22, 2023 by Pseudoty

[Sozial]

31 minutes ago, Pseudoty said:

A huge uptick in Japanese resellers from zero to X but the sets are not counterfeit. There are only 14 BL stores active in Japan and out of those only 5 that sell sets while on some listings there are 10+ sellers from Japan. Maybe there is a new importer in the region. 

If they are really japanese sellers, I doubt they would sell counterfeit products, in some areas in Japan you can buy really old Sets for cheap prices.

[Phil B]

A specific complaint about a BL seller and store - hope a certain Grant from Marietta, *** is not one of us because he sets a really bad example for all of us. 

Ordered from his store on November 12th. Doesn't ship. I file an NSS on Nov 27th. The day the NSS turns the order into a cancelable state, he posts an apology note and gives a tracking number (Dec 10th). I thank him and start monitoring the USPS shipment. Almost three weeks pass and the Post Office in Marietta is still awaiting the package. Sent him 3 reminders during this time, no answer. I noticed his store blips in and out of suspended state. His recent feedback (which I failed to review in detail because his overall stats were good "enough" for me to proceed with the purchase) includes a lot of NSS/negatives, but also a bunch of happy customers. Decided today to just cancel the order through the NSS. Complained to Paypal and got my money back.

What a horrible way to run your store.

 

[Jimking23]

I ordered 24x20x8 shipping boxes from Amazon. Wow, shipping boxes got expensive. They shipped the 20 boxes in a larger shipping box. I have had Lego arrive with only a label on the Lego box. Ironically, they were worried the shipping boxes might be damaged in transit. 

[NIevo]

2 hours ago, Jimking23 said:

I ordered 24x20x8 shipping boxes from Amazon. Wow, shipping boxes got expensive. They shipped the 20 boxes in a larger shipping box. I have had Lego arrive with only a label on the Lego box. Ironically, they were worried the shipping boxes might be damaged in transit. 

Lately I've actually found shipping supplies cheaper on eBay then Amazon.

[Pseudoty]

2 hours ago, Jimking23 said:

I ordered 24x20x8 shipping boxes from Amazon. Wow, shipping boxes got expensive. They shipped the 20 boxes in a larger shipping box. I have had Lego arrive with only a label on the Lego box. Ironically, they were worried the shipping boxes might be damaged in transit. 

If you haven’t done it yet the Staples Auto Restock, same as S&S, is the best deal I have found on boxes in years. 40% off your first order, plus 5% off and stacks with $20 off $100 code if you have one.