James Bond Car Collection - the packaging issue
Steve Rush DI5 Agent
Oxfordshire, Great BritainPosts: 59MI6 Agent
Everyone
Apologies but I have decided to start a new thread about this because I have this evening composed a letter to the Database Factory.
This is it. I intend to post it to them this week, so please feel fre to make any comments about the content inthe next couple of days.
I am quite happy for this letter to be reproduced and adapted to suit your own circumstances if you feel you would like to join the campaign to get our models to us in good order!
Let battle commence!
Steve
The Customer Service Manager
James Bond Car Collection
The Database Factory Ltd
Unit 4 Pullman Business Park
Pullman Way
Ringwood
Hants
BH24 1HD
Dear Sir / Madam
The James Bond Car Collection
Subscription account no.
I am a new subscriber to the James Bond Car Collection part work. I have to date received Issues 2 – 5, which brings my subscription up to date, along with the accompanying models and the 3 free, extra models.
I thought that this would be a good time to write to you to share my thoughts and provide some feedback about the collection so far.
On the positive side, personally, I am inclined to make the following points:
1. I think that the concept of the part work is excellent and everything a collector of James Bond memorabilia could ask for.
2. The models and dioramas are splendid with excellent attention to detail.
3. Although there isn’t much to it (and a lot of it is similar to the 007 Spy Files magazine that was launched in 2002), the magazine is well laid out and informative.
On the negative side, however, I have grave concerns about the standard of the packaging in which the issues and models are despatched. The subscription insert that was included with the first issue (photocopy attached) contained a customer guarantee that promised that our "gifts and issues would be packed safely to ensure that they arrived in perfect condition.”
I do not consider a flimsy plastic bag to constitute safe packaging.
A number of my fellow collectors / subscribers contribute to a popular James Bond Internet site called “Absolutely James Bond” (URL: http://www.ajb007.co.uk). I have noticed through reading a thread on this site, relevant to this collection, that some of my fellow collectors have received damaged goods – for example, models with cracked boxes and / or magazines that have become creased or torn in transit.
So far, apart from a slight crack to the box on my Citroen 2CV, I have been very lucky and all of my models have arrived unscathed, although my copy of the Issue 3 magazine was received with a lot of creasing around the top edges.
Last week I telephoned your Customer Service centre to raise the matter that I was concerned about the state of the packaging. I asked if you had received any other complaints and, if so, whether there were any plans to improve it. I received two pieces of information:
1. The publisher G E Fabbri dictates the nature of the packaging and the Database Factory (I presume you are just the UK distributor) can therefore do nothing to change it.
2. If anything arrives damaged we can send it back to you and you will replace it free of charge.
I am extremely disappointed that such an excellent idea for a part work magazine is totally ruined because the goods are despatched to collectors in such shoddy packaging that is likely to cause upset if damaged goods are received. This is just not good enough and I know of a few collectors who are considering cancelling their subscriptions as a result.
I would have expected each despatch to be made in a cardboard parcel designed to keep the magazines flat and uncreased and the models protected. Primarily so that boxes could not be cracked by a number of them knocking together while they are waiting to be despatched or inadvertently squeezed by a postman who has a large number of items to carry from door to door.
It is all very well to say that we can send damaged goods back for replacement, but what guarantee do we have that the replacement items will then arrive in good order?
Equally, it's very easy to lay blame with the Royal Mail but if precautions aren't taken at the source to counteract potential damage then no progress is being made.
As things stand the present packaging is unacceptable and only likely to cause repeated problems for us the consumer and also to you as the supplier.
In the long run it will cost you money and bring us disappointment if we repeatedly have to send the models and issues back to you and if you constantly have to keep sending out replacement models and magazines that are still not guaranteed to arrive safely.
On behalf of my fellow collectors I would be grateful if you could contact the publisher and press them to upgrade the packaging as soon as possible.
I want to continue collecting the James Bond Car Collection but have to say that I await each delivery with an element of trepidation because I cannot be confident about what state the contents will be in when I open the grey plastic bag.
Thank you for reading my letter and I hope that you can help us the collectors and also your company by taking the matter up with the publisher on our behalf.
Yours faithfully
Apologies but I have decided to start a new thread about this because I have this evening composed a letter to the Database Factory.
This is it. I intend to post it to them this week, so please feel fre to make any comments about the content inthe next couple of days.
I am quite happy for this letter to be reproduced and adapted to suit your own circumstances if you feel you would like to join the campaign to get our models to us in good order!
Let battle commence!
Steve
The Customer Service Manager
James Bond Car Collection
The Database Factory Ltd
Unit 4 Pullman Business Park
Pullman Way
Ringwood
Hants
BH24 1HD
Dear Sir / Madam
The James Bond Car Collection
Subscription account no.
I am a new subscriber to the James Bond Car Collection part work. I have to date received Issues 2 – 5, which brings my subscription up to date, along with the accompanying models and the 3 free, extra models.
I thought that this would be a good time to write to you to share my thoughts and provide some feedback about the collection so far.
On the positive side, personally, I am inclined to make the following points:
1. I think that the concept of the part work is excellent and everything a collector of James Bond memorabilia could ask for.
2. The models and dioramas are splendid with excellent attention to detail.
3. Although there isn’t much to it (and a lot of it is similar to the 007 Spy Files magazine that was launched in 2002), the magazine is well laid out and informative.
On the negative side, however, I have grave concerns about the standard of the packaging in which the issues and models are despatched. The subscription insert that was included with the first issue (photocopy attached) contained a customer guarantee that promised that our "gifts and issues would be packed safely to ensure that they arrived in perfect condition.”
I do not consider a flimsy plastic bag to constitute safe packaging.
A number of my fellow collectors / subscribers contribute to a popular James Bond Internet site called “Absolutely James Bond” (URL: http://www.ajb007.co.uk). I have noticed through reading a thread on this site, relevant to this collection, that some of my fellow collectors have received damaged goods – for example, models with cracked boxes and / or magazines that have become creased or torn in transit.
So far, apart from a slight crack to the box on my Citroen 2CV, I have been very lucky and all of my models have arrived unscathed, although my copy of the Issue 3 magazine was received with a lot of creasing around the top edges.
Last week I telephoned your Customer Service centre to raise the matter that I was concerned about the state of the packaging. I asked if you had received any other complaints and, if so, whether there were any plans to improve it. I received two pieces of information:
1. The publisher G E Fabbri dictates the nature of the packaging and the Database Factory (I presume you are just the UK distributor) can therefore do nothing to change it.
2. If anything arrives damaged we can send it back to you and you will replace it free of charge.
I am extremely disappointed that such an excellent idea for a part work magazine is totally ruined because the goods are despatched to collectors in such shoddy packaging that is likely to cause upset if damaged goods are received. This is just not good enough and I know of a few collectors who are considering cancelling their subscriptions as a result.
I would have expected each despatch to be made in a cardboard parcel designed to keep the magazines flat and uncreased and the models protected. Primarily so that boxes could not be cracked by a number of them knocking together while they are waiting to be despatched or inadvertently squeezed by a postman who has a large number of items to carry from door to door.
It is all very well to say that we can send damaged goods back for replacement, but what guarantee do we have that the replacement items will then arrive in good order?
Equally, it's very easy to lay blame with the Royal Mail but if precautions aren't taken at the source to counteract potential damage then no progress is being made.
As things stand the present packaging is unacceptable and only likely to cause repeated problems for us the consumer and also to you as the supplier.
In the long run it will cost you money and bring us disappointment if we repeatedly have to send the models and issues back to you and if you constantly have to keep sending out replacement models and magazines that are still not guaranteed to arrive safely.
On behalf of my fellow collectors I would be grateful if you could contact the publisher and press them to upgrade the packaging as soon as possible.
I want to continue collecting the James Bond Car Collection but have to say that I await each delivery with an element of trepidation because I cannot be confident about what state the contents will be in when I open the grey plastic bag.
Thank you for reading my letter and I hope that you can help us the collectors and also your company by taking the matter up with the publisher on our behalf.
Yours faithfully
Comments
[address]
The Customer Service Manager
James Bond Car Collection
The Database Factory Ltd
Unit 4 Pullman Business Park
Pullman Way
Ringwood
Hants
BH24 1HD
Re: The James Bond Car Collection. Subscription number [number]
Dear Sir / Madam,
I would like to express sincere concerns regarding the standard of packaging implemented whilst dispatching each edition of the aforementioned part collection. To date, each issue has arrived in a mere grey plastic bag which contravenes the following clause in the customer guarantee: "gifts and issues would be packed safely to ensure that they arrived in perfect condition.”
None of my issues to date have arrived in this elusive perfect condition. Each magazine has arrived crumpled and creased. Two out of my six dioramas thus far have arrived with cracked cases. This is not simply an isolated incident. Several other fellow collectors have reported similar grievances and no doubt they will be getting in touch with you shortly.
Passing the blame to Royal Mail will not be prudent. The items must be securely dispatched initially. Similarly, it is too simple for your customer services department to claim any damaged articles may be returned for replacement, however, this is an extraneous hassle and an added cost on my part.
In view of this I insist the following be carried out by you or your representatives:
1. All measures be taken to ensure the packaging is upgraded as soon as possible, to ensure magazines and dioramas arrive in ‘perfect condition’. This includes, but is not limited to, any contact which must be made with the publishers.
2. All subscribers who either have already returned items, or will do so throughout the life of their subscriptions, be refunded of postage and packaging costs.
I anticipate a speedy response.
Yours sincerely,
[signature]
[name]
Your letter is shorter and sharper than mine and carries a lot impact. Let's hope that everyone joins in and send a letter to the distributor so we can put our collections together with the least hassle possible.
Thanks again for your help in this campaign.
Steve
Its a pleasure.....why do i get the feeling no other subscriber is getting themselves involved? The publishers/manufacturers arent an almighty capitalist churning machine that will flatten anyone who comes in their way......it only takes a letter to get them to listen....and its their legal obligation to heed by our requests.
Come on, other subscribers....youre welcome to use either of the above templates and send them off to the address steve provided.
You dont want substandard items delivered to you, do you?
We are very quick to moan and winge about everything we can (whether it be fuel duty, extortionate Council Tax increases, government corruption, the state of the NHS, as well as the weather and poor service). But after a while we just end up accepting these things - especially second rate service and get on with it rather than trying to do something about it.
Well, I've sent my letter in and I urge everyone else to do so too.
Steve
Aargh, its just about as british as waiting in queues and going on holiday to the Med and expecting a full english in the morning.
Speaking out works!
lol
I didn't receive a reply to my letter to the Customer Service Manager, but three cheers for the Database Factory for taking our feedback on board.
More importantly: Three very loud cheers for us for digging in and writing to them about it!
We are the champions! Hip, hip hooray!!!
Steve
A wee bit of background to my situation. I am in Australia. I collected 'The Ultimate Car Collection' magazine part work by Del Prado publishing. Whilst those models were not displayed in dioramas like the James Bond ones, they came on bases with soft flexible plastic covers over the top. The models are clearly not intended to be displayed with these flimsy covers in place. That said, the plastic covers were consistently crushed in the posting. Sometimes only slightly, other times almost completely beyond all recogniseable shape. I did not, however, complain about it because the pladtic covers in that case really were just dust covers and not intended to be a part of the model display.
I have subscribed to the JB collection now but am yet to receive any parts. The Australian distributor reports that issues 2 & 3 were despatched March 29, so I should know something sometime soon about their packaging condition and state upon arrival, but I am nervous about what to expect now. I am expecting the diorama cases to arrive cracked, and for me this will be totally unacceptable. I cannot live with a cracked diorama case when it is an integral part of the model. It supports the scene background.
I have looked long and hard through the packaging of the first issue I received and can find nowhere the guarantee referred to above. I guess the Australian distributors are doing things a bit differently down here. Could someone please provide a link to the scan of this guarantee for me, so I may use it when (not 'if') I have to go to war over the poor packaging as well?
Thanks.
P.S. How do you enable e-mail notification of thread replies on this board? I can't figure out where the option is.
The first two issues I have just mentioned I got from the newsagent, prior to making my subscription, and they came on a backboard with the car stuck to the front and the magazine (and magazine container in the case of issue 2) in a pocket, behind the car.
I bought issue 2 from the newsagent as a "protective" purchase to ensure that I didn't miss it (and to ensure that I got one with the backboard) in case there was a delay in getting my subscription up and running. I had had that problem when I subscribed to the 007 Spy Files in 2002, but ended up with a couple of extra copies of 1 and 2 of that magazine, but that also meant that I got a couple of extra tins for the cards.
Anyway, I digress... I received another copy of the "... Car Collection" Issue 2, as my subscription started, which just came with the car, magazine and magazine holder. I have just had another look at it and there was no subcription form showing the customer guarantee in there.
Unfortunately I don't have a scanner, but unless anyone else can help you, please PM me your address and I'll send you a photocopy - although it only seems to mention subscriptions in the UK and Eire.
Hope this helps.
Steve
So I need to take up the fight down here in Australia now. I have looked really closely at all the included materials and can not find this guarantee of perfect quality deliveries. Steve has kindly offered to send me a photocopy of it, but if someone else on here has access to either a scanner or has a digital camera even, then could you please send me an image of this guarantee? I need it now for some leverage to get the packaging improved significantly. If it isn't, then I may as well just cancel my subscription right now because if all deliveries come like this first one then I can easily see every single diorama case being cracked on arrival and that defeats the whole purpose for me.
Here's some photos of my first delivery
Thanks.
I like how you matched the tv to the car in some photos.
That said though, as crazy as it may seem, some people do actually get valid enjoyment out of simply knowing that they have something in a state or format that virtually no-one else will have it in. I guess serious wine collectors who never have any intention of drinking the wine come under that category.
I can't see the point in keeping them in the sealed plastic covers either, especially when inside the plastic cover is another completely sealed plastic case to protect the model as well. Aside from anything else the models are not assembled & mounted absolutely perfectly in their displays and need to be removed and "adjusted" to be improved anyway. My issue 1 DB5 didn't have all four tyres in contact with the road for example and this was clearly visible through the plastic diorama case. Also, one wheel had a dag of chromed toy metal from the rim poking out between the tyre & wheel. Also the tyre shredder spike was not sticking out perfectly perpendicularly from the wheel hub and the position of the wheel made this imperfection visually obvious. I was able to fix all three problems by removing the model from the base and adjusting it as required before remounting in the diorama. I expect to have to do this with every model as they arrive. This to me is of far greater worth than keeping it sealed in a plastic shipping box.
You can just see in though the windows of Lotus, I’m sure there are two figures behind it? -{
I wonder if they’ll produce one as it is you know on the road with the clear windows and the figures inside the Lotus. -{