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Star Trek: Starships Model/Magazine Subscription

I sent out my email to two known addresses last night: The main one at startrek-ship[at]eaglemoss-service[dot]com and the US-specific one at startrek-shipus[at]eaglemoss-service[dot]com.

The former (startrek-ship[at]eaglemoss-service[dot]com) was the main UK branch, who said:
We've moved all of our US subscribers to the USA database now, you'll need to contact them.
The latter (startrek-shipus[at]eaglemoss-service[dot]com) provided some more detailed, and possibly pertinent, information:
We’re in the middle of a data conversion at this time, and unfortunately we're unable to access US customers accounts any more, so please call our new centre in the US then with any queries you may have. Their details are below:

Tel: 1800 261 6898
E-mail: customerservice[at]eaglemoss[dot]com
I've sent an email to this new address and got an automated response back telling be that someone should get back to me within two days.

I've noticed, in the past couple of years, every time there is a hiccup in service like this, large or small, it always seems to coincide with some kind of internal organizational or logistical shake-up. It's either with a change in call centers or email addresses or a shift in the location of a data farm, and I think that's exactly what's going on here now, all over again. The change in charging names on our credit cards may be an additional indicator that they're switching banks or card carriers or who-knows-what under the hood.

In this case, I get the impression that perhaps the UK office, until recently, managed all the orders and logistics and whatever was in the US (and other countries outside the UK) were just shell warehouses that only did the shipping when told to do so by their UK parent front-office. I could be wrong, but we may be seeing the side-effects of a shift in logistical management to be less centralized through the UK office and more under the control of regional sub-offices. This could be a rather massively large change in their business model, bigger than anything that had come before, and we're catching some of the splash from it.

We always suspected that they may have gotten more demand than they could support based on previous infrastructure, so they've had to make adjustments on the fly, particularly when they expanded out to other countries. Somewhere along the way, wires get crossed and shipments get dropped. I'm honestly kind of reassured by all this because, yes, it's a temporary inconvenience, but history shows that they've always managed to pull through.

My only complaint would be that they don't seem to have learned that their customers are likely quite a patient and understanding lot, generally, and if we were only given some kind of brief explanation or warning that shipments may be delayed during this time of transition, we wouldn't be quite as apprehensive about our subscriptions. Communication is key and can go a long way to preserving a happy customer base. Other than that one gripe of mine, I've never felt that I've been shafted by them in any way.

I'll let you all know when I get a new response to my query. I was charged the full $39.90 back on September 3, not the single-price $19.95 that others here seem to be experiencing, so a single shipment of only #51 won't cut it with me, especially since I'm more interested in #52, the USS Centaur. And I would REALLY love to know what that extra $35 is for I saw come up yesterday.
 
Because my local WHSmith is now only doing these by subscription only I've ordered this and the next few I want from Forbidden Planet so should get mine in the post in a week or so. Anyway, my point being, anychance of a photo or two ol' chap?
There's a few on the facebook page now, but even better this guy always does good youtube reviews of the ships, and the Steamrunner review is up

Cheers, although I have been meaning to post and say, that was painful to watch/listen too.

And I would REALLY love to know what that extra $35 is for I saw come up yesterday.

Could it be for the Kelvin? That's out here in two weeks and maybe unlike in the past, they're releasing it simultaneously here in the UK and in other territories.

Oh and here are some photos I just took of the Sabre class.







 
That is a NICE model! It looks like they really did a fantastic job with the detailing and aztecking paint job on that. Thanks for posting. I guess it really helps when the source material is already CG to begin with. :D

Yeah, I figured it was either the Kelvin or the first of the new dedication plaques that were rumored to be released around "second half of 2015" - likely the USS Voyager, followed later by DS9's Defiant, TOS Enterprise, NX-01 Enterprise and finally the Enterprise-E. I thought it might also be the refit-NX model special, but that's not scheduled to come out until after the Kelvin. Anyone's guess, really, until the first things start arriving.
 
My experience with reaching out to their customer service has been the same as 137th Gebrig, and my conclusions are also the same. Still, a note would have been nice...as it stands right now they've taken my money for five consecutive models they've yet to send me.
 
Yes, back in August, way before this charge as far as I can recall. Received the receipt for those in August as well and was charged earlier in that month for those. The September charge should be the Hirogen ship and the Centaur.
 
Got my Saber class this morning too. There's a little smudge on the A of Yeager on the front of mine, but apart from that I'm very happy with it.
Also yep the cover price has gone up tp £10.99 with those one, although for some reason it went through the till at £10.81, so hey a big 18p saving for me! :lol:
 
Yeah, the lady at my local comic shop informed me that after the Centaur, they'll be US$21 a pop instead of $20.
 
After talking to customer service, the 35 dollar charge is an error that was sent out and refunds should be hitting accounts in how ever many days. Of course after that I got hit with another 35 charge and my account became over drawn, so that sucks.

I did get issue 22 with issue 49. their records should that I should be getting 48 and 49. Which i have already received 48 (and they could see that). She wanted to send me issue 50 but was unable to release it. They have me scheduled on the 20th to get 50 and 51. so she wanted to suspend my account. I told her no as I do have three accounts for Trek and i don't want her canceling all of them. So she sent the problem to her supervisor.

This is now the first time that calling in didn't take care of my issue.
 
After talking to customer service, the 35 dollar charge is an error that was sent out and refunds should be hitting accounts in how ever many days. Of course after that I got hit with another 35 charge and my account became over drawn, so that sucks.

I did get issue 22 with issue 49. their records should that I should be getting 48 and 49. Which i have already received 48 (and they could see that). She wanted to send me issue 50 but was unable to release it. They have me scheduled on the 20th to get 50 and 51. so she wanted to suspend my account. I told her no as I do have three accounts for Trek and i don't want her canceling all of them. So she sent the problem to her supervisor.

This is now the first time that calling in didn't take care of my issue.

I'd be curious to know, how many individuals have multiple subscriptions like you have.
 
So I called today and was informed as well that the $35 charge was an error being corrected, apparently it showed as the DS9 Special #1 that I got a couple of years ago.

Also was informed that the US was running behind on some shipments, so #52 would come and be billed later. I'm not sure if it will come later this month, or if next month will be #52 and #53.
 
I got the TOS Enterprise today. Kinda "meh", honestly. The saucer is very nice, though mine has a blemish on the "0" in the registry on the top. I think the secondary hull is a bit lacking and the globes on the front of the nacelles don't seem quite right.
 
I just picked up the Armored Voyager from my local shop. It's nice, I like the size. It's one of those odd-ball designs that I never thought would see the light of day as a physical model, so it's nice to have on that alone. The size is what has prevented me from getting some of the other models. I realized yesterday that I'm more interested in Federation Starships so I'm going to focus on getting those and wait on the alien ships. The Steamrunner and Sabre look awesome, I look forward to seeing them in the States.
 
I just picked up the Armored Voyager from my local shop. It's nice, I like the size. It's one of those odd-ball designs that I never thought would see the light of day as a physical model, so it's nice to have on that alone. The size is what has prevented me from getting some of the other models. I realized yesterday that I'm more interested in Federation Starships so I'm going to focus on getting those and wait on the alien ships. The Steamrunner and Sabre look awesome, I look forward to seeing them in the States.

Don't forget the Centaur! I think I'll get that next week.
 
I just picked up the Armored Voyager from my local shop. It's nice, I like the size. It's one of those odd-ball designs that I never thought would see the light of day as a physical model, so it's nice to have on that alone. The size is what has prevented me from getting some of the other models. I realized yesterday that I'm more interested in Federation Starships so I'm going to focus on getting those and wait on the alien ships. The Steamrunner and Sabre look awesome, I look forward to seeing them in the States.

Don't forget the Centaur! I think I'll get that next week.

It's pretty darn good. I saw it at the store (with several other 51-54), and I had to get them, as it will be 3 more months now, thanks to the data migration screw ups on my account before I get to 53, and 54.

It really makes me wish we got an excelsior at the same size as the saucer used for the Centaur. Seriously there are a few models that just scream for larger versions (without having to go to the size of Specials), the Excelsior, the Enterprise E are two prime examples.
 
One funny thing to occur the last time I called the new US customer service line. You could hear other operators taking calls, and someone was ordering the Enterprise, and it was pretty awesome hearing the rep having to list which enterprise they were wanting. Nx-o1, Enterprise 1701, Enterprise 1701 (2271), Enterprise 1701-B, Enterprise 1701-C, Enterprise 1701-D and Enterprise 1701-E.

I almost felt sorry for the rep who is probably going how many damn Enterprise ships are there....
 
Got a response from customer service this morning. It is exactly what I suspected it was - a glitch due to the switch-over of their systems:
Thank you for contacting us. Your account was among those that were recently transitioned from the UK system to ours here in the US, and there have been some delays in shipments being sent out. To be certain you receive the 09/03/2015 order, as it should have arrived by now, we have reshipped it for you. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.

You were actually billed the $35.00 in error. You were supposed to just receive advance notification of the Special Edition shipment, which is scheduled to be sent out later this month. When our billing department caught the error they immediately refunded you. If you still accept the shipment being sent, that payment won't actually process until the order ships. Please feel free to contact us with any further questions
Others had already discovered the $35 error but I included it anyway, being a part of the original email. So, there it is - an understandable logistical glitch that was made unintentionally worse through a lack of preemptive communication. When asked, however, they are quite forthcoming, and strive to make it right.
 
Why the hell did they decide to switch things now? Things where running fairly smoothly all this time. What happened? :S
 
They didn't elaborate. My guess is that they reached a threshold of demand requiring them to decentralize to more domestic locales. Perhaps it was no longer cost effective to run the whole thing out of the UK. I honestly don't know.
 
Wish they did this from the start. My CC has an international block on it that I have to have removed every month. ( the max days I can have it off is 14 days )

But yeah, a heads up would be nice.
 
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