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When Hasbro Customer Service Pleasantries And Niceties Just Won't Do....

Posted by Paul | May 25, 2016 at 01:58 PM ET

Sometimes canned responses from Hasbro Customer Service just won't do, as JTA reader James Saylor found out all too quickly. His perseverance paid off ultimately, but he wasn't looking for a freebie. He just wanted to find these figures in stores or online to buy at normal MSRP. What will it take for Hasbro to rectify its years long uphill battle with proper distribution? Click through for the drama.....

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen!
I wanted to take a few minutes to share with you a story. And it’s mine, of course. In particular, I want to talk about Hasbro. Now we all have had our issues with their current shipments of Star Wars figures and being unable to find them anywhere. Not to mention the few lucky ones that do, but intend to scalp them. So here’s what I wrote to Hasbro:

Customer James Saylor via CSS Web04/29/2016 09:04 AM

Hello Hasbro,
I wanted to take the time to write this message as a fan/collector of Star Wars I have to say that most of our community is extremely upset with the way distributing has been handled overall and specifically with the Black Series figures, namely Ahsoka Tano. And our current worry is that future lines will continue to be sparse as it seems that your profit margins are growing, and you're not concerned about the consumer anymore, but more concerned with, let's face it, the bottom line.

There are impossible avenues of gaining access to these figures, because they are so limited in distribution that even companies like Amazon and Walmart have been scalping their own MSRP pricing! It's almost impossible for a collector/fan to get his/her hands on a figure like Ahsoka without paying scalping prices on eBay or even Amazon! Hell, I just bought a box of five Ahsoka's for 30 bucks a piece so I could sell them to my friends at 20 dollars a piece!

My question is; What are you doing about this?

It seems as though you're not concerned with the common fan/collector and are only interested in making money. Not to mention the defects that have been clearly stated on some websites which means products are escaping unchecked and people are paying outrageous prices for broken toys.

I'm writing to you as a concerned fan/collector who is 32 years old and has a family. I've collected Star Wars since I was a little boy. And I'm concerned for my kids, as they don't have the same options as I did collecting.
Please, for future reference, fix these issues. This Force Awakens line has been horrible and I hate to see kids so disappointed because someone somewhere doesn't care whether they get the toy they wanted or not. He/she just wants to make sure their bonuses are nice and big at the end of the year. Sincerely,

James Saylor

To which I received a reply:

Staff Account Laure via Email04/29/2016 10:34 AM

Hi James,
I understand and appreciate your frustrations, and I am sorry for the difficulty you have had in obtaining certain figures in your local stores. As you may know, all of our action figures are part of a larger assortment and because of this, we are unable to guarantee product availability at any one store.

Also, keep in mind all of Hasbro's shipments to the retailers are based on what they order.

Sometimes the retailer may not order a specific case assortment due to lack of shelf space, or because the items are not high in demand. These are just a few of the reasons. It is my strong recommendation you reach out to your local stores to see if a specific assortment you are looking for can be ordered. Otherwise, I would also recommend continuing to check online for the item you are looking to purchase.

As far as the quality of our figures, I am sorry to hear that you are disappointed, i will certainly pass on your valuable feedback to our team.

Kind Regards, Laure

To which I replied:

Customer James Saylor via CSS Web04/29/2016 11:44 AM

Hello Hasbro,

Your response is probably the most generic and insincere thing I've heard about this issue. This isn't an issue that is local. This is state wide! I can give you the names and phone numbers of hundreds of people in all 50 states, who will tell you that your distribution of these figures is so poor, they only have the option to buy scalper prices on eBay.

And you didn't answer my question. What are you doing to prevent things like scalping? Are you even aware that your product is being sold for nearly twice what you're asking?

Your company has some serious issues and should be addressed. Because it's not the stores fault. WALMART IS SCALPING IT'S OWN CUSTOMERS! Due simply to supply and demand. How is it the stores fault they can't get the shipments they ordered?

Please, have someone higher up then a customer service rep respond to this. This isn't being taken seriously by anyone at that level, and there are a lot of Americans very upset about your companies lack of caring on this matter.

Sincerely,
James Saylor

To which I received this reply:

Staff Account Laure via Email04/29/2016 11:53 AM

Hi James,

I am sorry to hear that you are upset. I will pass on your frustration to a higher up. Regrettably we cannot prevent private sellers nor retailers to sell our products with their own fixed price.

Kind regards,

Now that was almost a month ago. And today, I received this in the mail :

Now I would like to think that Hasbro was doing this as a nice gesture and wanted me to have the toys that I was looking for. And they sent me them at no cost. However, I feel as though this is “hush money” to quiet the squeaky wheel so that I’ll stop bothering them. But I feel as though the bigger issues haven’t and won’t be addressed. And what about all of the other collectors around the US who can’t get their hands on these figures? Do they need to write in too and complain? Is that what it really takes?

And why is that the case? Should this company, who has been entrusted to take on such a huge responsibility, just appease one or two that write in? What about the masses? There are discussion boards after discussion boards of people upset with how these toys are being distributed, how the quality in some have been less than up to standard, and how kids can’t even find what they want? Who wants 15 Tie Fighter Pilots am I right?
So with that I’ll leave you with this. Should we all write in? Should we take a stand and make a petition to bring to their front steps? I live 20 minutes from the Hasbro that sent me this package! I’ll take it there myself! What should we do? Because there can be a lot of talk but if no action is taking place, are we really changing anything?

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