Staunton Castle Unresponsive (Issue Resolved)

Problems like this prove the efficacy of this forum. Thanks to everybody who posted. Having said that, remember always...buyer beware! It has ever been the case that people hide behind companies as often as companies hide behind people.

Companies (or CEO's), like 'offices' such as The President, or The Queen, do not have the liberty to propose themselves as individuals, and it is always the case that for the one (the individual or the office) to succeed, the other must invariably fail. 

As such you would never want as a family member, partner, or friend the individual you would want to do business with. Similar is the case reversed! You'll see this easily enough in the two examples that I have proposed, as both of these committed individuals have (to one degree or another) failed their 'conventional' obligation as individuals in order to service the broader obligation of their office. 'It' (responsibility) is onerous: heavy is the head...

Personally, I am glad that their are people who are willing to spend themselves in service of others on a daily basis, for being aware that I myself can manage it only as opportunity presents itself to my convenience and liberty. Nothing fails so reliably as character tested. and nothing protects or defends character better than humility!

I give people the benefit of the doubt, not companies because companies, like offices or stations, are always politically attached to something beyond me and their obligation to 'my' satisfaction.

It matter nothing to me that someone else has been ethically treated. Consumers should demand expedition, economy, and utility, especially on-line where all you get it product while bearing all the risk, lest on-line shopping become brick and mortar retail.

Best service for me, bar-none...Amazon Prime. Worst...every acquaintance I have ever had who operated a service and who undertook to satisfy a purchase; friends always trade against your patience, because the truth is, we treat friends worse than strangers for allowance of it; we expect them to understand; strangers, not so much. 

Advised, but not jaded, Tim!

Well, the above is limited and not necessarily applicable to the Chess equipment industry.

The Chess House, Noj, American Chess Equipment, Chessusa.com, The Rochester Chess Center and a number of others that I know are comprised of very few individuals, usually no more than 3 or 4 people in total.  

FWIW, pretending to fire an employee (or claiming to have fired one) over poor customer service is the oldest trick in the book to placate customers.

Yeah, that thought did cross my mind. You just never know unless you know the people personally...

Staunton Castle site down? I can't reach it. Maintenance maybe? 

Possibly. Last time I checked yesterday it still had Christmas/Holiday banners up. And one banner said "20% off all products". Which is not true. 

A promise to resolve an issue is not the same as actually resolving it. I stated I would alert the forum when the issue is fully resolved to my satisfaction. That is, when the replacement pieces are delivered as promised.

Yeah, I couldn't bring up the SC website either!? Based on the way they've mishandled customer service, and now this issue with their website, it doesn't instill a great deal of confidence in their willingness and ability to serve their customers!

P.S. I still haven't received an email confirming that those replacement pieces were actually shipped.

Just to add to the discussion in a hopefully-not-distracting way, I'm also still waiting on a response to an email to SC from December 30 to cancel an order. I also attempted to use their web-based chat app but have heard nothing back from there, either.

Not a good sign! Especially for those awaiting material they've already paid for.

As it turns out, I find that I have students in my philosophy classes that have family in the city of Amristar in the Punjab region of India where most of these chess sets are made. They are going to check for me to see if any of these factories are shut down , and let me know later this week. As I said in another post, this region of India has been particularly hard hid by Covid. Additionally, I have family in Mississauga, Ontario, which is next door to Brampton, which is where Staunton Castle's North American distributor is, and even though they are under a lock down of sorts, they will check to see if the lights are on there. Knowing this won't solve people's problems, but at least it will advise wherein the blame might best be applied. Good luck to all of you waiting for product! At least I still have my money in my pocket, but alas...nothing to look forward to.

tskeldon, Thanks for the follow-up. We'd all like to get to the bottom of this.

I saw. Good news. 

Sound67, Thanks for the tip! Happy New Year!

Assuming his good health, Mandeep should reply to those individuals whose service he is in dereliction of. Instead, someone else has taken it upon them self to post here for him (that's called enabling behaviour), again trying to put the onus of effort on the buyer instead of accepting it himself as he should as the seller. What's wrong with retail these days. Insist on service, or walkaway taking your business with you. If he knows this forum and thread exists, why is Mandeep, as 1.) an invested and 2.) responsible businessman not pursuing the economy of posting here himself to reach the broadest audience? Likely because one of those criteria does not refer to him accurately.

I understand it stinks to not get the products you ordered. I for one am not very patient when I am on the receiving end of it. I tried twice recently to get a puffy jacket from a popular manufacturer. I ordered from them directly prior to Thanksgiving. The first was damaged. I sent it back and got a refund. I immediately tried to order the same one but it was already sold out. I ordered a different version and it never showed up even though the delivery status was delivered. I was very upset but hey it was the holidays and stuff happens. This is especially true this year when everyone is buying stuff online.

I think we have be more realistic here with chess suppliers these days. The chess industry has exploded with 1000% increase in sales within a short period of time. Someone said recently HoS received 8,000 orders in 10 days. 8,000 shipping labels equates to more than 30 full rolls of UPS 4x6 shipping labels. How long does it take just to print 8,000 labels? It would be like you showing up for a 40-hour work week on Monday to find you have 400 hours of work to complete and only 40 hours to complete it. You'll have another 400 hours more next Monday plus the 360 you did not finish the week prior. Once you're in this position, it is like being in quicksand. The harder you fight the more you sink. It literally feels like you'll never get out of it. Things that are normally super easy like answering emails, submitting quotes, answering the phone, etc becomes super difficult. Lots of second guessers come out and there is always a recurring question of "Why can't you just do it this way?". You're so busy you don't even have time to properly answer this question. This might sound like an excuse but if you have never been in such a situation you really cannot comprehend what it feels like and how difficult simple things are.

I understand as well as anyone the logistics involved in positioning oneself to win maximum profit by wringing every possible penny of monetized value out of what is undeniably a financial windfall for both manufacturers and retailers alike (regardless of Covid). Why then are so many of you trying to paint the burden of exponentially improved business and making money as if it were a hardship or inconvenience suffered by those who stand to profit. To propose that there is insufficient, little or no profit in small businesses is to fail to understand capital analysis; you would have them proposed as a charitable intermediary or retail facilitator eaking out scraps to support their hungry children. You are wrong.  I have many friends in the Punjabi community, and they are all savvy businessmen who know the value of their product, a dollar and their time, and are neither more nor less inclined to lift a finger than any other individual unless they are being generously compensated.

What is worse, some of you seem to be suggesting that this flush of good fortune should be met with pity and compassion, bringing me back to my point: this is exactly what is wrong with the 'new' retail model, and the brainwashed consumer. If it were me, I would be doubling up on my capacity to 'take' orders, rather than ignoring them. It is all when and good to make hay while the sun is shining, but it will be raining soon enough. If you don't sow in a time of growth (NOW) you will have no crop to sell when retail winter comes; or rather, no clients to grow a crop for, because you were to cheap to pay a high-school student minimum wage to send a simple courtesy responses (that's all it take to keep us as clients) to committed and well-intentioned customers. This failure in economic plasticity is what keeps small businesses small, when they are want to grow by selling small pieces of plastic (sorry, I wanted to complete my literary allegory even though these small pieces are made of wood).

Well said tskeldon! I'm sure not making excuses. If the seller can't make orders or even take the time to reply to an email then it's on them not the Wuhan Virus, the Queen's Gambit or the Christmas season. It's their business to know the business.