Anyone else having MAJOR ISSUES WITH COMICCONNECT? 4 4

[comicdonna]

I have never had a problem.  The secret to my success is, I have never purchased from ComicConnect.  

[Randall Dowling]

1 hour ago, shadroch said:

Really. 

The guy paid for the book April 12th. This week, it will be a full two months.

It's obviously too much to expect  them to follow thru on a small thing like this.

It sucks that people feel the need to defend bad behavior. 

The bizarre thing is responding to a refund request by saying metro should refund the money and be done with the OP.

I'm not defending bad behavior.  Just the contrary really.

Respectfully, you're assuming everything the OP has stated is completely true.  I'm not.  Not picking up the phone and calling to check status and then melting down when an email wasn't responded to and bashing CC on the boards is bad buying behavior.  YMMV.  Perhaps you don't like Fishler or Vinnie or Metro for your own reasons.  That's fine.  But this buyer should have picked up the phone a month ago.  My guess is they'd have their book by now if they had.

[Randall Ries]

1 hour ago, mattn792 said:

I've never dealt with CC, but I can tell you from an accounting snafu I had with ComicLink (I was consigning books to an auction to pay for an auction win), I was able to resolve it within a day through three emails.  The same could have easily been accomplished with OP's situation.

Yes exactly. Business is business. I send $4200 and I expect the 10-14 business days thing. That's fair. More than that and I hear "They haven't sent the book yet" it's refund or store credit time. Always. Metro can't lose in that case. I'm the guy who will just take store credit. And again, I ask if it's a consignment book. It isn't? Cool. It is? Pass. Or at least I ask if this consignor has a good track record. Then wait the perfunctory 14 days. Day 14, I'm on the horn if the book isn't at the PO.

[blazingbob]

Just now, Randall Ries said:

Yes exactly. Business is business. I send $4200 and I expect the 10-14 business days thing. That's fair. More than that and I hear "They haven't sent the book yet" it's refund or store credit time. Always. Metro can't lose in that case. I'm the guy who will just take store credit. And again, I ask if it's a consignment book. It isn't? Cool. It is? Pass. Or at least I ask if this consignor has a good track record. Then wait the perfunctory 14 days. Day 14, I'm on the horn if the book isn't at the PO.

That may work with US consignor's but Canadian consignor's don't always get books to me in 14 days.  Custom's could hold it up.  Can't ship something I don't have but naturally I would let the buyer know that it is delayed.

 

[Randall Ries]

15 minutes ago, Randall Dowling said:

But this buyer should have picked up the phone a month ago.  My guess is they'd have their book by now if they had.

And that's right. I start on a boil when it goes on too long. it's business. A reasonable amount of time went by and I am bookless and moneyless. I know me. I wait the perfunctory 14 days then do something with it before I unleash my Kraken on someone on a phone.

[Randall Ries]

1 minute ago, blazingbob said:

That may work with US consignor's but Canadian consignor's don't always get books to me in 14 days.  Custom's could hold it up.  Can't ship something I don't have but naturally I would let the buyer know that it is delayed.

 

Right of course. I am still talking about 14 days with a no show and get the scoop. It's easy. The consignor worth a damn will have notified the broker "Yeah I sent the book and here's my customs thing" or whatever. It's clear a consignor needs a cue to sign into to manage their sales. Customs or not, doesn't take 14 days for someone to respond. That isn't my problem. I paid. I want. Can't deliver because of a consignor issue? Well, I'll buy something else then.

I just find it simpler not to buy a book they can't put their hands on. I mean what does someone do when they fork over half a mill on a Bat 1 that's a consignor book?

[thehumantorch]

On 5/29/2021 at 11:30 PM, Micah S. said:

Ok, a lot has been said here, some valid, some less so. 
 

when you deal with the number of consignors that we do mistakes are sure to happen every now and again. I can only speak for myself, but I have been working on ways to, at the very least, keep them to a minimum. Realistically there’s no way for us to have every consigned book on premises, for a variety of reasons, but the idea to confirm the possession of the book before payment is required is a good one, and I will absolutely pass it along. 
 

I get that it’s irritating to not get timely responses from customer service, that is not something that I directly have anything’s to do with. My email is micahs@metropoliscomics.com, if anyone wants to contact me directly with any issues I will do my best to resolve them quickly and with as little hassle as possible. 
 

I do appreciate the feedback, both good and bad. It’s how we work to make improvements, all I ask is for a bit of patience. 
 

thank you

@Micah S. 

Thanks for posting this.  I think it's fair to say your post is consistent with how this customer has been treated throughout this issue.

It paints the OP's problem as a rare mistake ignoring that he send you a significant amount of money for a comic you sold him and failed to deliver, ignoring that he patiently waited 6 weeks, 6 weeks are you paying attention? he's not some crank or impatient customer, before inquiring about his comic, ignoring that your company repeatedly told him they'd check and get back to him and failed to do so, and ignoring that he has similar issues in the past as have several other posters in this thread.

And realistically it is possible to keep every consignment book on premises.  mycomicshop does it and I suspect they have more consignment books than any other comic seller in the business.  It might require renovation or leasing more space or changes to your business model but please don't tell us it's not possible.

While I appreciate that you posted your email to try to help resolve issues your post is about marginalizing and disregarding the OP's complaint and making Metropolis and Comic Connect look good.   And I'm sorry, it doesn't look good and I'd be furious if I was the OP.

[blazingbob]

5 minutes ago, Randall Ries said:

Right of course. I am still talking about 14 days with a no show and get the scoop. It's easy. The consignor worth a damn will have notified the broker "Yeah I sent the book and here's my customs thing" or whatever. It's clear a consignor needs a cue to sign into to manage their sales. Customs or not, doesn't take 14 days for someone to respond. That isn't my problem. I paid. I want. Can't deliver because of a consignor issue? Well, I'll buy something else then.

I just find it simpler not to buy a book they can't put their hands on. I mean what does someone do when they fork over half a mill on a Bat 1 that's a consignor book?

Normally a buyer who spends a half a million on a book is a little more patient.  

[Randall Ries]

5 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

While I appreciate that you posted your email to try to help resolve issues your post is about marginalizing and disregarding the OP's complaint and making Metropolis and Comic Connect look good.   And I'm sorry, it doesn't look good and I'd be furious if I was the OP.

Afraid this is so. Opening a "Trouble Ticket" shouldn't be too hard a thing to do. Personally, I LIKE Metro and CC. Always been treated decently. It's just that I don't base MY personal "wait time" on a brokers recommendation. "Juuuust keep waiting! We'll try to get to the bottom of this!" Nah. My "bottom" is 14 days.

A purchaser perhaps needs to draw their "line" in a little closer than waiting 6 weeks, then hearing "Ah well, the consignor hasn't responded yet." Eh? NO response? F! him/her, then. Moving on. Because THAT means the purchaser is in for one Hella wait if he takes the bait of "We'll reach out to the consignor so just be patient." No. See? I WAS patient. Now? I'm NOT patient. I don't deal with deadbeats or unresponsive sellers who don't have the courtesy to respond to a buy order OR the decency to call their broker and say "Yeah I sold that book."

So, bring it in a little. Almost 2 months and "fretting" would be in the rearview mirror. It's BUSINESS. Treat it as such.

Edited June 5, 2021 by Randall Ries

[Randall Ries]

7 minutes ago, blazingbob said:

Normally a buyer who spends a half a million on a book is a little more patient.  

They are? Why?

[thehumantorch]

22 hours ago, Randall Ries said:

They are frickin' WEIRD. I called once and actually spoke to Vincent and we chatted awhile about my Bat #9 8.0 in CGC. I decided I'd hang on to it. Didn't want to just give it away, you know?
One month later, he calls my house. I wasn't home but he and my wife talked for an hour on the phone. Nothing funny. Just him trying to talk her into talking ME into giving up the Bat 9. LOL!

Not weird at all.  If they see an opportunity to make money they have lots of time and they can find their phone.  If it's a unhappy customer and a hassle they're busy and can't find their phone.  Making money is their objective and they don't see providing good customer service as important to making money.  It's clear as  day.

[Randall Ries]

Just now, thehumantorch said:

Not weird at all.  If they see an opportunity to make money they have lots of time and they can find their phone.  If it's a unhappy customer and a hassle they're busy and can't find their phone.  Making money is their objective and they don't see providing good customer service as important to making money.  It's clear as  day.

Oh well, I'll rephrase for you. It was weird to ME. I get home from a long day of goofing around and she says "Someone named Vincent called and wanted your Bat 9. I told him it isn't mine and I would tell him when he gets home." I couldn't figure out what she was talking about at first. WTF is "Vincent?" Then she said he kept her on the phone an hour and eventually came back around to the Bat 9. "OHHHH. THAT Vincent!" LOL!

[blazingbob]

13 minutes ago, Randall Ries said:

They are? Why?

Because the buyer and seller are more in communication.  Do you think 6 digit transactions are pay and go right away?  Consignors are very careful in shipping that type of book,  some are in safes,  could be a weekend.  Financial moving of money may have to occur etc.  

Edited June 4, 2021 by blazingbob

[Randall Ries]

1 minute ago, blazingbob said:

Because the buyer and sell are more in communication.  Do you think 6 digit transactions are pay and go right away?  Consignors are very careful in shipping that type of book,  some are in safes,  could be a weekend.  Financial moving of money may have to occur etc.  

Oh I see. A weekend is different than 2 months. We were talking about Metro and CC acting as brokers. Yes, I would be having conversations with the actual seller before unloading money like that. That is a bit outside of the normal Buyer > Metro > Consignor > Metro > Buyer thing.

"Yeah. The seller hasn't responded after 2 months! We'll reach out to them. Yessir. Yes. I know...I KNOW IT IS HALF A MILLION DOLLARS! You have to be patient!"

IMO, customer service is (should be) the same whether it's $100 Adams cover or a Bat 1. $100 Adams covers are the daily expenses/bread and butter. In most ways MUCH more important than the occasional Bat 1 sale.

[thehumantorch]

2 hours ago, Randall Dowling said:

After reading this thread, all I know is that I would never want the OP to purchase from me.  To come on to the boards before they ever tried picking up the phone and complain about how bad Comic Connect is.  And then recount one unreasonable demand/expectation after another.  And half of all his posts are in this thread.  If I were Vincent, I'd refund his money and tell him never to purchase from Comic Connect again.

This isn't the sort of person I give any credence to in assessing the quality of any good or service.  I think they're just here to grind an axe and make those guys look bad.  

I swear, it's like we're reading entirely different threads.

Email is a perfectly valid form of communication and a form Comic Connect encourages by giving out their email address.  It's also a form of communication that I prefer because it's documented and I can refer back to it whereas a phone call relies on my questionable memory.  Please don't blame the OP for using a form of communication that Comic Connect accepts.

Which unreasonable demand are you referring to?  That they ship what they sold?  That they contact him as promised repeatedly?

The number of his posts in this thread have no relevance.  Is there an issue, who's at fault, what's going on, who's telling the truth?  That's what's important.  Do you really think the OP is full of it when he's posted cut and pastes of emails with Comic Connect including specific Comics and grades and invoice #s?

[thehumantorch]

1 hour ago, Randall Dowling said:

I'm not defending bad behavior.  Just the contrary really.

Respectfully, you're assuming everything the OP has stated is completely true.  I'm not.  Not picking up the phone and calling to check status and then melting down when an email wasn't responded to and bashing CC on the boards is bad buying behavior.  YMMV.  Perhaps you don't like Fishler or Vinnie or Metro for your own reasons.  That's fine.  But this buyer should have picked up the phone a month ago.  My guess is they'd have their book by now if they had.

Your guess is wrong.  Any form of communication the OP uses will fail because the consigner doesn't want to sell the book because of the inflated market.  Do you really believe he can't find a book worth more than $4k and do you really believe he has one more place to look?

[Randall Dowling]

I think where people are misunderstanding me is this- I have zero experience with the OP who hasn't posted almost anything on the boards thus zero reputation other than hyperbolic bashing of Comic Connect.  On the other hand, I've dealt with Comic Connect/Metropolis dozens of times over the last 20 years.  And his description doesn't match my experience.  At all.

His particular depiction of events may be completely accurate but my guess, based upon the high level of emotion expressed in his posts and his failure to make a phone call, is that there's more to this story ( @thehumantorch , if you wrote the same thing, I'd be quicker to believe you because you've been on here for a long time and always sounded fairly reasonable).  

I don't think it makes sense to sell books on consignment when you don't have them in your shop.  But I'm not going to assume that the person who consigned the book is suddenly holding out for more money until there's more information, preferably from a different source than the OP.  That may be the case, but I'm not going to assume it based upon the information at hand.

All I'm saying is that as a buyer, I would have handled it differently.  And as a seller, I'd never want to deal with someone who behaved like this.  Just my opinion.

[Larryw7]

3 hours ago, comicdonna said:

I have never had a problem.  The secret to my success is, I have never purchased from ComicConnect.  

Except for that Action that had a Detective inside.

 

[comicdonna]

27 minutes ago, Larryw7 said:

Except for that Action that had a Detective inside.

 

That was Metropolis 10 years ago, and my last purchase from them.

[MGsimba77]

Only complaints about CC is the website isn't too great, they should make the 3% credit card fee more clear to the buyer before checkout and they shouldn't have a best offer on every listing. Some consignors are not interested in considering offers so not having that option would help the shopper avoid wasting valuable time. The best offer thing would also apply to Clink. Customer service for both could use some improvement as well. 

I've bought from both quite often without any problems. 

That being said, the OP is right to be upset if the story is 100% accurate. He or she should have been contacted by CC well before contact was initiated in this case. It should not have been the OPs burden to initiate contact after a month of inactivity from the consignor. Yes presumably some people decide to place a call after a few weeks but maybe some are not sure due to pandemic related reasons and don't? Either way it doesn't excuse CC for not having been on top of it forcing the buyer to initiate contact