HERO RESTORATION - BOOKS NOT BEING RETURNED 20 20

[Hulksdaddy1]

On 6/13/2023 at 1:02 AM, Hero Restoration said:

Hi Justin,

your submission is complete, and shipped out today, UPS Tracking # 1ZX61R530390153102

Sorry for the anxiety it caused. The last book to be done is below.

You MIGHT want to add a little more info to this thread. 

[MattTheDuck]

On 6/12/2023 at 11:07 PM, Hulksdaddy1 said:

You MIGHT want to add a little more info to this thread. 

Or even some accurate information.

[theCapraAegagrus]

[MatterEaterLad]

I don't know Mike well, but my interactions with him in the past have been overwhelmingly positive. 

That being stated, I do think this is a situation where his recovery time is unknown, so he's been in a holding pattern (according to a former employee).

Also, it may be impossible to get books back right away if he's done the work and already sent them to CGC for regrading, so there's that wait factored in as well. 

The whole thing is sad and a mess and I'm so sorry for those not made whole.

I'm so glad I didn't drop off my FF1 last fall. If I couldn't get that book back, I'd be on his doorstep wanting my book or some answers. 

So glad he popped on the boards.

Mike, come back, people need answers. And their books.

 

 

[Number 6]

On 6/13/2023 at 6:16 AM, MatterEaterLad said:

Also, it may be impossible to get books back right away if he's done the work and already sent them to CGC for regrading, so there's that wait factored in as well. 

If the inability to return books was due to them being at CGC, I would think that would be a pretty quick and easy email to send to those asking.  And I would think most customers would be satisfied with that answer. 
 

Based on what’s been posted here, the email response…when there is one..is ‘your books are getting packed up now’.  Whether they’re being packed up to go to CGC or back to the customer wasn’t clarified. The context of this discussion seems to imply they were supposedly being shipped back to the customer. 
 

I’m not trying to stir the pot, but while books being at CGC might be a plausible explanation, I get the impression there’s more to it than that. 

[Hero Restoration]

On 6/12/2023 at 11:07 PM, Hulksdaddy1 said:

You MIGHT want to add a little more info to this thread. 

I did. None of it saved. 😮‍💨

[Hero Restoration]

Okay, so the short answer is I am very behind, sick, but not dead. Trying without help to get caught up. 

Going to type up long answer offline first, I don't want to lose it all again.

 

 

[TC33]

Sent many massive books like AF 15 (yes that was my book he showed off on his web site) ASM 1 etc to Mike for resto although that was quite some time ago and everything came back great back in the day.  From my past dealings, he seemed like an honest and hard working guy that takes his work seriously, but even when healthy got significantly behind schedule quite often (my extensive resto books went well into the next year) which is why he added help to his staff quite a while ago.  I can only imagine that having a heart attack & whatever else he has been through took a massive toll on him physically and financially to set him back upwards of a year or so on his huge back log (especially if he had to let his staff go due to financial issues from the hospital/surgery/recovery costs).  Based on my past experiences with him, if I had books out with him, I would still hold out hope to get my books back eventually, even if it were a year or so late.  From the above recent post and scans, it looks like he is back at it as he gave the pre and post press scan above and delivery tracking for the ASM guy that first started this thread, so that should give some confidence that hopefully he is still slowly working through his huge back log as his health and time allows.  

Mike, it looks like people just want you to take a bit more time to communicate better details on the health issues you have gone through, huge back log and time constraints to get through your back log due to your health issues you have been through.  I am sure some people that had feared the worst would even be OK getting their books back without the pressing work etc at this point, so you should offer that possibility along with more accurate updated timing estimates.  I have a hard time believing Mike won't make things right & get all the books back eventually based on the guy I dealt with in the past.  With Mike communicating and working again, hopefully this all gives some hope back to everyone that had feared the worst.  Best Wishes! 

[thehumantorch]

On 6/13/2023 at 10:57 AM, Hero Restoration said:

Okay, so the short answer is I am very behind, sick, but not dead. Trying without help to get caught up. 

Going to type up long answer offline first, I don't want to lose it all again.

 

 

If you take too long to create a post it seems to go poof.  

[Hero Restoration]

On 6/13/2023 at 10:17 AM, TC33 said:

Sent many massive books like AF 15 (yes that was my book he showed off on his web site) ASM 1 etc to Mike for resto although that was quite some time ago and everything came back great back in the day.  From my past dealings, he seemed like an honest and hard working guy that takes his work seriously, but even when healthy got significantly behind schedule quite often (my extensive resto books went well into the next year) which is why he added help to his staff quite a while ago.  I can only imagine that having a heart attack & whatever else he has been through took a massive toll on him physically and financially to set him back upwards of a year or so on his huge back log (especially if he had to let his staff go due to financial issues from the hospital/surgery/recovery costs).  Based on my past experiences with him, if I had books out with him, I would still hold out hope to get my books back eventually, even if it were a year or so late.  From the above recent post and scans, it looks like he is back at it as he gave the pre and post press scan above and delivery tracking for the ASM guy that first started this thread, so that should give some confidence that hopefully he is still slowly working through his huge back log as his health and time allows.  

Mike, it looks like people just want you to take a bit more time to communicate better details on the health issues you have gone through, huge back log and time constraints to get through your back log due to your health issues you have been through.  I am sure some people that had feared the worst would even be OK getting their books back without the pressing work etc at this point, so you should offer that possibility along with more accurate updated timing estimates.  I have a hard time believing Mike won't make things right & get all the books back eventually based on the guy I dealt with in the past.  With Mike communicating and working again, hopefully this all gives some hope back to everyone that had feared the worst.  Best Wishes! 

Thank you! You shared the bulk of it for me. I don't like posting using a phone, and I don't like losing my post after I go through typing it. 

My luck is so bad this last 6 months, that now I'm waiting for the power to come back on so I can use a desktop computer and type out something. Well thought out, error free. 

So I'm going to break this up into smaller post just to make sure I don't lose it.

I should be working right now, and without the power I just can't. That is what it's been like day after day since October. 

Like most in the industry, 2022 started out with a bang. Hero restoration's growth was exponential every 30 to 60 days. We grew to two locations, doubled up on training, invested every dollar of profit right back into growing.

By September of 2022, we were up to a 10-person crew. We were getting the volume we needed for that many people. 

Brewing in the background was a buildup of concern over inflation and recession.

Many of our clients are investors, first, collector 2nd, but there's nothing more I'd rather do than sit on the phone with a client who's been collecting books all his life, piling them up in the closet.

Investors watch the market, and in October key books dropped in certain grades 40% in value. Like any investor, nearly all of them just tap the brakes right away. By November I had no choice but to reduce the crew to three and went into debt, Keeping people on longer than the company should have to try to get that massive amount of work done..... 

Being the owner I bucked up. Never would I accept so many books alone that I would be facing 15 short boxes with half of them already late. I put in 16 hour days 7 days a week, the only days I've taken off since October or just to recover nothing else has been done. Just grinding out worked, but to the clients it doesn't look like it cuz they're so much to do, three people had to work of 10 and then eventually one me. Almost everything is done and it's just waiting for the work it takes to go through each order and process them. See there's my upside down. Horseshoe. Not only did it take five steps to get the picture, it's upside down. Dang it

 

 

[Hero Restoration]

Okay, I don't really like bringing out my personal stuff with business. I don't expect anybody who reads this to have any specific reaction. But I assure you, you'll certainly be one .

I don't like the attention, and it seems to cause more harm than good, seriously. For me it feels like being out in the wild, and you can't let the other animals know your injured. Because if they do, it's dinner time. Small business is in the cracks of corporate structure. Kind of like freshman year, the seniors already know how to bleed you without effort, and they do. That's a separate story for another time, which I assume will come up sooner or later.

So when I had my heart attack in late December, the last thing I wanted to do was tell everyone. It's the same reason why the government lies to you, because if they don't, then all the toilet paper on the shelves goes bye-bye. In other words, people panic.

I had to slow way down after the heart attack, and not necessarily intentional. It took me a while to figure it out, but time was really going by much faster. Except time is always static, so that means I'm moving slower.

Clients start to get upset over the wait, and eventually I revealed my health issue just so they'd understand why, but that it would still be ready soon. (Hoping for some slack). Now when I say soon, I really believe it, but.......

[Hero Restoration]

I almost lost that post. Okay power is back on and I got a spoon load of stuff to do. 

I mean well, but I really can't predict what happens day from day, and like I said my luck has been so bad. Something is always interfering.

So I basically got three reactions to the news.

First one is apologies and condolences. I'm not the biggest fan of those, You don't really know who means it and who doesn't.

The second was" oh my god, can you please hurry up and get my books out before something happens to you."

The third was a mixture of two. Sometimes in his less is 3 hours. I'd get an email that says I'm sorry to hear about your health, and then in the next email, It's a how fast can I get the books out?

So I go back to work in 16 hour days, 7 days a week, but I'm moving super slow. I push myself into heart attack number two. Part of my problem is an 80% blocked artery, and I have arterial spasms whenever I'm stressed out.

I need to get a bypass done, and I need time to recover, up to 8 weeks. Most people I've talked to you said it's not a big deal. I don't really want to get into it, but a stint won't work.

The problem is, the present customers can't wait any longer. They're already charging back on their cards or suing or claiming class action lawsuit or trying to get the pitchforks and torches out. So I can't have the procedure done until it's all done. 

I'm trying to get this last batch of boxes out well at the same time having to fight off the wolves at my door, and the crows at my window. I can't tell you that I'm exhausted, because someone who has an order here might read it and then add to the anxiety that it is already been terrible.

[Hero Restoration]

I am run down, burnt out, and I don't got any more fight in me against the wolves, and all I can think about is some peace, and chickens. 

I want some days off like everybody else gets, I want some time to enjoy life before something else happens and it's done.

I don't blame the clients, I think the timing is really bad. Everybody's very agitated right now, with inflation, scammers, and the threat of recession. 

Small businesses struggling to keep up with demand. People are tired of waiting. I get it. It's no different for me, I have the same struggles just on a different level, so sometimes it seems like the one thing people could spare, they don't want to.

That's all I ever asked for was Time, but nobody seems to want to give it. CGC doesn't want to wait, the wolves don't want to wait, creditors don't want to wait, and the customers don't want to wait, and I think the reapers getting a little impatient too..

Funny thing is, the biggest clients are the least worried. Can you imagine that? Someone mentioned something about an AF-15? You know how many I have here? More than five and none of them are worried. Justin's order now  that it's pressed is worth some money. But most of the pressure is coming from those other pressing tiers. 

I got insurance. I got others set up to have access to all the data and the books if need be. They're not going to just disappear or get locked up somewhere forever. Never to be found. People could just be calm, I can get this finished and schedule my surgery.

I don't think customers understand or believe how much it adds up, when you ask me to update every week, or every day, it's not helping. It's only slowing things down. 15 emails a day to find out something you already know? And then get upset if I don't answer right away? For example, I got email from Mr client Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, memorial Day. By Tuesday he was ready to call his attorney. Come on! 

Just because I work on the weekend doesn't mean I do everything on the weekend.

So if it doesn't seem like I care to respond, it's not because I don't. It's because I am a headless chicken, trying to keep going even though I should be laying sideways on the ground.

I got to go but I am burnt out of people who want updates. I posted on the website, set up the phone system to deliver updates when you call. If I ship your books I'm going to send you an email, so you don't have to keep asking, although sometimes I'm so late on the email, they're already at their destination. But it really is part of the delay. A third of it really, ask anyone of the crew and they'll tell you. I spent more money paying people to answer emails and phone calls, then pressing books, and if I'm wrong it's pretty close.  

Nice talking to you all on the boards.

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by Hero Restoration

[ExNihilo]

On 6/13/2023 at 11:47 AM, thehumantorch said:

If you take too long to create a post it seems to go poof.  

On desktop, it seems to remember for quite a while.  I've returned to old posts where apparently I started writing a comment and never submitted, only for that to still be there the next time I clicked on the topic.  I'm talking months.  Phone is a different story.  I couldn't imagine navigating this site on a small screen like that.

[thehumantorch]

On 6/13/2023 at 2:05 PM, Hero Restoration said:

I am run down, burnt out, and I don't got any more fight in me against the wolves, and all I can think about is some peace, and chickens. 

I want some days off like everybody else gets, I want some time to enjoy life before something else happens and it's done.

I don't blame the clients, I think the timing is really bad. Everybody's very agitated right now, with inflation, scammers, and the threat of recession. 

Small businesses struggling to keep up with demand. People are tired of waiting. I get it. It's no different for me, I have the same struggles just on a different level, so sometimes it seems like the one thing people could spare, they don't want to.

That's all I ever asked for was Time, but nobody seems to want to give it. CGC doesn't want to wait, the wolves don't want to wait, creditors don't want to wait, and the customers don't want to wait, and I think the reapers getting a little impatient too..

Funny thing is, the biggest clients are the least worried. Can you imagine that? Someone mentioned something about an AF-15? You know how many I have here? More than five and none of them are worried. Justin's order now  that it's pressed is worth some money. But most of the pressure is coming from those other pressing tiers. 

I got insurance. I got others set up to have access to all the data and the books if need be. They're not going to just disappear or get locked up somewhere forever. Never to be found. People could just be calm, I can get this finished and schedule my surgery.

I don't think customers understand or believe how much it adds up, when you ask me to update every week, or every day, it's not helping. It's only slowing things down. 15 emails a day to find out something you already know? And then get upset if I don't answer right away? For example, I got email from Mr client Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, memorial Day. By Tuesday he was ready to call his attorney. Come on! 

Just because I work on the weekend doesn't mean I do everything on the weekend.

So if it doesn't seem like I care to respond, it's not because I don't. It's because I am a headless chicken, trying to keep going even though I should be laying sideways on the ground.

I got to go but I am burnt out of people who want updates. I posted on the website, set up the phone system to deliver updates when you call. If I ship your books I'm going to send you an email, so you don't have to keep asking, although sometimes I'm so late on the email, they're already at their destination. But it really is part of the delay. A third of it really, ask anyone of the crew and they'll tell you. I spent more money paying people to answer emails and phone calls, then pressing books, and if I'm wrong it's pretty close.  

Nice talking to you all on the boards.

Thanks for the update.  Hopefully that will help alleviate some of the concerns and buy you some time to get caught up.  And remember your health and heart are more important than comics.

[Nick Furious]

On 6/13/2023 at 1:58 PM, Hero Restoration said:

By September of 2022, we were up to a 10-person crew. We were getting the volume we needed for that many people. 

.... By November I had no choice but to reduce the crew to three and went into debt

Classic small business cash flow crisis.  There are two likely scenarios here, most likely it's a combination of both.  One is that your accounts receivable is a mess of unpaid bills, and you need to get aggressive about collecting it, even send to collections those who won't pay for completed work.  The second is that you spent the deposits on growth rather than fulfilling current obligations (very common).  If this is the case, you should write each current client an email apologizing for running out of money and offer them the option to take their unfinished books back now without a refund but with a credit towards work that you hope to be able to perform for them in the future.  Or the option to stick it out with you in the hopes that the work will be completed, and they will pay their outstanding balance at that time, regardless of the delays.  It sounds like people like you and want to see you come through this, regardless of how frustrated they may be.  

[CAHokie]

On 6/13/2023 at 11:40 PM, Nick Furious said:

Classic small business cash flow crisis.  There are two likely scenarios here, most likely it's a combination of both.  One is that your accounts receivable is a mess of unpaid bills, and you need to get aggressive about collecting it, even send to collections those who won't pay for completed work.  The second is that you spent the deposits on growth rather than fulfilling current obligations (very common).  If this is the case, you should write each current client an email apologizing for running out of money and offer them the option to take their unfinished books back now without a refund but with a credit towards work that you hope to be able to perform for them in the future.  Or the option to stick it out with you in the hopes that the work will be completed, and they will pay their outstanding balance at that time, regardless of the delays.  It sounds like people like you and want to see you come through this, regardless of how frustrated they may be.  

Yeah, my instincts are telling me that there needs to be another option. Set one day aside where every one is contacted and asked what they want to do with their books moving forward, and if they want them back set aside one day just to package and ship them back. That will lighten the back load and stress hopefully. As far as the money goes, that is going to suck if it’s not refunded as well if they paid in advance.
 

Just out of curiosity are the “wolves” references, actually wolves or a term used for the customers concerned about their high value books? 

[KCOComics]

On 6/14/2023 at 6:55 AM, CAHokie said:

Yeah, my instincts are telling me that there needs to be another option. Set one day aside where every one is contacted and asked what they want to do with their books moving forward, and if they want them back set aside one day just to package and ship them back. That will lighten the back load and stress hopefully. As far as the money goes, that is going to suck if it’s not refunded as well if they paid in advance.
 

Just out of curiosity are the “wolves” references, actually wolves or a term used for the customers concerned about their high value books? 

My interpretation of wolves is all of the people taking shots and coming after him. 

 

I imagine he can't float the cash to refund customers money and their books. It's a very delicate situation. 

I think he's gotta stop taking orders until he is caught up. And then he needs to call in every favor he can. Siblings, friends.... Anyone who can pack/ship comics, respond to emails and just take some of the operational burden off him for a few weekends so he can focus on the work. 

Start with the old work. Get NP his AF15 that's been away since 2019 and clear out the back log.  

 

The hard part is, he does need to watch his health. I can only imagine how scary that is. 

 

 

 

[Nick Furious]

On 6/14/2023 at 5:55 AM, CAHokie said:

Yeah, my instincts are telling me that there needs to be another option. Set one day aside where every one is contacted and asked what they want to do with their books moving forward, and if they want them back set aside one day just to package and ship them back. That will lighten the back load and stress hopefully. As far as the money goes, that is going to suck if it’s not refunded as well if they paid in advance.
 

Just out of curiosity are the “wolves” references, actually wolves or a term used for the customers concerned about their high value books? 

I would interpret the "wolves" as a pack of life/business troubles that hit all in the same time frame.  I think the important thing to solving this would be to include the customers in the decisions and give them options, as limited as they might be.  As they often advise people in financial trouble...talk to those you owe.  

[CAHokie]

On 6/14/2023 at 7:44 AM, KCOComics said:

My interpretation of wolves is all of the people taking shots and coming after him. 

 

I imagine he can't float the cash to refund customers money and their books. It's a very delicate situation. 

I think he's gotta stop taking orders until he is caught up. And then he needs to call in every favor he can. Siblings, friends.... Anyone who can pack/ship comics, respond to emails and just take some of the operational burden off him for a few weekends so he can focus on the work. 

Start with the old work. Get NP his AF15 that's been away since 2019 and clear out the back log.  

 

The hard part is, he does need to watch his health. I can only imagine how scary that is. 

 

 

 

I agree completely, especially the last paragraph.