As we all know Maelstrom have had more than their fair share of difficulties lately. Whilst they will continue to blame solicitors and unforeseen delays much of the blame has to be on their shoulders for following a short term strategy for far longer than i was sustainable. For all their fine talk of excellent customer service they have really given poor service and very bad signals out. I have now received at least four final sale not to be repeated offer e-mails which is both ironic and a little bit sad. Hell at the moment they have up to 75% off everything with 50% off what little of Battlefront they have left. The problem on going to their website though is that:-
1. If you bother reading the blurb at the top, it tells you they have financial problems. Freely they admit to cash flow issues, they use the term "Much needed cash flow" I just hope their Bank Manager does not read that or he will b pulling the plug on them. You Never, no I mean you NEVER admit to cash flow issues with your customer. They go bust with your money in their hands and you can for get it back, (best buy on a credit card that covers such events!). If I was a supplier bang as gone their credit limit. It's pro-forma until further notice and I would be chasing any overdue payments! Maelstrom are either up to their eyeballs or just totally lacking in business sense.
2. Go past the title page and be stunned by just what they don't have left. I mean almost everything is gone for the majority of customers. Want Vallejo paints? Hope you want one of the 3 bottles they have! Now this is a core item of trade, selling these off at below cost is simply crazy so on the face of it, Maelstrom is sinking and sinking fast. However, I have been to the shop*, in itself a bad sign given the serving staff were not on the floor (a warehouse lad was looking after the shop) and worse still the till was switched off! But on the positive side the shop had some of those very items that are showing as zero stock. What this tells me is that Maelstrom indeed is in a fair bit of bother but may well be able to survive. First up, they are not in administration (unless the administrators like breaking the few laws they can be done for) no signage up in the shop to say they had gone into administration for starters. But I think Maelstrom are protecting some core stock from sale so that they do not have to buy it all back in. However I remain sceptical on both the bricks and mortar shop and the on line presence can both remain a going concern. I expect the shop and gaming facilities to be dropped if it's one or the other.
Time will tell but for now I recommend taking your own basket to this picnic.
*I bought six can's of Maelstrom Purple Army Painter primer, each at £1 a can. AP had been commissioned by Maelstrom to supply this colour but it's been rather unpopular. I am currently testing the colour and it seems OK so probably will pop back and get more cans, they should have some as of yesterday they still had over 160 cans left. Also of note was that the guy who normally works the shop was on site as I saw his car parked outside.
I ordered a couple template sets for £4. Good deal if they turn up, if not, it isn't a big loss.
ReplyDeleteA sale is good for the consumer, but not if you don't get the product. If you can shop onsite it's a good deal. But via internet when they have cash flow problems it sounds like they're looking to take my cash and carry.
ReplyDeleteWish them the best though.
Sad to hear but I would only buy from the shop itself!
ReplyDeletePurple primer? Sounds interesting??
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the shop and the webstore are two separate business entities and have been for a while. So they can't actually share stock, even though both are owned and run by the same guy.
ReplyDeleteSo why the webstore is going bust (and no wonder, I'm got sick of waiting months for "in stock" to be delivered to me) the shop is seemingly still doing fine.
I have hope they will bounce back. I really hope they do actually cause they are my favorite online sales site. Wayland has made more mistakes on my orders than I care to count so I stopped ordering from them, and order almost exclusively from Maelstrom. Thankfully I can wait till they have real stock back in, and order from there.
ReplyDeleteWishing them the best to get through all of this though!
@Vladdd309 yes it's not a great risk and I beleive they will try and fill orders where they have stock. The old policy was to sell items even when they were out of stock as they were ordering from the suppliers very regular. What would worry me would be if they were still taking orders for none stock items.
ReplyDelete@Ray, It's er yes an interesting colour, seems to do the job but yet to do any 28's with it as a base.
@ Lead Legion. They may be meant that way but in fact they are one and the same. I could in the past look on lne for stock and then nip over and pick them up. When the shop lacks an item on the shelf they go directly to the store room to get it for you. Obviously that won't be the case once the warehouse (or should that read if) moves but they should have some back up stock.
My biggest nag is the shop staff don't seem to go in much for the restocking of the store, in fact I have never witnessed such poor store management before. The store I know for a fact does not make any money, in fact that whle set up leaks money like an old ship. Without the profits from the online side the physical shop would close down which I suspect it will be doing anyway.
@M R Lee, so do I. I like the staff for all I said above and it's a great little shop to pop round to. I doubt the majority who use their game tables realise how lucky they are! As for the web sales they have given very good service in the past and I hope that is not forgotten and they get themselves back on track but they need to do it soon.
I will pop over again after my next trip to hospital week after next. I may even but some more primer LOL
Ian
I think the writing is on the wall
ReplyDelete