Friday, December 21, 2018

Shapeways customer service

This wasn't a post I was planning on writing just before Christmas, but it seems like too good a story to pass up.

On 12/19, I received another Shapeways order that contained my two Leander class frigates to go with the Cod Wars project.  Much to my surprise, one of them was misprinted.  The first one out of the bag looked like this:


The second one though, looked like this:

What the...?
Now I'm not an expert on Leander class frigates, but I've never seen ANY pictures that show one with an extra deckhouse there.  So, I fired off an email to Shapeways telling them that there was a problem with my order.  Almost immediately, I got an automated email with the usual "sorry" and asking if I would send any pictures of the problem.  It took me a couple of hours to get the pictures made and sent; in fact, the above photos are the ones I used. 

About 5 hours later, I get an email back from Shapeways customer support, which is located in the EU.  The employee (I wasn't sure about the person's gender based on their name) told me they were sorry about this, and that they would replace it.  I tell them that's fine, and that I understand if it takes a few days to get done due to the holidays.  I figure that's it for now.  Keep in mind, this all happened on 12/19.

At 0845 on 12/20, I get an email from Shapeways that tells me the replacement order has been made, and should ship by January 7, 2019.  That's fine by me, as there's plenty of other stuff to paint while I'm waiting.  At 1328 on 12/20, I get another email telling me my new order is being printed.  OK, now I'm pretty impressed, as that's a good level of service.  This morning (12/21) at 1050, I get an email telling me the order is being shipped and giving me a tracking number.  Now I'm REALLY impressed with Shapeways customer service! 

Now, you could argue that something that obvious should never have been sent out, and I would agree with you.  However, the rapidity with which Shapeways has moved to make it right, especially during a busy holiday season, is certainly a big plus in their favor.  We all have stories of horrible customer service, so when we get really good customer service I think we should let people know.

This is probably the last post before the end of the year.  If it is, here's a Happy Holidays to everyone out there, whatever the holiday you're celebrating might be.  Be careful on New Year's Eve, and we will see each other again in 2019.

7 comments:

  1. Thats a zareba for the Ikara ASW missile system, but it looks out of place and plonked on top of the 4.5" turret (which was removed in these ships). An odd error in the 3D model!

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  2. You can see Naiad so fitted in the video - 2:25 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LhQ64CP1xo

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    1. Oh, OK! So the missile system replaced the forward turret, and the forward superstructure was extended to meet it? That's what it looks like in the video, both there and further along (about 6:10 or so).

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  3. Merry Christmas my sailing Captain! 😀

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    1. Thank you sir! I hope you and yours had a Merry Christmas as well.

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  4. Hope you had a good New Year. I missed it up north, -41°F and now plus 41°! I'm dying from the heat! Started a Langton Bucentaure tonight. Take care my friend.

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    1. Holy cow, man! -41 to +41? How do you keep from getting sick with weather swings like that?

      We did have a good New Year, and I should start posting again shortly. I have a British Cod War frigate almost finished, and that should be a good start to the year.

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