Sideshow & Refunds

[Victοr]

I've been dealing with this problem for near a month now, nothing makes sense and I feel as if I'm losing it. The gist of it is that back in May I bought a Kylo Ren. It was still on PO, so I put down my deposit, but some problems arose when the system wouldn't let me pay for anything beyond it, though eventually (after some emails) it was solved. Around July it was shipped, and on the 25th it reached my country. It got stuck in customs, and I never received an email, phone call, nothing. In their defense, the whole country, especially that region, was burning, so maybe they didn't check things. Still a scummy thing, but there's some excuse. Eventually on the 12th of August it was sent back, and on the 16th of August Sideshow themselves received the figure. It didn't get lost, they have it.

The real problem starts now. I sent Sideshow an email, and they assured me that it'd get refunded. From the 18th, it was radio silence. Nobody would answer me. I sent them another email, and about 2 weeks later from the 18th, they finally told me they were working out things with FedEx and that's why they didn't answer earlier. In the end they refunded me only 50 euros out of the 200 the figure cost. I've sent them one or two emails since then, but from what I understand they're basically telling me that Sideshow isn't responsible for refunds and it's up to FedEx. For... some reason. Because there are "fees" furing delivery, which are somehow different from the shipping costs you pay. I know import fees are different, but that's a business that goes on in the country, not during the online transaction. The thing is, I checked and FedEx does give you a refund if your items are lost or damaged. So what the Hell is going on? I don't have a figure, Sideshow got it back. And for some reason I can't even get my money back. What is this bull? I'm about 200$ short. And Sideshow gets to resell an extra?

Has this happened to anyone else? Is this a Sideshow tactic, to not refund the money, or are they trying to gaslight me? I paid through PayPal, and that's how I got the two refunds (one for 50 euros out 195 and another for the 20-euro deposit). What do I do now? I have 4 POs with those guys. I always thought SS would be reliable, being the biggest distributor and all, but I'm getting downright ****** on as simple a thing as a refund. Does anyone have any such experience or am I the only poor, unlucky sod?

 

[VSF11]

I can't believe everyone else here is pretty much ignoring this person's problem!

 

[Victοr]

I can't believe everyone else here is pretty much ignoring this person's problem!

Eh, it's okay, this was probably a unique case and nobody knew anything more. A member did reach out to me through PM and gave me some really handy tips. I did "solve" my problem by the way. Sideshow kept the figure, FedEx kept the majority of the refund, and I got 70 euros out of the 250 back... Needless to say I then cancelled all of my POs with Sideshow.

 

[VSF11]

I myself wouldn't be so forgiving - at the least I'd set about to cost sideshow and fedex as much as possible for their dishonesty.

 

[Victοr]

I myself wouldn't be so forgiving - at the least I'd set about to cost sideshow and fedex as much as possible for their dishonesty.

I was emailing them back and forth for a month and more. There's really nothing more to be done. Sideshow lost a customer and that was that.

 

[VSF11]

Which (unfortunately) won't affect their profits at all - there's plently of others to replace you, who'll buy from them because they don't know how dishonest they are...

 

[Luminous]

I am sorry to hear about this, @darthkostis. However, I agree with @VSF11. I would not have settled for anything less than a 100% refund. Don't rely on one form of communication. You said you emailed both parties. Start making phone calls. Inform Sideshow you will be reporting them to the Better Business Bereau. Post the incident on their respective social media accounts. Basically raise hell until you get what you're owed, or at the very least piss them off for airing their dirty laundry. We shouldn't have to resort to such tactics but we also can't allow these corporations to so easily take advantage of us. I know that's all easier said than done, but we have to try or else they will have zero incentive to do better.

 

[Victοr]

Which (unfortunately) won't affect their profits at all - there's plently of others to replace you, who'll buy from them because they don't know how dishonest they are...

True, sad as it is.

I am sorry to hear about this, @darthkostis. However, I agree with @VSF11. I would not have settled for anything less than a 100% refund. Don't rely on one form of communication. You said you emailed both parties. Start making phone calls. Inform Sideshow you will be reporting them to the Better Business Bereau. Post the incident on their respective social media accounts. Basically raise hell until you get what you're owed, or at the very least piss them off for airing their dirty laundry. We shouldn't have to resort to such tactics but we also can't allow these corporations to so easily take advantage of us. I know that's all easier said than done, but we have to try or else they will have zero incentive to do better.

I don't have any social media and they are legally covered. In their shipping FAQs and whatever they basically say that the refund is on the shipping company, FedEx, etc. When I didn't get a call to go receive my figure and it was sent back, FedEx basically charged everything they could think of as a fee/expense, and took it out of the refund. So out of the ~200 euros, which was the price for the figure, I got ~50 back. And then Sideshow gave me back my deposit. We went back and forth about it, but in the end they basically told me that that was it.

They sent me an email to rate their service, and considering it took them ~20 days of utter silence to even give me that 50 euro refund, I think they already know their rating...

 

[Luminous]

True, sad as it is.

I don't have any social media and they are legally covered. In their shipping FAQs and whatever they basically say that the refund is on the shipping company, FedEx, etc. When I didn't get a call to go receive my figure and it was sent back, FedEx basically charged everything they could think of as a fee/expense, and took it out of the refund. So out of the ~200 euros, which was the price for the figure, I got ~50 back. And then Sideshow gave me back my deposit. We went back and forth about it, but in the end they basically told me that that was it.

They sent me an email to rate their service, and considering it took them ~20 days of utter silence to even give me that 50 euro refund, I think they already know their rating...

Like I said, I personally wouldn't let it rest until they realized it would have been smarter to help you out as a customer. They can be as "legally" covered as they want, it doesn't mean that what happened to you (with their product and service) was right. It's not about whether or not any legal action can be taken. It's about ensuring they take care of their customers. If you're good with the end result then that's all that matters. I understand not wanting to take on some crusade. For most it probably isn't worth it when it's all said and done. I wouldn't let it stand though.

 

[Victοr]

Like I said, I personally wouldn't let it rest until they realized it would have been smarter to help you out as a customer. They can be as "legally" covered as they want, it doesn't mean that what happened to you (with their product and service) was right. It's not about whether or not any legal action can be taken. It's about ensuring they take care of their customers. If you're good with the end result then that's all that matters. I understand not wanting to take on some crusade. For most it probably isn't worth it when it's all said and done. I wouldn't let it stand though.

Eh, like you said, I'm not in the mood to take on an internet crusade. It won't result in anything and it'll be lost time. These big companies always win, it is what it is.

 

[SwedishHeat]

Why not dispute it with your credit card company?

 

[Victοr]

Why not dispute it with your credit card company?

I paid through PayPal. I have the receipts and everything, and I did check if there was an option to make an inquiry to PayPal about my refund being less than the amount I paid, but it was too much hassle and again, SideShow legally bears no responsibillity and throws it all on the carrier/shipper/whatever the proper naming is (FedEx in my case). I'm not going to get dragged in some open dispute with banks and everything over 200 bucks. It's not chump change, but it's not enough for me to devote more time and thought to it all. I got out of Sideshow and that was that. I'll be avoiding FedEx in the future too; there's always DHL.

 

[Luminous]

You don't seem all that bothered by losing $200. It begs the question, why bring up the situation on the forum at all?

 

[generalszabo]

You don't seem all that bothered by losing $200. It begs the question, why bring up the situation on the forum at all?

Well it was weeks ago that he first posted

I have never heard of anything like this happening, unless the package was rejected by the recipient

Am wondering if there's more to this story, like FedEx saying they did contact you

Either way you seem happy enough with what happened to let it go, life's too short to get caught up on things that you're not concerned with

 

[Victοr]

Well it was weeks ago that he first posted

I have never heard of anything like this happening, unless the package was rejected by the recipient

Am wondering if there's more to this story, like FedEx saying they did contact you

Either way you seem happy enough with what happened to let it go, life's too short to get caught up on things that you're not concerned with

The package arrived, but the customs office never contacted me. So after the two weeks, they sent it back to Sideshow. I had a tracking number and everything, but I always waited until they sent me an email or something, otherwise there was little I could do. I couldn't phone them and request it. The customs was not even in my city. There were lots of fires and the such at the time around those parts, plus Corona and whatnot, so maybe it fell over to the wayside. FedEx never contacted me, all my emails were with Sideshow and they basically told me that it was out of their hands.

I'm not "happy", but I'm not going to hold onto forever either. First HT I bought was the SM3 Spider-Man, and due to broken ankle and me trying to fix it, I ended up trashing the entire figure. I could lament the lost money, especially since its value has increased in the secondary market, but there's no point in it.

You don't seem all that bothered by losing $200. It begs the question, why bring up the situation on the forum at all?

I made the thread when the whole thing happened. By the time it was necro'd it had been nearly a month. I was wondering if anyone had experience with Sideshow's refund policy.

 

[Bleah]

You invested time going back and forth with sideshow so why not put the effort in disputing for the full amount with PayPal? Trying to figure out their refund policy won't move things forward at this point.

 

[Victοr]

You invested time going back and forth with sideshow so why not put the effort in disputing for the full amount with PayPal? Trying to figure out their refund policy won't move things forward at this point.

Because there's nohing to be done through PayPal. A refund is shown on that particular payment, even if it's about 1/3rd of the amount. The matter's with Sideshow who legally isn't obliged to do anything and FedEx is responsible for all that stuff. I don't have anything else to do, and I'm not getting into any legal matters over 200 bucks. It's been over for months now.