1/6 Spider-Man: Far From Home - Mysterio's Iron Man Illusion Collectible Figure

[gmoney5000]

You're not fooling anyone Alex...

I can't get anything past you Buff!

Yeah, claiming not to be Alex definitely sounds like something that Alex would say.

Lmaoooo, damn it! You are all too wise for me to con!


That's why I call myself G$...and not A$...

 

[gmoney5000]

Some screenshots attached of my awkward convo...

 

[IronManConnoiseur]

That is the most frustrating experience of all time. **** customer service.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[yacobschlomo]

Now I'm curious who this Alex is, what kinda stuff hes been trying to pull, and what the heck to make of this statement:

"Alex, I know it's you. will talk to you tonight. If you say you're not Alex, we have nothing to say then"

 

[The Buffinator]

Some screenshots attached of my awkward convo...

View attachment 492968

Hey Alex, what detective do you have on order anyway? Harry Callahan? Columbo? No wonder the guy thought you were a troll.

 

[gmoney5000]

Hey Alex, what detective do you have on order anyway? Harry Callahan? Columbo? No wonder the guy thought you were a troll.

lmaooooo! Oh jeez, gonna give me grief for my silly typo...

Way to go Defective Buffy!

 

[ArtDamage]

Wow that is absolutely bizarre. There are a lot of idiots out there when it comes to customers of anything, but there certainly has been a lot of HK vendors with weird customer service ticks. I feel like there's been nightmare tales of even the most dependable ones. Must be getting taken for money left and right with international shipping woes maybe? I dunno.

 

[The Buffinator]

lmaooooo! Oh jeez, gonna give me grief for my silly typo...

Way to go Defective Buffy!

Touche!

 

[CJPx01]

Wtf is that lol? ‘If you are not related to [him], I say sorry’ and cancels order... I’ve ordered 2 Hot Toys from him without any issues but this is ridiculous. Unprofessional. Enough for me to reconsider ever purchasing from him again lol.

 

[chrisstbh]

It is really odd but seems like it could be due to a language barrier and not understanding your intent though. He probably thinks that because you are asking about how to return items etc. before even receiving the order that you have the intention of returning it.

They actually have a page on their website dedicated to returns, replacements, etc.

I've ordered a couple of figures from him now and have nothing but pleasant interactions and quick, friendly service so this is pretty strange indeed.

 

[The Buffinator]

This TBA guy is probably related to the sculptor of the HT Chadwick Boseman head. I knew your trashing it would come back to bite you, gmoney! Oops, I mean ALEX!

Seriously though, that is very strange behavior for an on-line seller. I agree the language barrier may be a factor, but it seems he's fallen victim to quite the scam artist and is now overly suspicious.

 

[gmoney5000]

EDIT: Sorry I had to delete my previous post as I realized I didn't fully redact some sensitive information on there.

Well I'm kinda ticked right now...just received this email from Toys Buying Agent...although his name should really be "Guy in Hong Kong Who MIGHT Buy Your Toy for You But Will Probably Cancel if You Dare Ask About Their Policy and Happen to Share Last Name as This Guy Named Alex."

TBA is obviously not a legitimate business or affiliated/authorized retailer that deals with Hot Toys directly! Literally some RANDOM Joe who goes out and purchases something on your behalf...so I guess buyer beware as you have no real protection from this "business." This was precisely why I asked about their policy when it comes to potentially receiving a defective product...you really have NO coverage or protection then!

Obviously my first and only experience with TBA has been negative, to say the least, but seems like you're really rolling the dice buying from this random guy on the internet. The fact that he's unwilling to solicit business from me because I happen to share the same last name as this "ALEX" guy is absurd!!! Moreover I saw people saying he doesn't ship to Illinois anymore...guess this ALEX guy is probably from that state!

So to whoever this "ALEX" fella is I say a big F U to you and to TBA also an F U to you too you paranoid bozo!

 

[gmoney5000]

Wtf is that lol? ‘If you are not related to [him], I say sorry’ and cancels order... I’ve ordered 2 Hot Toys from him without any issues but this is ridiculous. Unprofessional. Enough for me to reconsider ever purchasing from him again lol.

All I would say is buyer beware...because clearly this seller is highly paranoid to the point that he would cancel on someone who shares the last name with a ANOTHER buyer he had a bad experience with...that coupled with the fact that I merely inquired about their policy got me put on essentially a BANNED list is absurd!

So basically if you have a good experience with him, great! But just keep in mind that down the line in the future if you ever do have an issue with the product you receive TBA is going to be reluctant/wary to help you and if your issue can't be solved in an amicable way he will simply chose to NOT do business with you at all. So for all you "good" customers right now, just know you'll eventually have an issue with him!

It is really odd but seems like it could be due to a language barrier and not understanding your intent though. He probably thinks that because you are asking about how to return items etc. before even receiving the order that you have the intention of returning it.

They actually have a page on their website dedicated to returns, replacements, etc.

I've ordered a couple of figures from him now and have nothing but pleasant interactions and quick, friendly service so this is pretty strange indeed.

Oh, just you wait...one day your product will have a loose or missing part and if you ask for a replacement piece you'll be deemed a bad customer...only a matter of time before you get banned yourself! That's the problem with dealing with highly sensitive or paranoid people...you will eventually cross them the wrong way, even if it's not your intent!

This TBA guy is probably related to the sculptor of the HT Chadwick Boseman head. I knew your trashing it would come back to bite you, gmoney! Oops, I mean ALEX!

Seriously though, that is very strange behavior for an on-line seller. I agree the language barrier may be a factor, but it seems he's fallen victim to quite the scam artist and is now overly suspicious.

Yes...call me A$ from now on Buff! Alex is my true name and totally not a name that begins with G or something lol.

Language may perhaps be a barrier, but c'mon the logic behind his rationale is only going to cost him future business.

MARK MY WORDS PEOPLE, you will eventually "wrong" him in the future if/when you have an issue with the Hot Toys item you purchase from him. He will view your request for a replacement part or an exchange as a headache and he simply choose to cut you off/ban you than than handle basic customer service!!! You've been warned. This guy is UNPROFESSIONAL and a HACK!

 

[chrisstbh]

I'll wait until that time comes, personally. He's by far the cheapest and most viable option I've found for buying as someone from the UK, Sideshow etc just aren't a good option unless I'm able to score an amazing deal. So, I'll wait and see, worst that can happen is I need to initiate a chargeback and get my money back anyway.

I've heard nothing but good things from other collectors , seems like people are having issues with other reputable sellers like KG Hobby too lately as well.

 

[yacobschlomo]

Yeah, you gotta keep in mind that these guys are not working with very high profit margins like a reseller like Sideshow. You're not going to get the same type of customer service and they're going to be more wary of "bad buyers". They do have a clear return/replacement policy on their site and you'll be covered by Paypal anyways. So it all depends on whether you'd rather save money or have peace of mind if you have to return/replace. I've ordered close to 200 Hot Toys and have only had maybe 1 or 2 instances where I had to get replacement parts - so I'd prefer to save the money.

 

[The Iron Koob]

Isn't that Timcent?

 

[gmoney5000]

Isn't that Timcent?

Whoever he is, he's unprofessional!

 

[skizzoid]

Timcent has had pretty good reviews for a long time. My one experience with him was pretty positive- the figure arrived with a defect, and he was hesitant to do anything because it would involve shipping the whole figure back and forth (he basically asked if it was serious enough to warrant that whole exchange). If it were Sideshow, they'd just replace it since they have the extra replacement units and support baked into the overhead.

Yeah, you gotta keep in mind that these guys are not working with very high profit margins like a reseller like Sideshow. You're not going to get the same type of customer service and they're going to be more wary of "bad buyers". They do have a clear return/replacement policy on their site and you'll be covered by Paypal anyways. So it all depends on whether you'd rather save money or have peace of mind if you have to return/replace. I've ordered close to 200 Hot Toys and have only had maybe 1 or 2 instances where I had to get replacement parts - so I'd prefer to save the money.

Anyone expecting Sideshow levels of customer support from an HK seller is expecting too much. That said, I opt for piece of mind because I've had a higher ratio of figures that required replacement parts.

 

[gmoney5000]

Anyways, there's been an update to my situation! I did email back to TBA voicing my displeasure on how the entire ordeal was handled, but I would still be willing to patronize him if he allowed me to. He wrote back apologizing for it and provided me an upgraded 200 HKD discount along with EMS speedpost. So I tip my hat off to him for offering those concessions.

As a result of these new developments, I'd like to retract my previous critical remarks of him being unprofessional and a hack! I'm not sure what kind of stress and burdens he deals with so I'm willing to overlook all of that, however I still do believe the initial handling of all this could have been done so in a more professional manner. Either way the situation has been rectified and I believe both parties are happy campers.

I needed to re-purchase the item...however one thing I did discover was all of a sudden I was limited to checking out with PayPal only. My initial purchase allowed me to check out simply as a credit card purchase, so I thought the PayPal only route was a bit peculiar, however I do believe TBA probably limited me to PayPal as my option to protect himself? I dunno...I don't use PayPal too frequently, so not sure...anyone who knows better could you chime in?

The other thing I was a little thrown by was my initial purchase (that was canceled) costed 2500 HKD, which converted to $322.50 USD. However this time when purchasing through PayPal, even though the total this time was 2400 HKD, my final conversion charge still ended up being $321.72 USD...what the heck happened there? What am I missing? Because according to Google the conversion from 2400 HKD is $309.66 USD...so I'm not sure why I'm still being charged the same amount in USD even though it's lower in HKD? Yes, I'm aware currency rates can fluctuate, however is that kind of change possible within a matter of only 3 days or did PayPal upcharge me or something???

Anyways, all good so far...looking forward to my EG War Machine shipping out.

 

[DioramaMaker]

Sir, this is a Wendy's.