Lucky Models kit availability

[arnobiz]

Thanks Stacey, I think I will go this route if LM does not wake up.

Again, not a smart move to give loyal customers a reason to try the competition. IMHO it's a better strategy to source from competition exceptionally and keep your status of sole supplier with your end customer.

Arnaud

[arnobiz]

Things just went from bad to worse: I had planned two dioramas starring a Tiger and a King Tiger and ordered all the necessary stuff (including accessories, a jeep and US soldiers, a german tank crew...).

• The King tiger is not available at all (as mentionned earlier)
  
• The Tiger is not available either (just heard about that)
  
• Both kits are still for sale on the LM website, which is plain dishonest to me now that they know they are unable to source the kits at all
  
• LM shipped all the accessories separately without asking (I ticked the box "Do not send items separately" just for that reason), which is a sheer loss to me since I will not be able to make the dioramas I planned this stuff for
  

In a word I am pissed :bandhead2:/>/> but life goes on ;)

Arnaud

[Inquisitor]

Things just went from bad to worse: I had planned two dioramas starring a Tiger and a King Tiger and ordered all the necessary stuff (including accessories, a jeep and US soldiers, a german tank crew...).

• The King tiger is not available at all (as mentionned earlier)
• The Tiger is not available either (just heard about that)
• Both kits are still for sale on the LM website, which is plain dishonest to me now that they know they are unable to source the kits at all
• LM shipped all the accessories separately without asking (I ticked the box "Do not send items separately" just for that reason), which is a sheer loss to me since I will not be able to make the dioramas I planned this stuff for

In a word I am pissed />/> but life goes on

Arnaud

I haven't bought from LM in over a year and a half, since they decided to drop the small packet shipping prices for my destination. Something to do with the handling of small packets, needing to be opened for checking before sealing, and LM opted for convenience and using the 'letter & postcard' cost which can be dropped sealed to their post office but also passing the price hike unto the consumer, which almost doubled the shipping price for me. from $24 for a package not exceeding 2kg to like $40.

Another thing that has always baffled me is their shipping calculator that I've questioned a few times and they always reply 'it's correct there are no mistakes;. But every time you add an item large or small that closes in or slightly goes over the 2kg mark it fricking jumps from 2kg to like 3-3.5kg. I know it accounts for extra packing material and I could understanding from a big kits = bigger box reason. But when you have 1.95kg in your cart and add a photoetch, decal or a resin set why does it $!%$ jumps to 3kg too? those don't account for 1kg of more packing material do they?. And even for big kits I've weighed the shipping boxes I've received from LM and HLJ and a small packet/SAL box that doesn't exceed the size + 2kg restriction and a bigger one that can accommodate 2-3 big 1/48 big kits doesn't account for a 1kg difference but just 200-400 grams and even that doesn't explain why the calculator has to jump for small items too!

To put the two examples.

In the case of kits in their calculator 2 academy phantoms accounts for 3.34kg. In practice each one weights 0.95-1kg and putting them in a box big enough for 3 of them + packing material totals 2.8kg. I give them the benefit of the doubt here.

Now the small items case. I have 1 big and 1 small kit in the cart for 1.65kg. I add a single magazine from their sale and whoa it jumps to 3.2kg. And I know it weights 420gr, I checked it in HLJ where its real weight is listed. So where did the other 1.15 kg come from? Do adding a flat magazine makes necessary to switch to a much much bigger box and another 1.15kg of packing material?

And if there was any doubt of how #%ed up their calculator is, again a couple of kits and tools totaling 1.95 kg, I add a decal sheet from their non-free shipping brands. It goes to 1.97 kg. Add another sheet and whoa 3.14 kg. Is that single decal sheet made from depleted uranium to add 1.17 kg?

Please note that the kit is still for sale on the LM site: beware! I told them about that too a week ago, but it's still there (Backorder of course)...

Arnaud

HLJ does backorders, but at least they don't take your money beforehand and if they can't source the item they at least update it in their website to reflect it's 'discontinued'

And with the cheaper Yen, HLJ and other japanese online stores have been seeing my money almost every month. Looking at the prices I think I'll end up paying less buying the AMK Mig-31 from hobbysearch than from LM even with their current discounts/>

Edited November 11, 2015 by Inquisitor