David Bickley's Wargames Blog

The occasional ramblings of an average gamer, journeyman painter, indifferent modeller, games designer, sometime writer for Wargames Illustrated and host of games in GHQ.



Thursday 14 April 2022

Speak As You Find

 I've never been one not to speak his mind, just ask my family, friends and neighbours or former work colleagues. Nor do I suffer fools gladly I'm told. I thought I'd better say that first before getting down to the real point I want to make.

Last week, 7/4/22, in the late afternoon, I made two small orders for some F&IW figure packs; one from Redoubt Enterprises and one from Galloping Major. I've ordered from neither before; my entire F&IW collection of Redoubt Enterprises' figures came as either Review samples for Wargames Illustrated or were purchased at shows. I've not bought anything from Galloping Major before. Having seen issues raised on social media concerning Redoubt's mail order I was expecting the figures to come several days apart. Following the orders' progress via the respective web sites, they were both marked as Processing the next day. This morning, 13/4/22, the postman delivered two packages of figures, one from each company. Now, I call that pretty good service.

Before I get to the next stage, there are two other things I need to add. Firstly, the Redoubt Enterprises' package contained an extra as a 'thank you' for the order ~
Secondly, on the Tuesday evening I'd received an email from Galloping Major telling me the order was posted, followed by an update apologising for sending an incorrect pack in the order and assuring me the correct pack would follow immediately. Oh, and I could keep the incorrect pack! Now on all counts that's great customer service, from both companies! 
So I thought you'd like to see what I got in these orders. These are straight from the package, no cleaning up at all, just as they came ~
Four packs of figures and a free pack from Redoubt Enterprises comprising :-
F&I 210 British Infantry Command advancing & F&I 231 British Grenadiers Standing Firing
F&I 46 Woodsmen and F&I 140 Compaignes Franches de la Marine
The Freebie of two firing First Nations warriors firing
Turning now to the Galloping Major figures, the pictures clearly show the pack numbers and contents, so I'll not insult your intelligence!
A comparison shot of the warriors from the two companies as o know folk are interested in this aspect. From the left: Galloping Major; Redoubt Enterprises; Galloping Major; Redoubt Enterprises.
Meanwhile, the correct Galloping Major figures have arrived on Thursday morning! I have to say that is excellent service, up there with much bigger companies like Foundry and Old Glory.
And again, straight out of the packaging!
A cursory examination of all the figures from both Galloping Major and Redoubt Enterprises suggests there is little in the way of flash or vent runs to worry about so I hope to get these ready for painting fairly briskly, once I've got the 15mm Cold War Gone Hot figures well underway. So far I've completed four trial figures, so hopefully 'They will do!'


18 comments:

  1. It's always good to hear about excellent customer service David, which sadly many companies tend to forget about. One reason I stick with Pendraken 10mm is that their service is sans pareil IMHO.

    Anyway, back to the figures, which look great to me and I imagine they will look rather spiffing when painted up and on the table.

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    1. I hope to get on to them in May. B.A.O.R. 15mm figures are underway now first.

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  2. Goon on you for posting this David....generally people only "spark their mind" when they want to whinge and moan about something...unsolicited praise for a job well done is a very rare event!

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    1. A couple of typos there obviously.....Good and Speak 😄

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    2. Yes, too much moaning on the web!

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    3. Oh, it's not just the Web....people just love to tell everyone about how long something took or how slow some service was...trust me, I have made the mistake of being in "service" industries my whole working career!

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  3. Good companies deserve a mention in the media, I sometimes drop them an email or such when service above and beyond is delivered. In all my years as a wargames there is only one company I will not use even if their products were free and glower as I pass them at shows. Well done those two.

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    1. I must ask you who that is when our paths cross, you've got me wondering now...

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  4. Great castings and service, credit where credit is due is always deserving of a mention.

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  5. It’s always good to have good service…
    And good to hear about it…

    All the best. Aly

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  6. Cmon be honest Mr.B. you really missed those funny sharp sticky out bits you get with Perrys metals didn't you ...

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  7. Excellent looking figures there Dave... the less tedious prep needed, the better in my view. I hate prepping...but it has to be done!

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  8. Just recieved two Carthaginian 4 horse heavy charriots from Newline Designs... They also have provided excellent castings! Things are looking up 😁

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