The Official "WTF MERCH!" Thread

[nikkirawr]

I almost feel bad posting here, but I've been waiting for my shirt since January.  I've sent several emails without a response, and I'm not sure what else to do.  I ordered a Rockin' Pintsize shirt before they were discontinued.  Here are the details:


Item Name:      Rock Pintsize Ladies' Domestic
Item Options:      Shirt Size: M
Shirt Color: Red
Quantity:      1

Transaction ID:      8JT52637XC654491V
Item Price:      $22.00 USD
Total:      $22.00 USD
Buyer:      Nichole Rodriguez

I'm hoping I could get some kind of feedback soon.  Thanks.

Edit:  Also, my email is nikkirawr[at]gmail[dot]com

[gamergirl1337]

This is my first post...i know horrible way to make a first post...but i need to get my point across some way...

I ordered a Rockin Pintsize tee right before it was going out of print (which was around january 20th) and I have not received it...i have contacted them through the merch email address under many different subjects all usually containing my order number...and for the past (over) 3 months...i have received NO response from them...I really want the shirt, and i understand that their only a select few who are actually doing all of the merch orders and I LOVE QC more then any other comic i have ever seen (both in print and on the net) and I don't want to sound like an ass...but It's just irritating me that i haven't had any responses for over three months!

I can't get the AIM messenger because it messes with my comp too much...i tried it, but the only messenger i can get on my computer is MSN...so IM'ing them is out of the question...If anyone could help i would GREATLY appreciate it!

thanks!

 

[estabrookette]

I feel your pain.  I'm moving in less than a month, and I'm in basically the same boat as far as not getting any kind of response.  I've been trying various forms of communication for months with no response, including many emails from both me and my husband, checking the forums every day to see if Jeph's actually posted an update, and logging into AIM several times a day to see if they're online.  The best I can offer is that I've never actually seen QCMerch on AIM, so you're not really missing any opportunities.  At this point, I'm thinking they've pretty much washed their hands of the merchandising, so they don't check the qcmerch email addresses or get onto AIM under that screen name.

This really sucks, because worrying about this tshirt nonsense is keeping me from being able to enjoy the comic.  Every time I check QC I just end up getting frustrated because I *still* haven't gotten a reply to any of my emails, and Jeph *still* hasn't posted anything letting us know what's going on.  Please just send me my shirt so I can go back to laughing at QC shenanigans!

That being said, if you hear back let me know!  Good luck!

[girl_withno_name]

Hi!

I'm posting here in an attempt to get some sort of reply from Jeph or Cristi regarding the status of my four month old order for two t-shirts (order 5DB61763T2440071T). While I absolutely understand that they must be busy and I have tried to be patient... they still have $50 of my money and I have no t-shirts, not even an e-mail to assure me they'll be on the way soon.

Bec

[StatSig]

This really sucks, because worrying about this tshirt nonsense is keeping me from being able to enjoy the comic.  Every time I check QC I just end up getting frustrated because I *still* haven't gotten a reply to any of my emails, and Jeph *still* hasn't posted anything letting us know what's going on.  Please just send me my shirt so I can go back to laughing at QC shenanigans!

Same.  I end up crabby whenever I check the comic now, and it's too bad because it's always been one of my favorites.

E-mailed jephco at mac, since qcmerch at mac never responded.  Been a few days and no response either. 

ETA: Order 5AS81148P6785061Y.  Wtf Jeph.

[Tari]

@Jeph: What happened to the more detailed and useful post Chrissi should be posting about your mopping up? You promised that a month ago.

To remind you, I ordered November last year. You wanted to check why I didn´t get my t-shirts while everyone who ordered at the same time as me did get them already - you´ve sent me an email (On 01.04.)that you wanted to check that afternoon.

[karmablock]

This really sucks, because worrying about this tshirt nonsense is keeping me from being able to enjoy the comic.  Every time I check QC I just end up getting frustrated because I *still* haven't gotten a reply to any of my emails, and Jeph *still* hasn't posted anything letting us know what's going on.  Please just send me my shirt so I can go back to laughing at QC shenanigans!

Same.  I end up crabby whenever I check the comic now, and it's too bad because it's always been one of my favorites.

E-mailed jephco at mac, since qcmerch at mac never responded.  Been a few days and no response either. 

ETA: Order 5AS81148P6785061Y.  Wtf Jeph.

Yeah same here when I check my twitter and see the character updates. It's like how about you stop f*cking doing fake tweets and mail me my damn shirt.

[StatSig]

Bump.  We're still waiting for answers, Jeph.

[Eris]

Uh, the thread is stickied. It's not going to go down the page and get lost, so bumping it is going to have no effect whatsoever.

[karmablock]

Uh, the thread is stickied. It's not going to go down the page and get lost, so bumping it is going to have no effect whatsoever.

Yeah its not going to do any good cause they don't read this anyway, along with emails.

[Shaolin]

Today is the 9th of June, it's been more than 6 (six) months since I ordered my two T-Shirts. Jeph, I don't even want to trouble you with this, I am not mad, I fell through the system, that happens, no problem. But it would be really kind of you to rewire me the money I gave you so long ago. Since I still really want those t-shirts I'm gonna buy them at topatoco right away. Let them handle it. Rewiring me the money should be a lot easier on you than getting the t-shirts and sending them to me. Please do so, I'm begging here. I'm gonna be in frigging England for half a year come September and wanna have this cleared up by then.

[jeph]

Our plan was to get everything wrapped up and everybody either refunded or their shirts by the end of this week.

However, Cristi caught some sort of awful bug in NYC and currently has a 102 degree fever, so my time is being split between taking care of her and working on comics stuff. We still aim to get everything sorted out soon. I am sorry this is taking so long.

[Shaolin]

Alright, that's something. 
"Get well"-wishes for Cristi, though.

[motionsickness]

Got my shirts, thanks a lot! My parents/family were starting to think you were an internet scam artist and when I tried to explain to them how ludicrous that was they thought that you were a really good one and had brainwashed me. I actually got into a pretty awkward argument about it with my grandmother.

But yeah, thanks!

[luralee]

     See how brilliant and evil a scam artist Jeph is? Just enough "hey I got my shirt" posts to give us hope that someday our "prints" will come.  (Kidding.  I hope.)
     I am sorry for Cristi. She has the worst luck with her health, especially when she travels.  Or wait- maybe she is allergic to my order?  Quick, get it out of there, so her health can improve!  My goodness, I just realized, since I ordered, Cristi has hurt her hip, had serious flu, and now has gotten sick again.  ITS ALL MY FAULT.  I NEVER WOULD HAVE ORDERED IF I HAD KNOWN WHAT MISERY I WAS UNLEASHING.  Please forgive me, please get well soon (and please send me my shirts).

[Ivaness]

I haven't heard hide nor hair of my order...
I check my email every day and still nothing.

I honestly hope that I wasn't the order that fell through the cracks...
I will cry.
Great big tears.

[EllJayusMaximus]

I understand sometimes life gets in the way of 7-month old T-shirt orders... but I'm very disappointed that I haven't even received an automated response from the merch address just to let me know it's actually getting through. You know, something in the order of "life sucks right now but your message was received and will be read by a human being by 2011," or somesuch. I'm trying not to be too bitter or snarky, but it really is poor customer service when the only information available (outside the forum) is "keep emailing this address" with no sign it's even being received. The sad truth is that at this point, I'm more than a little leery about ordering in the future.

[BinDerSmokDat]

I ordered an XXL Bearsball shirt in Tahitian Treat red 9 seconds ago and I have not received it yet. Please research my order ASAP! I'm traveling in bear country this summer and I need some way of letting the bears know I'm "OK" beside smearing honey on my pulse points. Thank you.

[Pypoli]

Hi,
I placed an order with you back in december, and i have had no news since the one email you sent me in january saying you were still waiting on more t-shirts to arrive.
I would really like to have some news of my order, especially considering i spent 170$ on it.
My Paypal receipt number was 2502-6369-0606-4522.

[girl_withno_name]

So this morning I see that there's going to be a new t-shirt for sale soon.... personally I think maybe Jeph should be concentrating on sorting out existing orders before attempting to generate more with new designs (regardless that topaco now deal with the merchandise).

Then againa, maybe I'm biased .... maybe because I've been down $50 for the last 5 months and, so far, am up 0 t-shirts! Oh, and I haven't even had the pleasure of experiencing any correspondence or customer service.

Ciao!

[estabrookette]

Hello Jeph,

I'm adding my voice to the pleas for communication.  I'm sure the "business" side of QC is annoying, which is why you're avoiding it in favor of character tweets and new t-shirt designs, but I don't think any of us are out of line in asking for you to tell us something, anything about our orders.  For example, I sent you a message a little while ago about a new address.  Did you get the message?  Did you change the address on my order?  Do you even have all of the shirts in stock, or are we waiting on the printer?  What happened to getting everything wrapped up at the end of the week, two weeks ago?  I know Cristi was sick, but surely she's feeling better by now.

Please, throw us a bone and let us know what's going on. 

[StatSig]

So this morning I see that there's going to be a new t-shirt for sale soon.... personally I think maybe Jeph should be concentrating on sorting out existing orders before attempting to generate more with new designs (regardless that topaco now deal with the merchandise).

Yes.  Seriously, take care of the customers that have been waiting for MONTHS for their stuff before churning out more things to sell.

[Tari]

Today, as I checked this forum again, like everyday, I realised that I don´t even believe that anything will happen. Neither do the people, for which I bought the shirts as birthday presents. - As birthday presents around Christmas. Its nearly July now, eight months after I placed my order.
And to be true, I also don´t believe that its impossible to get every orders checked and sent in eight months even if Cristi was sick. I didn´t want to become angry, - and I didn´t.  I´m nothing but tired of it and very disappointed, because I don´t believe anymore, that you, Jeph, even care about the people who are waiting for their outstanding orders. Sorry to say this.

[Pengraffe]

Can y'all just stop blaming this on Jeph? Jeph doesn't ship shirts or answer customer service email or even know how the spreadsheets are made. This is my fault. I'm trying to finish, finally. I had pretty much given up on my email awhile ago because I was having panic attacks every time I looked at my inbox. That is my fault, and not a plea for sympathy. I've finally got pretty much everything in from the printer so more of you should be getting shipping notifications, or refunds if you have requested one. If you've sent a refund request via Paypal, I probably haven't seen it because Mac mail thinks those notifications are spam. When I am in the QC office, I am generally signed on the QCmerch AIM name, but I work for Topatoco during the day, so I am scrounging QC office time. The switch from QC to Topatoco was really poorly handled on my end because I had far too many pending orders and no stock left. Again, Jeph's character tweets or new tshirt designs or music ARE NOT taking him away from sending out your tshirts. It's my fuck up and my mess to clean up.

[Jace]

And now most of you feel like dicks. This is why you don't have nice things.

[luralee]

You have my sympathy, you really do.  If I could, I would run right over there to help you. 

But I am not buying that Jeph bears none of the responsibility.  All of his posts have been "I" or "we."  HE made the posts offering the shirts for sale.  The implication was that he would stand behind the sale with his sense of honor and decency.  He HAS made references to shipping shirts, phrased in such a way that it seemed he was personally putting shirts in boxes.  He should not just be leaving you to deal with this all alone.   It really hurts to be waiting on an order while he has time to run off to this or that convention, or "party, party, party!" 

But really, I don't care whose "fault" this is.  I just know that you have had the use of our money for months, interest free.  The decision for you to work at Topatoco while you still had unfulfilled orders was yours. We did not have this information when we ordered.  We were not given the option of retracting our order once you realized that you were overwhelmed.

The really sad part of this is- I came to your site via a link from XKCD.  I had ordered shirts from XKCD with no problem & that gave me the courage to order from you.  However, I have learned my lesson & I will NEVER order from an independent artist unless I know them personally, or know someone who has had success from them.  In other words, if I had come across you first, and then discovered XKCD, I would never had ordered those shirts. I wonder if your poor customer service has inadvertently deprived any other artists of potential sales?

This is not to contribute to your panic attacks or to try to make you feel worse. This is just how I feel, and the plea/hope for a better solution. 

[Jeans]

I wonder if your poor customer service has inadvertently deprived any other artists of potential sales?

This is not to contribute to your panic attacks or to try to make you feel worse.

If so you are pretty terrible with words

[luralee]

I apologize for my poor word choice.  But the truth is, there are very real consequences to the way that things have been handled.  As I said, one consequence may have been to hurt the sales of other artists, unintended though it probably was.  And I was not sure that Jeph has been mindful of that fact.

If my words caused pain, I am sorry.  Panic attacks are neither desired nor helpful.  But there has been plenty of pain to go around, and I was not the primary cause of that pain.

[GenericName]

So you pass it around, and that is what makes the world go round. I hope at least typing it made you feel a little better.

[kozmonaut]

Hello, so i ordered a shirt on Jan 18 2009 and still have not gotten it yet, i am hoping 6 months later i would have received a refund or the shirt already, I dont know if everyone else received their stuff half a year later, but i thought i would say something, i mentioned this 2 months ago and again 4 months ago.. I was going to dispute this, but disputes are lame, can i please just get my shirt already? This is messed up that people can order stuff and never receive it. Yes, I know its just 20.00 but most of the time, since new shirts are always being made, and lots of orders made, it would make sense to ship this fucking stuff.


Shopping Cart Payment Sent (Unique Transaction ID #03M42118DX658405U)

Business Name:    
   Questionable Content    (The recipient of this payment is Verified)
Email:    
   qcmerch@mac.com
Payment Sent to:
     
   qcmerch@mac.com

Shopping Cart Contents
 

Qty    Item    Options    Price
1    Bomb the Blogosphere Mens' Domestic    Shirt size: Large
   $20.00 USD
Amount     $20.00 USD

[Shaolin]

The really sad part of this is- I came to your site via a link from XKCD.  I had ordered shirts from XKCD with no problem & that gave me the courage to order from you.  However, I have learned my lesson & I will NEVER order from an independent artist unless I know them personally, or know someone who has had success from them.  In other words, if I had come across you first, and then discovered XKCD, I would never had ordered those shirts. I wonder if your poor customer service has inadvertently deprived any other artists of potential sales?

What the hell man? You are seriously drawing the wrong conclusions here. What you are saying is like "Uh, that pizza I ate yesterday gave me a real bad stomache ache, I will never eat pizza again. From any pizza place, in any country.
Yeah, both Jeph and Randall are independent artists and both sell t-shirts, but just because you didn't get your order in time here from Jeph/Christi doesn't mean you should never buy anything from any independent artist ever again. That's just messed up logic.

And for the "or I know someone who has had success from them" part - loads of people have gotten their shirts. Loads. This is the "WTF MERCH!" thread, of course there are people in here complaining. Just keep in mind that there are tons of people out there who did get their shirts/merch.

[gentlemantom]

Ah, what the hell. It's almost a year after I ordered so I feel a little justified in making a post here.

Said t-shirt was for my girl who was off to become a librarian. Now she's reaching the end of her internship and doesn't want to be a librarian, but hey, a t-shirt is a t-shirt, even if it's not so much of a joke anymore. I've moved once since the order, and I'm pretty certain that I'll have to move again before it's sent, so that's double the chance of it getting lost now...

So please. Send me the t-shirt, and send it to the original address because that's the only place I'll still be able to retrieve it from another year down the line.

PayPal Shopping Cart Contents

Item Name:  Library Science Ladies' International
Item Options: 
Shirt Size: Large

Quantity:  1
 
Total:  $27.00 USD

Cart Subtotal:  $27.00 USD
VAT:   
Cart Total:  $27.00 USD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Payment Details

Transaction ID:  4FU38524V2808174L
Item Price:  $27.00 USD
Total:  $27.00 USD
Buyer:  Thomas Straszewski

[luralee]

"What you are saying is like "Uh, that pizza I ate yesterday gave me a real bad stomache ache, I will never eat pizza again. From any pizza place, in any country."

No , I think a better analogy is - I tried to get some wild honey, (famous for its awsomeness), and ended up stung by a bee.  And discovered I was allergic to bees.  And my hand swelled up to twice its normal size.  And I resolved that from then on, I would only buy honey in those nice, safe prepackaged jars.  From a trusted source, or one that was vouched for by a trusted source.

To take and torture your pizza analogy, it is as if I ordered pizza online (and for purposes of the plot had to prepay) from "Joe's Artistic Pizza."  And the pizza never came.  And no one answered the phone.  And the website did not respond to my queries. So finally I go to Joe's, and there is Pizza Girl, working just as fast as she can, but all by herself.  And she has a full time job on top of working for Joe.  And she is as apologetic as she can be, but she cannot get you your pizza right now, nor even a refund.  You will get your pizza - someday - and gee why are you upset?  The majority of people who ordered got their pizza - eventually.  Where is Joe?  Oh, he just did the initial incredibly artistic design of the pizza.  He is too busy doing incredibly artistic things to put pizzas in boxes.  So, if from then on I only get Pizza from places that offer dine-in or carryout - can you blame me?

[estabrookette]

Cristi,

I don't want to speak for anyone else, but one of the reasons I was directing comments to Jeph is because, of the two of you, he's the one who has been using the forums to communicate of late.  The last time you posted here was 5 months ago, almost to the day, and it was a post that you didn't actually follow through on.  So it seemed like Jeph was taking at least some responsibility for t-shirt back orders.  However, I apologize to Jeph for misunderstanding the chain of merch-command, and I promise to stop being bitter about non-back order activities on Jeph's part.

Now that you're back, can we keep the streak going?  How about those emails to everyone with outstanding orders?  Can you please tell me if you got my updated address?  The email address for the order is estabrookster (at) gmail.com.

Thank you.

[Phantom]

I'm sorry for all the crankiness. I ordered some items in Jan. Whenever you can get around to sending them is okay with me, I was just worried that my order had somehow got lost by the pay pal people. Those crazies think my address doesn't exist when they've sent items there before.

Just in case, my order # is 491978385U039770E

I hope all is well. Really, I do.

[karmablock]

So whats going to be the excuse this month for not shipping out the shirts?

[Jeans]

Everyone else has gotten their shirts now, karmablock, these are all alt accounts - why do you think they've all got such low post counts? They're just messing with you. You're literally the only one without a t-shirt by now.

And to top it off, Jeph and Cristi made your specific PayPal check a donation to the British National Party.

[estabrookette]

haha!  I like the conspiracy theory.

[Pypoli]

Everyone else has gotten their shirts now, karmablock, these are all alt accounts - why do you think they've all got such low post counts? They're just messing with you. You're literally the only one without a t-shirt by now.

And to top it off, Jeph and Cristi made your specific PayPal check a donation to the British National Party.

Or, we could be wondering if we have a better chance to get an answer here rather than through email and don't really have the time/motivation (even though we all love the comic) to actually bother reading/replying to the other threads in the forum.

[Jeans]

It wasn't intended at criticism, it just fit in nicely with the joke. No offense intended!

[luralee]

(Green Sleeves)

Alas, Q C you do me wrong
To brush me off discourteously,
For I have waited, oh, so long
For my T-shirts to come to me.

Three Ts, I have been sold,
Three T-shirts for my delight.
For Three Ts I paid my gold,
And where,oh where are my own three Ts?

[Pypoli]

It wasn't intended at criticism, it just fit in nicely with the joke. No offense intended!

I think the whole thing is a lot more humorous when you haven't been waiting 8 months and sent 10 emails since the last time you heard anything about your order 

[Jeans]

It's a t-shirt.

[Jeans]

Of course I understand that it's frustrating, but, you know. It really ain't that big a thing, considering how little a t-shirt actually means to anyone ever.  I think it's pretty amusing how people are all "NEVER GON BUY FROM INDIE SHOPS AGAIN, FROM NOW ON I WILL ONLY EVER EAT AT MCDONALD'S CAUSE AT LEAST I KNOW I'M GETTING MY FOOD >:C" when you're talking about something you bought for your disposable income that costs less than an average weekly coffee budget and whose abscence will have no impact on your life whatsoever, asides from the amount of annoyance you bother to put into it.

I realize I'm being kind of a jerk but seriously complaining will not get you your t-shirt faster and I think everybody's lives would be muchly improved if we didn't get sniffy when someone made a silly joke

[Pypoli]

Of course I understand that it's frustrating, but, you know. It really ain't that big a thing, considering how little a t-shirt actually means to anyone ever.  I think it's pretty amusing how people are all "NEVER GON BUY FROM INDIE SHOPS AGAIN, FROM NOW ON I WILL ONLY EVER EAT AT MCDONALD'S CAUSE AT LEAST I KNOW I'M GETTING MY FOOD >:C" when you're talking about something you bought for your disposable income that costs less than an average weekly coffee budget and whose abscence will have no impact on your life whatsoever, asides from the amount of annoyance you bother to put into it.

I realize I'm being kind of a jerk but seriously complaining will not get you your t-shirt faster and I think everybody's lives would be muchly improved if we didn't get sniffy when someone made a silly joke

I spent 170$. Not your average purchase.

[Jeans]

Oh, i see. I'm sorry. If i'd known you had spent that much money i would never have made a joke about someone else's purchase.

[Ivaness]

I realize I'm being kind of a jerk but seriously complaining will not get you your t-shirt faster

While I speak for no one else, I'm not complaining.
I just want to know the order status.
Even YOU have to admit that the customer service leaves much to be desired, and even though mine was only 25$, that's still 25$. I'm extremely happy that I supported QC in some way, since I enjoy reading the comic and I do enjoy parading around in tshirts from things I like. (I own about 5 WoW tshirts, I get comments on them every time. Even my car has a Horde sticker on it. I've gotten honked at AND someone flipped me off. XD)

I own the I FEEL PRETTY tote bag and everyone I've met loves it.

Anyway, off of my babbling... o.o
I bought the shirt back when I had a little extra money to spare and now with my hours being cut at work, I find myself thinking about all the things I didn't have to buy and it's all SHOULDA WOULDA COULDA.
I would just like to have that physical item of my 25$ instead of the thought of it.

I do agree with Estabrookette. Cristi says not to blame Jeph, but it's hard not to when he's said that the last batch or orders had been shipped and everything.

[Jace]

(I own about 5 WoW tshirts, I get comments on them every time. Even my car has a Horde sticker on it. I've gotten honked at AND someone flipped me off. XD)

I'd probably tag your car with something vulgar. Or just break your window.

Alliance4lyfe

[girl_withno_name]

I actually managed to get an e-mail reply! 
It told me that my order would be going out in the next couple of days, awesome 
That was two weeks ago and still I don't have delivery confirmation or t-shirts. Sad times 

[StatSig]

I still haven't gotten an E-mail reply.