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[mourningnite]

Happy to say I finally got my hoodie!  /happy dance

[alexisdanaan]

Yeah I'm having the same problem... I ordered on Aug 3rd for someones birthday and it's almost November now! By the looks of it, it's going to be a Christmas present... that's if I ever get it.
I understand the whole 'two person operation' bit but c'mon if you're selling a product you need to have some sort of customer service! I've emailed 3 times with all my information and I've gotten NO response. I understand if things are behind, he did just get married recently, or at the printers, or someones sick and things are on hiatus for a bit, but no communication or explanation at all?
The bottom line is, it's been over two months, my credit card has been charged, I want my merch and to hell with ever ordering anything from here again.

[ZOMG!]

I ordered a shirt two months ago, no sign of it.  Paypal was billed. 

Jeph, contact me at [email protected] if you see this... I simply want to know the status of my order.

[misslynz]

Does ANYONE here ever actually receive their merchandise that they ordered? If I had read this thread before I had ordered a few weeks ago I would've thought twice about going through with it. Now I'm wondering if I'll ever actually see the bearmonster shirt that I placed my order for(and I was billed).

*sigh* This is not encouraging at all.

[lonecow]

I'm sure people receive their shirts eventually - I don't think anything malicious is happening. It's just very very slow and unfortunately the website doesn't accurately reflect the sort of wait time that is common. If they did I think they'd cut down on the emails from (understandably) panicked people who think something's wrong after one month...

I guess we can only wait and see how it goes with the new person they hire to help with getting shirts out - though to be honest I don't think I'll ever want to buy shirts here again, sorry guys.

[Dasota]

It's sad to see that people are discouraged about the wait time for their shirts. I know I'm hesitant to order anything, and I would love a few of the shirts. Does anyone know the status of the new hire? And are they only on for the holidays? Cuz if they're around for a while, and things start to go more smoothly, then I may buy a shirt or two.

[misslynz]

Well, I'm more upset with myself than I am over anything else. If I had thought to check the boards and look at the merch thread I would've known about this BEFORE I had ordered about 2 weeks ago.

[Spluff]

Jeph supports himself with this mechandise. Therefore, he would have many, many more customers that the 3 pages worth you find in this thread. Logic would therefore dictate that these problems are relatively isolated and there's a good chance you will get your order with a minimum of complications.

[misslynz]

That's...comforting to know. I'm still worried that by my OWN error, I will not receive the shirt until after I've disappeared off to my dad's house for upwards of three months. That would be my fault, though.

I'm cautiously optimistic.

[MightyMouse]

My problem seems to differ somewhat, as from the rest of you, because I have recieved an email informing me of my package being shipped. But that was 12 weeks ago, and I still haven't recieved it. The mail contained a track and trace number,but it (still) only states that my package hasn't been registed with the USPS. So, I obviously started out by patiently waiting for the mailman to knock on my door - he still hasn't - and after six weeks of waiting I mailed QC. Still nothing happened. I re-wrote them after ten weeks of waiting, and - you guessed it: still nothing.
So, my problem, like yours, is also a matter of lack of communication. I'd like QC to make sure they actually posted my package and to get USPS to look for it, if they're the ones who's misplaced it - or else I want them to resend it. My problem is though (other than not getting replies from QC) that I am going on a vacation now and when i get back, I am moving! See, that's why, Mr qtownstegy/ExoticTeacup, that waiting for your order for two years is not ok: if your not expecting to wait for two years, you might be planning on getting your merch before you move, before someones birthday or even while you're still roughly the same shape as you might be in two years from now!
Well, I guess none of you guys have any clever ideas as what I am supposed to do, I just needed to let out a little... not steam, really, just annoyance.

Something entirely different: those of you who got the hoodies, how did you know what size to choose? I mailed QC before placing my t-shirts order, but when I hadn't gotten a reply in a week, I decided to just order some t-shirts since I was eager to get them... (of course they still haven't responded to that e-mail either, nor put up a hoodie sizing chart in the mech store). It would be nice to know, in case I ever dare to place another order...

Thanks.

[alexisdanaan]

I understand your frustrations... it really is bad customer service. I wouldn't mind the wait if the time that was specified on the website was REALISTIC. It says 2-4 weeks... not "most likely more like 2 months" and even then, I waited 3 months before I got the email confirming that my order had been shipped! And now there's the possibility that I may wait another 3 months before I get it? IF I get it? Thats just BS.

I wish I could suggest something for you MightyMouse, the only thing I can think of is to continue emailing, private messaging, etc because if you're going to be moving soon... that could be a problem (one that shouldn't be a problem if this was done properly mind you).

Good luck!

[kizzle]

Just got an email about shipping. (Order went through May 16th, shipped October 22nd.) We'll see if it arrives before I leave for England on November 15th. I shall post and let you know!

Anyone know if shipping to Australia will take longer than two or three weeks?

Hurrah!  I ordered at the middle of June, so maybe I'll get my shipment notice before Christmas! LOL

I'm trying to keep a sense of humour about this, because, well, I appreciate having QC to read Mon-Fri.  Seriously the best webcomic ever!  (I also like Cyanide & Happiness, but that has nowhere near Jeph's artistic talent!).  So I will wait for my shirts and I will be happy when they get here ... and I'm sure I'll have more math classes to wear my "Math is delicious" shirt to ... I just really wanted this professor to see it. Nuts.

[lonecow]

Well, I guess none of you guys have any clever ideas as what I am supposed to do, I just needed to let out a little... not steam, really, just annoyance.

Something entirely different: those of you who got the hoodies, how did you know what size to choose? I mailed QC before placing my t-shirts order, but when I hadn't gotten a reply in a week, I decided to just order some t-shirts since I was eager to get them... (of course they still haven't responded to that e-mail either, nor put up a hoodie sizing chart in the mech store). It would be nice to know, in case I ever dare to place another order...

Thanks.

One thing I kept as an "emergency option" was actually going on to Jeph's LJ and leaving comments on his entries, but then again, I have no idea how often he'd actually read it. Luckily I didn't have to (I still hate that people have to use AIM to get any chance of being heard, and going on to LJ isn't much better). I hope you get in contact with someone soon, that really is pretty ridiculous.

Have you checked out the sizing chart on the merch page? I buy shirts from Threadless as well, so I checked out the measurements of the sizes I wear and found the equivalents before I bought them. Maybe even just measure up some hoodies you find comfortable at home and try and use that as a basis? I'd recommend Threadless over QC in terms of speed of service.

In any case, my shirts have finally arrived, so total time taken was from May 16th till November 2nd. So about 5 and a half months. The arrival is so very underwhelming after all this anxiety, to be honest, but, hooray for shirts.

[tuna ketchup x]

I finally got my shirt this weekend! However, now that's it's fall/winter (fwinter) I won't be able to wear it until next year. And that sucks. 

I will still order the library shirt so I can wear it to my first day of classes, hopefully it will arrive by then.

[ZOMG!]

I got a reply to my email from the All Powerful Cristi, the situation has been resolved.   HOORAY FOR COMMUNICATION.

[meltel]

ok confused I emailed the adress qcmerch and it keeps sending it back to me.  I got two shirts that are too small for my sisters birthday.  not sure how to return them.  I'm pretty sure I ordered two sweaters.  My t-shirts have only come.  I got an e-mail that the t-shirts were coming but where are my sweaters?

[misslynz]

Well, I'm...more optimistic about my order now. I got an answer about my order on AIM and managed to snag my order info as well(since I was stupid enough not to print it out WHEN I ordered it). I was informed that there's supposed to be a shipment coming in next week. I've got my fingers crossed that this DOES happen and that it should ship soon.

The next time I order something(and there probably will be a next time, because I want the Hanners shirt...and the new shirt that just went up), I'm more prepared for the wait.

[ZOMG!]

Well, I'm...more optimistic about my order now. I got an answer about my order on AIM and managed to snag my order info as well(since I was stupid enough not to print it out WHEN I ordered it). I was informed that there's supposed to be a shipment coming in next week. I've got my fingers crossed that this DOES happen and that it should ship soon.

The next time I order something(and there probably will be a next time, because I want the Hanners shirt...and the new shirt that just went up), I'm more prepared for the wait.

Indeed, there is a hella lead-time in making these shirts, so when I order again I'll be sure to take that into account. 

[alexisdanaan]

Got my shirts! Roughly a week after ordering. I am le pleased with them.

[CrazyProphetHobo]

Hah, wish I had seen this before I ordered my shirts (or even before making the thread I just made).

Card was charged August 30th.... still no response to any e-mails and still waiting. Now my problem gets more complicated... I want an Ergo Nom shirt :[

[SmileyBandit]

Got my shirts! Roughly a week after ordering. I am le pleased with them.

How is this even possible? As much as it is nice to hear that some people have a decent experience ordering merch, where is the consistency? How is it possible that one person can get an order in one week and others have been waiting up to two years?

[GenericName]

Well, I can imagine that whereas some situations would be optimal, i.e. the design and size were both already in, the person lives relatively closeby, etc, someone could wait quite a long time if, for example, their order were dropped by PayPal, the postal service lost it, or something like that. People aren't going to be posting here for anything which is not a long wait, with the exception of this one post, so if you assume that everyone falls proportionally into a category described by one of the posters here, then there is no consistency. But this thread is not the "Hey, how did a random sample of QC buyers' merch experiences go" thread, you're going to get mostly the outliers, in which there is, by definition, no consistency.

Basically if you go by the complaints here as an accurate sample of how merch orders go you're probably wrong.

[freefall]

     I ordered back in early September, assumed my merch would arrive in a couple weeks or at the very least a couple months and was planning on ordering more once it showed up. Wish I had read this thread before placing an order. All my emails to the merch department have been completely ignored. Based on comments I'm seeing in this thread it will probably be several more months before my shirt shows up if at all. At least I'm only out $20. Could have been worse as I was originally planning on ordering several items. No way I'll spend more money knowing what I do now.

     Frustrating that such an excellent webcomic has little or no interest in the people attempting to support it.   

[dozyrozy]

I don't think that's fair. Christi and Jeph put loads of effort into QC and their merchandise. Loads of people order things from QC and they have to wait for things to come in from the ordering place before they can send them off. And it is only a couple of people doing an awful lot of work. I think it's quite understandable that these things take a while. My t-shirts took a few months to arrive, but that just made me even more excited when they did get here.

I do think they should maybe change the dates of arrivals, from one month (or however long it says) to a couple, but it hasn't put me off ordering anything else. I won't be ordering things as a present, but I am more than happy to wait for a funny, high quality t-shirt all for myself!

[CarrionMan]

I think I see why Jeph was looking for someone to help him with this. Looks to be many orders he needs to deal with.

[misslynz]

I sort of wish there was a thread devoted to the average merch experience in addition to this one. It might provide a more realistic picture of how long most people end up waiting for their tees and stuff.

I'm still not sure how long it'll be before I get mine. I'm hopeful after having spoken to Cristi about it. Still sort of half-expecting it not to show up until December, though.

Good deal for the one person who posted here who got it in a week. I wonder which design they ordered. It HAD to be something they already had in stock. The one I ordered was obviously NOT in stock at the time.

[Phil500]

I ordered a T-Shirt on August 13. Got a Paypal payment notification, nothing else.

I wrote to [email protected] on October 03. No email, nothing.

Wrote again to [email protected] on October 11. No email, nothing.

Wrote to [email protected] on October 26, saying how disappointed I am in NOT RECEIVING A SINGLE REPLY TO ANY OF MY MAILS.

Got no reply, but an automated message saying my shirt was sent on October 30. Shirt arrived on Tuesday, which is okay for international delivery.

From all of this, I got the feeling something finally happened after writing to [email protected].

Even if they are busy etc. I think a reply mail saying "we're producing it, stay tuned" can be reasonably expected. I think this lack of communication is what most people here are criticising, and I completely agree with them. Three month delivery time is quite hard without any info, and I am still rather disappointed I did not even get a single reply.

Won't be ordering again, that's for sure.

[alexisdanaan]

Got my shirts! Roughly a week after ordering. I am le pleased with them.

How is this even possible? As much as it is nice to hear that some people have a decent experience ordering merch, where is the consistency? How is it possible that one person can get an order in one week and others have been waiting up to two years?

Hey sorry there. I typo'd in that post. I got my shirts roughly a week after I got the EMAIL confirming that they had been sent via the US post. I placed my order on Aug 3rd and the shirts were in my hands on Nov 3rd. Sorry for the confusion!

[misslynz]

Got my shirts! Roughly a week after ordering. I am le pleased with them.

How is this even possible? As much as it is nice to hear that some people have a decent experience ordering merch, where is the consistency? How is it possible that one person can get an order in one week and others have been waiting up to two years?

Hey sorry there. I typo'd in that post. I got my shirts roughly a week after I got the EMAIL confirming that they had been sent via the US post. I placed my order on Aug 3rd and the shirts were in my hands on Nov 3rd. Sorry for the confusion!

Ah. That makes a lot more sense.

I HOPE mine comes in the mail before Dec. 14. If it doesn't, I'll have to have my mom ship me the shirt when it hits our mailbox at home. *hopes*

[MillionDollar Belt Sander]

I got my shirt today.    Better late than never!   

For the record it is a very high quality shirt, and the artwork vibrant.   I am very pleased.     IMHO it was worth the wait.   Pictures will be forthcoming.

[Bloobeard]

4 months wait. They came finally, and I know that that wait is nothing compared with some poor souls. Nice shirts, but in the end, if I see a design I like in future, I might be tempted to replicate it in Cafepress or Spreadshirt for my own use and screw the immorality and illegality of it.

I just don't see how anyone can justify waiting more than a month for something to be delivered in this day and age barring catastrophe. I just can't see how anyone can justify not replying to multiple, polite, emails asking when something that I have paid for, will been sent. That is just basic business sense.

For the apologists out there: Wake up! These people are incompetent and, quite frankly, lack decency.

(And I installed AIM to no avail FFS! The humanity!)

[MillionDollar Belt Sander]

Funny,  I got right through to someone when I emailed them directly

[hyperboy]

I think I might have the best story of all.

I ordered a "Everything is Ruined" shirt on September 11th. I recieved it last week, on November 14th. A 2 month wait is already ridiculous for a single shirt. I know that some people have waited much longer, but it gets "better".

The shirt I recieved was not even the right shirt.

The shirt I got in the mail was the "Clearly I have made bad decisions" one, which is definitely not the shirt I ordered. Normally, this would not be a big deal, as people make mistakes, and I understand its hard to manage a large number of orders.

But, considering that I had to wait 2 months for a shirt I didn't pay for, and the whole time I was not recieving any replies to my e-mails, I think this is more than a little out of line.The only response I got was from Cristi on AIM, telling me they were shipping my shirt. But, something happened along the way and I didn't get the right shirt.

Considering this was meant to be a gift for my girlfriend who lives out of state, and I very rarely see, I think I have reason to be upset. I have e-mailed Jeph, asking him to send me the right shirt, and have gotten no response. This kind of business should not be tolerated. I hope there is others who are with me on this.

[Kragit]

I think I might have the best story of all.

....But, considering that I had to wait 2 months for a shirt I didn't pay for, and the whole time I was not recieving any replies to my e-mails, I think this is more than a little out of line.The only response I got was from Cristi on AIM, telling me they were shipping my shirt.

...This kind of business should not be tolerated. I hope there is others who are with me on this.

If QC outsourced to say Cafepress or someone similar. I would agree with you. The fact of the matter is it's 2 people, who make enough money to live off and may not necessarily be able to afford hiring too many other people to help.

There's a total of 2-3 people working, trying to get hundreds, maybe even thousands of orders out (some with multiple shirts). There's bound to be delays. Just have some patience.

My order was shipped after more than 2 months, and because it took so long to ship, it was sent to the wrong address. Now I may never see the shirts I ordered because they very well could have been stolen. Such is life. Just email Jeph and Cristi (or IM Cristi) every now and then until you get a reply and then work something out to get your correct shirt. If you can wait to see your girlfriend, I think you can wait for a shirt.

Don't mean to offend or anything, just trying to help...

4 months wait. They came finally, and I know that that wait is nothing compared with some poor souls. Nice shirts, but in the end, if I see a design I like in future, I might be tempted to replicate it in Cafepress or Spreadshirt for my own use and screw the immorality and illegality of it.

I just don't see how anyone can justify waiting more than a month for something to be delivered in this day and age barring catastrophe. I just can't see how anyone can justify not replying to multiple, polite, emails asking when something that I have paid for, will been sent. That is just basic business sense.

For the apologists out there: Wake up! These people are incompetent and, quite frankly, lack decency.

So, let's put you to work, creating, packing, and shipping hundreds, maybe even thousands of shirts every day and see how you like it.

Seriously, why be such a jerk? There's ONLY 3 people working, creating, packing and shipping EVERY SINGLE SHIRT ORDERED. Give them a break. They reply to IM's and emails when they can, and I'm sure they can only respond to a limited number without getting too far behind.

Would it be nice to get our merch sooner? Sure, but sometimes it's not possible. I think they're doing a damn good job for having only 3 people working. If you want them to go faster, why don't you front the money to hire more people?

Why can't people have patience? Seriously.


I completely realize this is the thread to voice your concern, but some of you are being ridiculous....

[hyperboy]

It's not about how long it took, it's the fact that I waited that long (patiently) and got the wrong order. And to add onto it, if I'm gonna allow for these kinds of mistakes, I'd like for there to be some kind of customer service, so that I feel like my money is going to a safe place. Considering that I'm going to college full-time, I can't say I have tons of money to throw around. So, getting what I had paid for would have been nice.

I think at this point, they should switch to some kind of automated site, that does all the hard work for them. Stuff like http://www.topatoco.com/, that's not cafepress and not done entirely by hand. Either way, I'm sure there are simpler alternatives to whatever system they have now. I think customer satisfaction should always be No.1 on any business' list, and judging by this topic, a lot of people are not satisfied. I think Jeph and Cristi are losing a lot of return customers by ignoring people's complaints.

[Kragit]

It's not about how long it took, it's the fact that I waited that long (patiently) and got the wrong order. And to add onto it, if I'm gonna allow for these kinds of mistakes, I'd like for there to be some kind of customer service, so that I feel like my money is going to a safe place. Considering that I'm going to college full-time, I can't say I have tons of money to throw around. So, getting what I had paid for would have been nice.

I waited a while too, and now I may never see the shirts I ordered. I'm a freelancer, so I feel for you when you say you don't have a lot of money, neither do I.

I think at this point, they should switch to some kind of automated site, that does all the hard work for them. Stuff like http://www.topatoco.com/, that's not cafepress and not done entirely by hand. Either way, I'm sure there are simpler alternatives to whatever system they have now. I think customer satisfaction should always be No.1 on any business' list, and judging by this topic, a lot of people are not satisfied. I think Jeph and Cristi are losing a lot of return customers by ignoring people's complaints.

Switching to something else is for them to decide. There's reasons they're doing it the way they're doing it, we just may not know those reasons. I agree that customer satisfaction should be #1, and I think Jeph and Cristi are doing the best they can.

Keep in mind that this topic does not represent 100% of their customers, just the ones who have a problem or feel like complaining. That's not a bad thing, that's what this topic is here for. It's just that some people take it personally, or to an extreme.

They're 3 people creating, organizing, packing, and shipping these orders as well as drawing comics each day and trying to respond to the thousands of emails I'm sure they both get each day.

I appreciate you not being unreasonable like some others in this thread, but just hold tight and I'm sure you'll get the correct shirt soon enough.

[hyperboy]

Fair enough. You have some valid points. I'm glad we're on the same page, more or less.

[alexisdanaan]

I'm not trying to be a pain in the ass here but there seems to be a logical solution to me:
Jeph and Cristi should get people to help them on a regular basis with shipments because, afterall, they are trying to run a business here and it's being poorly done.
If they cannot afford to hire people to help them they can do one of two things:
find another way to suppliment their income so they can afford it OR on the merch page they should specify that the order WILL take a LONG ASS TIME

Also, I don't care what anyone says, a response to an email would be nice. Yes, they probably get hundreds a day but... well such is the price of popularity.

[Kragit]

I'm not trying to be a pain in the ass here but there seems to be a logical solution to me:
Jeph and Cristi should get people to help them on a regular basis with shipments because, afterall, they are trying to run a business here and it's being poorly done.
If they cannot afford to hire people to help them they can do one of two things:
find another way to suppliment their income so they can afford it OR on the merch page they should specify that the order WILL take a LONG ASS TIME

Also, I don't care what anyone says, a response to an email would be nice. Yes, they probably get hundreds a day but... well such is the price of popularity.

That's like saying, you got a B on this paper, go find a new school to go to....

I agree they should update the Merch page, heck, I'd be more than willing to change it for them. Pop in, change a line of text, save, bam. I'll also agree that an email would be nice.

Thing is, it's very possible that they simply don't have the time to do these things. I know it seems trivial to us, but they could be so busy or have more important things to deal with.

If they can find people who they can trust, who'd do it for free, that would be great. Sometimes it's harder than it sounds though.

My beef isn't with complaining, or telling your story. It's with the people who are being unreasonable or ridiculous. The one's who say Jeph and Cristi simply don't care, or seem to take it personally and say "I'll never order anything else ever again". Seriously, at most, you know the approximate time you'll have to wait and you can plan ahead next time. In my opinion, these people are acting immature. Seriously, it's 2-3 people attacking a shit load of orders while suppling us with comics every single day....

[MightyMouse]

There's a total of 2-3 people working, trying to get hundreds, maybe even thousands of orders out (some with multiple shirts). There's bound to be delays. Just have some patience.

My order was shipped after more than 2 months, and because it took so long to ship, it was sent to the wrong address. Now I may never see the shirts I ordered because they very well could have been stolen. Such is life. Just email Jeph and Cristi (or IM Cristi) every now and then until you get a reply and then work something out to get your correct shirt. If you can wait to see your girlfriend, I think you can wait for a shirt.

Seriously, why be such a jerk? There's ONLY 3 people working, creating, packing and shipping EVERY SINGLE SHIRT ORDERED. Give them a break. They reply to IM's and emails when they can, and I'm sure they can only respond to a limited number without getting too far behind.

Would it be nice to get our merch sooner? Sure, but sometimes it's not possible. I think they're doing a damn good job for having only 3 people working. If you want them to go faster, why don't you front the money to hire more people?

Why can't people have patience? Seriously.

I completely realize this is the thread to voice your concern, but some of you are being ridiculous....

I don't quite agree.
Yes, it's only a two person business - until resently, at least. Let's assume that they got a third person on board now. The getting-a-third-person-on-board is a good thing, because to me, it seems that this is the closest QC has come to admitting that there is a problem with the merch and shipping. What everybody here seems to be missing from QC isn't just their shirt, it's for QC to take townershio of the problems. Taking ownership of the problem can be as easy as an email stating "That's not great, we'll look into it/t-shirts were ordered at the press yesterday/your shirts are up for shipping this weekend".
You ask us to be merely patient and understanding, but that is not quite right. We are not supposed to know about the structure of the company, not more than they tell us when we order (ie. " all shirts are sold on a pre-order basis. All orders should ship within 2-4 weeks, although times may vary.").
So, what pisses me of a bit, is that while quite a few people are more or less desperatly trying to make contac witht QC (=getting a response) the QC page still advertises about new shirt design, deadlines for christmas orders, as if there are no problems. If they are so far behind that they can't keep up (catch up) with the emails and the gone-wrong shipments then they need to at least make a note of it somewhere to inform us, ie. "Sorry, but we're *3* months behind on our emails. Plase don't rewrite to us, but give us *4* weeks to catch up" and/or "We realise that there are problems with some of your orders, but we ask for your patience. Right now we are fokusing on the pre christmas orders, so nothing goes wrong with those - we'll get to yours  after the christmas shippings are done." They need to inform us of them being in charge of things (or at least telling us that they know they ought to). We don't need a random customer (who, imo, shouldn't be that understanding about someone delaying their order to the extent of you moving in the meantime) telling us about his assumptions about the business (ie. numbers of employees, orders and mail) and asking us to be patient and understanding. Most of us are patient and understanding, we just need a bit of understanding from QC as well.
You're suggesting that we put up the money for hireing more people - but hey, that's what we do! I am already surprised that they don't do combined shipping for multiple t-shirt, I bet they get a little extra cash on that account . But regardless, it's up to them to sort out their business (incl employees) and set their prices accordingly.

[Tshirtlimbo]

Hi all. New poster. Just registered to bitch about merch.

The only thing that bothers me more than having initiated a business deal with QC, and then having been ignored for coming up on 3 months, is apologists in this thread arguing for sympathy for a two-person sales operation.

In business, there is *no* excuse for not delivering what you've promised. If you *do* get caught in a position where you can't deliver you have to either scramble to re-negotiate the deal or accept a big fat "two-bit operation" sticker on your forehead. As a bonus, in the real world you risk being sued for breaching a contract.

If you have too much business (a good problem to have) -- you need to scale up your operations. If that's hard to manage, here are two quick and acceptable stop-gap solutions:

1. E-mail everyone with an outstanding order.

If the QC team can't manage this, they can grab a geek who can (does QC even have a customer database? Are they copying and pasting orders from e-mail?) In the mass e-mail, say: "Wowee gee! We've overwhelmed Please be patient and if you don't have a shipping notice within 3 months let us know at [email protected]. SORRY!!!!!"

2. Set up an auto-reply at QCmerch.

THIS IS SO FREAKING EASY IT MAKES ME WANT TO CRY. Say "Wowee gee! Etc." Cut and paste the text from the opening post in this thread. There is no reason why a confused/dissatisfied customer should have to dig around a forum to get some answers. Seriously, don't even try.

As it is, the QC team is acting like they don't give a shit about the people that want to buy their merchandise. I fully expect that this is due to inexperience and incompetence as opposed to actual malice -- but how long do they expect that to be tolerated? Do they regret that some customers are being royally screwed and ignored? Is there a mea culpa anywhere? Is it really that hard to UPDATE THE WEBSITE or send out some mass e-mail?

It boggles the mind. Man up QC Team!

Ben.

[Tshirtlimbo]

"Taking ownership of the problem" ,as MightyMouse puts it, is exactly what I'm talkin about.

No-one expects two (or three people) to print, package, ship, etc. an insane number of shirts. All we expect is that the QC team conduct their business professionally. That's never too much to ask.

Peace out.

[Kragit]

Like I've been saying, I have no problem with people coming here to complain (in a reasonable manner) about their order, that's what this topic is here for.

My issue is with people who have no regard for Jeph or Cristi at all. I know that "this is a 2-3 person operation" gets used a lot, but imagine yourself in their position. If you were working as hard as you can to fill hundreds of orders, trying to find a way to respond to thousands of emails, you'd hope people would be a little sympathetic to your cause.

I AGREE that an email would be nice. I AGREE that they need to take ownership of the problem. All I'm saying is that we need to be somewhat understanding of their situation. The money that they make has to go to any living expenses as well as server bills, shirt orders, etc. Even though they might be doing a lot of business, they might not be making enough to hire other employees.

As it is, the QC team is acting like they don't give a shit about the people that want to buy their merchandise. I fully expect that this is due to inexperience and incompetence as opposed to actual malice -- but how long do they expect that to be tolerated? Do they regret that some customers are being royally screwed and ignored? Is there a mea culpa anywhere? Is it really that hard to UPDATE THE WEBSITE or send out some mass e-mail?

It boggles the mind. Man up QC Team!

Who are you to say these things about them? Just cause they fall behind doesn't mean their inexperienced, incompetent or don't give a shit. They simply could be too busy.

Life is a learning experience, and theres a lot to be learned for both sides here. If Jeph and Cristi need web help, I'm sure there's plenty of people who'd be willing to help, myself included.

I would LOVE for Jeph or Cristi to post here, or on the homepage or ANYWHERE updating us on what's up. I hope that they do, and they do it soon.

Like I've said before, in the over two months it took to ship the shirts, I moved and now may never see my shirts again. I'm not here to clear them of all wrong doing, I'm here to simply offer explanations as to why orders are taking a while, as well as defending them against people who are clearly taking it too far ("They don't care about us", or taking it personally "I'm never gonna order anything ever again!").

[Bloobeard]

So, let's put you to work, creating, packing, and shipping hundreds, maybe even thousands of shirts every day and see how you like it.[/quote/]

Hey, I have a job and I have deadlines and guess what? If I didn't meet those deadlines I wouldn't have a job.

Seriously, why be such a jerk? There's ONLY 3 people working, creating, packing and shipping EVERY SINGLE SHIRT ORDERED. Give them a break. They reply to IM's and emails when they can, and I'm sure they can only respond to a limited number without getting too far behind.

When do they reply to emails? Huh? Seemingly in an ad hoc and random manner.
"Without getting too far behind"??? So 2 or three months after the advertised shipping time is not too far behind in your estimation?

Would it be nice to get our merch sooner? Sure, but sometimes it's not possible. I think they're doing a damn good job for having only 3 people working. If you want them to go faster, why don't you front the money to hire more people?

Maybe I should explain how a business works.
I, as a customer, pay the business owners an agreed price to supply a product, do be delivered in an agreed timeframe.
They couldn't manage it and kept me uninformed throughout the process so I have my input into the running of the business the only way I can i.e. I don't buy any more shirts from them, and I badmouth them whenever the topic comes up.
They then lose business.

Why can't people have patience? Seriously.

I completely realize this is the thread to voice your concern, but some of you are being ridiculous....

I was patient. I waited 6 weeks before sending my first email to qcmerch, another 2 weeks for the follow-up, another two weeks before the third, this time to qcmerch and to Jeph, another 2 weeks until I found this thread and installed AIM, by which time it was too late to cancel via PayPal, and believe me, I would have.


Seriously! Kragit, are you Jeph's mother?

[Kragit]

Hey, I have a job and I have deadlines and guess what? If I didn't meet those deadlines I wouldn't have a job.

So do I. I'm not saying everything perfect. I'm just asking people to have some patience and try to understand their situation.

When do they reply to emails? Huh? Seemingly in an ad hoc and random manner.
"Without getting too far behind"??? So 2 or three months after the advertised shipping time is not too far behind in your estimation?

Not when you only have 2-3 people working for such a popular comic.

Maybe I should explain how a business works.
I, as a customer, pay the business owners an agreed price to supply a product, do be delivered in an agreed timeframe.
They couldn't manage it and kept me uninformed throughout the process so I have my input into the running of the business the only way I can i.e. I don't buy any more shirts from them, and I badmouth them whenever the topic comes up.
They then lose business.

I don't need you to lecture me on how a business works. I'm part of a successful one. Fact of the matter is they don't have the manpower or resources a properly setup business would have. If you get technical, they're not even a "business", just people working as hard as they can to provide people with comics and merchandise while trying to live a somewhat normal life.

I was patient. I waited 6 weeks before sending my first email to qcmerch, another 2 weeks for the follow-up, another two weeks before the third, this time to qcmerch and to Jeph, another 2 weeks until I found this thread and installed AIM, by which time it was too late to cancel via PayPal, and believe me, I would have.

Seriously! Kragit, are you Jeph's mother?

I was patient as well, it took 2+ months to send my shirts and I never sent an email. Now, even with the fact I may never recover those shirts, I'm still here trying to defend them.

I fully realize there's a problem and they need to fix things, but please, have some compassion. These are 2 people trying to make a living, working as hard as they can as well as trying to have time to themselfs.


I emailed Jeph about the issue and this is what I got back:

The general progress of orders is that we are sending them out as fast as we can.you may have noticed that neither cristi nor I have been on the forums lately- we're busy mailing out orders! If an email about merch doesn't get answered it's usually because the order is either being processed or the person is emailing within the 2-4 week shipping time. And of course sometimes we just miss emails or they get lost!

Jeph

[GenericName]

Hey let's please just agree to disagree: Bloobeard, you think Jeph and Cristi are incompetent and you have your reasons and they are enough for you, Kragit, you think they are reasonably doing their job and your reasons are enough for you. Neither of you is going to change the other's opinion, and unless Bloobeard is threatening legal action or something this argument will go nowhere.

The end! There's nothing more to talk about!

[Kragit]

I can agree to that.

I'm just sick of people bashing Jeph and Cristi when I believe they're doing the best job they possibly can.

[MolecularBear]

Brief chronology:

• 8/24/2008: PayPal payment for QC t-shirt posted to my credit card
• 9/13/2008: first email sent to qcmerch
• 10/28/2008: second email sent to qcmerch, began monitoring AIM for qcmerch
• 10/30/2008: third email sent to qcmerch
• 11/03/2008: tried emailing jephco
• 11/13/2008: suspecting spam problems, used a different email account to try qcmerch,jephco
• 11/18/2008: writing this forum post
• 11/24/2008: sent snail mail, including self-addressed stamped envelope for them to mail me back an order status update
• 11/29/2008: received email from qcmerch stating that my order has shipped!
• 12/01/2008: t-shirt arrived!

I understand that orders take 2-4 weeks so my 9/13 email was perhaps premature. But I'm approaching the 3-month mark here and I'm not sure what I can do. None of my emails have been responded to and I've never seen qcmerch online.

Is there anything else I can try?

UPDATE: will continue to update this post with latest in the t-shirt saga

[Tshirtlimbo]

I'm just sick of people bashing Jeph and Cristi when I believe they're doing the best job they possibly can.

I can understand your desire to stand up for Jeph and Cristi, who are undoubtedly decent people. But I think you're misconstruing my position, and some of the other posters' opinions as well. I'm not bashing Jeph and Cristi -- I'm bashing their business tactics.

Given the facts at hand, it is my informed opinion (I am a small business owner -- not just an employee) that Jeph and Cristi are failing to operate their business professionally. I would guess that most unbiased people would come to the same conclusion. I pointed out two "done-in-20-minutes" stopgap measures that would both appease confused customers and slow the flood of "where's my shirt?!" emails they are receiving. Alternatively, the amount of effort required to update the merchandise page with accurate information is probably roughly 10x the effort required for Jeph to twitter, as he has done today, "In Fallout you can sneak up behind someone and put a live grenade in their pants."

I don't care whether Jeph or Cristi care about my opinion. It just frustrates me to observe their tactics (work faster vs. clean up their act) -- in the same way that you might yell at your television when a horror-movie cheerleader decides to go investigate that strange light in the attic all by herself.

Personal integrity and business integrity can be two separate qualities. This is a case-in-point.

Ben.

[Bloobeard]

Lose an email. Right.

"Once is an accident. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action"

But really, they're only hurting themselves and their 2-to-3-people-printing-and-mailing-out-shirts-to-make-a-living (mustn't call it a business!)