Updates
- August 23rd
- August 8th
- July 24th
- July 18th
- July 17th
- July 16th
- July 15th
I will be updating the opening post of this thread with various information regarding the pre-order so players can be better informed. Update entries will be listed at the top for reference and each entry will be sectioned and dated.
July 15thWe finally received a list of shipped orders from Alliance Game Distributors on July 10th. The following quote is from the reply on that day, by their Fulfillment manager for Shadow Era, "I have not been sending tracking to you due to the volume of orders we've been processing (300+ a day). I will however begin sending you a daily report of everything that has shipped with tracking.".
The order number was not included in the list of shipped orders they sent, even though it was included in the original list we sent, but they are working to add it so we can have tracking numbers automatically emailed out.
There is a backlog with support email so please be patient if you do not receive a reply right away. I do apologize for any extended delays in getting a response. We would prefer if you do not contact Alliance Game Distributors and contact us instead since they are behind on schedule and should focus on shipping and resolving order issues.
They should be finished processing booster boxes by the end of Monday and will move on to Collector's Editions, Epic Collection, and Complete Playsets this week. All starter deck based packages; including single starter decks, You and a Friend packages should've been delivered by now and if yours wasn't, please email support@shadowera.com and we will check it.
Please be aware a recipient name needs to be in the shipping address for Alliance Game Distributors to ship the package. We were not aware of this requirement and they only informed us of it recently. Please email support@shadowera.com and we will have them update your order so it can be shipped out. It will be handled as they're reported so your package will not be at the end of the queue.
A list of all problematic orders have not been sent to us so we were not able to contact players proactively to resolve them. We have instructed them to send us the list they've been keeping and also provide daily updates on any they come across. I will be more directly involved in coordinating with them and managing the roll-out for smoother operation and make sure issues are not only addressed but resolved quicker.
July 16thWe got a daily update from Alliance Game Distributors for today but still no current progress report, schedule for this week, updated list of shipped orders, or list of problematic orders have been provided to us.
I'm trying to get them to clarify on whether starter boxes(10x Class Starter Decks) should've been processed and shipped already. I requested a progress report and they replied last Wednesday that they still have the Collector's Edition, Epic Collection, and Complete Playset to go. So I expected they had processed starter boxes already. However I've sent them update requests for un-shipped starter boxes and they replied only saying it wasn't shipped; when normally they'd reply it's been shipped today for things like un-shipped starter decks.
Yesterday's update has been fixed to remove mention that starter boxes should've been shipped; pending confirmation.
July 17th"Our goal is to have every order without issues out the door by close of business today. The epic collection/all boosters/4x complete sets are all boxed the 10x class decks are the last thing we're boxing but it should be completed before noon today." That's a quote by Alliance Game Distributors, from our daily update.
The list of tracking numbers has not been fixed yet but they should be working on it and we'll try to get the tracking numbers sent out to everyone as soon as we can.
A small list of orders with missing names was also sent to us and we will try to load your name from your PayPal account. If the shipping address on your PayPal account doesn't match the one you put on the order, we will contact you manually to confirm your name.
For those still waiting on a reply to their support email, I sincerely thank you for your continued patience as we are working to get to everyone and resolve your concerns.
July 18thThey switched to USPS Priority Mail International for the most of the larger(starter boxes, Collector's Edition, Epic Collection, and Complete Playset) packages and this should reduce shipping time by a few days. Specifically, delivery time is 6-10 business days according to USPS.
For domestic packages, USPS Priority Mail is still being used. Delivery time is supposed to be 2-3 days but it is an estimate and may vary at times so I would give it at least 5 days, especially places like Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, etc.
July 24thAs some of you may have noticed, tracking numbers were emailed out yesterday; after Alliance Game Distributors finally provided a working list. I guess they thought a well deserved vacation and some time at the beach is in order, because we received no daily report for today. I would be more shocked if this was the first it happened; which it isn't.
August 8thIf people have been wondering why I've stopped posting updates, it's more or less because of the adage, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all". No real progress will be made with posting daily updates on the progress report thread about still not receiving a complete list of problematic orders, not receiving a proper list of tracking numbers to order numbers, not receiving daily updates at all, etc.
As for support email, unfortunately there is still a backlog. Due to various circumstances, and the fact that I'm mainly the only one that handles them, the backlog has not been cleared sooner. A more recent example would be the latest newsletter, which added over 1000 emails to the queue. This is typically what happens after a newsletter is sent.
I'm sure players will be glad to know that we will be expanding the support team and hiring additional support staff. We definitely want to reduce response times back to normal rates and maintain that level of performance as Shadow Era continues to grow.
August 23rdI'm happy to bring some well needed good news to everyone's attention. Alliance Game Distributors has assigned a new accounts manager to Shadow Era and we have been receiving consistent daily updates. The various order issues that I have been submitting, along with any other concerns, are not only being addressed but done so in a normal time-frame. We just received an updated list of all packages shipped, today, so we can resolve some of the order issues directly.
Originally, I stepped in to try and find out what was going on since it seems Kyle was preoccupied with other work and I had no further information to provide players when they contacted us about their pre-order. I started receiving normal communications at the beginning but things got worse and worse with their previous Fulfillment Manager. I wanted to confront the issue earlier but was instructed to continue trying to work with them. Technically the issue should be formally addressed by Kyle, which would be the Product Manager, as opposed to someone like me, which is only the Community Manager. I presume Kyle was busy with GenCon so I brought up the problem with other Alliance Game Distributors staff and the problem has been handled swiftly.
I have been ragging on Alliance Game Distributors for their exhibited problems but technically those problems originate more or less from the Fulfillment Manager instead of the organization as a whole. Based on how things have been handled so far, I'm finally not ripping my hair out when coordinating with them and I look forward to having a proper partnership as we work towards resolving all of the loose ends that remain with the pre-order.
Bookmarks