A HA! An answer to the cancelled Hulk Wave 2 orders!

If you know many Super Hero Squad collectors or visit some of the collector boards, you've probably heard at least a few stories of people whose orders have been canceled by Hasbro. We even covered the phenomena here but we've done a little more digging.

First contact with the Hasbro Customer Service representatives was actually very helpful. Apparently, when Hasbro learned that Hulk Wave 2 date was going to be pushed back, they sent out an e-mail notifying people of the delay and informing them that if they are still interested in receiving the figures, they need to contact Hasbro to let them know. Those that did not respond to Hasbro had their orders canceled while Hasbro moved to a new computer system.

So after some digging, I found a copy of the e-mail they send. They do indeed include the line "IF YOU ARE WILLING TO WAIT UNTIL THE DATE(S) INDICATED ABOVE TO RECEIVE YOUR ORDER, YOU MUST CONTACT US TO CONFIRM THAT YOU STILL WANT THE ITEM(S). IF WE DO NOT HEAR FROM YOU, THE ITEM(S) WILL NOT BE SHIPPED, AND YOU WILL NOT BE CHARGED FOR THEM."

But it's at the very end of the e-mail. People who only read the first portion of the e-mail will only be informed that:

"RESPONSE REQUIRED TO RECEIVE YOUR ORDER. Due to high demand, the following item(s) you ordered are still backordered. Please note the revised availability of the items below:"

"ITEM(S) NOT YET SHIPPED
Item number: 78421
Item name: Marvel Super Hero Squad – Hulk and Absorbing Man
Quantity: 1
Estimated ship date: 6/12/2008"

And that is why people who ordered back on May 4th when they were first made available had to re-order their figures, while others who ordered figures weeks later have their figures.

But lets throw some salt on those wounds. The notice that the figures were on back-order and would be canceled without response was dated 5/13/08. The notification that the orders were canceled was dated 6/17/08. The first batch of figures actually started shipping on 6/12/08 (at least according to the people I've talked to.) If Hasbro had canceled the orders earlier, those individuals would have been able to place their orders again and would have been shipped their figures. Instead, Hasbro didn't canceled the orders well after the figures had started shipping!

Now, to throw further salt in the wounds... after those people were given an e-mail saying their orders were canceled, they couldn't place the order again because the website was undergoing an upgrade. And after placing their orders, which have been "expected to ship within 1 business day" since June 17 when they were back online the ship-date for these "in-stock" items keeps being pushed back. Users who ordered an in-stock, ships-in-one-day item on the 17th are still waiting for the item to be shipped on the 20th.

In talking to a Hasbro rep about the shipping delay, the only answer we could get was "we're a little behind right now."

So, in the spirit of constructive criticism, we're offering suggestions to Hasbro for future situations like this:

1) Be like Amazon! While approval is still required to keep the items "on order", they inform you that your item will still be shipped if they receive it prior to a certain deadline. Their exact language is "If we are able to get the items before _______________ 2008, we will ship them to you." Here, many people had canceled orders only after the items had been in stock and started shipping.

2) Provide multiple-access points for the information. Those affected by this situation were told of the situation via e-mail, which is fine but in today's world of junk mail filters, multiple sources of information helps. Those that simply sign on to Hasbro for their order status were only told their order was "back-ordered" which is exactly what it says for future-shipping items, like the City in Crisis and Iron Man Wave 2 sets originally scheduled to ship late summer. A notice that response was required in their order status may have been helpful!

3) Upgraded shipping! While automatic upgraded shipping for all items shipping past the estimated one business day would be too costly, how about free upgrades for people who order an "in-stock" item that hasn't been shipped within 5 days? Or a coupon code/discount card for people facing similar delays?

So if you've been waiting for almost 2 months for an "in stock order", and then your order was canceled, now you know what happened! Go back, place your order, and... uhm... continue waiting because while it's "in stock" there's still apparently some shipping delays.