It has been some time since I have posted - rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated . . . .
I have decided to leave this comment here, in Everything Else, primarily because it does "rehash" a few "old" issues and it will not appear on page one, (even though it may technically belong in the $31.99 MB thread) I do not want it taken out of context so I'll post it here where most of us "older" Flingers go as not to "cloud" any new Flinger's opinion if they do not read my comment in its entirety. And, as some of you know, I am a verbose son of a bitch so don't be surprised if this is a long post too . . .
Following the $9.99 "Infamous" Mystery Box fiasco, I swore off Thing Fling forever. At least I thought I had. I was, frankly, incensed, to a level that surprised even me, over the entire situation. I had MANY past orders with Thing Fling and was having a positive experience with them as a retailer, and when the "Infamous" Mystery Box came along, (on the heels of the AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL Philips remote control AMB), I referred both friends and family to the website and MANY of my referrals bought three (or more). Of course, most everyone was dissatisfied with the "Infamous" box, and although mine had not arrived yet, my sister and mother's had arrived - and they were threatening to not allow me home for Thanksgiving (although they did mention they would have to forgive me by Christmas). Needless to say, I lost it. Some of you may remember my postings and my calling the King an asshole - for which I would like to publicly apologize, I am sorry (insert your name here King because it is censored from the forum) I used a vulgarity and a personal attack to convey my sentiment without "cooling off" and expressing myself in a more appropriate manner. To the credit of Thing Fling, only a few of my comments in the forum were censored by moderation - and yes, for those of you that think they do NOT ever change a post, they DO (although I am not completely sure WHY the true contact info - such as the principals real name (King), other business entity names owned by the same, and the phone number) are actively censored, I guess I can understand it on the level that the amount of direct contact might be "too much" if the information were public, however, I am a firm believer that an e-commerce business should be transparent in these matters (even to the point of not buying from Thing Fling for a while initially after I found out about them because their domain Whois information is masked by Go Daddy, Inc.'s Domain by Proxy service).
Anyway, there is my apology, which I felt I needed to make. Yeah, I could have done it in a PM, but I was wrong, so I'll take the hit and do it publicly.
So, during the big $9.99 uproar, I called Thing Fling and made it past the gal that answered the phone and spoke with the King. I, of course, was still pissed, but what struck me most was that even though I KNOW he was quite dissatisfied and upset with me, he still tried to contain his disdain (although a bit did come out) and he did mention that even though I was acting in a manner in which he felt was counterproductive to the situation, he STILL FELT MY OPINION was important, and wanted to continue a discussion on my impressions of how HE could make things "better" or "right". That says a lot.
The King asked me to wait for a resolution and I promised him I would stop posting, which I did. And he kept his word too - he issued coupons, he made them stackable, he sent out greeting cards, he came up with the "I owe you one" thing . . . even though I MAY NOT personally agree with the steps and would have preferred other conciliatory gestures (and no, before I get JUMPED on - which I will address later- it isn't an example of "some people just can't be pleased" - I was pleased with the effort I just would have liked a different "resolution" ) - I was impressed that for the most part it was enough to smooth over the "rough spots" caused by the fiasco initially.
As for MY personal $9.99 "infamous" box, I never took possession of it and I received my money back due a "technicality" (a loophole) if you will with the payment method I chose to use when I ordered the box in the first place - so I never PERSONALLY suffered the cell lights, watches, etc. (although my sister sent me several hundred of them and my mother told me to expect a poker watch in my stocking).
The entire issue of the "Infamous" box strained a couple of personal acquaintances I had (of course, no friendships were ever in jeopardy - or they wouldn't have been real friends - everyone makes a mistake now and then and I couldn't "control" what the "infamous" items were). In all, I was responsible for sending forty of fifty people to Thing Fling based on the "Homerun" letter.
However, after some time had passed, I noticed that even though I was not charged for - as in I got my money back - as I did not receive the "infamous" box, (due to the loophole I previously mentioned - and which I WILL NOT make public as it would NOT be fair to Thing Fling) I still got stackable coupons in my account, I still received greeting cards, and I still was eligible for a "you owe me one". This was surprising and unexpected. Frankly, I thought they would just delete my account and be done with me. I didn't agree with any of these gestures (coupons, cards, etc), as I have just said previously, but I DID appreciate them (the effort), and they offered them to me freely even though they were at a technical financial NEGATIVE with me in my specific case of the "Infamous" box (they were "out" the shipping cost).
So, I came back to the site from time to time, I read the threads to see how they (Thing Fling) continued to respond to the situation, I read the threads on fulfillment of other product(s) and it seemed like they had made a tremendous effort (or were making one, as it seems they still are).
I would take this opportunity though to mention that I find it absolutely DETESTABLE the way in which several LONG TIME posters "champion" Thing Fling now - quelling any serious debate with frivolous postings and proclaiming (by inference) that anyone that might have a problem with Thing Fling must have a personal problem. The forums have changed tremendously in a very short period of time and, in my opinion, should be moderated. Fairly, heavily and immediately. I feel that there is a time and a place for unmoderated postings, but the product threads should be moderated. Just my opinion, and they are like @ssholes, everyone has one . . .
But I digress . . . So, after much consideration and a quick note to the King crossing my fingers that he not send me crap (which he had every right to do - I honestly thought I would get three of the $9.99 "Infamous" boxes - LOL) - I bit at the recent $31.99 Mystery Box.
It arrived today (amazingly enough on a Saturday) and although I certainly didn't get "shagged" I got more than most have described, including several "owe you one" gifts (which I really wasn't entitled to anyway) and a nice hand written note thanking me for giving them a chance to win me back.
Well, they did. They could have sent me the same thing everyone else got and I would have been pleased as punch - I felt this box was an excellent value for the money and it arrived professionally packed in a new shipping box with REAL bubble pack and no odor, etc - and in absolute record time.
Suffice it to say that I will be back to ordering as I used to - I order from one or more DoD sites four or five times a week - or more (I've got a problem and need to start a twelve step program) and I will be happy to order from Thing Fling in the future.
Thank you to the court for the note, the understanding (even when I may not have deserved it) and the great Mystery Box.
- Greg