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Post by Timelord007 on Oct 24, 2015 16:04:55 GMT
One time i remember getting BF products within 5 days of ordering, now it seems to take 2 weeks, just wondering why this the case?
Is it a badly organised system? Or simply the lack of warehouse staff?, I'm still waiting for my replacement Planet Of The Rani CD & yet if i order from BBC shop i get products usually within 3 days & yesterday i ordered series 1-7 in the new slim plastic case editions with super saver delivery & they came today.
Another thing are Big Finish skimping on quality what with the lack of writers notes on CD booklet, the closing of the forum, the delaying Charley Pollard series 2.
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Post by agentten on Oct 24, 2015 16:18:32 GMT
I don't think they're skimping on quality, I think they're growing. The nuWho license represents a big leap forward for them in potential audience. I think that's why it seems like their personnel are a bit stretched thin at the moment. They've announced quite a bit of new product in the last year and they no doubt have more yet to announce. They will probably bring on more employees if all goes well, but there's always an awkward period when the growth begins.
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Post by jasonward on Oct 24, 2015 16:59:04 GMT
I think BF are going through a period of expansion pain.
As for quality, I don't see it about quality at all, the quality of the things they do still do is as good if not better than it ever was, but their focus has moved away from providing fans with what they want and onto what makes money, as the audience expands the central nub of hardcore fans matter less and less, BF are now aiming at the larger expanded fan base who don't worry do much about CD booklets, forums etc. As for Charley, well releases have been pushed back before and will be again, nothing new there, and at worst pushing back will have no impact on quality and at best will mean the quality is better.
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Post by david on Oct 24, 2015 17:12:12 GMT
They do have a shortage of staff at the warehouse, I believe is the given reason. It used to be there wasn't justification for more but surly with Nu-Who and nearly constant sales they could get a few more hands trained up? My replacement Last Adventure was a fortnight from confirmation of replacement to actually arriving.
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Post by barnabaslives on Oct 25, 2015 5:44:35 GMT
At the minute they might have a lot invested in New Series productions but not as much return on them until more of them are released? If that's how it works, hopefully things will be improved by the time January's New Series items are out if they don't get to hire sooner for assistance with Holiday orders.
My last physical order wasn't too slow, though - only about an extra week on top of the customary two.
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Post by mrfuggleboppins on Oct 25, 2015 12:01:06 GMT
I think BF are going through a period of expansion pain. As for quality, I don't see it about quality at all, the quality of the things they do still do is as good if not better than it ever was, but their focus has moved away from providing fans with what they want and onto what makes money, as the audience expands the central nub of hardcore fans matter less and less, BF are now aiming at the larger expanded fan base who don't worry do much about CD booklets, forums etc. As for Charley, well releases have been pushed back before and will be again, nothing new there, and at worst pushing back will have no impact on quality and at best will mean the quality is better. Plus to get stuff written up and images designed is unnecessary expenditure and time allotted when the amount of people who really care is going to be fairly slight in terms of the overall audience (not just the hardcore fans).
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Post by Timelord007 on Oct 26, 2015 7:08:33 GMT
They do have a shortage of staff at the warehouse, I believe is the given reason. It used to be there wasn't justification for more but surly with Nu-Who and nearly constant sales they could get a few more hands trained up? My replacement Last Adventure was a fortnight from confirmation of replacement to actually arriving. This is my point, surely it shouldn't take 2 weeks for a replacement product too arrive & should take priority because they originally sent you a defunct product. If BF are expanding with new Doctor Who ranges then they should be employing more hands on staff to accommodate demand. Like i said i used to get products within one week now it's two weeks or longer & while i enjoy the Doctor Who & spin off ranges i find myself becoming rather detached emotionally as i like many others felt i had that personal connection with BF on the forum especially when I'd get pm's from Dorney or Matt Fitton.
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Post by omega on Oct 26, 2015 7:12:19 GMT
They do have a shortage of staff at the warehouse, I believe is the given reason. It used to be there wasn't justification for more but surly with Nu-Who and nearly constant sales they could get a few more hands trained up? My replacement Last Adventure was a fortnight from confirmation of replacement to actually arriving. This is my point, surely it shouldn't take 2 weeks for a replacement product too arrive if BF are expanding with new Doctor Who ranges then they should be employing more hands on staff to accommodate demand. Like i said i used to get products within one week now it's two weeks or longer. Perhaps the increasing costs aren't making it cost-efficient to hire new staff, or training time is a negative factor.
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Post by Timelord007 on Oct 26, 2015 7:15:28 GMT
This is my point, surely it shouldn't take 2 weeks for a replacement product too arrive if BF are expanding with new Doctor Who ranges then they should be employing more hands on staff to accommodate demand. Like i said i used to get products within one week now it's two weeks or longer. Perhaps the increasing costs aren't making it cost-efficient to hire new staff, or training time is a negative factor. A possibility but if i order from BBC Shop say the latest BBC audio i usually get the product in 3-5 days not two - three weeks, i do think this is a issue which let's BF down.
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Post by mrfuggleboppins on Oct 26, 2015 11:42:02 GMT
My most recent purchase is going to take them 7 months to dispatch, I find it really frustrating. Don't know what that is.
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Post by jasonward on Oct 26, 2015 11:55:59 GMT
Whilst it is indeed BF's job to dispatch goods in a timely fashion, and failure to do so is at the very least not good, and at worst I *think* might be in breach of the distance selling regulations here in the UK. But as to "they need to hire more staff" that is indeed self evident, but having myself worked as a manager in a firm that was rapidly expanding, I can tell you, one of the biggest problems is hiring staff, it's a process that takes not only time to complete but which also uses lots of management time. Either that or you hire contract staff from agencies and potentially see all your profits vanish in fee's.
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Oct 31, 2015 14:07:53 GMT
It is true. We are watching the transition of Big Finish from a small company to a less small company, and while the way I have phrased it perhaps sells that change short, it is a major step in their evolution as a production house. I do think all the things we have seen in the past several months as evidence of them experiencing growing pains but through all that I have found delivery times to my home in the US to be really quite consistent. Doom Coalition got to me in just under two weeks while Jago & Litefoot[/] actually arrived in about 8 business days. Planet of the Rani was the quickest in just about a week. Anyway, I'm sure they will eventually hire up another person or three to accomandate the onslaught of new product ranges and the increased demand for them.
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Post by Digi on Oct 31, 2015 17:07:20 GMT
I've always found their shipping to be sub-par. More often than not they're slow to dispatch, the packaging used for anything larger than a 4-pack of CDs is frequently sprung open by the time it arrives, and it's rare that things arrive without cracks in the CD cases (from lack of adequate padding in the packaging). I even had one turn up once that was in its plastic wrap, but the entire inner part of the case (ie the disc holder and disc) were just not inside it. How do you not notice the weight discrepancy with something like that?!
I am the shipping & receiving department at my work (high volume and high value), and I would never ship anything out in the state that some of my deliveries have been in. As a consumer it's rather a mild annoyance, but it irritates the hell out of me on a professional level.
Caveat: I have noticed that, for the last few months, my pre-ordered items have been arriving within a few days (usually the same week) as the official release. Being on the other side of the Atlantic, this is a nice change of pace.
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Post by anothermanicmondas on Oct 31, 2015 17:16:46 GMT
I've been ordering from them for the last 16 months. In that period their time to dispatch seem to vary between 1-3 weeks (when the item did not need repressing) with 3 weeks only rarely, generally when there is a big special offer going on. I haven't noticed any pattern explaining why some are 1 week and others are 2 - most of my orders the last few months were just one week - I expect it depends how busy they are. Shipping newly released items to people who paid in advance is a priority for them, so if you order in a week with multiple new releases the order may take longer to be dispatched
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