How to Contact the Head of Flying Buffalo?

[dungeondevil]

Yesterday I tried to make an order with FB and got a very rude, unprofessional email from an (assumed) FB employee. I would like to contact the Big Troll to work this out so that, hopefully, I can iron out this wrinkle. Please PM me. Thanks.

[Piper]

Sept 11, 2020 16:57:34 GMT -5 dungeondevil said:

Yesterday I tried to make an order with FB and got a very rude, unprofessional email from an (assumed) FB employee. I would like to contact the Big Troll to work this out so that, hopefully, I can iron out this wrinkle. Please PM me. Thanks.

Steve posts here sometimes, why don't you try to contact him through the forum's message system? (sscrompton)

He's also on FaceBook, if you have an account you can PM him there.

Most folks I know have obtained good results dealing directly with FBInc., so it is to be hoped this is just a misunderstanding or miscommunication. I'm sorry this happened to you, fingers crossed for a speedy and satisfactory resolution.

[dungeondevil]

I think I'll try to find a vendor (besides NobleKnight--those prices!) that still has copies of the dT&T book, but the problem is whether there are any left.

EDIT: welp, I checked Fee-bay and the dT&T rulebook is as rare as chicken fangs. Time for FB to reprint it -- this time without the adventures and Trollworld setting info to bring the price down a bit.

[Piper]

Amazon has it for ~ $90: www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Tunnels-Trolls-Rulebook-Andre/dp/094024490X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3TI106R2GTC8L&dchild=1&keywords=deluxe+tunnels+%26+trolls&qid=1599979590&sprefix=deluxe+tunnesl+%26+%2Caps%2C196&sr=8-1

BookFinder.com is a great book search utility: www.bookfinder.com/    (but BookFinder only found Amazon in this case, so it's a bust but still a good tool to have in your "saved" links).

[Piper]

Sept 12, 2020 18:07:06 GMT -5 dungeondevil said:

Time for FB to reprint it -- this time without the adventures and Trollworld setting info to bring the price down a bit.

AIUI Steve and KSA have both affirmed plans to reprint dT&T as two volumes (rules and all the rest) going forward. This won't be until after the initial KS single volume print run is gone, but from what you've said (and my searches have shown) this shouldn't be too far into the future.

[Piper]

I'm going to say this, but I'm asking please not to take offense ... I mean it in the kindest way possible.

Have you reached out to Steve Crompton (for all intents & purposes, he is Flying Buffalo) about your customer service issue? I respect your right to give your custom to whomever you wish, but you simply won't find a less expensive alternative for official T&T goods. If whatever happened in your e-mail exchange isn't a complete deal-killer? I highly recommend you pursue resolving things with them.

Apologies if I sound like I'm nagging and I'll leave this one be now.

[dungeondevil]

Getting two copies of the dT&T hardcover rulebook directly from FB (at a total expense of about 130 USD) that showed up seriously damaged due to willfully poor (almost nonexistent) packaging is an extreme annoyance -- a waste of time and product.

Wanting to make another order, but requesting better packaging to avoid further wastage was met with a dismissive and unprofessional comment and a refusal to fulfill the order is indeed a "deal-killer". What company (especially a small one) during the Covid-Crash is willing to deny sales and therefore deny itself profit?

As a professional bookseller I can't in full conscience sell to the public product which arrived damaged (I would have to mark it down drastically and therefore I would lose revenue), and as a gamer I don't like getting banged-up, expensive books, nor would I relish the thought of giving to my eager child an anticipated present that looked like it had been chewed up and excreted by a bantha.

I think what I'll do in the future is just make print-ups from the PDF and have it bound somehow -- a labour-intensive proposition, but one in which I don't have to make a facepalm each time I open up the post.

[Piper]

Oh, dear. What an awful experience! I can see why you are hesitant to contact them again.

I can’t think of any alternative I haven’t mentioned already.

[ProfGremlin]

'Struth, dungeondevil, that is certainly a less than happy experience. I can see where you'd be upset, insult to injury as it were. The packages I've received from FBI over the years haven't had this challenge, save one and that was a free prize so I had no grounds to complain about a bent corner out of their control (It looked like someone dropped it on the corner in transit).

The world's gone a bit crazy here in 2020 ("The Universe is already mad. Anything else would be redundant" - Londo Mollari). Mrs. Gremlin and I have both noticed differences in how various shipping companies handle and deliver packages. Some are careful and place things neatly in protected spots to the side of the common traffic path. Others look like a wheelbarrow dump right in front of the screen door making it impossible to retrieve them without jamming the door into the package. Then there's the whole craziness with the US Post of late.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not making excuses for anyone, simply observing the current state of affairs. I truly hope sscrompton has a chance to review this situation and address it. FBI has always had a good reputation amongst their patrons. It's my hope that this was nothing more than a human having a bad day and not being able to contain it. Not good customer service but at least understandable.

[sscrompton]

We do the best we can- I'm sorry you had a bad experience. We ship our books in secure cardboard boxes. have had no complaints after literally mailing hundreds of books this year so far. You can contact me directly at [e-mail] If there is damage I would like to see photos of the damage to determine how serious the damage is.

Again sorry for your problems.

Regards
Steve Crompton
Manager
Flying Buffalo