TOPIC: 12w+ Hero Tier Order

Hey everyone, I've just made an account and am posting for the first time. I read through the Welcome and FAQ, but please forgive me if I'm still in violation of some community rules. Let me know and I'll happily move this question to another thread.

I placed an order for a 12w+ Hero Tier saber a few months back, for Red/Yellow Pri/Sec colours. I included as much info in the order notes as I possibly could and stated that I would be fine to wait longer until 12w+ LEDs were available for Hero sabers if need be.

I did also reply to the confirmation email to ensure that my order notes were received, to which I got a positive response.

A few days ago, I got a 'shipped' status email from SF, telling me that my saber would be shipping in 5-10 days. To be on the safe side, I replied back asking whether my requests for 12w+ Red/Yellow were met. Just got an email back from them that I didn't send $25 for the upgrade so it isn't being included.

I'm a little worried now, considering the fact that they're saying the saber is already in production. I've already emailed back asking to hold off on continued production until we can sort it out, but I think that there was a breakdown in communication/handoff between employees at SF for my order. I never received an email requesting an additional $25 for the 12w+ upgrade, as I've read here on the forums there shouldn't be a charge to begin with considering the fact that I explicitly stated I was fine with waiting and wasn't requesting the saber immediately.

I'm just hoping to get some expertise from previous SF customers (who have been through the ordering process before and know SF better than myself), is there any chance I can still get my 12w+ upgrade as desired or is it pretty much going to ship as-is?

Cheers guys.

Would probably also be a good idea to mention that per the suggestion of an SF Etsy employee, I placed this order through the main SF site, not their Etsy page.

I know that they handle the 12w+ upgrade fee via PayPal. I believe they send you a PayPal code that you send the money to in order to complete the process. If you did not see the communication with that information, that might have been the source of the problem.

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, Brax. In the 12w+ FAQ post I did see that requesting to have your order put on hold to wait for 12w+ LEDs was free of charge, which is why I'm confused now. I certainly didn't receive any correspondence regarding the upgrade fee, regardless. I paid through a credit card and only supplied one email address. Was also furiously checking that email daily to see if there were any updates from SF.

Do you think that my asking to hold the order will suffice? I really do want the brighter LEDs with my order and I'm dreading the possible 'no can do' response from SF.

At present, the 12w+ upgrade is an additional $25, which as I indicated, is handled via PayPal after the purchase of the saber via regular means. When you ask for the upgrade, that should start the process where the specific Paypal account where the $25 would be sent is e-mailed to you, and when they receive the payment, it is included in the build when the time comes. The upgrade fee process is normally initiated, and completed long before the build date arrives, so that everything can continue without issue.

If this is not the case, then communicating with them is definitely the thing to do, however at this juncture, I am not sure if the opportunity has (unfortunately) passed, or if it is still possible. Be patient, and calm in your communication with them, and you should find resolution.

Just know that, even if things don't work out, and you end up with the regular 12w LED, it is still damned bright, and can be upgraded to the new ones at a later date if you wish.

That's a lot of consolation, thank you for taking the time to reply. I think my response email was well worded enough, and I won't go flooding their inbox with rampage messages any time soon.

Darn, I'm going to go back and rummage through my email again for the 3rd time, but I'm 99% sure I never got any correspondence for a $25 fee. Even after mentioning the 12w+ request again to reiterate, there was no indication.

It's good to know that it's possible to upgrade to 12w+ in the future if need really be and that regular 12w LEDs will still keep me satisfied. I also ordered two ASP hilts with the intention to purchase Hero RGBA 12w+ kits when they become available, so the glory of bright LEDs won't be completely lost on me.

Thanks for putting my worried heart to rest, I can sleep easier now.

My last question for you guys is this:

How hard does SF work to honour customer order notes? If something ends up being different about my saber than I requested in the notes, would they be gracious enough to exchange for what I asked for/work to make it right?

Cheers

Typically, they are dogged about adhering to any customization requests that they did not specifically indicate would not be possible. My experience is that customization requests sent after the initial order typically become "admin notes" that are included in the order, but only visible on their end, so that the smith doing the build can see them.

Their customer service is also very reasonable about addressing concerns and doing their level best to make things right when they go askew, so long as everything remains reasonable. I cannot say that everything that anyone has ever requested has worked out to their satisfaction, and there are many and varied reasons why that was so at the time. However, I can say that their customer service does a commendable job of accommodating issues.

So, typical order process: When you submit an order... your order notes aren't looked at until the order goes into production. For things like the 12W+ upgrade, which is only currently available through the upgrade fee (as even when it releases, it will not blanket-replace the 12W, and cost around $5 more than the 12W) communication is absolutely vital. We (or I, maybe I should say) as the SF CSR have no clue about what's on your order notes until you email us and talk to us. Then we can make changes, add notes, etc, up until the time the order goes into production. At that point, it literally leaves our hands, and goes to the techs who build it.

The basic theory is: at some point in time there has to be a cutoff. If we allow everyone to make changes to their order every day the order is in production, can you imagine how much waste we would have, and how many orders delayed over and over again? We would be installing certain components, and BAM. Customer wants something else. Time to pull those out, set them aside, hoping someone else orders that color/board/etc soon and not the one we're pulling out of limited stock to now make changes to this order...

We operate with very small amounts of overhead. We order supplies in based on orders received, and we are leading the industry in a LOT of ways with allowing changes and requests on orders to be made. We are among the most flexible out there TO work with. But even we have to set a certain time as "this is when we can't do anything more to this."

I hope this helps explain the response you've got. I sent your email immediately to the production manager, to see if he would be able to still accommodate the change, as your circumstances are a bit extenuating, but I hope you understand where we're coming from as well.

Much appreciated to both of you.

In direct response to Knytiri, I completely understand. I personally try not to be a huge hassle when it comes to online ordering, regardless of the source. I know it's very difficult to accommodate customers' requests so late in the production stage, which is why I made a (feeble) attempt to ensure that my order notes were received. I can also definitely see how hard you guys work to make your customers happy, you're working with such a high-end product to begin with that each component really can't be wasted over an indecisive customer.

In hindsight I should have probably specifically pointed out the portion of my notes which detailed my desire for 12w+, but there was a fine line between confirming and annoying which I really didn't want to cross.

At this point, I'm definitely more at ease and would ultimately be fine with the standard LEDs, although of course it would be hugely preferable to have exactly what I ordered, considering how much thought I put into this purchase before placing the order.

Thank you so much for contacting the production manager on my behalf, I certainly do understand where you're coming from and the lengths that you're going to both answer my queries and rectify the unfortunate miscommunication is greatly appreciated.

Have a great rest of the weekend to the both of you!