3A | Quality Control: Reports and General Discussion

May as well be unicorns and leprechaun gold because apparently those don't exist either.

Not sure if you realise IronChap, but Gregory and myself were traveling and very busy with SDCC over the last week.
I am sure 3ACS will be happy to assist you.

I was aware that SDCC was happening, but staff seemed to still be popping in fairly regularly in other threads, simply just popping in this or the Marvel thread to acknowledge there's a problem would've been enough. In that time I'd also emailed Gimbat directly in the hopes of getting the ball rolling as, historically, going straight to CS in the first instance has not often yielded great results and refunds/returns were often things people had to fight hard for, but that has gone without a response also. Surely it's no surprise that I've been getting increasingly frustrated.

I've since emailed CS earlier today, so hopefully I can get my money back and get this horrid thing out of my life. I just want this to be over, cut my losses and move on. Me and 3A was fun while it lasted.

*mods, feel free to merge with other thread. Couldn't find one that was similar*

So I am doing some furniture re-arranging which meant all 3A toys need to come down.  I noticed these salt like crystals on the shelves under a few of the figures. 1 of the figures even had some of this "salt" on it's soft goods. Figures are from the 2010-2012 era.  Figures are in a wood cabinet/glass doors, not in direct sunlight. I'm in SoCal, so very moderate climate.

Any idea what this is?  I'm thinking some chemical in the weathering slowing reacting over time.

Which specific figures are we talking about?

If it's anything with a boiler suit or pouches with heavy weathering the paint/weathering just dusts off or falls off in time I've noticed myself

Chivo wrote:Which specific figures are we talking about?

Figure referenced in OP is 1/6 Deimos DC. Also have seen smaller amounts under 1/6 Jungler Caesar and maybe a grunt as well

gundamben831 wrote:If it's anything with a boiler suit or pouches with heavy weathering the paint/weathering just dusts off or falls off in time I've noticed myself

The dust from weathering I'm used to. Those are very very small and fine particles, much like regular dust.

For what it's worth,.. I've had a Deimos droppie for years and never had anything like that coming off of it.

A good test to see what it is would be to get a razor blade, scrape the particles into a continuous line, then roll up a dollar bill,.... then,.... wait, wait, definitely do that - not unless you want to see flashes of future 3A releases for a few seconds while incapacitated.
#atworkbutdontwanttobe

LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!

3A used these powder as ball socket fillers to increase friction, found it on larger bots like the older Ankou EX

wutasi wrote:3A used these powder as ball socket fillers to increase friction, found it on larger bots like the older Ankou EX

I remember the white powder (cue Tyrone meme again) on the bigger bots like MK3 Bertie. Still, that was a finer powder and not grains of w.e.

It almost looks like what might fall out of those silica dessicant packets,... honestly no idea what that could be.

Yeah, I like Wooly's idea.  I think you should baggy that up and sell it on ebay as 3A Magic Powder.  Stuff that will bring you back to the old days of 3A when things felt like magic.
https://media.giphy.com/media/jA2Tr2QT6iMdG/giphy.gif

But in all seriousness it's more likely that stuff is one of the aforementioned items: silica dessicant, talcum powder, baking powder, baking soda, or paint/primer chips. You should run some tests. See if it dissolves in water or paint thinner, etc. And see how it dissolves. Does it turn into a milky substance or does it just dissolve, etc.

Omg i hate (love) you guys....But back on topic,... can you but some of that stuff in a baggy. Gonna snort that shit!!!!!

Dry ectoplasm from 3A ghosts of Christmas past?

My new figures generally have a strong chemical odor to them. Could the flakes be a salt crystal residue from the evaporation of a volatile chemical?

I'm no chemist, but it probably could be.  I mean if you think about it the fact that he has his figures more or less contained within a small area probably creates a small atmosphere where heat or cold temperatures are essentially contained.  Kind of like having your figures in an Easy Bake Oven.  When it's hot it'll liquify and/or evaporate whatever the chemicals in the vinyl  thus you get the "wetness" that folks are constantly talking about.   Then when the temperatures get cold it probably solidifies the wetness and creates the precipitate which could be the flakes that we see.  'course I'm just postulating, here.

Sounds good to me.

So I have tried a few times to reach out to three a with questions about a product I ordered and also wondering if an item has been shipped as other appear to be getting it, but did not see any emails. This is the second time I have reached out about a product and if it shipped only to be ignored. How do I get in contact with them about the horrible customer service.

Boine wrote:So I have tried a few times to reach out to three a with questions about a product I ordered and also wondering if an item has been shipped as other appear to be getting it, but did not see any emails. This is the second time I have reached out about a product and if it shipped only to be ignored. How do I get in contact with them about the horrible customer service.

Sorry for my late reply.
Somehow missed your post.

Currently threeA / threeZero are moving to a new location, maybe that has something to do with your issue
My email last week was unanswered as well. Usually they reply pretty quick. So I've sent it again last night and got a response half a day later.
I never had no complaints or issues with them. But maybe it helps not telling them their customer service is horrible when you contact them.

If you provide them with as much information as in your question above it will be pretty hard to determine what the issue is.
1. Did you tell them their customer service is horrible?
2. Did you provide a product name?
3. Did you provide a Bambaland order number?
4. Did you provide your PayPal payment info (can come in handy since you have to pay directly after ordering)?
5. Did you provide your shipping address?
6. Did you sent your inquiry to cs@threeaonline.com?

if you did point 1. I probably understand what went wrong.
If you did point 2-5 and sent it to point 6, I don't know, and advice to try again.

Good luck.

As yes. Be cordial and patient. And send your emails during the morning HK time. And be constructive with your criticism if you must criticize. No one likes to be insulted, but at least with constructive criticism you probably have just cause and the other party can reflect on how they can improve. I don't know. Just my thoughts.

To add: consider the language barrier. Just because they respond in English doesn't mean they fully understand everything you are writing. So just cut to the chase instead of rambling on.

Also, follow the Shipping News along the right side of http://www.worldofthreea.com/ .That should answer any questions if you are awaiting an item. ThreeA has never NOT delivered an item. Things get delayed all the time. And even delayed again. But they will always ship. Patience is key.

Hey there Gregory, still no word from CS for months now! Just wondering if I send another message? Already sent a fair few!

CS have asked me to have customers send follow up emails if you haven't already heard back.

We've hired on a couple new people to the CS team to handle the influx of emails and they anticipate things will go back to normal by end of month.