USA fulfillment: what is going on and a realistic ETA
over 6 years ago
– Thu, Nov 09, 2017 at 12:35:05 AM
#this is a common update for Exodus: Event Horizon and Paladin, as this concerns both projects
Ladies & Gentlemen,
This rather long update comes shedding the light on why are our US backers waiting still to receive rewards and when will the fulfillment take place.
There have been some issues that we were not aware, but the final news is encouraging.
1. What we thought we knew
The shipment with Event Horizon and the rest of the games for USA has left long ago and it was mean to reach Funagain Games in US around mid October, perhaps earlier. We have then shipped out to the same destination another batch of items - this time ready packed boxes with Paladin sleeves, for all US backers.
In mid-October we knew that the first shipment made it to customs and even though the post was rather busy, the shipment would still make it by the end of October. The second shipment was also supposed to catch up, being on a faster vessel and thus all was supposed to be delivered in late October or early November.
Following FedEx tracking (this is the logistics division which is totally separated from the courier division) we saw that shipment #1 was delivered and shipment #2 made it through customs just as we were at Spiel - our biggest and most demanding event of the year.
Still, Spiel Essen had passed and we were waiting for the second shipment to make its way to Funagain and for Event Horizon boxes to be packed and delivered by Funagain.
2. What actually happened
Now, I must start with an apology for the delay. NSKN Games has had a spotless track record for delivery Kickstarter prior to these two projects and we did our best to keep it this way. I personally did my best to retrieve information from FedEx logistics and provide truthful and details updated on what was happening. As it turns out, some of the things I sad about US shipments were not true. Thus, my wholehearted apology, which I hope you can accept.
First of all, Funagain is not to blame for Exodus Event Horizon not being yet delivered.
The information I got today from FedEx brought light to what is going on and this was quite disturbing. As it turns out, our shipments were "consolidated" - meaning that everything was shipped together from a point on - because they originated from the same place and going to the same destination. This seems to have been the doing of FedEx in USA, although no one really wanted to take responsibility for this. Nevertheless, this was not the main problem. As I found out today, both shipments had reached US by 16-Oct. Furthermore, customs had been cleared by 26-Oct, but none of that was reflected accurately in the tracking provided by FedEx, from vessel changes to proper information about customs clearance. In fact, even by phone FedEx Romania - our main contact - had confirmed several time that our tracking was accurate and there is no need to worry. Since that date, games and sleeves together have been waiting (clear of any duties) to make their way from the East coast of USA to the West coast where Funagain is located. FedEx has just let us know that only today everything gets picked up and that there will be another 10 days until anything reaches Funagain games. That is in spite my being on the phone/email with them almost every day for the past 2 weeks and a half. Moreover, the information in the tracking is still not updated - and that is the information we used to provide you with updates.
That being said, I am not trying to pass the blame. FedEx did a poor job (actually "is doing a poor job") but this is a lesson learned and we definitely need a different logistics partner and pay much closer attention to what information we get and how we spread it. So, again, apologies are ours to offer for the delays and, hopefully yours to accept.
3. What happens next
We are now spreading this info to all parties involved. We will also ask Funagain to take care of our shipments as early as possible.
With 10 days to get to Oregon and another few days for preparation, we assume that both Event Horizon and Paladin will be shipped out to all US backers around 25-28 Nov.
Wishing all of you a great week,
Andrei
