Midtown Comics online customer service 0

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

Anyone ever order from Midtown Comics and have a problem with a damaged delivery? I just received a shipment and about half of the books seem to have taken a blunt impact from the side. Just wondering what I'm in for when I contact them regarding the issue.

[Unstoppablejayd]

Yup- Emailed them and they never responded. Good Luck

[Kon_Jelly]

5 hours ago, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

Anyone ever order from Midtown Comics and have a problem with a damaged delivery? I just received a shipment and about half of the books seem to have taken a blunt impact from the side. Just wondering what I'm in for when I contact them regarding the issue.

I've only emailed them one time, but they promptly refunded me for a damaged book. 

[ygogolak]

Takes about 2-3 emails. Overall their customer service and quality of product has gone severely downhill in the past 6 months to a year.

[IndyKMB]

First off, my business with Midtown is about 1/5th of what it used to be due to quality issues and significant delays.  Getting books 2+ weeks after release date (which has happened numerous times in the last 12 months after never happening in my first 4 years with them) is beyond ridiculous.

 

Having said that, when I had major damage issues with the Action Comics 1000 Lee Variant, they immediately took care of the issue, and it was 100% e-mail communication.  I was required to take and submit pics of the books and packaging.  They paid for the return and refunded me immediately once their "review" was complete in 24 hours.

[s-dali]

I quit ordering from them after I received a shipment where it looked like someone hacked a loogie all over the plastic that was covering the comics. No comics were damaged, thankfully. I emailed them and they responded with "So sorry that happened. Have you seen our latest store variant?" Yeah ... I don't know what I was expecting, but I was expecting a little more than that!!!

[littledoom]

They ship as many comics as they can (none of which are sealed in their loose bags).. in a paper bag which is not securely fastened in a box.. So always expect those brown bags inside to get torn in handling.. I've been ordering from Midtown comics for years and impact crunches are common. They either offer full refund if you ship back or I believe 20% refund if you choose to keep. But you have to email them concise detailed pics of the damages and then they approve. It's a pain.

[GeneticNinja]

I haven't ordered from them in a while. I know they are a lot more popular now. I really want to get back to going to a comic shop. But when I did receive damaged items from Midtown, which was only a few times. They always sent me replacements. Or if it was sold out, a high discount or let me keep it if was really damaged. Usually, like with all online dealers, I try to order a lot so I get shipments in a box. That's always best to me. But it all depends on the packing and your luck with the mail carriers. I've received damaged items before that look like they were run over with a truck.

[kHAoS]

39 minutes ago, GeneticNinja said:

I haven't ordered from them in a while. I know they are a lot more popular now. I really want to get back to going to a comic shop. But when I did receive damaged items from Midtown, which was only a few times. They always sent me replacements. Or if it was sold out, a high discount or let me keep it if was really damaged. Usually, like with all online dealers, I try to order a lot so I get shipments in a box. That's always best to me. But it all depends on the packing and your luck with the mail carriers. I've received damaged items before that look like they were run over with a truck.

during this pandemic, i’ve been ordering from them regularly and all of my shipments have turned out great. a couple of times, the mailers got crumpled, but the comics were all mint. i’m actually impressed at the condition of the comics considering their volume and i’m assuming their packers aren’t anal collectors, like most of us on this board.

[GeneticNinja]

3 minutes ago, kHAoS said:

during this pandemic, i’ve been ordering from them regularly and all of my shipments have turned out great. a couple of times, the mailers got crumpled, but the comics were all mint. i’m actually impressed at the condition of the comics considering their volume and i’m assuming their packers aren’t anal collectors, like most of us on this board.

Yeah that's the thing with comics and wanting as close to mint as possible. You depend on so much to get it that way. But at the comic shop, you pick what you want.

I would hope people working at Midtown are good at picking stuff though since they do sell different graded comics. I would assume like 95% of my Midtown orders arrived fine though. Never had to send any pictures back then.

[Buzzetta]

I have signed up for a Marvel subscription for one book (ASM) fulfilled by Midtown.  The books arrive in a backing board with cellophane around the comic.  The first one, honestly arrived perfectly.  The second one... less than perfect... far far far far less than perfect. 

It looks like I will cancel the subscription if it happens again and then just wait a year and buy them all on the second hand market.

I am down to one title.  No comic store is holding that for me. 

[Cozmo-One]

1 hour ago, Buzzetta said:

I have signed up for a Marvel subscription for one book (ASM) fulfilled by Midtown.  The books arrive in a backing board with cellophane around the comic.  The first one, honestly arrived perfectly.  The second one... less than perfect... far far far far less than perfect. 

It looks like I will cancel the subscription if it happens again and then just wait a year and buy them all on the second hand market.

I am down to one title.  No comic store is holding that for me. 

Before I got back into collecting a few years ago, I had a similar experience.  I went through the Marvel website to subscribe to the Star Wars series, which was fulfilled through Midtown.  The "backing board" was thinner than a normal backing board.  For the most part, they typically arrived in pretty good shape, but I wasn't expecting 9.8s.  One time, it was very damaged, and I wrote their customer service.  They basically said something like their subscription books  (or maybe just Star Wars?) shouldn't be used as collectibles, but they would send out a replacement (up to two times or something).   A couple of times an issue was skipped, but after writing them, sometimes twice, they would send out a new one.  At the time, I was ok with them since I really just wanted to read the story and they were at least 40% off cover price.

After a couple of years, I decided to get more serious about collecting and started visiting the LCS and cancelled the subscription.  Things may have changed since.  I'm guessing subscription comics may be shipped differently than if buying single from their store directly (where they would ship more securely)?  But I'm not sure

Edited August 7, 2020 by Cozmo-One

[Kramerica]

If you're going to be be an online retailer - comics or otherwise - you better be prepared to offer outstanding customer service. Like 110%. And if you make a mistake you need to be on top of things as well 110%. There's a ton of competition out there and if you're not willing to make the commitment don't bother. And your employees better be all-in 110% as well because one mega-fail reflects badly on the whole company. I have never ordered from Midtown but from reading the comments above it sounds like they may need to invest a little time and love in QC. Going "above and beyond" is nothing special - it's expected in 2020. Those who aspire to this will have a leg up on everyone else.

[littledoom]

Theier customer service is usually to the point and helpful

[ExNihilo]

Sounds like their sub service is sub-par.  Personally, I haven't shopped at Midtown since the way they handled their Action Comics #1000 exclusive.  I know they don't miss me, but whatever.  They have a large selection if you're trying to fill holes in your run, other than that, it feels like they've let their size get to them.