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Post by alientude on Jun 16, 2021 3:19:59 GMT
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stormmaster
Member
I like viking/migration era swords
Posts: 7,647
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Post by stormmaster on Jun 16, 2021 3:27:20 GMT
Might be big news ill ask on the fb groups see if anyone knows more
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Post by alientude on Jun 16, 2021 3:29:37 GMT
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Post by treeslicer on Jun 16, 2021 3:33:27 GMT
Thanks for posting this.
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Post by pellius on Jun 16, 2021 3:35:57 GMT
😮
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Post by pellius on Jun 16, 2021 3:36:17 GMT
Thanks for the heads-up. I had no idea.
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Post by Bob B on Jun 16, 2021 5:41:15 GMT
Well, I went on my annual Paul Chen spree and found better prices at other vendors. Kult of Athena has typically been hard to beat. My purchases were made elswhere...thought it was a little curious.
Bob
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pgandy
Moderator
Senior Forumite
Posts: 10,296
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Post by pgandy on Jun 16, 2021 12:43:51 GMT
Thanks for the update, that explains a lot, a new web site, change in service. None of which I have seen an improvement in, on the contrary. As for their service I ordered a belt over a month ago. The belt was listed as in stock and so far nothing has come of the order other than KoA holding my money, taking it out of circulation. I’ve received about four notices from KoA regarding the order stating how understaffed they are with 3 employees sick, thanks for my patience, the belt is miss marked but brown as ordered and would be shipped the following week (after about a month), and no response from them after waiting another week with no shipping confirmation. Cheepers it’s in stock. How long does it take to walk, probably in KoA’s case drive, to the bin and pull a belt and hand it over to the shipping department who no doubt in this age and time pushes a key and the label and all other information is printed out, throw it in a box/bag, seal, then handing it off to the UPS man when he shows up at the dock? I’ve seen all too often a good business bought and then the new owner tries to improve on what is already working. Ya, sure...Maybe they will get the bugs worked out with time.
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nddave
Member
Posts: 4,042
Member is Online
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Post by nddave on Jun 16, 2021 12:56:47 GMT
Wow, no wonder most KoA activity on this forum has been so silent. What's odd though is on their YouTube page there are quite a few interview videos featuring Ryan as the owner operator still, obviously he wasn't even the top guy at KoA according to that article.
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Post by Gunnar Wolfgard on Jun 16, 2021 13:04:26 GMT
Hate to see this happen, KOA was one of the only companies I could always depend on to send me a sword without any problems and at a good price. Always shipped within a day or two so I always had it within three or four days not weeks. Lets hope they're just trying to get settle in and things will improve.
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Post by Lancelot Chan on Jun 16, 2021 13:16:15 GMT
Thanks for the update, that explains a lot, a new web site, change in service. None of which I have seen an improvement in, on the contrary. As for their service I ordered a belt over a month ago. The belt was listed as in stock and so far nothing has come of the order other than KoA holding my money, taking it out of circulation. I’ve received about four notices from KoA regarding the order stating how understaffed they are with 3 employees sick, thanks for my patience, the belt is miss marked but brown as ordered and would be shipped the following week (after about a month), and no response from them after waiting another week with no shipping confirmation. Cheepers it’s in stock. How long does it take to walk, probably in KoA’s case drive, to the bin and pull a belt and hand it over to the shipping department who no doubt in this age and time pushes a key and the label and all other information is printed out, throw it in a box/bag, seal, then handing it off to the UPS man when he shows up at the dock? I’ve seen all too often a good business bought and then the new owner tries to improve on what is already working. Ya, sure...Maybe they will get the bugs worked out with time. I also receive no email reply from them at all. They've become something else already.
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Post by pellius on Jun 16, 2021 14:46:42 GMT
Well, I went on my annual Paul Chen spree and found better prices at other vendors. Kult of Athena has typically been hard to beat. My purchases were made elswhere...thought it was a little curious. Bob I noticed that some of their CS items were way up in price, sometimes as high as MSRP. Oh, man. This is starting to feel like the end of an era.
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pgandy
Moderator
Senior Forumite
Posts: 10,296
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Post by pgandy on Jun 16, 2021 14:48:42 GMT
Well, I went on my annual Paul Chen spree and found better prices at other vendors. Kult of Athena has typically been hard to beat. My purchases were made elswhere...thought it was a little curious. Bob I noticed that some of their CS items were way up in price, sometimes as high as MSRP. Oh, man. This is starting to feel like the end of an era. Same here.
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Post by Murffy on Jun 16, 2021 14:51:33 GMT
Last month I sent them an email asking about a delay in shipping an order. I got a reply saying they were very short staffed. I did get my knife not long afterward. Delays because of hiring issues seems plausible given the times.
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Post by koaofficial on Jun 16, 2021 15:38:21 GMT
Hi Everyone - My name is Dave. I'm the new owner of KoA.
I don't spend a lot of time in the forums - and don't intend to become a regular participant... we're pretty busy (as you've noted) but a friend forwarded me these messages, and it seems appropriate to take a moment to tell you about what is and is not changing at KoA.
1st - Ryan decided to retire last year and is now enjoying some much deserved relaxation after more than 20 years of building the KoA community. He agreed to do a few interviews prior to leaving, and we're happy he did. His experience and knowledge is ridiculous.
2nd - I stepped in in November. It has been a wild ride.
We've made plenty of mistakes since that time - not due to the team that is still in place, but a few due to me. We've been clobbered by demand (thank you!), supply chain issues (these suck), and trying to hire.
Here is what we remain committed to: A) Having the broadest range of swords, replica weapons, and other products that our community loves and wants. B) Offering the best value possible C) Providing knowledge, quality control and expertise that you can't find elsewhere D) Providing good customer service.
How are we doing?
A) I'd give us a C. We're busy updating our assortment and adding newness... you'll see more in the next three months
B) B - I hear the complaints on a few items. We've kept a huge % of our assortment constant with 2020 and 2019, and are absorbing cost increases from the supply chain across the board. Where suppliers have raised prices significantly, we've been forced to do an increase. You may find better prices elsewhere - if you do, reach out, we still have a price match guarantee where we will evaluate whether we can match what you found.
We also don't fool around with weekly coupons, bait and switch discounts, or other shady methods. Sure, you might see an MSRP and then our lower price. But that's us, when we can, doing our best to give you a value.
We also do everything we can to keep shipping costs low. We just looked at what you have paid for shipping this year. If you live in the lower 48 states, shipping for an order with one item costs, on average, less than $20 to you. Two items? Less than $22, on average. Does a spear or a shield cost more? Of course... but we think we're pretty darn competitive, and invite you to take a look.
C) The previous team is still in place, so I'd give us another B+. We miss Ryan's twenty years, but the core team has been around for 5+ years.
D) A crappy D. We are behind on responding to messages and shipping. We've added three new members to the customer service team and two more to receiving, shipping and packing to match increased demand, tried to be transparent on timing, been working overtime since March, added phone lines, and... well... even more. We've introduced split shipping and are absorbing that cost in order to get you what we have while you wait for your entire order. But yeah - there is plenty of room to get better. And we're working on it everyday - here in our warehouse and with the supply chain.
Again, you won't hear from me often but know that we hear when you are upset. We are committed to assortment, value, knowledge and service.
Thanks for being KoA customers and caring enough to share what you think.
We have plenty of room to improve. And now I'm going to get back to working on it.
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Post by fester on Jun 16, 2021 15:42:49 GMT
I sent them an e-mail a week ago June 7th about a item I ordered in April. They replied Monday June 14th that my order could not be completed since when I actually ordered it the item was out of stock even though it said in-stock at the time. They said it was oversold.
They said I could select another item, wait on a back order or have a refund.
i requested a refund but have not heard back from them yet.
I will with hold judgement for now
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Post by pellius on Jun 16, 2021 15:48:40 GMT
Thank you for the info!
While price and availability are a huge KoA plus for me, the individual inspection of items prior to shipping is the one thing that really sets you apart in my eyes. It’s really great to hear that KoA is still interested in maintaining and building on its distinguishing qualities.
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tera
Moderator
Posts: 1,650
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Post by tera on Jun 16, 2021 16:53:01 GMT
First, I'd like to thank the new owner for coming to these boards personally to address concerns with our community. I appreciate his honesty and trust in sharing with us that, no, not everything is going as he'd like. I also appreciate the statement of the company values. However, there is one set of verbiage that raised an eyebrow foe me. "we still have a price match guarantee where we will evaluate whether we can match what you found." It can't exactly be a price match "guarantee" if you get to decide if you'll do it. Now, that said, I have worked for companies that had price match "policies" that included openly stated provisos that all employees had to memorize. For those interested, Kult of Athena's Price Match Policy, that includes their requirements and provisos, is published here: www.kultofathena.com/price-matching-policy/I cannot say if this is current and valid, only that this is the current, advertised policy on their website (which is why I linked to it instead of quoting, in case it changes).
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Post by alientude on Jun 16, 2021 17:03:49 GMT
I agree with tera. Really appreciate the new owner coming here and giving us his thoughts. I also agree that the price match wording struck me as a little odd.
I've used KoA's price match guarantee once, in October of last year. Almost immediately after ordering a sword, I found it on another website for $15 less with free shipping. I sent KoA an email asking if it was too late to price match, and they got back to me promptly, offering a $60 refund to cover the lower price, free shipping, and that the other website doesn't collect tax on sales to California! I replied that $60 was too much - I didn't want them to lose money just because another website doesn't comply with California law, and I was really only looking for the $15 price difference, but KoA still refunded me the full $60. That's some impressive customer service, and I hope to see it continue going forward!
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Post by paulmuaddib on Jun 16, 2021 17:18:21 GMT
First, I'd like to thank the new owner for coming to these boards personally to address concerns with our community. I appreciate his honesty and trust in sharing with us that, no, not everything is going as he'd like. I also appreciate the statement of the company values. However, there is one set of verbiage that raised an eyebrow foe me. "we still have a price match guarantee where we will evaluate whether we can match what you found." It can't exactly be a price match "guarantee" if you get to decide if you'll do it. Now, that said, I have worked for companies that had price match "policies" that included openly stated provisos that all employees had to memorize. For those interested, Kult of Athena's Price Match Policy, that includes their requirements and provisos, is published here: www.kultofathena.com/price-matching-policy/I cannot say if this is current and valid, only that this is the current, advertised policy on their website (which is why I linked to it instead of quoting, in case it changes). Great info from the owner. The wording of the price match is a little different but in the link you gave it says “we will do our best to match the price”. Doesn’t say they will match it just do their best, so basically the very same thing the new owner said.
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