IST (instocktrades.com) problems

[silentcurve]

They'll ship it. It's just going to time. I have 4 separate order placed from 3 to 4 weeks ago that still hasn't shipped out. My other orders from July and August just arrived. And they do answer emails but it can take up to 2 weeks from my personal experience.

[rehino]

Finally got a reply and a partial shipment. Really wish they were able to answer emails in a timely manner. Hoping the rest of my order gets shipped. Hopefully everyone having an issue gets a reply as well.

[Balakin]

Costumer service rep. Emily posted on the Omnibus collectors' FB group today (or yesterday) acknowledging that they've "dropped the ball" (her words) and apologized for all the delays and said that they are hiring more people (both for packing and shipping and costumer service).

[Judge Dredd]

Good to know they are hiring more people got my refund from them hopefully with the new hires they can get back to normal.

[doolittle]

Here's one for DCBS. Figure it's fair game because it's the same company.

I do monthly shipping, and monitor what's in my box weekly. I noticed for a few weeks now that my copy of X of Swords: Creation hadn't been pulled. I emailed last week, a few days prior to the shipment, asking what was up. I didn't get a response until today. No acknowledgement of an error, no apology. Just said, "It was pulled for your next shipment." My next shipment will be mid November, so it looks like I'm getting the start of X of Swords two months past the publishing date. Awesome. Then I get my order and none of my books are bagged or boarded.

I just wrote them a pissy email. I'm not looking for them to be perfect, but the fact there was no acknowledgment irritated me, which was compounded when my bags and boards were forgotten.

[lodebone]

Their website is a horrible joke. You have no choice but to try to buy right at the moment of release but the site is worthless. Nonstop errors. Stuff sitting in my cart but errors on checkout, then it disappears out of stock. I am done trying to order from instocktrades especially new releases. This is horrendous.

[Phd. Strange]

Their website is a horrible joke. You have no choice but to try to buy right at the moment of release but the site is worthless. Nonstop errors. Stuff sitting in my cart but errors on checkout, then it disappears out of stock. I am done trying to order from instocktrades especially new releases. This is horrendous.

Today was bad. They should have had some communication about it as well but their ignoring it just makes it worse. A lot of people defend IST to the death but they really are proving themselves unworthy of such devotion especially if they don’t own up to it...

[Steroid]

After the experience of trying to order today, once I attempt to order the JLA omnibus next week I'm going strictly pre order for my omnibus'

[knapp40]

Today was bad. They should have had some communication about it as well but their ignoring it just makes it worse. A lot of people defend IST to the death but they really are proving themselves unworthy of such devotion especially if they don’t own up to it...

Today was awful! 40 minutes to finally get to the checkout screen. I’m sick to death of this crap! They knew going into today that it would be like this and have done nothing to prepare for it, they knew since the first part of September with the Pent up demand. If they email me telling me they don’t have a book and cancel my order like they did with WoR I’m going to lose my ****.

[Phd. Strange]

Today was awful! 40 minutes to finally get to the checkout screen. I’m sick to death of this crap! They knew going into today that it would be like this and have done nothing to prepare for it, they knew since the first part of September with the Pent up demand. If they email me telling me they don’t have a book and cancel my order like they did with WoR I’m going to lose my ****.

They did that with WoR omnibus? That sucks. Yeah it was like 40 stressful minutes getting the books I wanted today.

[silentcurve]

Today was awful! 40 minutes to finally get to the checkout screen. I’m sick to death of this crap! They knew going into today that it would be like this and have done nothing to prepare for it, they knew since the first part of September with the Pent up demand. If they email me telling me they don’t have a book and cancel my order like they did with WoR I’m going to lose my ****.

They've cancelled so many of my orders within the past month. What's really frustrating is that they would let me know a month after I place an order. They really need to get their inventory and website in sync. How is this acceptable in 2020?

[slop101]

Got my order in yesterday for 3 new releases, but the site kept giving me trouble, no completing the sale - finally worked on the 5th try or so.
I wonder if it was from their servers getting slammed during a fairly big release date.

I just hope they don't take nearly month to ship the books like they did my last order.

[Staghead]

Follow up. My order shipped on Thursday (9/24) and arrived today (9/28) via fedex. I did not pay for shipping as I ordered 11 items. The problem is I only got 10 of the items. The missing one is NOT the one that took several weeks to be picked, it is one that was picked the next day. It shows it was shipped on the packing list. E-mail sent.....

I did not hear back on my original e-mail (9/28) alerting them to the missing book. I waited patiently and sent another note on Saturday (10/24). Service rep Emily did just reply apologizing for the mistake and states they will send the missing book. Nothing on my profile indicating that yet, however.

I have been a big proponent of IST for many years, but based on the information in this thread and my own experience, I plan to pause any ordering from them for now. I certainly hope they are able to correct their staffing/workflow/organizational issues, but I'll plan to sit out until that happens.

[slop101]

For all the stuff that's sold out and seemingly not coming back into stock (Batman by Dini, War of Realms Omni), I may just pay the extra money and buy them off amazon.
This poor distribution crap has gotten way out of hand.

[knapp40]

Posted on Facebook for all the good it will do.

Dear DCBS & IST,

I am writing this letter to express my love of comics, the industry, and my concern of what is currently happening on Instocktrades.com on Tuesday afternoons at 12PM EST, 3PM PST.

Firstly, I want to thank you for all of the many years of service and endless entertainment. You provide quality service at an unbeatable price. I also want to note that these are indeed extraordinary times and circumstances that we’re all living in. People have lost jobs, livelihoods, careers, family members, homes, etc. I’m not minimizing traumatic experiences or these awful events. You’ve been able to stay open in spite of this current pandemic, thank you!

I do want to acknowledge that you’ve addressed issues regarding the ongoing situation with a disclaimer on your web page about shipping, and volume of emails. That being said, I feel that the situation has reached a tipping point in terms of my patience and the understanding of the community at large.

I, (and I know of dozens of others) have waited over a month for books to ship. I’m not talking about USP, USPS, or FedEx, I’m talking about the amount of time you take to get the orders to the shipping service. I see my books either waiting to be shipped, or have been picked and scanned and not shipped for weeks at a time. This to me is completely unacceptable because you’re literally “sitting” on items that I have paid for a month or longer. I then send an email to ask, “why” or “what the status” of something is and I do not receive a response.

This is unprofessional, and extremely poor business practice since your website is the primary way that your business communicates and disseminates information about goods to the general public, and when items ship. The community isn’t receiving information from you, and your patrons aren’t being communicated with, by you. It is extremely concerning that people would spend hundreds of dollars worth of goods only to be ignored by the company that they just gave money to. Communication to the customer is key!

What is worse is when orders that are created are then, later, canceled. Sometimes weeks go by before you communicate that you don’t have said book. This is awful, because in that time I would’ve found a different company that has that book and I would’ve been able to buy that before it is completely gone, or OOP (out of print). Refunds are all well and good, but not when you’re still sitting on money with customers not getting what they paid for! This needs to speed up!

I also feel as though the web site has become unusable on Tuesday afternoons, with error messages and loading timeouts. It took me 40 minutes to get the books that I wanted to purchase and complete my order. The increased demand of new releases should’ve been anticipated, and prepared for. It was not, and is an ongoing issue.

I know that you’re (hopefully) following CDC guidelines, and practicing social distancing. Other companies have adapted to add more shifts so all workers aren’t there at the same time, or hired more people to answer emails and inquiries - this can be done remotely. If it’s a supply chain issue talk to Diamond, Lunar, or UCS Distributors and collaborate on some kind of a work around. If it’s a website traffic issue, (which I work in IT and I can tell you it is), get a new server!

You go on record stating, “You’ve more business than you know what to do with”, and yet don’t take steps to address that. This is frustrating! Please note that large discounts don’t translate to “best customer services”, nor does it always mean that I, or other comic book collectors, will always blithely use your service just because of “cheap prices”.

I love IST. I love the comic book community. I love reading comics and I love the service I (used to) get from IST. I always want to be able to buy my books from IST or DCBS, and I hope that things are soon fixed so I still can! Thank you for your time, and service that you’ve provided for us all!


Best,
Adam