Looking 4 Russ customlabs

[GUYx1]

O M G !
See I told you! There REALLY is a great pumpkin!
And he will come to deliver toys to all the good little children in the world!

Now don't you all feel awful for doubting?

[jessica]

That's so great, Roy! I'm glad yours made it. Hoping everyone else's orders come in, too!!!

[marbkwds]

I just received my heads from CustomLabs ........... They came in fridays mail . I don't know if starting this thread helped or made a difference but I am very thankful that they finally arrived ........... Roy

[Mikey]

I dunno what to believe

I do think too many people give good reviews to shakey deals for fear of being an outcast ... and then by the time everyone compares notes, it's too late.

In a way, everybody on Mego Museum being one big happy family sometimes works against us...

[Brue]

It sounds as though he did practice poor business
But
Is there the possibility that

a - he will come through eventually?
b - something really bad happened to him?
c - both of the above

just want to throw the benefit of the doubt out there

[GUYx1]

Yes, everyone received that email. The fact that he was up to 5 years behind in orders (while still taking and filling OTHER orders) is what concerins people.

I certainly know I was cringing when I saw special runs of resin bodies and such showing up for sale on the forum, when my body parts were not getting sent out for over a year.

[johnmiic]

I'm coming to this thread very late I see. I recall Russ sent an email out to me and many other people before the New Year. This is a copy:

<<<due to state of todays money and me have the lack their of i will be closeing my shop all orders will be shipped i'm not out of the hobby just going a different direction with it so guys if you have a order just hang tight i'm working on them and you get them just backed up as of right now most should go out befor christmas i would like to thanks all of you and wish you a very merry christmas and hope to see you around when i get my new venture up and running in a few months thanks russ>>>

[GUYx1]

Doc M. is the best. I constantly feel guilty for asking him for help because he already has so much on his plate resurrecting MEGO. I hate asking for custom casting for me.
But even he knows me well enough (without even looking at the order) to say don't even put in the order until mid Feb.
My whole point in this is that I know I don't have time to do half this stuff the way I'd like. I'd love to, but I am totally fried with work and I have got to hire out.
However to do this, I do not expect in any way that people can deliver in a paypal timeframe. They CANNOT do that for this sort of thing.
So I do NOT want $$$ as a refund.
It is frustrating that nobody is getting that.
I have seen all types of behavior from Seamsters & Seamstresses.
One day, Any of these people can and will go island happy and run screaming into the wilderness. C'est la vie!

So all told I lost like maybe $300 give or take. I don't expect that back. The point is NOT the money. I couldn't care less about the money.
If I gotta wait 2 years fine. I will give a person his space.
There were maybe only $75 worth of those items which were crucial to specific characters I was working on. Send me the heads and a few parts and I'll be happy as a clam.
As long as there is someone waiting in the wings that I can blow the money with all over again I'll be happy. Austin, prepare to pour some resin...

[The Toyroom]

^ Yup Doc Mego is the gold standard as far as excellence in customer service that we should ALL aspire to...

[Dave Mc]

I can go along with that actually. If your not actually making the item to order, it's different. Pouring a resin head in a mold doesn't take long and you can do a lot of them at once. Of course in Russ' case, he had a lot of people sending him stuff to shrink, which takes time and that might take longer than a month, depending on the method used, but if it's just putting parts in a box or doing a few pours, it shouldn't take that long.

I understand volume can get you behind, even on stuff like simple pours or parts, but no one get's more orders than Doc, and he either does pours or packs parts, and he's always 2-3 weeks.

[BlackKnight]

When I wrote that Dave,... about the 30 day Claim...
I guess I mis wrote that to some degree...
Painting a Head,.. or even sewing a suit or building a full custom takes time,.. I understand that. Hell,.. I do a bit of that Now,.. & Realize the time it takes.. Or even putting together some of the Neat Playsets people make these days... I guess I should have more so clarified my Statement.

Pouring a resin piece , & or throwing a product like say from CTVT in a Box to send,.. can't seriously take more than 30 days. ... If it does,.. the said seller imo, shouldn't have tooken the cash to begin with. .. Unless ofcourse it's a PreOrder,.. but like I stated,.. thats something Else entirely.

I have had no problem, like ever Buying Heads from you,.. or Paul Evans... , Everytime I ever ordered,.. I recieved my my stuff in like a Week.

[SUP-Ronin]

[Dave Mc]

You're right Del. I'm certainly not going to police members business dealings. That is up to the community as a whole. That's EXACTLY what we're doing here right now. That's what we've always done. Someone is bad to deal with and it can't be worked out, people call them out and report it to the group. WIth most of us, not just customizers, our museum rep as a trade partner is important. The comments of the group is the only real police action we need.

Sure, every once in a while something like this is going to happen, and it sucks, but for the most part we have good sellers and good buyers. We can't take one or two bad apples and try to impose rules on everyone based on those couple people. Want to get rid of those apples? Spread the word, just like what is happening right here. Bad word of mouth is the best medicine. What the mego community as a whole says about a seller or buyer is a lot more effective than anything the admins could do to try and prevent it.

As for the rest, if you have a 30 day policy before reporting to paypal, I'm going to have to request you don't order from me. I'll be the first to admit I don't always get things out in that time. I usually tell people 3-5 weeks on painted orders. It's just what usually ends up happening based on what was ordered before, how long my to do list is, and if I'm even working in town on a given week. I'm up front about it though, and as I've said before, communication is key.

My point with that is a "rule" isn't going to help you much. You have to trust to a certain degree when you're making deals on the internet with other collectors. All you can go by is reputation and what others in the community say.

[Bizarro Amy]

I understand what you're trying to accomplish, but I coubt that it would be possible. I don't think the moderators here or at any other toy forum want the added work of policing custom suppliers. The purpose of posting complaints here alerts the community, but other than banning fraudulent sellers from posting their wares on the boards, I doubt there's more the mods could do. Especially in cases like Customlabs, where the seller has his/her own website, they couldn't really force the site owner to adhere to a set of rules like that.

[Jerry68]

I did not mean to offend anyone. If I did I am sorry. I think we really need to stay together. I am really thinking about filing an internet fraud case. With the emails I have from Russ and emails others of you have I think we would have no problem. Here is the thing that stops me. If it comes to the front lines that we are seeking our custom heads and such this could create a problem in and of itself. I am willing to forget my $ 32.50 for the order. I have already ordered replacement heads. I have a hard time with swallowing my pride on this! I am a very ethical man and I expect my transactions to be handled accordingly. Perhaps we should put together a more permanent thread like they do for the restaraunts, like the dirty dozen? I hate to do this because I think we can and should handle ourselves like adults.

Perhaps we as a community should adopt certain standards like; Paypal only,
thirty day limit then complaint. This is the only bad dealing I have had here. Everyone else has been upstanding! I look forward to doing business with more of you. The money I lost I can chaulk it up the same as I do a bad dinner out. The thing that still eats at me is the misuse of trust. Again, I did not want to offend anyone I am just sharing my thoughts.