Variant: Customer Service for Board Games
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I have procured (whether through purchase or gift) more than my fair share of games over the past several years. And, while most of the time every single piece is in there, occasionally something gets damaged or omitted and my brand new game is incomplete. While initially disappointing, I have found customer service at most companies to go above and beyond the call of duty to make things right. Notably, Days of Wonder has been phenomenal, and Mayfair Games has provided quick turn around on missing parts.
In fact, I’ve had such great responses from every company that I’ve needed to contact, that I had just assumed fantastic service was industry standard. I’m not sure if it’s the niche market, the small companies, or the passion of many publishers, but I have always found board game publishers to be incredibly helpful. To help illustrate the pleasure of working with game publishers, I’ll recount my recent, worst experience with one. And you’ll see that even the worst board game customer service tends to be better than the average in any other industry.
I received two games within a month, Troyes and Ora et Labora, that both had missing or damaged pieces. Both published by Z-Man. Troyes had a damaged die that had been stamped in the middle on all sides. This made the two look like a three, the three a four, and the six had seven dots on it. While it was cool to be able to roll a seven on my d6, it didn’t quite work with the game. Ora et Labora was actually missing pieces from a punchboard. The dial, several “Wonder” tiles, and the French variant coin were all absent from their locations. The board was in there, but it was full of holes.
Of course, errors do happen. So, while it wasn’t ideal, I understand. And I didn’t draw any negative inferences. After all, I’d received several Z-Man games in the past without any problems. So I resolved to contact customer service on both occasions.
Unlike previous experiences, though, it took twelve days to receive a response about Troyes. And when the response was finally received, it merely asked for my address. No “so sorry for the inconvenience” or anything like that. I didn’t mind much; that meant they’d be sending me the replacement, right? It arrived Tuesday – twenty-five days later.
Similarly, my question on Ora et Labora took a week for a response. And, while it provided slightly more information, I had to follow up and ask for a rough estimate of time. I’m trying to chalk it up to coincidence, but the recent sale of Z-Man to Filosofia makes me wonder if things are just going to be different.
Still, while mildly frustrating, this is not the worst customer service incident ever. And the only reason I’m highlighting it is to show that this, as mild as it is, is probably the worst board gaming has to offer. I’ve spent hours on hold for banks, software companies, tech companies, heck, even my internet provider. It’s just one of the reasons I love board games. Even if something is wrong, I know that publishers are not only willing, but eager to make it right.
How about you? Do you have tales of great service from a particular company? Or the opposite?
I had some marked cards my package of Haggis from Indie Boards and Cards. The game was unplayable because of the number of cards involved. I emailed the company and Travis responded. I had replacements within a week. Luckily that’s been the only real issue in my board gaming world so far…and it was handled with speed and courtesy. I’ve been very happy with that and I consider myself very lucky.
Most publishers are outstanding with customer service. I’m hoping that the issue with Z-Man is just growing pains from the sale to Filosofia. I had a similar issue to yours with missing pieces in my “At the gates of Loyang” – it took 2 emails and almost 3 weeks to get a response, but once they responded my pieces arrived within the week.
I really don’t mind so much having to wait for replacements. I understand that there is a supply chain in place, and that the parts sometimes need to be ordered. It was the complete lack of response to my email for 3 weeks that was concerning. I wasn’t sure if my email didn’t get there, if I was being ignored, or if my request was being silently handled.
In the end I’m satisfied that they sorted out my problem and got parts to me, but it would have been a much less harrowing experience with better communication, or at least some sort of confirmation that my request had been received.
@John. You bet! Indie, like the vast vast majority of publishers is unbelievably good at customer service. Glad to hear they treated you right.
@William. Yeah, I concur with you. It isn’ t bad service at all. The pieces still arrive, the claim gets handled, and in the end everyone is happy. It’s just that Z-Man is providing “adequate” service in an industry where “super good” is the norm.
I’d like to add Rio Grande to that list. Jay has always been a great help even when I’ve bought used Rio Grande games that were missing components.
I’ve also dealt with DaVinci when I was missing a card in a used set of Bang!
I’m in the category of having had excellent customer service experiences from game companies. Two recent examples:
Magic Magpie (an independent publisher here in the cities) sold me her recent game “That Blankety-Blank Game” with a 5% off coupon from Game by James. She also sold the game at a discount and gave my gamer-wife and me a “blessing”. It was one of the most genuine and real experiences, and made learning her game that much more enjoyable by the fact that the owner, creator and salesperson were such a joy to talk to and deal with.
Flying Frog Productions sold me a couple of expansions for their Last Night On Earth game online. Upon checking out the totals were added and the invoice was paid. A few days later, the customer service rep e-mailed me telling me that their system billed me too much for shipping, and that they would provide a refund for the difference. This is maybe a minor thing, but in my experience with similar e-tailers, extra money paid for shipping goes right towards the bottom line, and is never refunded. This made my day, and made me that much more loyal to this “big-time” game company. (Not to mention that all the pieces of all their games have always been in the box, and of the highest quality).
Good article!