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Gary Grzybek
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 Posted: Thu 19 Jan, 2006 8:11 am Post subject: |
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| Bob Burns wrote: | What you said is very true Craig, that is a huge list of swords. But one of my personal pet peeves and this is also one of my character defects as well, is that I am one who gets quite disgruntled by delays and am therefore reluctant to engage into something (hypothetical, whatever it may be) where the element of a delay is likely to happen.
Certainly, this is an area where I need to work on myself and grow, but all the same it is a deterent to me.
When I purchase something, I expect it in a timely fashion, I am not trying to be self righteous, I am only stating this is the way I am.
Definitely it is a monumental task to release that many different kinds of swords, I fully realize that.
Sincerely,
Bob |
I suppose the best way for the impatient ones to deal with this kind of situation is to wait until the items come into full production before ordering. Albion does us all a big favor by bringing their offerings up front while still on the drawing board. This gives us time to decide what we want and watch the development of things which is part of the fun if you ask me. suprises are also cool but I like to see things go through development also. This is a unique buisness for the producer and the buyer. It's kind of neat 
Gary Grzybek
ARMA Northern N.J.
www.armastudy.org
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Craig Peters
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| Posted: Thu 19 Jan, 2006 8:15 am Post subject: |
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| Bob Burns wrote: |
When I purchase something, I expect it in a timely fashion, I am not trying to be self righteous, I am only stating this is the way I am.
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I can't speak for everyone here, but I know in my case, of the two swords I ordered last fall, the Squire Line sword took quite some time before it was finally shipped, but my Knight was shipped pretty much immediately. My point is that there are probably many instances of swords being shipped quickly and expediently, along with some of the slower shipping times. I did not mean to imply that Albion is consistently slow or anything like that; rather, I meant to say that when there were delays, at least they had good reason (like trying to juggle the creation of 12 new swords, for instance).
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Joe Fults
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| Posted: Thu 19 Jan, 2006 9:03 am Post subject: |
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| Craig Peters wrote: | | One thing that I really respect about Albion is that they're constantly putting out new products throughout every year. That takes a lot of work and effort, and inevitably some delays will be involved. Many sword companies, especially smaller ones, might release two or three new weapons in a year, along with making the swords or other weapons that they already have for sale. Consequently, they will have little or no delays with orders, since they aren't trying to develop new weapons. Look at the fall and winter of 2005 alone for Albion and Peter. They released the Agincourt, the Allectus Mainz Gladius, the Pedite Pompeii Gladius, the Aquilifer Fulham Gladius, the Poitiers, the Talhoffer, the Bayeux, the Thegn, the Reeve, the Hospitaller, the Senlac, and the Sword of St. Maurice of Turin. That's 12 swords in the fall and winter alone, a staggering and downright phenomenal increase to their Next Generation/Museum lines. Granted, the shipping for some items has been slow in some cases, but given the number of new swords that Albion's released in 2005 alone, these delays are understandable. |
You are right, but there is the problem of expectations.
Those other companies have not set an expectation that they would release so many new products in a given interval. Albion's choice to announce so many models so quickly generated quite a bit of excitement. It made them very visible when they otherwise might not have been. From what I recall, excitement, a large part of which was generated by new product announcements, took Albion from mouse to gorilla overnight. In that respect, Albion's strategy was good, however, its a strategy that can backfire for Albion, just like it can for any other company. Especially if they have set expectations they cannot meet.
Like I said in my earlier post, it will be interesting to see how all of this works itself out.
"The goal shouldn’t be to avoid being evil; it should be to actively do good." - Danah Boyd
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Joe Fults
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| Posted: Thu 19 Jan, 2006 9:11 am Post subject: |
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| Gary Grzybek wrote: | | ...Albion does us all a big favor by bringing their offerings up front while still on the drawing board... |
I have to respectfully disagree. To me its simply brilliant marketing. The excitement from the announcements generate significnant visibility. Allowing models to be purchased before they are in production accelerates revenue flow, which based on the time value of money can yeild significant financial advantage. It also keeps funds from going to competitors.
Its all good press, right up to the point where you can't meet expectations you set in the marketplace for whatever reason. I really admire the business acumen Albion has demonstrated, they are a very smart bunch, but they are not doing us a favor. 
"The goal shouldn’t be to avoid being evil; it should be to actively do good." - Danah Boyd
Last edited by Joe Fults on Thu 19 Jan, 2006 11:33 am; edited 2 times in total
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Thu 19 Jan, 2006 9:37 am Post subject: |
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Well with my recent Tritonia order, order to shipping ( Today ) was two weeks. The fact that this sword has been in production for a while probably helps. New products can have delays for all sort of good reasons.
As to patience / waiting times: It's always a better policy to surprise with earlier availability than being late.
If I'm told it will take 3 months and it is ready on time or a bit early I'm really happy.
If there is a delay(s) but I get E-Mails giving me a heads up about any delays and an explanation, I'm still happy if it's not an excessive delay.
What must be avoided is giving overly optimistic delivery dates knowing that they will have to be pushed back because one is trying to make the client happy at the time the delivery time estimate is made: Accurate even if long delays are always better.
Oh, this is not a specific to Albion comment, just what I expect from good customer service.
So far, all my Albion purchases have been very good buying experiences, but I never ordered something not in current production.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Steve Fabert
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| Posted: Thu 19 Jan, 2006 10:18 am Post subject: |
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The people at Albion are very understanding about the frustration that delay in getting a new sword into production can cause. If you have a deposit on a sword that has not met its deadline, they will let you transfer your deposit to another sword that is in production. At least that is what they have done for me and for anyone else who has asked for that accommodation. I have never experienced an unreasonable delay in getting delivery of an Albion sword after it has gone into production. When you buy during a sale, you should expect delivery to take just a bit longer because they have more orders to fill.
I am really quite impressed at the number of new sword designs that have met their deadline, or needed only a short delay. As long as they are making new swords faster than I can afford to buy them, the pace is fast enough.
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Gary Grzybek
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| Posted: Thu 19 Jan, 2006 11:30 am Post subject: |
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| Joe Fults wrote: | | Gary Grzybek wrote: | | ...Albion does us all a big favor by bringing their offerings up front while still on the drawing board... |
I have to respectfully disagree. To me its simply brilliant marketing. The excitement from the announcements generate significnat visibility. Allowing models to be purchased before they are in production accelerates revenue flow, which based on the time value of money can yeild significant financial advantage. It also keeps funds from going to competitors.
Its all good press, right up to the point where you can't meet expectations you set in the marketplace for whatever reason. I really admire the business acumen Albion has demonstrated, they are a very smart bunch, but they are not doing us a favor. |
briliant marketing or not, I like the way things are done. This is far better than waiting around and checking the website every once in a while to see what's new. And if Albion uses this as a lure then I'm hooked After all, everyone has to eat and if they become sucessfull at my or anyone elses expense then so be it. As long as they give us what we want then I have no issues. Aside from the buisness side of things I have been treated more like a friend than anything else. No other company has ever given me this feeling. I wish I could make a living on something I love to do 
Gary Grzybek
ARMA Northern N.J.
www.armastudy.org
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Joe Fults
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| Posted: Thu 19 Jan, 2006 11:38 am Post subject: |
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| Gary Grzybek wrote: | | briliant marketing or not, I like the way things are done. This is far better than waiting around and checking the website every once in a while to see what's new. And if Albion uses this as a lure then I'm hooked After all, everyone has to eat and if they become sucessfull at my or anyone elses expense then so be it. As long as they give us what we want then I have no issues. Aside from the buisness side of things I have been treated more like a friend than anything else. No other company has ever given me this feeling. I wish I could make a living on something I love to do |
My expereince has been the same as what you report.
I'm just going through an analytical phase, and the business aspects are fascinating to me at the moment. Perhaps because its something I've spent little time considering before. From the outside Albion looks like its maturing. Every company ends up solving the inevitable problems with growing up in different ways. I just interested in seeing how it plays the game going forward. 
Someday they might even make for an interesting case study.
"The goal shouldn’t be to avoid being evil; it should be to actively do good." - Danah Boyd
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Joachim Nilsson
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| Posted: Thu 19 Jan, 2006 2:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Gary Grzybek wrote: |
Aside from the buisness side of things I have been treated more like a friend than anything else. No other company has ever given me this feeling. |
Hear, hear!
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Bob Burns
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| Posted: Thu 19 Jan, 2006 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with Joe Fults, I too perceive the advertisement of forthcoming swords as a method of marketing to pump up the potential buyers and to give the manufacturer an idea of what the demand is going to be for the specific sword in question. This is a style of marketing both with it's strong points and it's flaws, the strong points being that it certainly does arouse potential sales as well as giving the manufacturer some kind of realistic estimate on what the demand is going to be, which in turn is a responsible thing to do as the manufacturer is better prepared to meet their customers demands.
The main flaw in my opinion, are the promised production and shipping dates, if anything the manufacturer should lean towards promising these dates that would be at the distal end of the estimated time of availability instead of the proximal, wherein false hopes and expectations are raised. If the manufacturer does this intentionally, to me it's just plain rude ( I am being hypothetical here and NOT naming any company)! As a customer I would be much more happy if told the item will be ready for shipment by September 1st, than being told it should be ready for shipment by the last week of July (hypothetical). This kind of scenario to me is just misleading and dishonest and I am not one to tolerate this kind of situation.
However, I think it is smart to let people know of forthcoming items, so long as the promised dates are realistic and inclusive of figuring in unforseen delays. There are many complications that come about that are beyond the control of the manufacturer but I think it is the manufacturers responsibility to figure this in when giving a time estimate.
As far as myself being one who is impatient with missed deadlines, some of that is my own character defects that need to be worked on, although I have made some improvement in this area. I think it is also a very good suggestion that someone like myself waits until the sword is in production and in fact that is what I do, because I know myself and why put myself in a situation wherein I know I am likely to get bent out of shape and sometimes rather childish about it.
What really matters to me here, is the "fact" that Albion is striving to be a 1st class company, producing a 1st class sword and against all the obstacles they keep their production here in America and that is highly commendable!
Albion has my utmost respect in this area, even though I have "yet" to buy one of their swords, in my book they deserve to be a very successful company and I wish for Albion and all who work there, only the Very Best!
Respectfully,
Bob
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