W. Alan Davis, owner of Silver Bullet Comics, dropped me a note in regards to my earlier post on the site being down and customers complaining about their orders not being filled:
Alan here, owner of Silver Bullet Comics.
Was given the heads up you ran a post on us.
Of course, you had to do it on a day when our hosting company’s scheduled backup power test somehow corrupted our PHP software on the server, leaving our site down and me on the phone with multiple levels of tech support at Media Temple, but coincidence seems to be my middle name. Site should be back up soon, though hours after promised… but isnt that tech support for you.
It’s easy for a couple of people to say annonimously that their order didnt fill… last time your site had posts on this, in talk back, it was spearheaded by a 17 year old who misread the details of his order. It happens. The internet is a great big place to vent frustration without having to supply fact. Fact is though, I’ll be honest with you that we are behind where we like to be, considering the move from store to warehouse did create it’s own hickups and problems (ever move 3200 sq ft of store then try to find where you put anything?). However, as has been the case, every order will be taken care of…even if a few require patience. We’ve been doing this for years, and even with a 98% success rate - better than UPS - that means 2 in 100 are going to require special help. With the move, people returning to school, etc., this month has been dificult to stay up with… but find any business without complaints. Our goal is satisfaction, even if a few people are frustrated at first, we’ve never had a customer complain about our product and meticulous shipping once it arrived. We may not be the fastest everytime, but we try to be the best shipper - that’s our goal.
Adding to the problem of people who need additonal help, though, is the fact that our mail server has major issues (I personally get 4K+ emails a DAY), making us install Terminatior-like spam filters. People wonder why I dont reply to emails, and they’re sending them from DrLoveSexy@Hotmail.com with no subject, lol. We’re installing a live help desk and support queue from earlier suggestions, but nothing in Tech gets done at the speed we like. For now, we have our forums - well, not RIGHT NOW… server issue, remember… but in a second - where people can PM me and see when I get the message and reply. Temp solution but best we can do on short notice.
As for other issues people had with us closing the shop, I remind everyone that there are people behind that decision, and after 9 years of running stores, it was not a decision taken lightly. There were things behind it. I don’t expect anyone not in my family, knowing what reasons went into it, to second-guess their own theories or make judgments of what THEY would have done… it was what had to happen for me and my family because of the issues at hand. After 9 years, I’m not who I was when I started, and my 2 kids born since opening made decisions 9 years ago different than those last month. After 9 years making the industry better and giving everything to it (even helping fund this site when it was first getting its legs), I think making decisions now that are best for my family is far from selfish.
That said, while SBC and I are both taking some bumps now from transition, rest assured all customers needing assistance will be handled with the utmost importance, just as all the hundreds weekly not having issues are, and things will get smoother from here as we all adjust to our new roles, personally and professionally.
I also agree with you that we should not be confused with Silver Bullet Comics the news site (which we are… have you read all of our great content and excusive interviews?), as we own the trademark to the name, as seen here:
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=bpik2o.2.1
Anyone else using that name is violating our Trademark, so please do not refer to others as such, regardless of the confusion of our brand they infringe upon. While they do not make it clear that they are violating our trademark, referring to them by it as you do in your post further muddys the waters. Thanks.
The site is back up now: http://www.silverbulletcomics.com/. Also, the thread that the “17 year old” started in the Talk@ section can be found here.
August 29th, 2007 at 12:56 am
I have no idea why this story was posted up at all. Okay, we knew you had gone online only. Yes, it brings its challenges. Was this just a free ad for Silver Bullet Comics? Can I get one for any comic shop I want to pimp? Maybe for one that has the business savvy to actually you know stay in business.
If they are so concerned with http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com, they should enforce that trademark instead of just whining about it. By the way, if you google “Silver Bullet Comics” the first search result is still for http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com not the online only comics seller mentioned above.
Well I hope it all settles out and look forward to the story in January about what Silver Bullet Comics got for Christmas and how they enjoyed their New Year’s Eve.
August 29th, 2007 at 1:57 am
There was a story about people having trouble with the store and then the store got a chance to explain their viewpoint, it is common curtesy that you allow both sides a chance to speak, nobody forced you to read it
August 29th, 2007 at 8:28 am
Yeah, IANAL but I think you should keep on mentioning the two different sites in every post to help keep them straight in people’s minds, since the TRADEMARK HOLDER refuses to do so, thus the confusion. It’s ridiculous that he’d ask you to do his work for him.
August 29th, 2007 at 8:32 am
I only discovered silverbulletcomics.com because of a few misspellings I made trying to access silverbulletcomicbooks.com
August 29th, 2007 at 11:56 am
Just to clarify the part about SBC and SBCB, there are things in progress to settle the situation, no one is whining. It’s just that through the legal system it takes time for things to come to fruition.
Anyone that hasn’t checked out our main site should. We have tons of content every single day of the week, including all the latest press releases from the mainstream and many indy companies, great interviews (our latest was with Clive Owen from Sin City), columns, tons of reviews and much more.
Thank you for posting Alan’s response to the previous blog posting.
August 29th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Why can’t I get the prepaid orders from silverbulletcomics.com that I paid in advance for? Server issues seems to equal payment issues with the silverbulletcomics.com host.
August 30th, 2007 at 12:56 am
Zeitgeist are you really Skeletor(”It’s common courtesy!”)? Don’t worry I fixed your spelling error.
You are right though I clicked on the story to see if there really was something new going on with the little store that couldn’t only to find out this was really just a big advertisement for them.
I also don’t think both sides have to be heard from. This isn’t some court of law required to give everyone their day to call witnesses. I don’t know what the real situation is here. People report not receiving their stuff. On-line only seller claims that its just a couple of random problems. I tend to favor the customers in this case though since the retailer by their own admission could not run a single retail outlet and keep it operating.
I do know some reputable online retailers that have never not shipped me my items promptly: comicsnow.com, amazon.com, mile high comics.
See you in Jan for the holiday update with your pals at the online retailer formerly known as silver bullet comics.
September 12th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
W. Alan Davis if you are reading this please send my order #9639 you stole my money on july 28. i have tried to call many times but the voice mail is full. (wonder why?) i am not posting annonimously you have my order # call me. this has been a problem from day one with your company and you have all the excuses. just send my order so i can be done with you.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
I can concur on the suspicions here; I have the same problem - I ordered something over a month ago and haven’t received anything other than a debit from my credit card. I am very upset about this; when I call their phone number, no one answers and the voice mailbox prompts “memory full”. This is completely unacceptable, and I may look into my legal options. What is going on with your store is YOUR business, what happens with my money is my business, and the business of the tens of other potential customers that I will discuss this terrible service with. I care nothing for a half-assed explanation of your store’s progress, you ran a business transaction with me and have NOT fulfilled your end of the bargain. If you aren’t able to do that, then cease to run business transactions with customers until you can.
September 15th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
I am also having these same issues. My order was placed on August 1st, Order# 9717 (In case Mr. Alan is reading) This is the second order in a row that they have totally botched. The first one at least had a reason, but of course they never informed me and it took months and many emails and PMs to just get an answer. Now this time I have again sent multiple emails and gotten nothing. They even tried to blame my last time that my email was filtering them, yet I had provided 2 different emails, both with no filters at all. Plus now their forums are not even up anymore, they say to PM them yet my last PM still is unread. As was said in another comment I could care less about these half-assed explanations about moving your store. You either blame that, your email, or the customer is some 17 year old that can’t read. Well I am certainly am not that and will use this opportunity to inform everyone to NEVER deal with them. It is not worth it.
September 17th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
I too have had a problem. I placed a $70+ order on august 12…it took over 3 weeks for it to “process” and it still hasn’t shipped. I have sent 6 emails to various addresses with responses. There is no way my email is being “filtered” as my email is my name. I just want my comics. I’ve dealt with them for a long time and NEVER had a problem. I don’t mind waiting for things, but I just like someone to email me back and say “it will be there soon.” I’m considering reversing the credit card charge. One month later and the back issues i ordered have become increasingly difficult to find, so if they don’t send me my books i’m kind of SOL. I found a great site for backissues and subscriptions (the GUI is WAY intuitive than SBC and the shipping is super fast. http://www.scifigenre.com . Everything I need can be taken care of with SciFi from now on. I suggest it to anyone.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
I can add another case to this growing list. On August 7, I placed order 9799. Two days later, my credit card was charged and the status became ‘processed’ but there has been no change since and I’ve received no reply to the two emails I’ve sent. This is my first experience with this company and I would certainly never use them again. If it is possible to reverse the charges, I will do so.
And thanks to chrisabell for the scifigenre recommendation. I will check them out.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Advertisement? How is this thread an advertisement for them? After reading that the owner blames his lack of a decent spam filter on why he ignores customer service emails and seeing all the responses from very unsatisfied customers, I’d say this is the opposite of an advertisement.
Silver Bullet sounds like the Rick Olney of retailers.
September 23rd, 2007 at 8:51 pm
This sounds like the same sort of bullshit excuses I’ve been hearing for months - if it isn’t the one thing, its the other. It’s no surprise that they’ve shut down their Forum, thus denying us annoyed customers a place to voice our dissatisfaction.
I was waiting for three old orders, got told all three were shipped, and finally received one dated 6 weeks after it was supposedly sent. No sign of the other two orders.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:41 am
I just wanted to say that I still have an order that has not been filled by these guys. It’s October, well enough time for them to fix the “problems” they claimed to have.
No returned e-mails, no returned private messages on thier forum, their phone is an answering machine that is always too full to leave a message.
The bank and Visa are now trying to get my money back from them. So much for superior customer service?
October 9th, 2007 at 9:10 am
Similar situation. I made two orders. The second one was within the limit to claim a refund from PayPal. Got a mail from SBC saying the order had been cancelled. PayPal wouldn’t touch my earlier July order, and SBC still haven’t responded to mails…the forums are still down and the phone number still gives a mailbox full answer.
October 15th, 2007 at 12:16 am
I’ll add another to the list. Order #9695. My credit card was charged on July 31st, 2007. Fortunately, I’m only out about $9. The SBC website says that my order “shipped”, but USPS says “Status: Electronic Shipping Info Received
“, so it hasn’t really been shipped. Hopefully, I’ll see it some day.
October 15th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
*sigh*… Misery loves company, so I’ll add my dealings with SBC to the growing list of customers who have been ignored via email and frustrated by a full voicemail box.
I placed a preorder way back in Feb., paid over $80, and was given the run-a-round with two emails before they just stopped answering all together!
I’m sure they’ll be filing for bankruptcy protection any day now, so we can probably just kiss our orders and our money good-bye…
I contacted the better-business-beureu last month, but I haven’t heard anything yet.
October 16th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
From the BBB site: http://www.nwnc.bbb.org/codbrep.html?ID=203132990&cons=y
Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau due to unanswered complaint(s).
Specifically, this company has a pattern of complaints concerning failure to provide the product ordered and pre-paid for by the customer. Customers also indicate lack of response from the company to their frequent voice mail messages and emails and forum messages.
As of October 6, 2007, there are 10 open complaints pending a response from the business that are not reflected in the complaint statistics. These complaints concern non-delivery of merchandise and no response to customer service inquiries.
October 21st, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Me too. It’s October now. I chose the delayed shipment, what a mistake, and paid for all of them upfront. The last issue was released in September. Still haven’t heard a word. I moved since then, but still know the person at my old address. They haven’t updated my address as requested, and it hasn’t arrived at my old address either. And now I don’t know who to contact to get my order filled or the money back. And now the site is down completely, at least at this moment it is. So I’m not sure how to get a hold of them at all. order number 6730. processed on March 5, 2007
October 21st, 2007 at 3:10 pm
I hate to break it to all of you, but I used to shop at this store and without any announcement, they closed it up. I heard they turned into just an internet store, but later heard that this was in shambles as well. I live in the Winston Salem area and have heard through the grapevine that the owner is in serious financial trouble and from what I’ve gotten out of conversations is that people will most likely not get anything they have ordered.
October 21st, 2007 at 3:17 pm
I just found this from a friend i’m so sorry ….. http://www.dor.state.nc.us/auction/10-8-07/photos_comic.html
October 21st, 2007 at 4:47 pm
I wasn’t aware of the above link until a friend pointed it out to me either. I will say that anyone and everyone who pm’d or emailed me got a response, though there’s nothing I could do for them sadly as I have nothing to do with the store, only the news. I sincerely regret all of your ordering problems and wish there was something I could do.
October 25th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Since you have control over the news - i.e. the website - Brant, you could at least update it to reflect the fact any subscriptions taken out using the website will not be honoured, and money spent totally lost!
October 30th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
Notice an update on the website today, basically admitting to screwing people over and making more excuses (they’re up to 75,000 spam emails a day, but REFUSE to answer the phone!)
Just in case it matters, I paid $76.75 Order# 9275 (07.02.2007; 06:48:04pm) and have received nothing (except excuses)
They aren’t even taking orders anymore.
My advice - call the BBB and the state attorneys general to complain.