[2_hotty]

I beleive that I'm the only one that is completely frustrated and un-satisfied about my delivery date, lol.

I've stated before that I deal with delivery times/promise dates in my job, on a daily basis. Being promised 12 weeks, and it taking 13 would be acceptable. However, being promised 12 weeks and it taking 20, is absolutely unacceptable.

While I was typing this, I got this response to my query about my order status:

"Hi Scott,

Your order was put into production on August 1st. It is usually 4 - 6 weeks from that date.
We had various colors of clay available to start some orders earlier than others.

Thanks,
Glenda"

So 6 weeks from the 1st would be middle of September. My order was put into production on the day I was promised for delivery, lol. Their 12 week delivery time just became 18 weeks (%50 longer!), IF they hit this newly promised delivery time. Since I have yet to see one of those hit yet, I'm not holding my breath.

I think I'll win my bet that I won't see these chips before October, if I don't cancel after this news.

Mark me down as one of the unsatisfied ones so far.

[JT-Bird]

Bottom line is that they should just tell everyone 6 months delivery. That way we'll all be happy to get them in 4 months.

Sorta like when the airlines tacked another 30 minutes to flight times so that their on-time arrival rates went up.

[campcleavage]

I just hope that my constant HARPING doesn't mean that I'll happen to get "DAMAGED" chips or some FACTORY FLOORMAN throwing metal inserts in my chips "BY ACCIDENT".....

[JM]

Originally Posted by campcleavage

I just hope that my constant HARPING doesn't mean that I'll happen to get "DAMAGED" chips or some FACTORY FLOORMAN throwing metal inserts in my chips "BY ACCIDENT".....

ASM is far too professional for that to even be a thought.

We gotta keep in mind that our chips are all laboriously made by hand! Not just that, but there's also a LOT of people ordering a LOT of different color combos. Which means even more tiny bits of clay that need to be fitted in to tiny slots. Then inlays printed, cut, checked and placed on the chip and aligned to the customer's specification, like Deuce's set which used some non-standard alignment, then sent off from Canada to be put thru the mold/finishing process in the US on a truck. If they don't pass QC once they are finished, they get re-made (this happened to a batch of my chips) all over again. Keep in mind the inlay alignment when you look at every other brand of chip out there that has randomly placed inlays because its too hard or labor intensive for them to align them like ASM does. This sets ASM apart from every other clay manufacturer.

In the meantime, there's other customers and casinos sending in orders and using more of the clay that comes up on the truck that brings the chips back to Portland Maine. In the middle of our orders I know that they had some of the equipment break down that prepared the clay, and had a casino order to process which took precedence as well. Also remember that this was a huge compromise that Jim B. made especially for all of us chip nuts in order to get patterns for our chips that were never available to the general public before (or since!). Also, to try to keep everyone here happy, they wanted to get all of the first wave of orders (3d14 & 12 chip GB) done before they started shipping out the add-ons and orders from the second offering (the one that ended 4/15 for any color combos).

What this all boils down to is, be patient. You are getting something that is VERY special and in configurations that may never be offered again!

[Deuce]

Originally Posted by JM

ASM is far too professional for that to even be a thought.

We gotta keep in mind that our chips are all laboriously made by hand! Not just that, but there's also a LOT of people ordering a LOT of different color combos. Which means even more tiny bits of clay that need to be fitted in to tiny slots. Then inlays printed, cut, checked and placed on the chip and aligned to the customer's specification, like Deuce's set which used some non-standard alignment, then sent off from Canada to be put thru the mold/finishing process in the US on a truck. If they don't pass QC once they are finished, they get re-made (this happened to a batch of my chips) all over again. Keep in mind the inlay alignment when you look at every other brand of chip out there that has randomly placed inlays because its too hard or labor intensive for them to align them like ASM does. This sets ASM apart from every other clay manufacturer.

In the meantime, there's other customers and casinos sending in orders and using more of the clay that comes up on the truck that brings the chips back to Portland Maine. In the middle of our orders I know that they had some of the equipment break down that prepared the clay, and had a casino order to process which took precedence as well. Also remember that this was a huge compromise that Jim B. made especially for all of us chip nuts in order to get patterns for our chips that were never available to the general public before (or since!). Also, to try to keep everyone here happy, they wanted to get all of the first wave of orders (3d14 & 12 chip GB) done before they started shipping out the add-ons and orders from the second offering (the one that ended 4/15 for any color combos).

What this all boils down to is, be patient. You are getting something that is VERY special and in configurations that may never be offered again!

JM, I dont think anyone disagrees with you but the problem many people are having is that they are being told a certain timeframe that isnt correct. Just say they are going to take 6 months and be done with it before then. When people ask for an update respond by saying they will be done by the date promised.

The girls are trying to hard to make everyone happy and in turn its frustrating people. I for one am not upset because my wait was the time I was told and the issues are something that I realize could happen. I have no doubt they will fix the issues no matter how long it takes.

[noelsarchs]

And....

If everyone would stop being so picky about little minor issues with their chips, i.e. so called spinners, a micro millionth of a nanometer off inlay, etc. and quit having their defective chips remade, we would all have our by now.

J/K

Besides, there are only a few girls up there who have to take all these little bits of clay and stuff them into the sides of the blanks, one at a time. Then some poor schmuck in Portland has to go through every single chip and inspect each one. I have not even done that with my first order yet.

Then I wonder this....I got my first set of chips in about 12 weeks. However, I ordered at least 200 of each. When I saw that some people ordered a mere 1 to 10 chips as part of their order, that made my eyes hurt. So I wonder if the orders that are taking the most time are the ones where there were a lot of small quantity orders placed along with the larger order?

[JM]

I agree Deuce. Set the expectation to much longer than it will really take and people will be happy when they are early.

Good question Noel. I just think about how many different combinations of spots & colors that must have been ordered from CTers alone and its gotta be staggering.

[campcleavage]

Originally Posted by JM

ASM is far too professional for that to even be a thought.

We gotta keep in mind that our chips are all laboriously made by hand! Not just that, but there's also a LOT of people ordering a LOT of different color combos. Which means even more tiny bits of clay that need to be fitted in to tiny slots. Then inlays printed, cut, checked and placed on the chip and aligned to the customer's specification, like Deuce's set which used some non-standard alignment, then sent off from Canada to be put thru the mold/finishing process in the US on a truck. If they don't pass QC once they are finished, they get re-made (this happened to a batch of my chips) all over again. Keep in mind the inlay alignment when you look at every other brand of chip out there that has randomly placed inlays because its too hard or labor intensive for them to align them like ASM does. This sets ASM apart from every other clay manufacturer.

In the meantime, there's other customers and casinos sending in orders and using more of the clay that comes up on the truck that brings the chips back to Portland Maine. In the middle of our orders I know that they had some of the equipment break down that prepared the clay, and had a casino order to process which took precedence as well. Also remember that this was a huge compromise that Jim B. made especially for all of us chip nuts in order to get patterns for our chips that were never available to the general public before (or since!). Also, to try to keep everyone here happy, they wanted to get all of the first wave of orders (3d14 & 12 chip GB) done before they started shipping out the add-ons and orders from the second offering (the one that ended 4/15 for any color combos).

What this all boils down to is, be patient. You are getting something that is VERY special and in configurations that may never be offered again!

I was kidding of course when I posted that. I know that I am going to have something that very few people could even dream of let alone play with. WOW, maybe I should re-phrase that last statement!

[JM]

Yeah I knew you were kidding, just wanted to make sure everyone did!

[BillyBob]

Originally Posted by Deuce

JM, I dont think anyone disagrees with you but the problem many people are having is that they are being told a certain timeframe that isnt correct. Just say they are going to take 6 months and be done with it before then. When people ask for an update respond by saying they will be done by the date promised.

The girls are trying to hard to make everyone happy and in turn its frustrating people. I for one am not upset because my wait was the time I was told and the issues are something that I realize could happen. I have no doubt they will fix the issues no matter how long it takes.

Just do like I'm doing: don't ask. The chips will get here when they do and nothing I say/do will change that. I'm willing to wait.

Then again, I'm just waiting for an add on order. A small one (130 chips). And I know as soon as it gets here I'll start thinking about what to get next, so it's good for my bank account's sake that the chips aren't here yet.