Very Poor Experience - All About the Hobby

[Saban1]

Originally Posted by Wade Mulroy

Sorry man, wish there was a better resolution to all of this. Hopefully your money wasn't tied long and you can get product elsewhere.

Thank you man. I hope your able to find a resolution.

[wegoingsizzler]

How can you say you dropped the ball? Not responding to 1 e-mail, yes, 2 maybe, but according to the OP, he contacted you many times and even went to FB to leave a comment which then you deleted?

Once he spoke to you on the phone, nothing was corrected according to the OP.

So please do not come here say you dropped the ball and you can improve. It looks like you are doing this to other buyers as well. So it looks like you didn't drop 1 ball, but many balls... If you can't handle the amount of business you are getting, then don't promise you can deliver.

Even if your intention is not to scam, if it smells, walk and talk like one, then I see it as a 4 month loan that you got from your customers.

Originally Posted by aboutthehobby

Just a couple things.

1. We source lots which is where we get our singles 99% off the time and we evaluate them for grading.
2. Those who preorder from us those funds sit in the bank until those products are delivered to the customer.
3. We respond as quick as we can and try to correct issues as quick as possible but yes sometimes we drop the ball.
4. We are not reselling any product because of prices increases and you can check every single selling platform and see that.
5. We have delivered on over 5,000 orders to date.

Yes we can improve and we are working on doing just that.

Thank You and sorry for any inconvenience we have caused.

[Wade Mulroy]

Originally Posted by wegoingsizzler

Why are some of you bashing the OP? Is it wrong of him to find a better price by shopping around? Should we not take a chance on new businesses? What kind of thinking is this? Once he realized this is not a good dealer to do business with, he comes here to the community to provide information and share his experiences. What is wrong with that?!! Now I know not to deal with this dealer so I thank you OP.

All good, I appreciate it. Hindsight is 20/20 and even I admit that I probably should've known better. It was a bit of a different world back in late Oct/early Nov with basketball cards... Zion was still hurt and stuff wasn't being pumped to the gills.

Knowing what we know now, looking back at the situation throws up a lot of red flags. I took a chance and got burned, which ultimately caused me to miss a lot of great opportunities to spend my money elsewhere. It sucks, but lesson learned.

You're correct, hopefully my experience will provide some insight to others and hopefully prevent them from incurring a similar situation.

[no10pin]

Originally Posted by aboutthehobby

Just a couple things.

1. We source lots which is where we get our singles 99% off the time and we evaluate them for grading.
2. Those who preorder from us those funds sit in the bank until those products are delivered to the customer.
3. We respond as quick as we can and try to correct issues as quick as possible but yes sometimes we drop the ball.
4. We are not reselling any product because of prices increases and you can check every single selling platform and see that.
5. We have delivered on over 5,000 orders to date.

Yes we can improve and we are working on doing just that.

Thank You and sorry for any inconvenience we have caused.

What does any of this have to do with leaving people in the dark on pre-ordered boxes and keeping their money? No one cares where you get your singles from, but nice attempt at a distraction.

You call it 'dropping the ball', but most people would call it 'scamming people out of their money until it becomes public'.

[bigjbasketball]

Just to chime in here, my first experience with All About The Hobby was positive, and I received my 19/20 Contenders basketball hobby box for a good price. I did have to follow up after my order to make sure it was shipping, but I got my box, so all was good. I then tried to get in on just a couple Optic boxes (1 retail, 1 mega), so I didn't have a lot of money tied up there. My order was refunded as soon as he told me he didn't get enough boxes from his distributor. Communication was not as quick as a big company, but it was average for what I would expect from a smaller operation.

I still have a little bit tied up in future pre-orders, and I haven't cancelled those yet, but it did seem like those other ones went up for pre-order, sold out very quickly, and they stopped taking orders. Hopefully that means they did not oversell. And maybe I've been baited since I did have at least one positive experience, but I'm willing to hold out and take one for the team to see if the latest orders do come through. If I had thousands pre-ordered, then yeah I probably wouldn't be willing to wait, but I don't have a lot of funds tied up in this right now.

[Wade Mulroy]

Originally Posted by wegoingsizzler

How can you say you dropped the ball? Not responding to 1 e-mail, yes, 2 maybe, but according to the OP, he contacted you many times and even went to FB to leave a comment which then you deleted?

Just to add a bit of additional detail around this, because I somewhat glossed over it. The owner posted a screenshot of an email from a distributor in regards to part of an Optic order. The distributor's email was blotted out, so no way to confirm who the distributor is/was or confirmation on who actually sent the email.

Anyway, I believe this was on February 28th, which was when I briefly created a Facebook account. Since the other methods of communication attempts had failed, I thought this may be a good shot at receiving an answer. I posted a very abbreviated version of my OP and politely requested a response with answers to my questions/concerns.

Another Facebook user commented on my comment... I honestly can't remember what he said, but we exchanged a comment or two and I briefly gave an explanation of my experience to that point.

The owner never responded, messaged me, or attempted to contact me. I noticed at some point last week that the entire post had been deleted, so now all my comments are gone.

I won't interject my feelings about that incident, so you guys can take it for what it's worth.

[Wade Mulroy]

Originally Posted by bigjbasketball

Just to chime in here, my first experience with All About The Hobby was positive, and I received my 19/20 Contenders basketball hobby box for a good price. I did have to follow up after my order to make sure it was shipping, but I got my box, so all was good. I then tried to get in on just a couple Optic boxes (1 retail, 1 mega), so I didn't have a lot of money tied up there. My order was refunded as soon as he told me he didn't get enough boxes from his distributor. Communication was not as quick as a big company, but it was average for what I would expect from a smaller operation.

I still have a little bit tied up in future pre-orders, and I haven't cancelled those yet, but it did seem like those other ones went up for pre-order, sold out very quickly, and they stopped taking orders. Hopefully that means they did not oversell. And maybe I've been baited since I did have at least one positive experience, but I'm willing to hold out and take one for the team to see if the latest orders do come through. If I had thousands pre-ordered, then yeah I probably wouldn't be willing to wait, but I don't have a lot of funds tied up in this right now.

Thanks for sharing, best of luck with your future orders. I'm still not sure why my attempts at contacting him went unanswered, but I'm happy you had a better experience. Based on other poster's experiences, single box orders have generally been better than cases.

[Spacemanspif]

Originally Posted by wegoingsizzler

Why are some of you bashing the OP? Is it wrong of him to find a better price by shopping around? Should we not take a chance on new businesses? What kind of thinking is this? Once he realized this is not a good dealer to do business with, he comes here to the community to provide information and share his experiences. What is wrong with that?!! Now I know not to deal with this dealer so I thank you OP.

It's just typical internet stuff, wanting to make themselves feel smart. OP and I both attempted to do due diligence, I found that Tidal whatever a while back and steered clear after trying to email & call them and finding no reviews or feedback. However with this "business" I found a review on youtube of the repack product, and saw some other products where customers have received their orders, so it seemed legit.

It does not seem like this guy is a scammer, as he is continuing to do other business seemingly on schedule. The problem seems to be with Prizm & Optic BKB specifically. The issue of having poor product shipped from Panini or not receiving full allocations from distributors is a real one and I can sympathize with that. The main frustration most of us have is with the lack of communication. Having messages ignored, timelines rarely updated, etc are either a sign of embarrassment / poor customer service, or trying to hide something. All we've been asking for is transparency, and judging by the response here it doesn't seem like we'll be getting any

[Wade Mulroy]

Also - Going forward I will be happy to post any efforts the owner takes to rectify the issue, aside from forcing the refund and walking away. My purpose in making this thread wasn't to bash him or purposely drive away business, but rather completely and transparently provide details of my transaction.

I've had negative experiences turn into positives and will absolutely give any credit or kudos when due. I'm not saying this experience will all be forgotten by any means, but the efforts taken to rectify issues with paying customers with legitimate complaints speaks volumes about character and personal ethics. The owner has the tools to rectify the issues with those of us that have been ignored and shut-out, but so far our efforts to reach out have fallen on seemingly deaf ears.

To this point (despite my efforts to reach out) the owner has still not provided any personal contact about my situation. The post in this thread is the only communication I've received outside of one phone a couple weeks ago (mentioned in OP).

[mc1]

Blowout should ban this guy just for his peddling of sealed product. He is a direct competitor and I think on occasion even posted his websites.

[Wade Mulroy]

Originally Posted by Spacemanspif

It's just typical internet stuff, wanting to make themselves feel smart. OP and I both attempted to do due diligence, I found that Tidal whatever a while back and steered clear after trying to email & call them and finding no reviews or feedback. However with this "business" I found a review on youtube of the repack product, and saw some other products where customers have received their orders, so it seemed legit.

It does not seem like this guy is a scammer, as he is continuing to do other business seemingly on schedule. The problem seems to be with Prizm & Optic BKB specifically. The issue of having poor product shipped from Panini or not receiving full allocations from distributors is a real one and I can sympathize with that. The main frustration most of us have is with the lack of communication. Having messages ignored, timelines rarely updated, etc are either a sign of embarrassment / poor customer service, or trying to hide something. All we've been asking for is transparency, and judging by the response here it doesn't seem like we'll be getting any

I agree with all this; good post. Situations would be a bit different if he only took a deposit on pre-orders; but paying in-full is hard to stomach when you're being left in the blind. Also, once cases of people's orders were confirmed received, I would expect to have more control with the situation, knowing 100% of my money is on the line. This little bit of effort would have completely changed the entire scenario for me.

Again, had I put down a $100 deposit or whatever and he ended up cancelling, then it's not big deal. When you pay in full, the transaction is completed on my end, and it's his responsibility to deliver product. He confirmed to have product in-hand, but for some reason didn't feel the need to reach out.

I don't want to assume the worst, but I've been trying to get answers on the above for weeks with no replies.

[hche]

The more likely scenario which happens quite often now is the distributors actually cannot/will not fulfill the actual pre-order quantities to the wholesalers and LCS's.

So a smaller LCS/wholesaler may have presold an item based on what he/she was told by the distributor the shop will be getting. At release, the shop is getting 50% of what the preorder quantity was. So now the LCS cannot fulfil the preorders by its customers but some or most of the preorder money has been used to pay for the order, other orders, expenses, etc. and the shop cannot refund the money right away. A lot of smaller shops don't have the cash flow. They may not be trying to scam at the first place but was forced to do so by the distributors cutting down on their orders or even the manufacturer cutting down on production. So there is always risk pre-ordering from a smaller operation.

I dont believe a bit when he said all the preorder funds was sitting in a bank account. If he has the money, it should be a rapid refund to customers whose orders he cannot fulfill. By doing so, it will be good customer service and save his reputation (at least this thread would not have been made).

[no10pin]

Originally Posted by hche

The more likely scenario which happens quite often now is the distributors actually cannot/will not fulfill the actual pre-order quantities to the wholesalers and LCS's.

So a smaller LCS/wholesaler may have presold an item based on what he/she was told by the distributor the shop will be getting. At release, the shop is getting 50% of what the preorder quantity was. So now the LCS cannot fulfil the preorders by its customers but some or most of the preorder money has been used to pay for the order, other orders, expenses, etc. and the shop cannot refund the money right away. A lot of smaller shops don't have the cash flow. They may not be trying to scam at the first place but was forced to do so by the distributors cutting down on their orders or even the manufacturer cutting down on production. So there is always risk pre-ordering from a smaller operation.

I dont believe a bit when he said all the preorder funds was sitting in a bank account. If he has the money, it should be a rapid refund to customers whose orders he cannot fulfill. By doing so, it will be good customer service and save his reputation (at least this thread would not have been made).

Agreed, and then there's the fact that he's not even a small LCS, he's a dude operating out of his house. If anyone's orders are going to get cut on a hot product, it's his.

Originally Posted by aboutthehobby

To anyone looking for this product , its up to you as a buyer who you buy from it wont hurt our feelings either way. It sucked what happened with some of our prizm but things happen. We done over 2k in successful transactions which is pretty good for a run from home card business.

All the more reason to not attempt to buy hot products from someone trying to undercut Blowout. Getting cut on product doesn't make you a scammer, but keeping people's money for months with no information definitely makes you look like one.

[hche]

Originally Posted by no10pin

Agreed, and then there's the fact that he's not even a small LCS, he's a dude operating out of his house. If anyone's orders are going to get cut on a hot product, it's his.

My local 20 years wholesalers will order crappy products since he knows he can move them (even though slowly, and sometimes, at a loss), he just want to make sure he can get the hot products (since most distributors allocate based on what you ordered throughout the year). But now even he is getting his orders cut. So it is more likely the distributors are hoarding the hot products.

[Wade Mulroy]

Originally Posted by hche

The more likely scenario which happens quite often now is the distributors actually cannot/will not fulfill the actual pre-order quantities to the wholesalers and LCS's.

So a smaller LCS/wholesaler may have presold an item based on what he/she was told by the distributor the shop will be getting. At release, the shop is getting 50% of what the preorder quantity was. So now the LCS cannot fulfil the preorders by its customers but some or most of the preorder money has been used to pay for the order, other orders, expenses, etc. and the shop cannot refund the money right away. A lot of smaller shops don't have the cash flow. They may not be trying to scam at the first place but was forced to do so by the distributors cutting down on their orders or even the manufacturer cutting down on production. So there is always risk pre-ordering from a smaller operation.

I dont believe a bit when he said all the preorder funds was sitting in a bank account. If he has the money, it should be a rapid refund to customers whose orders he cannot fulfill. By doing so, it will be good customer service and save his reputation (at least this thread would not have been made).

Thanks for the post and insight. I agree with everything you said, but it’s a bit different for my particular scenario. He confirmed, via Facebook post, that he received Optic cello cases, but claimed they arrived damaged. My frustration is that I was never notified about this or provided any options on how I would like to proceed. I would have never known about it had I not proactively sought him out, via social media.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by no10pin

Getting cut on product doesn't make you a scammer, but keeping people's money for months with no information definitely makes you look like one.

It doesn't make you look like one. It makes you one.

[Wade Mulroy]

Originally Posted by no10pin

All the more reason to not attempt to buy hot products from someone trying to undercut Blowout. Getting cut on product doesn't make you a scammer, but keeping people's money for months with no information definitely makes you look like one.

The lack of communication was definitely a big issue... also seeing him post on Facebook that cello cases were received in-hand, while never getting any notification or updates just added to the frustration. I’m very understanding of damage or orders getting cut; but getting all my information from general posts on Facebook when I have thousands of dollars tied up sucks. Again; a simple email asking me how I’d like to handle the damaged case would’ve changed this entire transaction completely.

[Spacemanspif]

He removed the FB post that had all the comments about not receiving orders.

Is there any way to leave negative comments for that business?

[jellyboy]

Originally Posted by Spacemanspif

He removed the FB post that had all the comments about not receiving orders.

Is there any way to leave negative comments for that business?

It’s hard to leave any negatives in FB.....so just spread in other forum of fb group.

[Wade Mulroy]

Still waiting on answers to my outstanding questions:

If one of the two received cello cases were mine, why was I never notified?

He confirmed there were four orders of cello cases and told me I was only assuming I was one of the first two orders that should’ve received one of the damaged cases.

Okay - it should be easy to look up the order numbers and confirm one way or the other. I know for a fact the cello cases weren’t sold out on the website after my order was placed, because I contemplated moving some singles in the collection to potentially try to pick up another case.

If I was indeed order #3 and not entitled to one of the two damaged cases, why was my money never refunded after receiving word the distributor cut the order in half? Why did it take a credit card dispute, call out thread, Attorney General complaint, BBB complaint, etc before getting any movement?

If I didn’t proactively seek him out on Facebook for general status updates, how was I (or any other current or former customers) ever supposed to know any details on the orders?

Just all completely backwards from how most individuals in the hobby, let alone someone that is attempting to run a business, handles transactions. The most important thing is even just a little proactive communication, which I still continue to get nothing of substance or any answers to these questions I’ve been seeking for weeks.

[Spacemanspif]

Originally Posted by Wade Mulroy

Still waiting on answers to my outstanding questions:

If one of the two received cello cases were mine, why was I never notified?

He confirmed there were four orders of cello cases and told me I was only assuming I was one of the first two orders that should’ve received one of the damaged cases.

Okay - it should be easy to look up the order numbers and confirm one way or the other. I know for a fact the cello cases weren’t sold out on the website after my order was placed, because I contemplated moving some singles in the collection to potentially try to pick up another case.

If I was indeed order #3 and not entitled to one of the two damaged cases, why was my money never refunded after receiving word the distributor cut the order in half? Why did it take a credit card dispute, call out thread, Attorney General complaint, BBB complaint, etc before getting any movement?

If I didn’t proactively seek him out on Facebook for general status updates, how was I (or any other current or former customers) ever supposed to know any details on the orders?

Just all completely backwards from how most individuals in the hobby, let alone someone that is attempting to run a business, handles transactions. The most important thing is even just a little proactive communication, which I still continue to get nothing of substance or any answers to these questions I’ve been seeking for weeks.

When were your orders made? Mine were:

ORDER #1439
Tue, Oct 29, 2019 at 12:48 PM
2019-20 Panini Donruss Optic Basketball Cello Pack Box Case × 1

ORDER #1515
Fri, Nov 15, 2019 at 11:19 AM
2019-20 Panini Donruss Optic Basketball Retail Box Case × 1

Considering the order numbers come out in seemingly chronological order, it would not be hard AT ALL to figure out who ordered first and deserves the cases, etc. I found the Optic really early and would like to think should have been in the "first half" that received order, but he already sent refund on that case with no explanation. Would be interesting to hear if anyone who received product could say what Order # they were, but I'm actually doubting he shipped "half" the orders, if any cases at all.

[cking]

This whole thing reeks of a paypal loan

[Spacemanspif]

Originally Posted by cking

This whole thing reeks of a paypal loan

Lol they listed NT cases @$16k. Probably needs the cash to refund all the unfulfilled Prizm & Optic orders

[Wade Mulroy]

Originally Posted by Spacemanspif

When were your orders made? Mine were:

ORDER #1439
Tue, Oct 29, 2019 at 12:48 PM
2019-20 Panini Donruss Optic Basketball Cello Pack Box Case × 1

ORDER #1515
Fri, Nov 15, 2019 at 11:19 AM
2019-20 Panini Donruss Optic Basketball Retail Box Case × 1

Considering the order numbers come out in seemingly chronological order, it would not be hard AT ALL to figure out who ordered first and deserves the cases, etc. I found the Optic really early and would like to think should have been in the "first half" that received order, but he already sent refund on that case with no explanation. Would be interesting to hear if anyone who received product could say what Order # they were, but I'm actually doubting he shipped "half" the orders, if any cases at all.

My Optic case was order #1452 on November 1, 2019

Judging by those numbers you were 100% entitled to one of the damaged cases that have magically gone *poof.* For some reason he doesn’t even want to display the courtesy to address it head on, admit the mistake, and give an apology. Instead it’s just a constant effort to ignore and delete anything posted that references this whole situation.

Sorry, those tactics aren’t gonna work with me.

[coltssteve]

Bought a couple of boxes of 2019-20 Panini Select Basketball. Paid $238.50 per box. I typically only do hockey so I thought this was a good price. The guy never sent me the cards. He has my money and wont send a tracking number or anything. All he did was say the cards were sent. Does anyone know the street address of this guy? I would like to file a complaint with the BBB. He clearly should not have a website, and his allocation from distributors should be made available to those who actually sell cards and intend to honor orders!!!!