We sincerely do regret to inform you that if you placed an order for Conflict Of Heroes: Awakening The Bear! – Russia 1941-42 over the last few days, the order will not be fulfilled. All customers who placed an order for that game alone (meaning not with any other games) will receive a complete refund. For those people that placed a mixed order (meaning Conflict Of Heroes + other games) you will receive an email by the end of the night tonight (Empire Time (MST)) asking whether you want to cancel the complete order for a full refund, or if you would rather we ship everything except Conflict of Heroes and you will be refunded the difference. If your order was originally placed over the $90.00 free shipping threshold, we will still honor the free shipping if the refund places the total below $90.00.
How This Happened:
As you did, we trusted that our supplier had the correct stock listed on their site. This was in fact not the case. We purchased a large quantity of Conflict Of Heroes: Awakening The Bear! from our supplier as it was listed as “in stock” on their site. We were notified that this was an error in their system and as a result, we have to refund all orders that were placed through us. We feel your frustration and we sincerely apologize.
Thank you for your understanding,
Jeremy
UPDATE: We have refunded all single orders. When we get Conflict of Heroes in stock, we will contact you and ask if you would again like to purchase the game at the original price.
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on Oct 6th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
this is what sphiatt.com does. i am now seeing a connection and it seems i was too blinded to see originally with all of your deals. the facts are coming out.
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
“Our Supplier Messed Up – We Apologize”
NO YOU MESSED UP. TAKE CREDIT FOR THE SCREW UP. YOU TRIED TO TAKE ORDERS ON AN ITEM YOU DID NOT HAVE. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. IT IS YOUR FAULT. PEOPLE ORDERED FROM YOU. THEY DID NOT ORDER FROM YOUR SUPPLIER. HIATT ENTERPRISES.
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Wow, Scott.
My name is Jeremy. Nice to meet you too. Do you know how easy it would have been for me to delete your posts and not let them slip through? I’m assuming that’s what you thought we would do. But to what end? We’re not trying to filter the feedback we’re getting. I hope people read your responses and realize how irrational you are being. We have done and currently are doing the best we can to clear this up.
It clearly was our fault! Did we try to deny fault? We were simply stating what happened. We listed the game and placed an order with our supplier that we thought would be fulfilled.
Once again, this is Jeremy responding. As much as you may want to believe it’s Seth Hiatt, you are 100% wrong, my friend.
Continue to think what you will. We have taken your feedback in stride and will do our best to resolve this.
Thank you again,
Jeremy
on Oct 7th, 2008 at 5:12 am
Scott,
You are entitled to be angry if your order got canceled, and I don’t blame you.
I give credit to Jeremy for stepping up to the plate to take responsibility. You asked Empire to take credit for the screw up, and he did by saying “It clearly our fault!”
Empire has sent…
1. Quick refunds
2. Emails to customers by the end of the day
3. Sincere apologies
4. Offers to purchase the games at the sales price when they fix the supplier issue.
These are not the SPHIATT practices that people complained about. SPHIATT was accused of taking orders and…
-not shipping them out,
-not communicating with customers, and
-not providing refunds until they were disputed with paypal or the credit card company
Clearly, Empire is trying to make the best of a difficult situation. They are ensuring that people are not losing money and giving them options on their orders.
I’ve made two $90+ orders and have been very happy with the customer service here at Empire. I think this mishap is the exception rather than the rule of Empire’s practice.
David Wong
(”not-a-web-designer”)
on Oct 7th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Notice the new GotD? It’s “Agricola Board Game – In Hand”. I’m sure Empire’s going to be cautious for a while to avoid the same problem. When it happens once, it’s a mistake. If it happens agains, it becomes a problem. Seems like they’re working to make this right, but better work to keep it from happening again.
on Oct 7th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Well, that sucks. I am sure it did for you as well. I appreciate the refund, but I ordered the game at that price and I expect it in agreement with your release above. Please keep us informed of when you will have the game in stock. I still want the game and need to know if I am to wait for you to meet your obligations. This will decide if you have me as a customer or not. It’s easy to be good when everything goes right. I am stepping back to see how you handle it when things are not. I will not be placing any more orders with you until this is resolved, one way or the other.
on Oct 8th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
@ Mike
We will definitely honor the original price when we get them back in stock. We’re planning on sometime in November, but we don’t have an official word.
We appreciate everyone’s understanding.
- Jeremy
on Oct 9th, 2008 at 1:39 am
This game is, right now, available elsewhere for a great price. I’m going to give Empire a chance, however, and wait to be contacted when you have Conflict of Heroes in stock. Fortunately, I’m not in a rush to get the game.
on Oct 9th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
@Bill
Feel free to purchase it elsewhere. We feel we were offering the best price, but if you see it at a better deal, and it’s available, I’d say go for it! Don’t let us hold you back.