Silent Falls expansion has been shipped out to US pledges.
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Aug 09, 2024 at 09:04:07 AM
Hello, again!
Wanted to provide a quick update. I spoke to our fulfillment warehouse, Whalebacker, yesterday and have some good news. All of the domestic U.S. pledges that ordered the Silent Falls expansion, that's every pledge other than those that included the core game in their pledge as an add-on, have been packed and shipped. You should have received a tracking number from the third party management group Shipstation. Whalebacker has estimated that orders should be arriving to backers by the top of next week. Please keep in mind that the keepsake experiences are going to be shipped out separately soon, again at our cost to help get you all the boxed games ASAP, given the issues that have been created by our distributor Renegade Games.
Pledges that had both the the core game and the expansion and international orders are currently being packed. I will update you again here once I have confirmation those have been shipped out. International orders do get batch shipped, so they will all arrive in the EU at the same time and get shipped out from there. I will again update you here when those orders are ready.
I know many people have been asking about responses to their Kickstarter messages, comments and emails to support. The Hunters team just got back from a double whammy convention tour of SDCC and Gen Con, thanks to all who stopped by the Campfire Lounge to say hi! Now that the team is back, we are working through everyones messages and are responding as quickly as possible. Hopefully, this update helps the majority of those questions but we will be provided responses to everyone that has wrote in to us. You should be receiving responses soon. Thank you all for your patience.
Needless to say, this launch has not gone at all how we expected and we apologize for the delays. Everyone will receive their entire pledge as promised with all of the exclusive pieces as promised. Your support helped us to develop this game and we have never taken that support for granted, we've just been saddled with some bad situations based on our partners decisions and lack of communication. We are currently looking at how we improve this process for the future Kickstarters, as well as what special things we can prepare for y'all as a thank you for your patience.
There are many more developments coming for the fans of the Alice is Missing game, so stay with us and get ready for an exciting few months of developments!
Thanks, as always, for you support!
The Hunters Entertainment Team
Fulfillment and Transparency Update
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Jul 25, 2024 at 12:16:41 PM
Hello, once again!
It has been a couple of weeks since we last updated all of you on shipping and–since then– there has been some concern and frustration with the issues that have surrounded our fulfillment process. We were under the belief that our fulfillment partners had things well in hand and that each of you would be receiving notifications at the time of that update. Clearly, that didin’t happen and we deeply aplogize for the further delay.
To those of you that have reached out, know that we have received your emails and that we are working to resolve the issues that have delayed our warehouse from being able to issue any shipping notifications and get you your games
If you’ve not heard from us personally, yet, you will very soon. Thank you for you patience and understanding.
If you’d like more details as to why were are still working to resolve something that we thought would be handled by now, then–please–read on. If you are happy to just hear that we are doing everything that we can to get you your games as soon as humanly possible, then feel free to stop reading at this point and rest assured that we are on top of it.
For those that want to go on a journey with us, here it the long version:
As we have reported throughout the manufacturing process, we faced a number of delays in the delivery of the product due to quality control issues and poorly managed overseas shipment to our current warehouse.
Once our warehouse received the product, we worked to expedite the game deliveries, due to a broken promise on the retail street date from our manufacturing partners. (Something that we have discussed with them and have ensured will be an isolated incident.)
So, why then, were things derailed after the last update once the games landed? To facilitate better pricing for our customers and better end to end service, we had switched fulfillment houses a number of times before we got to this point. While things are settling in with our new partners–finally–we are still working with new people and the pacing and expectations of our collaboration have been prone to failure. We switched from our old fulfillment partners for several reasons, mainly because we were outgrowing their capacity, but there were other long standing issues. They didn’t ship international orders correctly—mislabeling customs forms in one of previous release, had–as we saw it– a poorly organized approach to their distribution workflow and–generally–weren’t the right fit for us any longer. The new warehouse has been much better but not–yet–a perfect fit. We still believe that this partner is a good fit for the betterment of our processes and service but we have gone through a lot of pain and suffering to get things rolling here.
The point being that our systems for this complex game of shipping and receiving were still fresh when we lost a key member of our team to a health emergency and we were required to scramble to reorganize and maintain the processes needed to complete the–now rushed–shipments.
This super shotgun ejection from the warehouse was never the plan. Typically we would have a week or so once the the crates land in the warehouse for the team to organize and fulfill the job. Since the street date was blown, we decided to just get the base game to everyone immediately. That was not the original plan.
Thankfully, everyone on our team has been extremely helpful and we’ve all been working hard to make things work.
Things didn’t move the way that we were told that they would.
When we did get our shipment, I notified our current fulfilment center to get a head start in preparing so that the base games could go out immediately. We sent all of the order information in to the warehouse team and made the last update, on the 8th. Then we called our warehouse contact to just to make sure that they got the pack lists and that everything was ready to go without any delays.
They said they would start packing that week. So, we reported back to all of you.
Which brings us up to date. They have not yet sent out the notifications and we are still waiting for them to do so. They have promised an update and more information tomorrow.
We don’t have more information than that. But we are not giving up and will not rest until the games are headed to their new homes. We know that this isn’t the answer anyone wants to hear. But, hopefully, I will have better news tomorrow.
At that point, we will update the campaign again and let you all know when the games are–actually–leaving the warehouse.
To those of you who have been kind and patient in your responses, thank you for being understanding. We do not take your suppport for granted and–despite having a streak of bad luck and misfires on some of our fulfillment–we look forward to fixing the things that went wrong here and becoming stronger and more flexibie in this process.
To any that still need specific attention, please write to us at [email protected]
As always, thank you for all that you do to help make these games possible!
We appreciate you!
Final Shipping and Handling Prices Locked In.
over 1 year ago
– Mon, Jul 08, 2024 at 11:47:07 PM
Hello, again!
After verifying shipping costs, verifying and adjusting weights, as well as speaking to our international shipping distributor I have locked in the final shipping and handling costs. We will be charging credit cards on Wednesday to cover shipping costs and pay any last minute add ons.
I also spoke to our contact at Easyship to confirm the prices for all of our international orders, especially concerning the VAT. They confirmed with me that the shipping prices for the EU cover VAT. However, VAT is not covered outside of the EU.
VAT and Customs fees are unfortunately something we can not control as they are fees that your government charges and are typically billed upon delivery of your package by the post. With most countries, these costs can be absorbed and resolved in bulk but certain countries have specific requirements that prevent our partners from being able to avoid each individual from needing to resolve the taxes upon arrival. We offered cautions regarding this on our campaign page and worked to make sure that all international buyers are aware that they are responsible for those fees, if required by their governments.
We hate it too but it’s a reality of international shipping that isn’t avoidable.
We have and continue to work to resolve these issues and are constantly exploring new options and ways of serving foreign customers. Part of the reason we switched to Easyship for international orders was because they offered us batch shipping internationally. Essentially we fill a pallet of all our international orders, ship it to EasyShip and they distribute it from their location in Europe. This allows shipping prices to drop slightly for everyone internationally, and assist with customs fees for some. If you are concerned about your countries VAT consumer tax and Customs fees you can use this link here to estimate what your final cost will be.
With that said, I also spoke to Whalebacker today and Alice is Missing: Silent Falls landed in the warehouse today and is ready to get packed up and shipped out!
We are trying to get the game boxes out as soon as possible but do not-yet— have full access to the Keepsake Experience items. If you ordered both the game and additional items, we will—at our cost—send the game first and the rest of your pledge items and add-ons in a second wave as soon as everything is available at the warehouse. You’ll only be charged once for the full shipping, as originally planned but will receive two packages. One small one, with the game, and another with all other items. We don’t, yet, have dates for the delivery of the Keepsake materials to the warehouse but know that it isn’t too far behind the game. However, we do not want to delay any longer and wish to be sure that you all receive the physical game before the moratorium is lifted on retail sales.
If you would rather receive everything all at once and are willing to wait a bit longer for your rewards, please let us know at [email protected]
All told, we’re excited to get all of this out to you and thankful for your ongoing understanding and support!
Fabienne
Quick Update
over 1 year ago
– Mon, Jul 08, 2024 at 12:52:09 PM
Hey everyone,
Just wanted to give y'all a super quick update.
I'm going to start going through the shipping now. You may see some adjustments, prices going up and down, throughout the day. That is because I am making adjustments in real time. I will do an official update, hopefully by the end of today if not early tomorrow, Letting you know that the final prices are locked in.
I am also asking EasyShip to confirm if VAT is included in their shipping prices for international orders. I hope to have an answer in my update as well.
Thanks again for all your patience.
Fabienne
Postponing Shipping Charge
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Jul 05, 2024 at 07:08:10 PM
Hello Friends!
I hope that everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July holiday, or just a great day if you don’t celebrate. It’s warm here in Los Angeles but we’re still moving along and getting closer and closer to our physical fulfillment.
We got a healthy response of questions about shipping, addresses, and shipping prices since we made our last announcement that alerted all of you that we would start charging cards for shipping on the 3rd.
We wanted to be sure to address them and to double check the BackerKit pricing and weight systems to be sure that everything was working correctly. To facilitate in that work, we have decided to postpone the charge for moment.
From my understanding, when I spoke with our previous fulfillment manager before their leave of absence, they had adjusted the prices of shipping with our new international fulfillment centers prices just last month. We are going to be double checking the backend in Backerkit and reviewing things with EasyShip, our international shipping service, to confirm that the shipping prices are correct. Once it has been checked--and if there is any serious adjustments are made-- we will announce those updates here. Otherwise, we’ll move forward and charge cards next week as soon as possible.
I hope to have it all sorted out by then, so please make sure all of your shipping information is correct and up to date, that way we are all prepared and ready to go.
We, in our previous reviews, didn’t find anything that seemed out of line with the original estimates that were made a while back but we wanted to take the additional time to be absolutely certain that things are set up correctly. Invariably, things may happen once we start the process but you can rest assured knowing that we will be available to continue working with you should something get gummed up in the system.
I also want to, personally, thank each of you for your patience as I start to transition to managing fulfillment and customer service side of Hunters Entertainment. It has been a slow process, but I’m learning the system pretty quickly. I still have a backlog of emails I am going through in the support email, but if you still haven’t heard from me yet please feel free to ping the Hunters support email again, [email protected], and I will respond as soon as possible!
Thanks,
Fabienne
