Please use our links: LEGO.com • Amazon
Recent discussions • Categories • Privacy Policy • Brickset.com
Brickset.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, the Amazon.com.ca, Inc. Associates Program and the Amazon EU Associates Programme, which are affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Comments
Either a system is scalable or it is not. If it is, ramp it up for the peak times. If it's not, make it so. It's ridiculous that what should be an ordered progress of stock being sold devolves into this nebulous "customer service" "VIP points not available" "promotions will be applied later" cloud of BS. It's beyond ridiculous that this happens every single time as well.
Im way more excited to eventually own that set than "The Boss"
Lego should make every lego set limited edition, can you imagine the sales boost theyd get :o
The world would go Lego crazy!
This is, of course, assuming those specials don't follow the decent into lameness that the past few years have witnessed. It certainly will be interesting to see how the perpetual free shipping plays into things.
What was my point again? Ah yes. I'd rather have them invest into fixing their product than into fixing their website.
(And yes, that's a false dichotomy. In an ideal world they'd fix both. And in our world they're apparently fixing neither. But I digress.)
is frustrated and runs off to purchase more LEGO to forget his frustration with LEGO
Well I would say check online. If they are out of stock will ship on Aug 16th then I would say they have some left.
If it literally saysSold out, then probably not.
If it doesn't negatively affect the bottom line than it would be silly to ramp their web presence up beyond what is needed 99% of the time. It's just simple economics.
What is important to remember that it is mostly a one time investment expense with little increased maintenance cost long term compared to the existing infrastructure.
Also, it's a very thin pancake that doesn't have 2 sides. What about the added business they would gain if their website was great?
I have been looking to get into building Technic sets, so this set and #8043 are the first two on my list.
From http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Your-Satisfaction
"As a company, our history goes back more than half a century. In 1932, a carpenter-turned-toymaker founded the LEGO Company with the belief, "Only the Best is Good Enough" -- which remains the guiding principle of our company today."
Again stuff happens, I have seen TRU have issues with their site in the past for BOG50 for LEGO, and you know how they stopped that?
Raised all of their LEGO retail pricing to be 20-40% above RRP.
And I'm sure people are solely going to Amazon US instead of LEGO because of a lackluster system.. I'm sure it has nothing to do with 0% Sales tax charges at Amazon vs LEGO (who has a presence in almost every state).
Should LEGO update their site? Sure, but then again my order did get through and I got an albeit late confirmation of my order and I'm guessing their site is back to normal today.
So if people want to stop buying from LEGO.com that is fine, and your right as a consumer, plus it will speed up the system then for the rest of us wouldn't it?
This is what they sent me for the shipping confirmation..
YOUR LEGO® ORDER
IS ON ITS WAY!
Paul,
Your LEGO® order has shipped. The tracking number is ************. It may take up to 24 hours for your tracking information to be available on the shipping courier's website. After this time, you can track the progress of your parcel by clicking here. Contact Customer Service if you have any questions regarding your order.
Please note: If your order contains a Pick A Brick, it will be shipping separately and should arrive 13-18 business days from the date you placed your order.
Order Summary
Order Number: **********
VIP Number: *********
CHECK MY ORDER STATUS
ORDER DESCRIPTION
Description
Qty
Price
40078 LEGO Hot Dog Cart V46
Item: 400781
USD 0.00
41999 4x4 Crawler Exclusive Edition V46
Item: 41999
2
USD 199.99
Sub Total USD 399.98
People have been throwing around superlatives like "unacceptable", "inexcusable", "absurd". If people really feel that way, does that mean they won't be ordering from them until it's improved? Because if they still do, it means that it actually is acceptable and excusable. And in case some of you are going to steadfastly deny that you'll ever use [email protected], the fact remains that the few times a year when their website shows the strains of traffic, they are in fact still selling out of product. Do you seriously think LEGO's website quality is as important as its brick quality? Bricks are its core business, its retail website is not. You can still buy from a number of other retailers, and in fact, that's the more common experience. You can't substitute the quality of its bricks.
Which restaurant is more likely to do well: one whose food is terrible but has no wait, or one whose food is the best in town but has a long wait? TLG has a heavy emphasis on quality, but I don't recall them ever saying they will be the absolute best in every facet of their business, and they shouldn't because it's just not possible. Is Amazon's Kindle Fire the best tablet? Not many seem to think so. Is Amazon's Instant Video the best video streaming experience? A userbase comparison would suggest otherwise.
My using Walmart as an example was actually to highlight how poor their e-commerce operation is and how it is much more relevant to compare it with Amazon since they are both retailers at their core with online sales an order of magnitude higher than that of TLG's. During Walmart.com's LEGO sales at the end of last year, some products could not be found by the site navigation or search tool and instead had to be found via web engine searches. In some instances there were two product pages with different prices for the same item. Some items were actually out of stock but that wasn't evident until entering the checkout stage. Getting a hold of a live customer support person was considerably more challenging than it is with Amazon or LEGO.
My point isn't that LEGO [email protected] is exonerated by simply being better than Walmart, but that we should at least be trying to hold companies to the standards set by their peers. Broad statements like "this day and age" don't mean much to me if you aren't able to cite examples where [email protected] is lagging behind its real competitors. I have personally witnessed countless instances of e-tailers suffering from high traffic, and if you haven't, you need only browse the forums of some of the general deals sites to watch it unfold. I've personally experienced website outages due to high volume from Walmart, woot, HP, Microsoft, Sony, Dell, newegg, Home Depot, Lowe's, Macy's, K-mart, Sears, Barnes & Noble, all of which are either retailers or high tech companies that should handle it better than LEGO [email protected] but don't. Have you ever ordered from Disneystore.com? I have, and the experience is much worse than [email protected] Regardless, are you really trying to say that the entirety of the reason Disney is successful is because they do preemptive cleaning? Their intellectual property has nothing to do with it, huh? Also, I'm pretty sure I've found myself waiting in lines at Disneyland that were much longer than those at Knotts Berry Farm. It's a wonder they're still in business.
All of this is not to say that I think LEGO [email protected] can't be improved, because I do. I think the site is too graphic heavy, and makes the mobile experience quite cumbersome. The VIP points account history leaves a lot to be desired. I wish the invoicing would reflect the actual cost after discounts more clearly. But it is also evident to me that they are trying and they do care. Their browsing feature that incorporates tagging and multiple filters blows away how all other websites display LEGO products, including the holiest of holy, Amazon. While their inventory tracking isn't exact down to the very last set, their backorder indications and estimates are reasonably accurate, and it's a rare case where a product is purchased as available and then cancelled after the fact, circumvention of restrictions notwithstanding.
There is no point in selling a set with more parts and more labor involved in packing to compete against another set in the 9398 which is essentially the same set, I mean who is going to buy a set with less parts for the same price..?
20,000 sets really isn't that many though... Especially when many many many resellers with no interest in technic what-so-ever are the ones buying them up...
While I don't think they sold 20,000 yet, it won't be very long at all until they sell them all... Counting the 2 that I got, I know of a total of 16 of them purchased online right in my very small city through Lego shop at home...
@Crowkillers, I can't wait to see what you are going to come up with those dark-blue and silver parts :)
That motto was established in or around the 1930's. Are you suggesting, eighty years later, because there is a company that chooses to invest so heavily in infrastructure -- to the tune of $6.4 billion in 2012 -- that they actually incur an annual net loss of $39 million, that LEGO should drop their motto because they have an e-commerce site that is merely the best in their industry and better than most outside their industry, but not the overall best? And if they drop that motto, will you guys then have the sensibility to not begrudge them for these very occasional hiccups, not because by nearly every measure of business practicality their website serves its purpose, and not because by nearly every other facet of their corporate identity they actually are the best, but because it no longer violates your principles about truth in mottos?
I wish Lego would bring out different colored Technic parts packs..
If I recall correctly, the previous times when initial productions were numbered limited-editions and then followed by general stock, TLG made us aware beforehand that would be the case. This was true for the UCS Millenium Falcon, Santa Fe Super Chief, and Star Wars advent calendar.
Everyone, don't forget that we have the Ambassador category for asking these types of queries be sent on to the LEGO CEE team. As much as we like making our own speculation, sometimes it's good to go straight to the source :P
How about asking if DS will retire, only to be replaced by a DS Mk II? :)
Or... how about asking if a Police modular is in the works?
Or... :)
Totally off topic, but really nice amusement parks, Cedar Point being their crown jewel. Going there three weeks from today, in fact.
Sorry for the sidebar you may now return to your regularly schedualed program.
Was told that more will arrive at the Ma store on Monday.
Has anyone else heard if there will be further shipments at their stores?
So not terrible but kinda disappointing as it is a limited edition box, but in any case a few bumps will not cause me to call LEGO CS, but I can totally understand why those with holes in the box would do so.
I will say also that it is a really neat box with a nice finish on it not like that of a typical LEGO box.