Damaged Box VIP Bonus

ricecake

I went to my local LEGO store tonight and saw they had some larger sets with a "damaged box" bonus. The sign said if you bought one of the sets with a damaged box, the set was not eligible for any discounts, but you got extra VIP points. I picked up #71006-1 The Simpsons House, which got me an extra 500 VIP points (so 700 points total). The employee filled out a special form and I'm guessing they have to mail it in, so the extra 500 have not posted to my account yet. The box was just slightly dented, and the tape seals had come open, but I just did a quick bag count and according to the How Many Bags? list, everything looked to be present. They also had a #70810-1 MetalBeard's Sea Cow with an extra 1000(!) VIP points, as well as a few more (I think #10234-1 Sydney Opera House was one of them).

Is this common? Have you seen anything like this at your local stores?

graphite

Might be how they are handling the usual 10% off on damaged boxes for the sets they can no longer discount. When I was in the one store a couple weeks ago to put my Minion in the LUG display the manager had 2 Benny's Spaceships that he offered us at 10% off because of crushed boxes, but that set isn't one of the excluded.

ricecake

I see, I guess I should also mention that I'm in the USA, where I believe TLG said there would be no more discounts on exclusives, so I think you might be on to something.

DadsAFOL

Yes, this is the policy across all US stores. They can't apply the damaged box discount in the computer to the "restricted" items, so this is how they manage it.

500 points is decent. 1000 is excellent. I saw 400 on Tower Bridge, and is was too small a deal for me to buy it. So I guess store managers have some discretion in the amount of points they can offer.

dougts

the guidelines my store has been using for a few months now are an extra 250 points on sets under $199, and 500 points on sets over that amount.

AdeelZubair

US only :/

cheshirecat

^ We get actual discounts on all these sets so we're better off.

AdeelZubair

My Lego store in Stratford, London only has sales on small products such as keyrings or sets that cost £10 or less. I'm guessing it's online only then.

cheshirecat

^ Brick friday etc (admittedly wasn't too good last year) and other opportunities for discounts throughout the year.

red5

I got this recently for an R2-D2 in the US. I was looking at one in the store when the employee asked how important the box was to me. Not so much when they dangle the discount it turns out. They did have other damaged box sets out, saying discounted, but R2 was in the back.

jlpython

dougts said:

the guidelines my store has been using for a few months now are an extra 250 points on sets under $199, and 500 points on sets over that amount.

I purchased a discounted Kingdom's Joust last night at my Lego Store in Illinois, USA and they couldn't discount but instead gave me 500 additional VIP points. They also had a damaged Tower Bridge there, with the same 500 bonus points. The clerk brought out a form and stated that for exclusives, they couldn't discount - instead, for sets over $250 they would provide 1000 points (Tower Bridge slightly under $250) and for sets under $250 (presumably $200-250) it was 500 bonus points.
They also had a couple damaged Trevi Fountains but couldn't sell those until August 1.

hoyatables

A few months back I saw a damaged Orthanc at the Tysons Corner store. They were also offering bonus VIP points. I think 500 bonus points. I passed but it was tempting. I think I posted about it.

klatu003

@dougts Washington Square?

dougts

Yeah

SirBen

@jlpython‌ Which store were you at that has the couple damaged Trevi Fountains? I'm planning to visit a store Friday for an Exo-Suit, but wouldn't mind a damaged-box fountain as well.

jlpython

@SirBen‌ it's the Orland Park store inside the Orland Square Mall; southwest suburbs of Chicago.

SirBen

^ Thank you for letting me know. I've been to the Orland Park store a few times, but this Friday's plans call for us to meet family in Schaumburg so I'll be visiting the store up there this time.

Bumblepants

Anyone willing to cave in the front of a Town Hall at the Boston northshore store in time for me to get it tomorrow on discount while I get an Exosuit? :-)

ricecake

Just thought I'd give an update. I've been checking the LEGO online store and my points never appeared. I called the store I bought the set from and spoke with the manager. He said that he submitted them, but that this wasn't the first time he heard of the points not showing up. He emailed me a screenshot showing that he put it in the system, and said I could print it out and basically use it like a 500 VIP Point ($25) coupon when I go into the store.

knoose

A store near me is offering 100points for Santa's Workshop in damaged boxes.

EvilPixieWorks

WOW! I wish they did this for me this last month.

I was so happy that I got the new Santa set this month, plus the bonus workshop... plus the SW advent... I was feeling like a little kid waiting for the box to make it across the world to my hot little hands. When I opened it, I found 2 of the 3 boxes crushed inside due to POOR PACKING on Lego's behalf. I mean, thankfuly this was for me... not a gift for a child. I would have felt horrible handing over a mess in wrapping paper thanks to this kind of thing.

When I told Lego they needed to better mind packing quallity, they didnt offer me anything for my trouble. I've found several times over the new years they just dont seam to care about customer service. You are lucky to get a missing brick from them... and I had 2 issues in 2 months time. The 2nd time they just about called me a criminal when they were at fault. I love the bricks! I dont love the company at all.

canon03

If you're not receiving satisfaction as a customer, you could always have them issue an RMA, ship the damaged goods back to them at their expense and have new products sent back to you.

If it's a few smaller sets for personal use, I will usually just accept a bit of box damage during shipping (though they 95% come in perfect condition). However, if it's a $200 exclusive, I expect it to show up undamaged.

yys4u

A manage did this for me about 6 months back on the Sea Cow, I got an extra 500 points. I recently bought the Tower of Orthanc and it was damaged, I asked for a discount they said they no longer do it, and didn't even offer the VIP discount. I bought during double VIP points so I guess that ok...

TK2012WSW

I had no clue about this until this afternoon. I went to the Raleigh, NC Lego store and handed the salesperson the Fairground Mixer. She said that I could get a "damaged" one at full price and receive 500 points on it as well. I had no clue what she was talking about, so I said as long as it had all the pieces I didn't care if the box was damaged. She comes back from the stock room and shows me the box. I was shocked that they were going to give me 500 points when I saw what they considered damaged. All it had was a crease in the box and no hole or anything.

Since I open all of my purchases, I WILL definitely ask in the future if they have any to save some money on future purchases. Also, I was able to use the $15 I had saved up in other points towards the purchase, so I spent $135 on the Fairground Mixer, got my free #30312 Demo Driller, and used my calendar coupon for the free Han Solo (Hoth) minifigure... and an additional 500 points. SCORE!

TheLoneTensor

The way Lego discounts exclusives these days makes me think of money laundering.

TK2012WSW

Wow, The salesperson said it would take about a week to get the 500 points, but I just looked and it has hit my VIP account within 24 hours. The Raleigh store is on top of their game. Awesome store!

Also, I didn't think I would get points from the purchase plus 500 points. I thought it was just going to be 500 points. I have 709 points in my account after using all my points on the purchase yesterday. WOOHOO!

Can't wait until March for my next purchase to get the double VIP pts promo.