Im very puzzled with FMGs stance on the production updates for the German set. He has so many negative previews on his website, that its strange to me he isnt coming out and at least responds to them. They are ppl that willingly put their money down, by preordering a set or 2, and I think they are entitle to some update info. I personally didnt preorder the set, cause I had a bad taste in my mouth after I preorded the Italian set, but I did every set HBG made so far. Very strange.
As far as I can tell, the last update Jeremy gave on this forum about the production of the German pieces was on July 17, 2012. He explained the circumstances of his factory switch, then added that the German set being produced at the new factory was 90% complete. This made it sound as if the German set was on the verge of being completed…but that was four months ago. Jeremy also said in his posting that he had been silent for a long time because he did not want to return until he had everything under control, so I was expecting that from that point onward (when he announced that FMG was back) there would be fewer communication problems…but it would seem from various posts people have made here that getting responses from him has been getting more difficult lately. I also note that his website still describes itself as undergoing a major redesign, which has been the case since (I think) May 2012. So I’m perplexed too.
I have to agree with you guys. This is very poor customer service, particularly for those of us that already sent money for a pre-order. Frankly, I think FMG owes us more than this unending silence. Yes, I can understand that it must be terribly frustrating getting ripped off by the first factory guys, but we were also ripped off. It wasn’t just Jeremy getting screwed, we were all supposed to be in this together yet he is acting like it’s all on him and those of us that sent pre-orders in and supported him just simply don’t get any information. We are expected to just sit around and wait and hope that we will eventually get what we have paid for.
Italy had problems too, but Jeremy kept us informed every step of the way, whether there was bad news or good news. That is what I really liked about this whole process, at least we had some idea of what was going on. That is why I always supported Jeremy here when a number of others started bashing him, some almost as soon as the Italian set experienced the first few delays.
That is also why I trusted Jeremy and FMG enough to enter pre-orders for the new Combat Dice and the German Combat Units sets before I had even received my Italian Combat Units sets. I can understand production delays and I can wait for something as long as I am allowed to know what’s going on, that there is some progress.
We got some information on the Combat Dice while still waiting on them so it was still bearable waiting. Then problems came up with the German Combat Units and suddenly there is nothing but silence. We don’t know what’s happening with the grey German units, let alone the black German units or the Americans. I had fully planned to send pre-orders for the black German sets to help support FMG in this endeavor, as well as the USA sets and every set that was supposed to follow them. I expected that Jeremy would give us the same information as he did with the Italian sets, not this sudden “cone of silence”.
After this bad experience with grey Germany, I don’t know that I want to send pre-orders in for any future sets. I prefer to simply wait and see if and when FMG actually gets them in stock and order them at that time. I just have to hope that he will eventually come through on my grey Germany units that are already paid for.
I think I pre-ordered these pieces in December of last year and we still wait with no news. I agree completely with KNP we have been more than patient. We deserve at least some sort of an update. We are paying customers and should be treated with some sort of respect.
The problem with the China factory, the remodeling of the FMG website, and then finally things outside of gaming have led to this point of no information. Unfortunately, it seems that real life has seriously impacted Jeremy’s ability to maintain the FMG business.
I would ask you guys to try to be patient but I do understand that it has been very quiet here and on his site. Too quiet.
He did a hell of a job keeping things together during the Italian set and was moving forward nicely with the project when the first big issue arose. At this point, I don’t know what to tell you other than keep asking questions on a periodic basis.
Hopefully things will work out and the project can get back on track. I actually was the one (long ago now) who first brought up the idea of doing this country-specific parts project to Jeremy and I hope that it didn’t end up being a “bridge to far” for his gaming business.
We shall see.
Hi Craig, good to see you here.
@Craig:
At this point, I don’t know what to tell you other than keep asking questions on a periodic basis.
Welcome back Craig. Regarding FMG: on this thread…
http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=28977.msg1044463#new
…Jeremy said at the end of November that he’d post an update on the Germany pieces project on the weekend of December 1. He also made a rather cryptic reference to HBG, which he said he’d explain in the same post he promised for that weekend. The update post doesn’t seem to have yet been made.
Well….perhaps they are really close to being shipped? And Jeremy wants to surprise us?
I am trying like heck to keep a positive attitude for this project. I would really like to see it get back on track and not only get my German units, but see future nations produced. I was especially looking forward to the US set, the Wichita class Heavy Cruiser in particular since I’m from Wichita. The FMG Italian units look so great I was planning on eventually replacing my OOB pieces and using exclusively FMG units. I sure hope this will happen.
I can understand the current lack of product. What bugs me is the lack of information. If I just know what’s going on, I can be patient.
I fear that if Jeremy had any good news for us then we would have had it by now. He was normally very excited about sharing the latest (in spite of being burned) and I just think that anything to do with Germany combat units being near completion/shipping we would have heard by now. Sorry but I fear the worst.
I fear that if Jeremy had any good news for us then we would have had it by now. He was normally very excited about sharing the latest (in spite of being burned) and I just think that anything to do with Germany combat units being near completion/shipping we would have heard by now. Sorry but I fear the worst.
If Jeremy’s silence continues for much longer, perhaps HBG might help clarify matters a bit by explaining what Jeremy meant when he said that HBG would be providing an unspecified form of help to FMG. I assume HBG knows something about this, since it’s unlikely that FMG would unilaterally invent a statement involving a different company.
Could it be possible that Coach has gotten Jeremy in touch with the factory that he uses? After all, HBG has had great success with all of their sets so far.
If this were the case, I wonder if they can handle making the tanks with rotatable turrets.
Could it be possible that Coach has gotten Jeremy in touch with the factory that he uses? After all, HBG has had great success with all of their sets so far.
If this were the case, I wonder if they can handle making the tanks with rotatable turrets.
HBG has made an offer to help FMG and I thought Jeremy was on board with it and was going to let people know.
It is not my place to say anything before Jeremy states his intentions because as far as I know he might have changed his mind.
I would of thought that he would of said something by now but I struggle as much as everyone else getting him to respond to emails as well as phone calls.
hey guys im back. its been a while and im sure things have moved along well. anyone want to bring me up to date?
(oh and my spellingz haz improves a ton!)
hey guys im back. its been a while and im sure things have moved along well. anyone want to bring me up to date?
(oh and my spellingz haz improves a ton!)
you haven’t missed anything. We all haven’t heard a peep from Jeremy in a long time
Here’s an update Jeremy posted a few minutes ago:
FMG Jeremy,
––You have my sincere empathy concerning the Chinese company that ran off with your money & molds, leaving you with an empty, heavily endebted bag.
----I will continue to support you and your company and wish them well. Best of luck and I look forward to the time when you are able to start producing more A&A unts again.
“Tall Paul”
Jeremy,
You have my support, if you and Coach hadn’t invested in this type of AA units we would be stuck with Xeno, and Avlon Hill units. I look forward to FMG’s return in 2013 back to being a solvent company.
WARRIOR888
Really cool of Coach to convert the FMG pre-orders to an HBG store credit. Nice to know my pre-order isn’t simply lost.
Wish I was rich and could help out FMG to recover from those Chinese bandits.
Knp: I agree.
@wittmann:
Knp: I agree.
Ditto here! I hope this really can be a fresh start this year for FMG, for sure, and I too wish I had a boatload of money I could invest. I did make a modest little order to show my support, though, and to express tangibly that “no hard feelings” on my part. Just remember, we can forgive a lot, but if you don’t tell us what’s going on for months at a time, we don’t know if we should even risk making orders for “in stock” items, as we might fear the company’s going out of business and can’t fulfill them. So please, please keep us posted… And just as important, is not more so, keep in touch with Coach! And please coordinate with him more closely in the future when you’re ready to roll out more new products… (…last I checked we were headed for a situation where we were going to have 3 different companies doing a Tiger I and none doing a Panzer IV, for instance…)
