Subject:
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Re: Bulk Ordering - Secrets Revealed.
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Fri, 6 Aug 1999 18:15:49 GMT
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Viewed:
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1949 times
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Beautiful, Gary. I am moved to tears.
Just say when, and I will make a letter as well when you send one out.
Scott Sanburn
Gary Istok wrote:
>
> Folks, Please!
>
> Rather than have a pissing match, and engaging in "ad hominem" attacks, let's
> reflect on this situation.
>
> I reread Sanjay's original message, and yeah, you could read it several ways.
> Larry, however has spent a considerable sum of money the last few years on Lego,
> and is understandably very sensitive to this whole situation. If I were him, I
> would be justifyably angered too. But that anger should be focused at TLG, for
> their inept policy with AFOLs and a lack of bulk sales policy.
>
> If what I'm hearing in this thread about TLG ignoring the Lego Train Clubs is
> correct, then we need to take on more drastic measures. If the old saying "the
> squeaky wheel gets the grease" is true, then we need to do some public
> sqeaking!!
>
> One idea I had was the Wall Street Journal. (The person I knew who worked for
> them, left the company.) For those of you familiar with this newspaper, they do
> a lot of front page feature stories about underdogs (like us) who battle against
> large corporations, governments, institutions, and even local neighbors. What I
> would like to see is an article about the frustrations of a private companys
> largest customers. Yes we are a very small minority, but we're the largest
> (volume) residential consumers - (I like LCIH - Lego Consumer Intensive
> Household). The company has a history of ignoring it's largest consumers. We
> could tell about the Bulk Orders fiasco (discussing the Australia/New Zealand
> case). Labor intensive counting of individual pieces for bulk orders certainly
> seems like a 19th century excuse for not fixing a 21st century problem. The
> company simply ignores us. Well I learned many years ago that TLG doesn't like
> bad publicity. If that is the only way to get them to simply acknowledge us,
> than that's what we'll have to do.
>
> But before contacting the Wall Street Journal, I am sending a letter to Peter
> Eio, President of Lego USA in Enfield Connecticut. I sent him a letter in 1987,
> and he sent a very gracious reply. So he is approachable. Here is a (1st
> draft) copy of a letter I am sending to Mr. Eio (and maybe KKK). As always,
> any comments are welcome:
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Dear Mr. Eio,
>
> It has been 12 years since I have written you. Since that time my love for Lego
> has not diminished, nor has my desire for acquiring additional sets and parts.
>
> The major difference now is that I now find I am no longer alone in my
> collecting zeal. Thanks to the internet (not in existence 12 years ago), I now
> am in contact with hundreds and thousands of others who love Lego as much as I
> do.
>
> Unfortunately, not much has changed (besides your product line) in the last 12
> years. Your company still doesn't seem to want to bother with large private
> collectors. The bulk sales policy, discontinued in the US back in 1987, is
> still discontinued. That is very unfortunate. There are many, many collectors
> who would like to be able to build larger and larger structures, but due to the
> limitations of your sets and buckets, are unable to do so.
>
> Have you ever looked into Lego Collectors Websites? If not, there are some
> stunning websites out there. There are many creative people throughout the
> world who would be well qualified to work in you Lego Model Shops. If you
> haven't seen any, here is a super list of Lego websites to browse:
>
> (include the Lugnet (Michael Dorneich) list of Lego websites)
>
> There are also many Lego Train clubs that have come into existence (thanks to
> the internet) located in Seattle (Pacific Northwest Lego Train Club), San
> Francisco (Bay Area Lego Train Club) and Minneapolis/St. Paul (Greater Midwest
> Lego Train Club). These clubs set up their layouts at public (as well as
> private) gatherings. It is interesting to note that this is free publicity for
> your company.
>
> Unfortunately, these train clubs, as well as the individual collectors, are
> ignored by your company.
>
> Here we are, all Lego Ambassadors, providing free publicity in many instances,
> being shown on TV, newspapers, magazines and even books.
>
> And yet your company chooses to ignore us. All of consumer affairs is geared to
> children. There is no company policy (as far as any of us online Lego
> collectors can tell) geared to us Adult Fans Of Lego (AFOLs as we call
> ourselves). We are simply ignored. Yes, whenever we contact a representative
> of your company, they are always friendly to us, But that is the extent of it.
>
> Your company should be providing free promotional banners and signage for the
> train clubs to promote your company. I have assembled a collection of nearly
> 1/2 million Lego parts. I have done Lego displays in toy store windows, at
> public fairs, historic mansions, and even in the Danish consulate in Detroit.
> Yet I don't have any Lego banners or signs to show. There is so much that we
> AFOLs can do to promote your product (without compensation). And yet, you
> choose to ignore us.
>
> Probably the saddest part of this is the bulk order policy. When the collection
> size of AFOLs reaches a certain point, some additional pieces always seem to be
> needed. Your service packs address a part of that problem. But service pack
> selection today is but a fraction of what it was in the 1960's. I counted 138
> different service packs available in the 1963 catalog. That is a vastly more
> than what is available today.
>
> I still have the letter from your Consumer Affairs Service Manager stating the
> labor intensive process of bulk orders. This whole process was doomed to
> failure by utilizing manual counting of parts. It would appear that if the
> Model Shops were to use this method, there wouldn't be a lot of Lego models
> produced.
>
> Recently it was learned that Australia and New Zealand still had bulk orders
> available up until this year. This fact, spread across the internet, has made
> for some very, very angry large collectors in the USA and elsewhere. There are
> many collectors that spend thousands, sometimes even tens of thousands of
> dollars on Lego each year. To know that the bulk order policy was a "locally"
> determined process that Lego USA chose not to continue, makes them even angrier.
>
> Perhaps a Bulk Order policy on the scale of Shop-At-Home is not an exceptable
> alternative. Maybe something on a highly limited scale would be acceptable.
> Say allowing the Lego Community (i.e. the LEGO online newsgroup community) to
> purchase 100,000 pieces of one specific item a few times a year. That way it
> would streamline the paperwork required by your company, and we (Lego community)
> could prepay and distribute the parts. And no one is asking for any handouts
> here. We want to pay for our Lego. Just give us the opportunity.
>
> But to do absolutely nothing, which seems to be the pattern that we Lego
> collectors have seen from the Lego Group in the past, makes for a pretty sad
> situation.
>
> I hope there is something that your company can do to improve the very poor
> morale of your best Lego customers.
>
> Thank you for your time,
>
> Gary Istok
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Bulk Ordering - Secrets Revealed.
|
| Folks, Please! Rather than have a pissing match, and engaging in "ad hominem" attacks, let's reflect on this situation. I reread Sanjay's original message, and yeah, you could read it several ways. Larry, however has spent a considerable sum of (...) (25 years ago, 6-Aug-99, to lugnet.general)
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