41999 from shop.lego.com - problems, concerns, questions, answers

[nicoga3000]

It's crazy...I ordered one of these but decided to check the LEGO store near me (about 45 minutes away). They have a ton of them still, so I went and picked one up and cancelled my online order. They're all in the back, though, because they don't have the shelf space to display them. So if you want it, you have to know they have it and need to ask for it.

[Stephan]

I got my Crawler when I came home this afternoon. I was on vacation in Germany and called LEGO Direct at August 1 at 09:30. The woman said that the crawlers they've received were already sold out. They would receive new crawlers at August 5. But when I came home it was already there (August 2nd)!!! Now just need to find the time to get to the post office to get the Technic Mobile Crane Mk II with the free Backhoe Loader... Lovely days!!!

[Meatman]

Look at this insanity. An Ebay seller from Germany decided to part out the set.

One Wheel and tire $30+

One Blue Panel $17+

One Curved Panel $13+

[Zerobricks]

Look at this insanity. An Ebay seller from Germany decided to part out the set.

One Wheel and tire $30+

One Blue Panel $17+

One Curved Panel $13+

Even more insane are the people who buy them for such price!

[efferman]

indeed

has someone of the top hundred get his/hers crawler till now?

[Zerobricks]

No, not yet...

[Edwin Korstanje]

Nope, not yet too

Edited August 4, 2013 by VFracingteam

[technicman97]

I haven't received it yet.

Edited August 4, 2013 by technicman97

[Driva00]

I haven't recieved it either

[Alternator]

It would have been much more efficient for them to implement an automatic limit of 2 crawler sets per account in their system instead of going through the orders manually. I guess that they either didn't plan this one out very well or because of some limitation of their e-store system it's very hard for them to implement an automatically enforced rule like this. They will probably handle it better next time, should they do something like this again.

I could be wrong but believe their online system does enforce a limit of 2. I think the manual handling was to catch orders placed on secondary accounts or in funny ways (e.g. someone registers twice with 2 seperate email addresses, but perhaps they notice it is the same credit card, or shipping addy etc, while tracking this can and probably was done with computers it becomes more of a manual sleuthing process).

Yes, but what could they do to make things fair at a scale? How do you distinguish a fan from someone purchasing for profit? To be fair to LEGO, this is a nearly intractable problem.

The only thing they could have done better was to limit to one set per customer for S@H orders to reduce the temptation for people to buy a second set "for investment" without any effort. Those who needed a second set badly would simply have to invest more time and energy to hunt it down in a LEGO store or have a friend order it for them. This with some preferential acceptance of order from non first time S@H customers (which they seem to be doing already) could put a dent at the practice of flipping, although not a lasting one.

I'm of two minds about this, while a 1 per cust limit would discourage people buying 1 for play, and 1 to sit on with the intent of flipping it later (probably to some poor soul who missed out due to limited stock), there are legitimate reasons some people may want to get a hold of more than 1 (say as a gift etc). In that case not being able to buy an additional one means they would be more likely to go to the aftermarket which in turn helps increase the demand perhaps - and we all know devious people got around the limit anyway.

Yes I do think that Lego is actually trying with this process which is a good thing, but they aren't going to be perfect. Lets hope the scalper problem wasn't too bad.

[MrNumbskull13]

You guys are getting it for FREE don't worry, Lego won't break their promise & I can understand you are excited but after all you are getting it for free, I desperately want this set but I have to pay for it and I'm too young for a job so this is gonna be hard to get lol

[Fatteh]

You guys are getting it for FREE

That depends on how you value the time they put into entering the competition.

[MrNumbskull13]

That depends on how you value the time they put into entering the competition.

Fair enough but they are getting the set for free ;)

[Alternator]

What has happened with re-sellers just now has been the bane of concert movie goers for 15 years: eBay ticket scalpers, so I'm not too surprised this happened. 20000 is nothing - some big arena concerts I went to hold almost as much and for some of more popular acts, (Iron Maiden, Rammstein) sold out in a few hours - for one city. The 20000 sets we get is worldwide!

And yes, Lego re-sellers and ticket scalpers are the same thing. That's why I stopped watching Brickshow on youtube since they freely admit to buying in big quantities (especially limited polybags) in the hope of making a profit later.

But this time it's MUCH WORSE than usual. Usually, people have ample opportunity to buy the Lego sets they want at MSRP. As long as you're not in your dark ages when it's for sale, you shoud be fine, even for sets which were sold for a notoriously short time such as the 8275 bulldozer.

This time the window of opportunity was drastically reduced.. BECAUSE of scalpers.

My thoughts as well - ordinarily I don't have issue with someone buying easily available sets, to then sell after eol, as it stands they aren't preventing people who wish to buy the set and are creating the opportunity for future fans to get older sets albeit at a higher price (that is their value add).

But in this case it is a process that is actively at the detriment of actual customers of the product in order to speculate (a step too far imho), and I have read a story by one person who seemed to fib to Lego in order to unlock their account (I wasn't clear if it was to get addition sets or if they were just busted as a reseller trying to get 2).

[legomaniac83]

...But in this case it is a process that is actively at the detriment of actual customers of the product in order to speculate...

I disagree with this. Actual customers who knew this set was coming out Aug. 1st would have made arrangements to get it somehow. I went to my local Lego Store on July 30, got lucky and walked away with 2 - one to build and one to sell later.

I know there has been some issues with ordering from S@H, but I'm sure that most people who ordered this set will likely get it.

I disagree with people getting more than 2 sets, but we all know some people will find a loophole in the system and get more than they should. It's hard to find a hobby with no scalpers.

Also I belive there are more Technic fans than most of you think. I'm never on this board, but I buy the theme every year.

[hoeij]

Speaking of which, I once ordered a new set through BL or eBay (don't remember which one) because the seller was offering it at a lower price than S@H with shipping and all. One week later the set showed up shipped from S@H to my surprise. Nobody ever contacted me to follow up on that set from S@H, but now I wonder if I wasn't used as part of a scam scheme. Do you know if S@H has a tier pricing schema for different customers (i.e. they would sell a set at discounts to high volume customers) that could explain this?

This happened to me one time. The item was listed with free shipping, and guess what, it was delivered with overnight shipping, the most expensive way to ship. To me that was a clear sign that that must have been done with a stolen credit card.

I tried reporting this to eBay but there is no easy way to report fraud. It's almost as if they don't want to solve this problem. I received my item, in brand new condition, and as far as they are concerned, that means there is no problem. But I don't want stolen items to arrive at my home. Then I contacted our local law enforcement, but surprisingly, the response was pretty much the same.

Anyhow, since then I always look at a sellers other items before I buy. If all the items that the seller has sold are brandnew items, and fairly expensive ones, then I don't trust it (even with 100% positive feedback). Sometimes this means paying more than the lowest price I can find. If the seller has sold at least one thing that isn't brand-new then it's probably OK.

Anyhow, this does not apply to 41999 because you can still buy it right now from shop.lego.com (at least, in the US it is still available, if you're willing to wait a few weeks for the delivery).

[Burned_Alive]

Some answers from Lego Customer Service.

Absolutely ridiculous. They should've at least been sorted through in chronological order. For such a large company this has been very poorly managed.

[DrFrankenstein]

I ordered 2X and they have been shipped. Hope everything will be fine.

I went to my local Lego Store on July 30, got lucky and walked away with 2 - one to build and one to sell later.

You people make me feel naive that I decided against ordering 2 sets when I had the opportunity, because I don't want to lower my karma with denying somebody else the chance to own the 41999 at MSRP.

I would argue that 90% of the buyers out there don't need 2x sets. The other 10% who absolutely need the extra set (gift, MOC, child, blah blah) should spend some extra effort to hunt it or pay a higher price for it. That would be only fair to all!

I feel for all these fellow fans crying on the forums about not being able to secure even one 41999 set, because they were late while others are boasting about having 2 or more sets at hand.

[GDomino]

Call me a capitalistic pig or whatever, but I don't have problems with people buying however much they want to buy. IMHO, how people spend their money is their own business. It's their own business to turn their money/investment around for whatever gains they hope to get from it. Also, I gotta say that scalping/flipping/middlemen/crime/investing/whathaveyou has been around since the beginning of time and there's no use complaining over it, because it's never going to go away.

BTW, I'm not a reseller and I only ordered one (and at midnight on August 1st). To me, the motivation for my effort is for the enjoyment of having one in my collection... And that was the gain I was hoping for. Would I feel victimized, if I didn't get one? Probably, but I'd get over it quick. Afterall, it's over a toy. I could care less about why so and so bought more than one and whatever their reasons are. Because if I really wanted to, I could choose to do the same, but I choose not to.

Edited August 5, 2013 by GDomino

[mssm]

Well, its time for some update regarding the order status message

"Customer Service" - Admins haven't verified your order yet

"In Process" - Your order is verified.

Anyone having another message?

My order went from Customer Service to In Process.

The Mini-Mech got In Process and the 41999 got Backordered.

Right now Order History is not viewable. Anyone else experiencing troubles viewing?

I'll wait until i've got the shipping email. I'd like to recieve some more information about my order.

Did I get one or not?

Why is process so slow?

Bad information, CS giving different information about the statuses. Please hand out more information about our orders!

Edited August 5, 2013 by mssm

[OzBen]

Mine has been in process since I ordered it August 1 and my orders page was lost for a day.

I contacted CS and they said all good, in process means my order is at the warehouse waiting to be shipped. I imagine that being in Australia they would bulk ship them to save some $$$$

My orders always arrive in an Australia post shipping carton....

[maxxens]

So I just received two packs. One with the mini-mech and one with the boss. That's what I call cost-effective delivery ;)

[PsyKater]

It's a bit silly that they do not check them chronologically.

[peter_m]

Any news after weekend? My order is still "In process"/"Backordered"

Edited August 5, 2013 by peter_m

[Cyclotron102]

Mini Mech shipped on 2 aug, the Boss on backordered, but my credit card is charged.

Then?