# What to do when missing pieces?



## Arcane (Feb 17, 2009)

Just bought another Chimera and I open the box and it's missing the top piece for the turret. I bought it from a hobby/comic book store nearby. Thing is I really wanted to put it together tonight or at least cut the pieces of the sprue. 

So what's best, call GW or take it back to the shop? Or for that matter is it safe to put what I have together or will that "void the warranty?" Or do I need to just least it all as it was when I opened it and take it back? :wasntme:


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## Dicrel Seijin (Apr 2, 2011)

Depends on how much trouble you want to go to.

When I had issues with a finecast purchase, I called the store (and it wasn't a GW store either) and was told that I could bring it back or contact GW directly. 

I went back to the store with everything. While the owner agreed that even he would not attempt to fix it with greenstuff, he said that the store orders had already gone out. If I wanted to I could wait a week when they could order a replacement.

Instead I sent an email off to GW. I got an email back asking if I could call them. I called them the next day. Took a couple of minutes to explain everything and they were processing my replacement as I got off the phone. 

The customer support at GW is awesome. They took what I said at face value.

So my advice is just contact GW directly and explain.


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## falcoso (Apr 7, 2012)

Yeah its the same with FW too when I was missing a tomb stalker body part, its odd though that it is missing a bit from a plastic kit, unless it is an entire sprue I guess, but yeah go back to GW and don't do anything to the pieces, just leave them on the sprue


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## Arcane (Feb 17, 2009)

Like I said, I did NOT get it from GW, it was bought at an independent hobby retailer. Looks like I am going to need to call them. What information do you need to provide when you do?


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Call GW, tell Em that your missing the top sprue, give them the batch number. They should send you a new one. Don't dick around with your local as it just adds a step and adds work to him.


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## Zion (May 31, 2011)

Arcane said:


> Like I said, I did NOT get it from GW, it was bought at an independent hobby retailer. Looks like I am going to need to call them. What information do you need to provide when you do?


When I got a Chaos Marine Battleforce that was missing the Champion Upgrade Sprue (the champion heads, the special weapons and the like where on that sprue) from my FLGS I just rang up GW about it, explained what happened, and they posted me a replacement sprue.

Now in the case of an Obliterator who was missing his face, I instead made Bob (I'd originally glued the Lascannon barrel to where his face goes, then later made him a face out of Green Stuff, so now he's "FIRING MAH LAYZOR"). So sometimes you can do stuff to make up for missing stuff yourself. It doesn't help with the missing turrent but it's a thought for the future.


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## Warlord_Winters (May 2, 2012)

go to your local dollar store, get a set of army men, take the tank out and pop the turret off of that. then just glue in to your Chimera and you're good to go


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## Imwookie2 (Jul 14, 2010)

GW has great costumer service I would just call them.

I once bought a Lord of the Rings starter set from a local game store when I got home I found out it was missing the staff for Gandalf. I called GW and they sent me a whole new starter set they didnt even ask for the old one back.


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## Unforgiven302 (Oct 20, 2008)

Imwookie2 said:


> GW has great costumer service I would just call them.


This is the stone cold truth. GW has the single best customer support I have ever had to deal with. If they do not replace the entire model or kit then they send the missing or damaged part or parts. I have received new parts or kits in as little as 2 shipping days. Very fast, very friendly and never a hassle to deal with GW's customer support. 

You can also email them, all their contact info is on their website.


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## Warlord_Winters (May 2, 2012)

Unforgiven302 said:


> This is the stone cold truth. GW has the single best customer support I have ever had to deal with. If they do not replace the entire model or kit then they send the missing or damaged part or parts. I have received new parts or kits in as little as 2 shipping days. Very fast, very friendly and never a hassle to deal with GW's customer support.
> 
> You can also email them, all their contact info is on their website.


I mean its a box of plastic, i bet the profit on that is 90% im sure they afford to give out sets every now and then


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## Jace of Ultramar (Aug 2, 2011)

From my own experience last year buying a Ravenwing Battleforce, the kit was missing the motorcycle sprue for the Attack Bike. I actually ended up having 2 Attack Bike side car sprues. I emailed GW's customer support, told them the issue, and supplied my cell number as well. The following Tuesday I received a call from Customer Support asking me to explain my situation in further detail. I did and even,asked if I needed to mail them the entire Battleforce for verification. The gentleman on the other end said I didn't need to bother that I should get a motorcycle kit in the mail within 5-7 working days. The next week, the part arrived.

I was absolutely amazed by the GW customer service. I've dealt with Lego a couple of times and they want you to mail an entirely kit at your expense, making you wait for a month or more, before a replacement arrives. GW by far has a 5 star customer service department in my honest opinion. 

Arcane, just contact them and they *will* help you out.


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## Zion (May 31, 2011)

Warlord_Winters said:


> I mean its a box of plastic, i bet the profit on that is 90% im sure they afford to give out sets every now and then


Considering the costs of the kits cover mold costs, paying the employees, the brick and mortar stores, the free shipping GW offers for mid-sized purchases, materials (plastic, metal, resin, packing materials), and likely things I'm forgetting....well I doubt they may 90% on every box. Sure that individual box may not cost as much as the materials that go into it, but no business sells things at cost all the time (console companies sometimes sell the console at or under-cost but they make money on the games and peripherals, this doesn't really work for a model company).

Not to mention part of that cost also goes into fixing anything they do wrong (like missing sprues, or miscasts). I'd give a box a 20-30% profit margin AT MOST just because of how much the cost of it helps pay for a lot of things in the company. And that's AFTER it's sold as unsold products actually COST you money in storage, and in general since they haven't made up their cost yet.


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## Arcane (Feb 17, 2009)

Zion said:


> Considering the costs of the kits cover mold costs, paying the employees, the brick and mortar stores, the free shipping GW offers for mid-sized purchases, materials (plastic, metal, resin, packing materials), and likely things I'm forgetting....well I doubt they may 90% on every box. Sure that individual box may not cost as much as the materials that go into it, but no business sells things at cost all the time (console companies sometimes sell the console at or under-cost but they make money on the games and peripherals, this doesn't really work for a model company).
> 
> Not to mention part of that cost also goes into fixing anything they do wrong (like missing sprues, or miscasts). I'd give a box a 20-30% profit margin AT MOST just because of how much the cost of it helps pay for a lot of things in the company. And that's AFTER it's sold as unsold products actually COST you money in storage, and in general since they haven't made up their cost yet.


I've looked into becoming an independent GW retailer and you make 45% profit on sales as an independent. GW's margin on the vendor cost is probably at least 30%. That means that they are making around 66% pure profit off final retail cost when purchased directly from their online store. Depending on production, warehousing and shipping costs it could easily be 75% if not more. 

Anyhow, thank you all for the help.


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## Zion (May 31, 2011)

Arcane said:


> I've looked into becoming an independent GW retailer and you make 45% profit on sales as an independent. GW's margin on the vendor cost is probably at least 30%. That means that they are making around 66% pure profit off final retail cost when purchased directly from their online store. Depending on production, warehousing and shipping costs it could easily be 75% if not more.
> 
> Anyhow, thank you all for the help.


That's 75% cost from the price of the kit pure up, that's not counting in other costs we don't see up front. But I'm going to turn this into a debate about exactly how much GW makes per kit. The point remains that they're not trying to screw people as much as some people claim.

Anyways, I'm glad we could help.


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## Arcane (Feb 17, 2009)

Oh yeah I agree of course that they are not screwing people in that regard. 

The point I was trying to make though was that if their profit margin on independent retailers is only like 30% (mark up after their own cost), it means that when you buy directly from their website, not calculating shipping, they are making something like 75% pure profit. Of course there's nothing wrong with that at all. If only every other business had such good customer support. 

Now... I do think that the way they mark up models by their use in the army is frustrating at at times unfair. Like $30 for an HQ who uses the same materials, molding procedures and resources as a $50 five model kit of Terminators... but hey, alternatively there's nothing stopping people from using a generic model with the same gear modeled on them.


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