Nanny Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Hi Showmasters, I have a question. For every order I make, I will have to pay shipping costs. For example, I have ordered a diamond pass for Robert Englund and now want to order tickets for Christopher Lloyd. For both I will have to pay shipping costs. But you will only send my orders a few weeks before the event, so there will be only time shipping right? What about the extra payed costs? Do I get a refund or how does that work? thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators StuartG2198 Posted December 21, 2014 Moderators Share Posted December 21, 2014 Shipping fee on all orders. You can't keep adding to an order and just pay one fee, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vhiper Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Also, at least that is my experience so far: expect deliveries per order. If you placed 10 orders, you'll probably receive 10 envelopes with your tickets, for each you'll have paid shipping costs. Not the most cost friendly way for us costumers but as far as l know the only way they can process orders at the moment. The hassle of putting different orders together is something SM is not able to control or handle at the moment. If you want everything in one shipment, you have to order everything together. Of course not everything is available already and waiting might make you miss out, so it's up to you: wanna wait with ordering and save yourself a few bucks in shipping fees or order all the time separately and be sure not to miss out. Personally l wait with the not-so-important tickets l want until a whole bunch is available and only order not-to-be-missed tickets right away. If SM would want to make more money sooner, l'd suggest they find a solution to this, because then l'd order sooner, but if they want to keep sponsoring Royal Mail so much, that is how it'll have to be then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen_Sindel Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Orders are not normally combined. There's a constant process of orders being shipped out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vhiper Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Orders are not normally combined. There's a constant process of orders being shipped out. A process which could be improved... Seeing the old style stamps that are still being put on the envelopes, while there are automated ways of paying for postage services, paper tickets being send instead of Etickets being used, orders not being able to be added to other orders and send on a time of choosing of the client or stuffed in the goodie bag of a gold pass holder, as is done with a lot of other cons, there is room for improvement here, both to benefit us, the clients and SM as organizer ;-) But yes, for now it is like Queen Sindel said: you pay shipping for every order, orders can not be combined and the costs are not refundable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanny Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 I thought, since they have this comment box where it says, you should write the order number, if you have already ordered something, they might ship everything together. But thanks for all the answers and your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cesar Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Orders are not normally combined. There's a constant process of orders being shipped out. A process which could be improved... Seeing the old style stamps that are still being put on the envelopes, while there are automated ways of paying for postage services, paper tickets being send instead of Etickets being used, orders not being able to be added to other orders and send on a time of choosing of the client or stuffed in the goodie bag of a gold pass holder, as is done with a lot of other cons, there is room for improvement here, both to benefit us, the clients and SM as organizer ;-) But yes, for now it is like Queen Sindel said: you pay shipping for every order, orders can not be combined and the costs are not refundable. I am aware that other non Showmasters events cannot be mentioned, but your comments intrigue me. Showmasters are a multi event exceptionally big organisation with only a small number of staff and volunteers to run the ship. With so many events positioned throughout the year, and the numerous times Jason has said he is working on all events at all times, I would find it a logistical nightmare to find sufficient time to combine orders placed at varying times prior to events. When an order is placed the best time management is to have it ready to go asap rather than leave it all to the last minute. As regards old fashioned stamps being used, having recently ordered one for my workplace, do you realise the cost of purchasing a franking machine and the potential for repairs etc? With a business that is run by Showmasters where all profits are put back into the future shows, buying physical stamps is simply a wise financial decision in my personal opinion. Jason has covered E Tickets on a few occasions that I have seen, and being someone who thinks it is a good idea to do E Tickets, I can see his reasoning behind not doing them at present. With the amount of tickets produced by Showmasters there is always the possibilty of dupication dishonesty which leads to loss of income, potentially unhappy customers if their ticket has been the one duplicated and used, and a loss to the business in reputation. As regards putting them into Goodie Bags, again it is a good suggestion but with the growth of Showmasters in recent years this again is a logistical nightmare. At present, and from a business stand point, the current methods are the most feasible for the way Showmasters orchestrate a growing business where it's customers nigh on demand bigger and bigger guests which leads to bigger abd bigger attendances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vhiper Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 I'm fully award of the costs of a franking machine, at least as far as it goes in Holland, if you send out more then about 10 items per day, a franking machine is already cheaper then stamps, as by using a franking machine you pay a lower tarif for postage here, not to mention franking goes way quicker then placing individual stamps. It might be different for the UK, but any sizable organisation here uses a franking machine or similair service. Actually, the only letters I've received this year from a business which actually had stamps on it, was from Showmasters...besides, someone at the SM office must be going insane with sticking stamps all day by now lol The risk of duplication dishonesty is also present with the current paper tickets. Worse even, as etickets can be scanned to stop duplicates from being used, no one has the time at the event to physically check the nummered tickets to see if a certain number has already been used. So this risk is there whether or not you use etickets, while using etickets will save the customers shipping fees and SM the hassle of snail mailing thousands of tickets. The logistical nightmare for the putting tickets in goodiebags is limited, since the amount of gold tickets is limited too. Gold tickets are numbered as far as l remember, number the goodiebags accordingly. Also makes handing out goodiebags easier. plus no risk of duplication: tickets are then only handed out at the event, to the person who bought the gold ticket, as those need to be picked up in person anyway. Anyway, just crude idea's that maybe SM could use to make things better for us, the fans, and them, the organiser. :-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cesar Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 E Ticket scanners would be needed. Franking machines in UK are no cheaper than regular stamps Gold Tciket bags - all comes down to time. The events are getting bigger, people want fast service and as such having this as another route could possibly backfire. All good suggestions, but from a practicality stance just regarding Showmasters events, I do not see them as feasible. If the organisation employed regular staff and at bigger events many more are needed, then the chances of this going smoothly are rather slim to none. But I do feel polite suggestions like yours far more productive than the far too often beratement from people who seem shocked that the events are so busy, that they have to queue and pay out money for the ever increasing BIGGER stars. Toodles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vhiper Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 (edited) Scanners would not be needed if you want to stay at the same level of security simple paper tickets give, but yes, l'd say it would be wise to invest in a portable (so the same system can be used at more then one event) scanning system to get more out of this. The direct savings in shipping fees and the enormous time savings of not snail mailing thousands of tickets anymore makes it worth it already... Many events similair in size as SM events use it, they can't all be wrong... Franking machines can actually be cheaper in the UK as well, depending on the volume send. Unless the dozens of sites online claiming this are lying to me... ;-) Anyway, l guess l see opportunities where you don't. Lets just agree to disagree ;-) it's nice for events of this size to give fans the opportunity to discuss. People who complain they need to queue and cough up more money need to face reality: these events cost money to organise and everyone attending, guests, standholders and the people of SM do want to be able to bring a buck home to their families as well. It's their livelyhood, their bread and butter. Better to try and give SM idea's that could save money for both the fans and SM and hope they do something with it to make it an even better event and maybe, just maybe, a bit cheaper by being able to lower or scratch shipping costs as well :-) Edited December 24, 2014 by Vhiper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cesar Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Scanners would not be needed if you want to stay at the same level of security simple paper tickets give, but yes, l'd say it would be wise to invest in a portable (so the same system can be used at more then one event) scanning system to get more out of this. The direct savings in shipping fees and the enormous time savings of not snail mailing thousands of tickets anymore makes it worth it already... Many events similair in size as SM events use it, they can't all be wrong... Franking machines can actually be cheaper in the UK as well, depending on the volume send. Unless the dozens of sites online claiming this are lying to me... ;-) Anyway, l guess l see opportunities where you don't. Lets just agree to disagree ;-) it's nice for events of this size to give fans the opportunity to discuss. People who complain they need to queue and cough up more money need to face reality: these events cost money to organise and everyone attending, guests, standholders and the people of SM do want to be able to bring a buck home to their families as well. It's their livelyhood, their bread and butter. Better to try and give SM idea's that could save money for both the fans and SM and hope they do something with it to make it an even better event and maybe, just maybe, a bit cheaper by being able to lower or scratch shipping costs as well :-) Franking machines - going on personal experience at not only my current company but previous ones. One thing I have found out the hard way about advertising is it is all in the wording. In the Terms and Conditions so to speak. As long as it is worded legally then the description can be deemed correct, but every business is bespoke and thus so much advertising is not correct for them. When I do the weekly shop for the house I never believe the special offers on face value, but work out what I need and if it is worth it to take advantage of what is on offer. E-Tickets - can be done either way and I quite agree that they give the same level of security as current tickets. You wrongly assume about what I see. I take opportunities and analyse them from a business productivity and feasibility side. I put up hurdles and try to remove them rather than just thinking that it can work. I look for proverbial plotholes in the business storyline. There are many things I could say on this topic, but out of respect for the organisers who choose to do it their way, I will not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vhiper Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 No, l'm convinced l assume correctly. Yes, you put up hurdles, yet don't make any effort to take them away, nor offer any other idea's other then thinking SM are doing everything perfectly already. I obviously don't agree with you. Maybe you're hoping I'm going to take your hurdles away for you, which l could do by making all the cost and benefit calculations and throw down a whole feasability and business plan, yet that is something l usually get paid for and which is something company specific, so that SM will have to do that for themselves. I'm just offering ideas that could benefit us, as fans and SM, as the organiser for an event l like, whatever SM does with them, is their business. The simple proof that it can work, is because it is already being used by the majority of other events, cons and non-cons alike. I think I will leave it at that as well, l gave my idea's, l'm obviously not going to convince you, nor you me and l'm not heating anything new, so l'm gonna enjoy the rest of the day, Merry Christmas and may 2015 bring a lot of epic guests at LFCC ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cesar Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 No, l'm convinced l assume correctly. Yes, you put up hurdles, yet don't make any effort to take them away, nor offer any other idea's other then thinking SM are doing everything perfectly already. I obviously don't agree with you. Maybe you're hoping I'm going to take your hurdles away for you, which l could do by making all the cost and benefit calculations and throw down a whole feasability and business plan, yet that is something l usually get paid for and which is something company specific, so that SM will have to do that for themselves. I'm just offering ideas that could benefit us, as fans and SM, as the organiser for an event l like, whatever SM does with them, is their business. The simple proof that it can work, is because it is already being used by the majority of other events, cons and non-cons alike. I think I will leave it at that as well, l gave my idea's, l'm obviously not going to convince you, nor you me and l'm not heating anything new, so l'm gonna enjoy the rest of the day, Merry Christmas and may 2015 bring a lot of epic guests at LFCC ;-) 1. You have wrongly convinced youself as if I wanted to genuinely help Showmasters with serious and feasible proposals I would contact them directly. A message forum is, in my personal opinion, is not an appropriate place. 2. I have no desire to ask a complete stranger to take away hurdles I put up when considering potential new routes forward as that defeats the whole object for myself of making things work in my brain. It comes with being OCD. As regards what you do in your professional life, well I guess that potentially makes us doing the same thing. But any serious feasibility studies on potential projects would be done privately and professionally with respect given to potential clients. 3. What may or may not work with other similar companies to Showmasters does not always mean it can work for Showmasters. Every business runs itself in a bespoke manner as they find what little things work for them personally. In business there is no "normal method" as any sensible business will tailor their running to them and no one else. 4. I do not look to convince anyone or be convinced by anyone when it comes to simple chatter. If this was a seriosu conversation it would not be done on a message forum and so impersonally. 5. If you meant "hearing" rather than "heating" then I will once again reiterate that if I wanted to furnish Showmasters with feasible workign ideas and practices I would do so directly and not on a public message board. For some reason only known to you at this point, you have taken what started as a basic exchange of views and tried to turn it into something I have no desire to participate in. I will bid thee good day and depart this discussion as I personally do not like to have assumptions made about myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen_Sindel Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 I'm closing this here - everything pro and con I can possibly thing off has been said and I really don't want this to turn into more of a fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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