Consumer Experiences of PM services around the globe

[NICO]

I emailed them last night about it...  didn't get a reply.. but it WAS fixed, so..

Had a problem with payment, but they answered promply. Can we hire them for playmobil iberia, PLEASE?

Oh!!! That´s a good suggestion!!!

Which part do you need to implement in Playmobil Iberia?

a) Customer service team that responds quickly and effectively.
b) Possibility to buy online the Schiller figure (like Bach or Goethe) on playmobil.es and playmobil.pt pages.
c) Predisposition and proactive attitude towards the launching of Iberian promotional figures (Viriato, Magellan - Elcano duo, ...)
d) All of the above are correct.

[tahra]

Which part do you need to implement in Playmobil Iberia?

e) Actually READING an email, and fixing the problem, not taking 7 years (or whatever it took).
f) Actually reading an email and replying, sorting the problem, in a timely fashion.

[Luftgaengerin]

Which part do you need to implement in Playmobil Iberia?

I love playmobil. I am very polite and I don't mean to be rude, but I have several points to add to this subject:


g) please hire a professional to correct the playmobil.pt website, it's full of mistakes in Portuguese, and half is in Spanish. Preferably someone who can read and write in European Portuguese instead of Brazilian Portuguese (it reads very differently).

h) Please correct the name of the 70467 set, it still reads today "Hércules, doze escrituras", which means "scripts/scriptures", as e.g. in the Bible, that's not acceptable. It's easy, e.g. even Wikipedia can show the translation of "The Twelve Labours of Heracles" just by changing the language setting.

i) please get a Portuguese contact-number for your clients in Portugal instead of just a Spanish one - international calls are expensive, especially when the client has to wait a long time until the call is accepted.

j) Please avoid hanging up the phone immediately after the client asks if the employee speaks English (happened to me twice already).

l) if you do forward the call to someone who speaks Portuguese, please make sure that this employee understands European Portuguese, preferably knows about the articles playmobil sells and, if doable, has access to the emails they've sent to the service.

m) If a client writes a nice email to the "Pressestelle"-contact informing about several Portuguese-language mistakes on the website, and offers to help for free, answer them - even if to decline the offer, just because it's good manners.

n) Please read the emails, specially about parts wrongly delivered or missing, before sending the order to Germany, that will arrive many weeks later probably with the wrong parts. Again. Unfortunately, this happens a lot and can go on for months.

o) Please answer the emails when the client asks a simple question, instead of just sending the standard text that "the email was correctly received" and the parts have been "ordered to Germany with the order-number so-and-so". If possible, stop sending this standard text in Spanish, to Portuguese clients that ordered at the playmobil.pt website. Please note that Portuguese and Spanish are different languages.

p) Please read the emails. It saves time and patience to both the client and the company.

[Speedyben]

Does someone know if this set will also become available on the Playmobil site?

[GrahamB]

Speedyben- its unlikely anyone knows the answer yet. Some exclusive figures remain available only from the original organisations which commissioned them. Others are sold by Playmobil. If you are keen, buy one now while they are still available!

Tahra and Luftgaengerin-

q) act like you give a damn about your customers!

From what you have said (and mentioned in previous contributions), I find the behaviour of playmobil.es and playmobil.pt quite appalling and arrogant. I hope they read this, but they won't change even if they do read it. Isn't there some EU law which makes it illegal for them to botch the language of a member state, let alone conflate two different languages? Or is there a Portuguese organisation which seeks to promote the European form of the language? You could report them!

[NICO]

@speedyben I think it's okay to wait a little bit. It is already on sale at playmobil.de, even a little cheaper. Woody from klickwelt has put us on the track. And the reference 70688 was visible for a few hours on the Spanish and Portuguese pages, with no previous image or price, but it was possible to see that the web programming was in progress.

Dear companions!

Please, raise your hand who DOESN'T LOVE playmobil.

All of us on this forum (or others) love playmobil. Obviously we say these things, because we would like them to be even better. Loving something is compatible with constructive criticism and not covering up mistakes by looking the other way.

Probably the list of things to improve would make a complete turn of the alphabet...

[Speedyben]

@speedyben I think it's okay to wait a little bit. It is already on sale at playmobil.de, even a little cheaper. Woody from klickwelt has put us on the track. And the reference 70688 was visible for a few hours on the Spanish and Portuguese pages, with no previous image or price, but it was possible to see that the web programming was in progress.

Dear companions!

Please, raise your hand who DOESN'T LOVE playmobil.

All of us on this forum (or others) love playmobil. Obviously we say these things, because we would like them to be even better. Loving something is compatible with constructive criticism and not covering up mistakes by looking the other way.

Probably the list of things to improve would make a complete turn of the alphabet...

Thank you!

[tahra]

I love playmobil. I am very polite and I don't mean to be rude, but I have several points to add to this subject:

ALL very true.

They can't seem to understand portuguese is NOT spanish. And brazilian portuguese is different. It's spelled different, and in many words, it IS different  - like the "colégio" - normal kids in portuguese go to school - "escola". Not "colégio", which generally means a fancy private school. A small example.

I could go on, but you said it, probably in a calmer manner I could.

Tahra and Luftgaengerin-

q) act like you give a damn about your customers!

From what you have said (and mentioned in previous contributions), I find the behaviour of playmobil.es and playmobil.pt quite appalling and arrogant. I hope they read this, but they won't change even if they do read it. Isn't there some EU law which makes it illegal for them to botch the language of a member state, let alone conflate two different languages? Or is there a Portuguese organisation which seeks to promote the European form of the language? You could report them!

If it wasn't playmobil, I'd have filed a paypal complaint, complain to the tax authorities here, and MORE. Cause some things I don't make public. Because they are playmobil.

If they weren't... well.. I wouldn't give a freaking darn. First time I TRIED to register on the site - error on the tax number. Tried again - error. IF it wasn't playmobil, 95% chance I'd forget about it. If by some reason I decided to ask their help and got the usual "please send the reference list" in spanish. Well. 100% sure that'd be the end of it. Now I ask: how many people did this, and just bought some other inferior toy?! Did they care? No. I spent HOURS and HOURS pursuing this over YEARS and YEARS. To be basically ignored.

It hurts. It makes me FURIOUS. Because they are playmobil. And as such, should be better. Above.  But I've said this before too. It's corny, but true. It saddens me and makes me angry to be treated like trash. It saddens me and makes me angry that we collectors are treated like this. I am ashamed with the way they treat most of the world (with all the iberia problems we at least manage to be.. is it 4th rate customers? - most of the world does not rate even that). Insulting stuff like the brainless pink vs violent mess shames me, as does the everwhatsit packaging. It shames me the same way a moron in a Bon Jovi tshirt trying to steal the drumstick from someone else shamed me, at some Scorpions TRIBUTE band gig. It's a disgrace.

Please, raise your hand who DOESN'T LOVE playmobil.

All of us on this forum (or others) love playmobil. Obviously we say these things, because we would like them to be even better. Loving something is compatible with constructive criticism and not covering up mistakes by looking the other way.

Probably the list of things to improve would make a complete turn of the alphabet...

Exactly. We "complain" because we CARE. With other stuff... whatever. I don't give a darn.

Eish, what an OT discussion. Maybe this should all be moved to a new topic on the common room, dear mods?

[GrahamB]

I believe in valuing everyone's opinion, consumer rights, 'ordinary' people being listened to, respect for everyone's cultural (including linguistic) heritage, politeness and good manners. Playmobil evidently has a poor track record in Iberia. This is their core market. Spain (we were once told) is the country with the most adult PM collectors outside Germany. I think they need a kick up the backside! Its a shame the company cares so little. Attention to such details ought to help secure their survival in the long term. I know I choose the supermarkets I patronise depending on their track record of service to consumers and conduct as employers. But there is no competition as far as PM is concerned (as you said Tahra), they don't operate like supermarkets.

[GrahamB]

I split this topic from a discussion about ease/difficulty of obtaining the Schiller promotional figure.

Up to this point, the discussion has focused on the shortcomings of Playmobil (the company, not the toys) in Spain and Portugal (and collectively, Iberia).

What are your experiences of engaging with your country's Playmobil services? Please state which country you are commenting upon in any reply. If you want to discuss the pros and cons of particular sets and themes, please use another area of the forum; this topic is to discuss your experiences of service received as a consumer or customer.

Here are some prompts. You can answer some of these or answer in your own way under this heading.

Are you dealt with promptly, courteously and efficiently by your local Playmobil company or representative?
Are you able to use electronic means of ordering sets or parts (email or website), or do you have to telephone, or write in?
How do you feel about the range of sets available to you?
How about the stock availability?
How is your culture and heritage represented in Playmobil communications, publications and toys?
Have you ever complained to the company about the service on offer and if so, what was the outcome?
Have you been in a position to make a direct comparison between the services offered in two or more different countries?
What is most worthy of praise in your local experience?