US DS Next Parts Delivery

[Tiermann]

Talked briefly on the phone with the Parts Dept in the US today. Their next expected parts delivery from Germany is in March. If you've ordered anything since the fall and it was out of stock it still will be until March some time.

I'm going to try sending an email order this time and see how that goes, it's been a while. The rep said to send to service@playmobilusa.com - that's new, last time it was through Playmobil.com and then rerouted from there.
She said to include name, address, phone number. There will be an email response, and they have to call you to confirm the total before they can charge you.

[Rasputin]

Talked briefly on the phone with the Parts Dept in the US today. Their next expected parts delivery from Germany is in March. If you've ordered anything since the fall and it was out of stock it still will be until March some time.

I'm going to try sending an email order this time and see how that goes, it's been a while. The rep said to send to service@playmobilusa.com - that's new, last time it was through Playmobil.com and then rerouted from there.
She said to include name, address, phone number. There will be an email response, and they have to call you to confirm the total before they can charge you.

HI Tim

I just received my list back by Email last night. I sent it 2 weeks ago and it was 378 items long. This new system is ok and what I like is when they emailed me back it was also in a spread sheet format with prices. About half of the items were discontinued/out of stock and what was really surprising is some new parts are listed as such. If I knew how to  show it I would .

There is three ways they list the parts. Available, Out of stock & Discontinued/out of stock. I really do not understand why a part like the 1/2 iron truss would be listed as Discontinued/out of stock ? It is only discontinued this year and what now we can not get any parts for it ? I will try again in march with the list of parts that were not available.

Rasputin "The Mad Monk"

[Justindo]

I've been compiling a DS order over the last few months so this information is good to know.  Sadly, based on my experience with US DS, even when the shipment comes, I won't get most of the parts I want.  Their "discontinued" label is unreliable, as I've had recently introduced parts labeled as such and they are readily available from UK DS.  That US DS is now accepting e-mail orders is a welcome change and one that should have occurred years ago, as it would have saved both the customer and Playmobil time and money.  (I can think of better uses for my time than being on hold for two hours and then spending another three hours on the phone reading off parts numbers.)  I really don't understand why US DS is so inferior to other countries' DS.

[Tiermann]

Well I disagree there, except for Germany i think our DS is as good as there is out there. I will point out that you need to order things more than once sometimes. I've ordered parts for the old Space series in the past and they were Out of Stock and then when I tried again a year later they were there. What they get may in part be determined by what's been ordered in the last period.

As far as the Discontinued/Out of Stock thing. I think that sometimes means Unavailable. For instance I tried last fall to order the Anubis mask just as the Egyptians were coming out and it was listed as discontinued. I suspect it may show up as available at a later time.

Rasputin - what format was the spreadsheet in? .xls? It would be easier to mail them a copy of my order spreadsheet if it looks like they will be able to read it. You can take a screen cap of what it look slike and then load that up after running it through a graphics/photo program.

[Rasputin]

Rasputin - what format was the spreadsheet in? .xls? It would be easier to mail them a copy of my order spreadsheet if it looks like they will be able to read it. You can take a screen cap of what it look slike and then load that up after running it through a graphics/photo program.

Hi Tim

I sent playmobil an Email and just copied/pasted out of my Excel spread sheet. They emailed me back an .xls and I forwarded it to Heather. She will go over it and post it in PF tonight-ish . I tried to bring the .xls into Photoshop to post it here but I am computer illiterate.

Well I disagree there, except for Germany i think our DS is as good as there is out there. I will point out that you need to order things more than once sometimes. I've ordered parts for the old Space series in the past and they were Out of Stock and then when I tried again a year later they were there. What they get may in part be determined by what's been ordered in the last period.

As far as the Discontinued/Out of Stock thing. I think that sometimes means Unavailable. For instance I tried last fall to order the Anubis mask just as the Egyptians were coming out and it was listed as discontinued. I suspect it may show up as available at a later time.

I know this to be true because I once was able to order really old parts. When I asked about it I was told that if I tried enough and the computer recognized a demand it would place the order from Germany. The same part became available after many attempts and since has gone to Discontinued/out of stock status again. I leave all my part #'s that I know are not there just so the computer & staff knows I want them.

Besides having to wait for a week for a response and lots of thing being out I am really glad Playmobil gives us the opportunity to order anything

Rasputin "The Mad Monk"

[Indianna]

 . . . Besides having to wait for a week for a response and lots of thing being out I am really glad Playmobil gives us the opportunity to order anything  . .

So true - it is a service that they really are not required to provide.  I am happy to say that every dealing I have had with DS has been a positive experience - but then, my orders are usually pretty small.   

Some day perhaps they will be able to implement an online ordering system that is linked directly to their inventory system.  That would be a huge improvement for Playmobil employees as well as for their customers! 

[SubaruWolf]

Not until March?!    What does this mean?  I placed a DS order around the beginning of January and they told me then that they'd have a new shipment of parts in about a month.  So I've been compiling a list and waiting for the beginning of February because I thought that with this supposed fresh shipment, I'd finally be able to order the five new red-eyed wolves as well as a bunch of common things that have been out of stock that I've been waiting on.

I am confused now... but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try for those parts in about a week or so. 

[Bill Blackhurst]

I discussed this issue previously in another topic after ordering a couple of parts & being told they were not receiving regular replenishment orders from Germany for normally stocked replacement parts due to cost factors. US DS has resorted to just a few yearly replenishment orders! I know that we should be thankful for being able to get any "replacement parts  " at all, but seeing how efficient other foreign DS facilities are, it could be much better in this country!

[Justindo]

Well I disagree there, except for Germany i think our DS is as good as there is out there. I will point out that you need to order things more than once sometimes. I've ordered parts for the old Space series in the past and they were Out of Stock and then when I tried again a year later they were there. What they get may in part be determined by what's been ordered in the last period.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.  I've placed between two and six fairly large US DS orders every year for the last few years and what is "out of stock" or "discontinued" gets put into the next order and remains there until I get the part, and most of these are not old or rare parts.  Also, when I need 50 of something (e.g. helmets), I'm always told they have say 12 in stock and then 3 actually arrive, if any.  That's to say nothing of the parts I want that they say they don't have any of.  When I was fortunate enough to have a gracious fellow Playmofriends board member place a UK DS order for me, I got nearly every part I've ever wanted and in the quantity I wanted right away.  This tells me that US DS is terribly poor in comparison to other countries' DS, to say nothing of Germany's DS.  This goes for Playmobil USA as a whole, as I've ordered several sets the day they were released and was informed that they were "out of stock" or "only had 3", which is absurd.  As for the "wait until next month when we will be getting a huge parts shipment from Germany", I've found this usually means wait three months when we get our tiny shipment.

I suppose I should be thankful that I can get anything at all from US DS, but it's not as if I'm not paying them.

[Erik]

Man,am I glad I can rely on the well-oiled DS Belgium...!