Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Customer Service and Random Morbid Thoughts

Customer Service

Well really it is SUPERIOR customer service. I needed a single PzII Flamm for my early war forces in Chain of Command. I searched and could not find a single manufacturer that did one. I reached out to the Craig at Gaming Models. He also said he did not have one but thought they looked cool and asked how many I needed. My response was a sheepish "I only need one."

This did not daunt him. I received a follow up email that he said he would make it. Today I got another e-mail that it was done! I have sent my money and now anxiously await my new vehicle. The total time from request to finished product was only a couple of weeks. I am impressed. I will post pictures as soon as I can.

Random Morbid Thoughts

In recent days I have been helping a widow deal with her late husband's war gaming collection. This is a privilege to do for her as I really liked her husband and considered him a good friend. I can't even imagine what she is going through. One thing that struck me is that when we make plans for what happens when our day comes, do we make note of what to do with our gaming stuff? I know I have not. My wife would be stuck with cabinets of what she would call junk with no way of knowing what to do with it. Fortunately I have a son who is interested and I have someone who would care for it. But right now he is 6 and things change. Anyway, that was just running around in my head for the past few days.

8 comments:

  1. Hi Chris,
    You make an important point in the latter half of your blog. I have mentioned (more than once) to my current wife that in the event of my demise she can hand over all my wargaming stuff to a wargaming club that meets in a nearby town (I'm not a member by the way). I have three daughters who wouldn't be interested in my hobby, but I know that fellow wargamers would get some use from my armies and scenery, and it will make life easier (I hope) for Mrs Pendragon when the time comes.
    Regards,
    PW

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    1. I have also thought about giving some to my son's school for them to form a club in the high school there. Not sure how that would go over. From some of the posts I have seen, that may be a better option for those living in the UK.

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  2. RE: Random Morbid Thoughts:
    For me, contingency plans are in place. Since my wife forbids me from taking it with me, several of my gaming friends have agreed to help settle the estate and make the process as painless as possible. If I was not already dead, she might kill me when she sees a full accounting...

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  3. My kids, bless them, have no interest in my hobby or collection. I remember a post at TMP where an elderly fellow was trying to move 50+ armies at once. It was of course a disaster. I keep an eye at my stack of lead. When the stack gets too big, I move another army to the selling block. I don't know if its the right answer as you can't get those armies back.

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  4. I know what your going through with your friends wargame stuff. For me I lost a very good friend to cancer in July. The two of us made replica civil war musket and rifle parts. He let behind a very large collection of civil war firearms to include replica cannons that do fire real projectiles. Now there is a complete machine shop sitting there. Currently his wife is let his close friends to still use the job. But again how do you sell all that equipment.
    Currently I making plans for let my wife known what to do with my wargaming stuff and civil war firearms. You post is a wake up call for me..

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  5. It is certainly something to consider.
    cheers

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  6. Great customer service for sure and glad you shared it as he deserves the limelight.

    I have a couple of friends set up to split my stuff like I would do for them, though like you I have a son that shows interest so it's possible he will want my stuff or the pick of it at least

    Ian

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  7. Craig at Gaming Models is a pretty good guy, I found him terrifically helpful a few years ago.

    I don't think your thoughts are morbid. It's just that we don't usually like to think about our demise. I have a good friend who is designated as my "Lead Executor". If I snuff it, my wife will call him and he and some chaps will rent a van, come over, and clean out my stuff, keep what they like, sell the rest, and give the proceeds to my widow, who will be delighted to see all that stuff gone. I got the idea because, when I was in civilian ministry, I had a parishioner, Howie, who was a model railroader. He died quite suddenly and after a while his wife told me she didn't know what to do about his stuff. Fortunately, I had gone to his railroad club with him a few times and knew some of Howie's friends, who were just waiting for the right moment to tactfully approach the widow and offer their services. His stuff was out of the house in one day. Howie's friends were tactful and sympathetic but you could just detect their glee at getting all this stuff for their club. A happy ending.

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