Hey, Folks!
I’m afraid that this week’s Editorial is going to be a short one…mostly because after weeks (and months!) of uncertainty and anxiety everything in the comic industry is FINALLY feeling a little bit normal. I mean, even the speculators have started up again…lol…if that’s not a sign of normalcy in this crazy business then nothing is.
I’m pleased to announce that all of our damages from the last few weeks have been taken care of to my satisfaction. For those of you who hadn’t heard, UPS has destroyed 3 separate boxes from Diamond in the last few weeks and because of the current COVID craziness there have been some customer service issues from Diamond when I attempted to have the problems corrected. The box of damaged Previews was replaced on Wednesday and the box of severely damaged items from last week have, more or less, been completely replaced. I can’t tell you how happy this makes me.
Diamond’s reorder turnaround time is also improving by increments. As you’ve heard me go on about before I typically put a reorder in on Sunday afternoon and, pre-Apocalypse, it would arrive by Wednesday afternoon. Since everything has turned on after the shutdown, however, we’ve had increasingly longer wait times for the arrival of direct ship reorders due to a host of complications between Diamond and UPS. Well, my Sunday reorder is set to be delivered today which means they are only about 24 hours behind pre-Apocalypse service deliveries. This is VERY good news as I now have a better idea about when I can expect special orders to show up.
Another issue has begun cropping as well and it’s one that I do believe will be straightened out with a bit more time. The normal way things work is that I look an item up in Diamond’s system, see that it is “in stock”, and then place my order. Diamond’s system generates a packing slip and the warehouse uses it to pull and pack my box. Of course, it is a little more complicated than that as there is a whole system at Diamond’s warehouses of conveyer belts and scanners and whatnot, but that’s the gist of it. Unfortunately, from what I understand, if there’s something on your order that is missed or that the employee can’t find then that item’s order is cancelled whether it is “in stock” or not just to keep the boxes moving. I get an e-mail informing me of the cancellation and then I have to reorder the item again to make sure that I receive it. Because Diamond is still working at getting their warehouses up to something approaching a full staff these kind of cancellations are occurring more often and in greater numbers.
For instance, I put a HUGE reorder in on Sunday. There was probably $500 worth of reorders at cost on the reorder. Many of these reorders are single copy orders for comics or trade paperbacks which I imagine is more of a headache for these warehouse orders than a bulk order of books or supplies. I got to work on Wednesday morning to find a laundry list of 11 different items that were showing “in stock” but were cancelled. Many of these items were special ordered which means that those of you I ordered them for will have to wait until next week to get them. It’s somewhat irritating, but I am trying to achieve a certain amount of understanding and compassion for a company that is clearly struggling between losing 30% of their business (D.C. Comics) and a pandemic. I really don’t want to deal with a near future where Diamond goes out of business or the distribution chain splinters more than it already has so I’m going to do everything I can to support Diamond at this time, even if they sometimes drive me crazy. To be fair, it’s a short trip.
I will be out of the office on Saturday this week to have a day off with Hillman. We have a few plans, but mostly we will just be hanging out. Steve will be covering for me so please be kind to him…lol. If you have an questions or issues then please leave a message for me on the Facebook Messenger for the store and I will address them when I’m back on Sunday!
Have a great weekend!
Eddie