Before replying I want to make it clear this is not just a problem for FA, the same is true for the other retailers when and if they fail to meet a deadline. However, it's also true that for some of them this is more of a recurring problem than for others, so it's definitely something that can be improved on, so why shouldn't they?
It’s not black and white as you may make it sound.
Retailers aim for a release date however most often there are issues that could not have been anticipated.
Granted. However, when the same excuses are given release after release (or even multiple delays for a release, such as this one) they become the norm. They
should be anticipated, that's the whole point. They need to do a better job at getting their ducks in a row or at predicting realistic timeframes for their product to be fully assembled. If the person in charge gets this wrong time and time again then maybe he/she needs to be fired or relocated elsewhere in the organization. He/she might be great at folding slips or sticking lentis and we'd never know about it! Give someone else another shot at guesstimating, it can't be much worse...
Retailers work with a multitude of partners to have the components of a release manufactured and the delays are often due by them.
True. Maybe they should have QC at every third party manufacturing site, instead of a final QC check. Who knows. Again, we get the same reason over and over for delays, lenti quality, fullslip printing quality, etc., etc. They should take measures so that it doesn't affect us as at all, or in the worst case only occasionally.
Manta for example is more transparent than FAC. Recently Manta had to delay a release (title slips my mind) but they were not happy with the lenticular quality that they received and had them all redone.
Same thing. 2 wrongs don't make a right. Both retailers need their butt whooped. It's their responsibility to meet their deadlines. And I'm not bashing, I appreciate both of these retailers work, they do great work when it finally gets delivered, I'm just complaining about constant delays. It's really unacceptable, there is no reason for it and we should stop seeing it as normal.
Theses issues happen with many components which are made by different partners. FA may not be as transparent to provide the reason of delays, but it definitely has to do with waiting to receive every parts from whomever they work with and a single delayed item can add unforeseen delays to the release which is out of control from the retailer.
I understand all that. Maybe they need to work with those other parties so these delays stop happening, or maybe they need to find new manufacturers, or maybe someone needs to be fired.
They have incredibly reduced their delays since the start of the line, it used to be bad and now we talk about week delays only and people start making a fuss. As you point out Other industries may not have delays or their delays may have minimal consequences, but there are many industries putting out delayed products (for example a high amount of food products get backorder regularly), but we have to take into account that when your product relies on more and more partners, then you do lose some control at times. In this hobby there will always be delays.
You've been collecting for way longer than I have, I'm just a noob, but if some retailers are able to release a product on release date or sooner why shouldn't they all? It's obviously humanly possible to do so. They're quick to take our money for a pre-order, sometimes if we miss out by more than a couple of minutes we're left with nothing, so they're good at that. They're not so good at delivering and I believe they should be! That's all I'm saying and where we disagree basically.
But is it that bad waiting for extra days or week ? Will this affect your quality of life ? Those retailers work hard to give us premium editions at a collector level, showing some support and understanding might be a nice thing to do.
No, it's not that bad... life goes on. But why shouldn't they strive for better customer service? I do support them, I buy plenty of premium editions and I understand
occasional delays will happen, but regular and constant delays? No thanks. They are premium retailers, they should hold themselves up to higher standards than those of the likes of Best Buy or Zavvi, and if they don't then we should.
Just my $0.04 LOL.