Massive Maelstrom Games Sale

Jamros · **Posted:** Tue Oct 09, 2012 9:38 pm

Hey guys,

I got an email today regarding a sale from Maelstrom Games. They've been moving their supplies to a new warehouse recently and have had several sales to accompany the move. Now, they've decided to clear out even more stock for reasons that were explained quite poorly in the email. Anyway, they listed the discounts as follows:

25% off - Battlefront Miniatures (Flames of War)
30% off - Perry Miniatures, Victrix, Plastic Soldier Company, Artizan Designs, Gripping Beast, Great War Miniatures
50% off - Templar's Forge
40% off - Everything Else

I would assume that Games Workshop products would fall under "everything else." The sale ends on midnight Friday. To receive the discount, enter the code WAREHOUSE-MOVES during checkout. Its a pretty dang big sale and though I was not planning on purchasing anything miniature-related, I now will at least give Maelstrom a browse. If LotR does indeed fall under "everything else," I wanted you all to be aware of it.

Bastion.HUN · **Posted:** Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:15 pm

And the figure's 99% is out of stock.

Lord Hurin · **Posted:** Wed Oct 10, 2012 2:27 am

Jamros, can you get Maelstrom to deliver LoTR or any GW stuff to you? I notice we're both in North America, so I'll assume that what you can get I can too

Rozinante · **Joined:** Sun Nov 06, 2011 1:16 pm **Posts:** 215

Last sale, I ordered and paid for something, and a week later they cancelled the order with an invitation to re-order at full price. Phone calls didn't work, neither for honoring the price they'd sold it to me for, nor even for an explanation. Lesson learned.

Jamros · **Posted:** Wed Oct 10, 2012 5:23 am

Lord Hurin wrote:

Jamros, can you get Maelstrom to deliver LoTR or any GW stuff to you? I notice we're both in North America, so I'll assume that what you can get I can too

No, Maelstrom honors GW's request that UK webstores refrain from delivering GW products to outside of the UK. I had ordered LotR products from them before though with no problem. Though, if you're interested in anything else, it shouldn't be a problem.

Rozinante wrote:

Last sale, I ordered and paid for something, and a week later they cancelled the order with an invitation to re-order at full price. Phone calls didn't work, neither for honoring the price they'd sold it to me for, nor even for an explanation. Lesson learned.

I've actually had nothing but positive experience with Maelstrom in the past, even being an oversees customer. However, in this most recent email, they did explain that they were having trouble fulfilling orders due to the warehouse move, I believe--so this sale is somehow meant to straighten out their issues with keeping track of what's stocked...? Like I said, the email did a poor job of explaining what exactly is happening with their store right now.

Looking at the store, the sale seems to have been a massive success. They're out of stock of the majority of their products, which is what they wanted. I may look into grabbing a few paints, Vallejo or Coat d'arms, both of which I strongly recommend as substitutes for Citadel.

elliodoc · **Joined:** Mon Jul 09, 2012 1:32 pm **Posts:** 79

I've just had a 'mixed' experience ordering for the first time from Maelstrom.

I placed an order for two minis and a sourcebook over 6 weeks ago (after hearing of a clearance sale on this forum). Minis arrived after about 2-3 weeks but no sign of sourcebook. After 4 weeks I chased them and was told it would be shipped soon, but after 2 further weeks and no response to further emails I just cancelled the order and got my money back (no apology), and ordered instead from Wayland Games, which actually turned out cheaper.

I received the same emails recently about their ‘new’ clearance sale and denial of ‘internet rumours’, so immediately googled them to see what the rumours were. I found this blog which gives a balanced review of Maelstrom service:
http://adventuresinminiaturegaming.blog ... tomer.html

In summary, their current LOTR stock seems to be near zero and customer service is ‘adequate’ at best. Personally, I won’t be wasting time or money until they have resolved their stock issues.

Jamros · **Posted:** Tue Oct 23, 2012 10:32 pm

I regret advertising this sale and defending Maelstrom Games after it was criticized. I've received several additional emails regarding the extension of the sale and grew suspicious. I then read through a rather lengthy thread on Beasts of War of many customers having poor experiences--unfulfilled orders, late orders, no contact between the company and customers, money down the drain. There's even a new suspicious website called Eye of the Storm that has been setup that is identical to Maelstrom.

My past experiences with Maelstrom were nothing but positive. But it seems that now they are currently horribly mismanaged at best, or just plain robbing people at worst. This "warehouse move" could prove to be the end of their business.

Lord of the Rings-wise, they have a limited selection of Finecast heroes left--which would be a whopping 40% off, but I would not recommend trusting Maelstrom at this time.

KnightyKnight · **Posted:** Tue Oct 23, 2012 10:39 pm

Live and learn I suppose. Thank you for updating us with your stance on this group. I have no doubts about your initial experience with them, it's a shame to hear that there's been such a drastic turn around. I'll make a note to keep an eye on this new website.

Dagorlad · **Posted:** Wed Oct 24, 2012 6:48 am

I'd strongly recommend that people stay away from this company, at least for a month or so. While they have been a brilliant supplier in the past, they seem to be doing something very weird at the moment.

This massive clearance appears to be a way of getting rid of stock that just doesn't sell. Fair enough, but they have opened another identical webstore and begun trading under 'The Eye of the Storm.' This appears to be a way of wiping off any debt from Maelstrom and yet continuing to trade as a different company. "Wiping off debt" = not filling orders and leaving customers out of pocket.

And they have just changed the name of this new company to "Maunsfeld Gaming" presumably to distance themselves even more from the 'Maelstrom' name.

Pretty damned shonky in my opinion.

TheBucklandBrewer · **Posted:** Wed Oct 24, 2012 11:12 am

This all has a strange smell indeed...
I've been getting mails from them for over 6 months already about stock-clearance-sales, all very limited but they never seem to stop.

I used to order loads with them (several hundreds if not thousands of £££ 's all together...), but my last order didn't go as smooth as I hoped for and as I was used to... I was even promised a refund but had to ask for it a couple of times before I actually got it...

Dorthonion · **Posted:** Wed Oct 24, 2012 2:36 pm

Ah - I had been watching their PlasticSoldierCompany section and was wondering why so much was listed as out of stock.
I was burned once (Battlegamesbymail in 2005) and do not want to be burned again.

Dezartfox · **Posted:** Wed Oct 24, 2012 7:07 pm

Ive only ever made small orders, usually airbrush paints etc. Never had an issue and delivery was always pretty quick :/ I went into their brick and mortar store in Mansfield and that is a wonderful place!

Something must have gone wrong somewhere and now they're suffering badly :/

edge67 · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2012 3:43 am

I got sucked in by the wharehouse sales before reading about all the problems with Maelstrom on the web. Seems I am likely to get ripped off. One order I made on Oct 4 is still 'processing'. Another I made a week later has supposedly been shipped. Will wait and see if it ever arrives. I only ordered stuff that was in stock (at least according the the web page). Given all the chat on the Beasts of War forum it seems they are not filling any orders and have likely gone bust. $250 down the drain, although I will put a dispute in with my credit card company. If my other order turns up I will let you guys know.

Sacrilege83 · **Posted:** Sun Oct 28, 2012 3:22 pm

Wow, this all sounds messed up. I hope all the orders follow through for you guys.

Dagorlad · **Posted:** Mon Oct 29, 2012 12:15 pm

And they are still pushing their sale. I just got another email from them advertising their 'stock clearance' sale. Don't go near them folks, this sounds like fraud to me.

elliodoc · **Joined:** Mon Jul 09, 2012 1:32 pm **Posts:** 79

I've just ignored my own advice and placed an order with Maelstrom - 80% Dain&Balin means £3.50ish instead of £18. If the order arrives then great - if not then I've only lost a couple of quid (and I was careful to pay with credit card so hopefully will get extra protection using that). Lets so what happens!!!

Ukfreddybear · **Posted:** Mon Oct 29, 2012 3:22 pm

I have also heard bad things. It is a shame as I was one of their most active supporters. Rob at Maelstrom was always very helpful to me, but I've sent him an email basically saying stop being a jerk and be honest with your customers.

Farmer Maggot · **Posted:** Mon Oct 29, 2012 8:45 pm

From what I've managed to piece together Maelstrom have separated into 3 different companies now. Maelstrom Games is the mail order online store, Eye Of The Storm is the physical shop and gaming venue and Mierce Miniatures now sells the former Bane Beasts and Bane Lord miniatures.

I'm not sure exactly what happened but it looks like it was split up to save some of the business from financial problems.

In August I ordered a figure and some paints which I was still waiting for, so last week I sent an email asking for a date when I would receive them or a refund. A couple of days later I had an email to say 2 of the paints were no longer available and they would refund those and the rest was ready for collection.

So I now have my order (minus the 2 paints which I have been refunded for). The main problem seems to have been with items not in stock, so most of the sale stuff should arrive as it was in stock.

Having said that, I was tempted to order some models at 75% (it later became 80%) I wasn't confident enough to order anything.

edge67 · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 6:34 am

I'm not sure about Eye of the Storm just being their bricks and mortar store. They have just set up a website http://www.eye-of-the-storm.co.uk/ that looks exactly like Maelstrom. Why do this? It seems very dodgy. If you read the Beasts of War forum you will see numerous people who have tried umpteen times to email or ring these people to get some answers about orders with no response. I wish I lived in Nottinghamshire so I could go down there and ask some questions. The problem is not just with orders for out of stock stuff. As I said in my post - I ordered in stock stuff and the order is still 'processing' after 24 days. I emailed to ask why the delay and had no response.

Hopefully UKFreddy's email might ruffle a few feathers.

Bottom line is - given all the problems numerous people are having, including me, I will never deal with this company again (regardless of what name they use).

greendragon · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 7:45 pm

I think Maelstrom has suffered some serious cashflow problems. I believe there may be some serious fraud happening here, changing company names not contacting people and not shipping out orders - I too will place a minimal test order with them and that should tell me (and other certain individuals) everything I need to know.

Certainly their "sale" is bogus. Retailers may not sell at more than 10% for Battlefront Miniatures or they will stop supplying you and cancel your trade account for good. So them doing it at 60% says all you need to know.

Massive Maelstrom Games Sale

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