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Post by dmikester on Nov 24, 2017 21:40:14 GMT -5
I'm of two minds about this (but mostly of one mind). I do think it is ridiculous that there was no communication whatsoever about this before an understandably disgruntled customer contacted them, and that they seem to not really be trying to solve the problem in any kind of creative way. This suggests to me that they're having financial troubles of some sort, as they're alienating their customer base quite a bit. However, it's interesting to me that Hunt A Killer is also experiencing similar issues with shipping to Germany, and they're clearly not having financial issues. So I wonder if something changed recently with international shipping to Germany that made it much more costly for these companies. However, MPC has been doing such a terrible job of communication lately, and have been so lackluster in their promotional emails and announcements this year, that it's very difficult to give them the benefit of the doubt. I suspect that these troubled times with the MPC are not going to let up any time soon.
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Post by distantsmoke on Nov 24, 2017 22:44:24 GMT -5
I'm of two minds about this (but mostly of one mind). I do think it is ridiculous that there was no communication whatsoever about this before an understandably disgruntled customer contacted them, and that they seem to not really be trying to solve the problem in any kind of creative way. This suggests to me that they're having financial troubles of some sort, as they're alienating their customer base quite a bit. However, it's interesting to me that Hunt A Killer is also experiencing similar issues with shipping to Germany, and they're clearly not having financial issues. So I wonder if something changed recently with international shipping to Germany that made it much more costly for these companies. However, MPC has been doing such a terrible job of communication lately, and have been so lackluster in their promotional emails and announcements this year, that it's very difficult to give them the benefit of the doubt. I suspect that these troubled times with the MPC are not going to let up any time soon. I would have to admit that it is not beyond the realm of possibility for the American Congress to pass an obscure law effectively shafting millions of people all over the world and generally making life difficult and miserable, without any media fanfare at all. So something may have changed. And while I am not intimately familiar with how the Canadian government works, it would not surprise me if they did the same. Perhaps this is yet another "bump in the road" that must be borne with fortitude, or avoided if desired.
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Post by centaurofattn on Nov 24, 2017 23:26:36 GMT -5
As someone currently sending an experience to Germany, I can attest that for reasons unknown, it did take a lot longer and a scary period of time where the first package was held up in customs (and then mysteriously back in Chicago before arriving at it's destination). I was very tempted to send a second package thinking the first was lost. Now I'm just making everyone wait in case the mail is crap and letters/packages are floating out there somewhere. Couple that with the whole flow of a story aspect and having some pieces arrive sooner than other, I would want to avoid that too. But again, these are things that can be communicated the same way that they don't guarantee arrival of things by holidays and such.
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Post by chrisu on Nov 25, 2017 3:31:07 GMT -5
As someone currently sending an experience to Germany, I can attest that for reasons unknown, it did take a lot longer and a scary period of time where the first package was held up in customs (and then mysteriously back in Chicago before arriving at it's destination). I was very tempted to send a second package thinking the first was lost. Now I'm just making everyone wait in case the mail is crap and letters/packages are floating out there somewhere. Couple that with the whole flow of a story aspect and having some pieces arrive sooner than other, I would want to avoid that too. But again, these are things that can be communicated the same way that they don't guarantee arrival of things by holidays and such. As I have bought all the old experiences of MPC I can tell you that only once the reveal arrived before the crate. For the last 4 crates I evendidn't have to visit customs any more. That's the same for HAK By the way the countries HAK is shipping to is even shorter than MPC. America, Canada, Australia and Great Britain. That's it. I only got a bs mail telling me that the shipping cost would be too high to send the premium cases to Germany. Which is funny, cause I remember that for the first batch of 1934 I could pre order. Unfortunately personal troubles forced me to cancel the pre order. But when I had sufficient money again they suddenly won't ship to my location any more. Same thing with Empty Faces. I am getting HAK every month. Suddenly I can't order a similar priced experience any more??? I wann make the decision if shipping cost is too high or not. I am extremely disappointed in MPC. Why they are doing this is just beyond me. I don't think that they were losing money. Even if so, then just raise the international shipping cost. Then I can decide if it's worth my while. But hearing form others that the aging was sub par on Filigree makes me think that maybe this isn't that bad. If the items don't look real to me that would be a big deal breaker. For that reason I am avoiding the Mystery Experience Company. Sorry for the long rant. At least there are companies which didn't go with this line of thought. I'll support these from now on.
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Post by chrisu on Nov 25, 2017 3:35:38 GMT -5
I'm of two minds about this (but mostly of one mind). I do think it is ridiculous that there was no communication whatsoever about this before an understandably disgruntled customer contacted them, and that they seem to not really be trying to solve the problem in any kind of creative way. This suggests to me that they're having financial troubles of some sort, as they're alienating their customer base quite a bit. However, it's interesting to me that Hunt A Killer is also experiencing similar issues with shipping to Germany, and they're clearly not having financial issues. So I wonder if something changed recently with international shipping to Germany that made it much more costly for these companies. However, MPC has been doing such a terrible job of communication lately, and have been so lackluster in their promotional emails and announcements this year, that it's very difficult to give them the benefit of the doubt. I suspect that these troubled times with the MPC are not going to let up any time soon. I would have to admit that it is not beyond the realm of possibility for the American Congress to pass an obscure law effectively shafting millions of people all over the world and generally making life difficult and miserable, without any media fanfare at all. So something may have changed. And while I am not intimately familiar with how the Canadian government works, it would not surprise me if they did the same. Perhaps this is yet another "bump in the road" that must be borne with fortitude, or avoided if desired. If it was only Germany, but the MPC and HAK are treating all non Commonwealth countries like that. So that can't be the reason. And other companies haven't joined their bandwagon. What I think could be more likely: Take some time and compare MPC and HAK online presence. There are so many similarities that when first signing up for HAK last December I wondered if it was a subsidiary of MPC...
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Post by craigrj on Nov 25, 2017 8:01:13 GMT -5
Couple of interesting things from this -
- MPC mention "blunders during transition" - unless I missed something, what are they referring to here? Transition from what state to what other state? Has there been a change of ownership, or staff, or location for MPC?
- No problems with HAK or MPC in shipping to the UK (although MEC still don't ship internationally). HAK ship from the US though, so it's not a Commonwealth thing?
- I wanted to order a Surprise Me at the discounted price, but also wanted to ensure I didn't get a repeat of an experience I already have, so I asked the question: do you think I'll even get a reply before the discount period ends? MPC seem to be very slow on response times these days...
Conclusion? Seems unavoidable to assume that something has changed in the company, and something major. Maybe they are having financial problems and the business is in trouble? Is there an equivalent of Companies House in Canada to check last filed accounts? Maybe some digging is in order...
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Post by craigrj on Nov 25, 2017 8:19:25 GMT -5
Well that didn't take long - the website contacts are hidden via a company called contactprivacy.com but CA's equivalent to Companies House show MPC has two directors, Miles Bossons and Jason Kapalka. (The name Miles should raise a smile if nothing else.)
They are supposed to file annual accounts by 20th April each year and...they are overdue for 2017 (they were on time for 2015 and 2016). Seven months overdue is a pretty serious oversight on MPC's part...
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Post by phraca on Nov 25, 2017 8:48:49 GMT -5
Well that didn't take long - the website contacts are hidden via a company called contactprivacy.com but CA's equivalent to Companies House show MPC has two directors, Miles Bossons and Jason Kapalka. (The name Miles should raise a smile if nothing else.) They are supposed to file annual accounts by 20th April each year and...they are overdue for 2017 (they were on time for 2015 and 2016). Seven months overdue is a pretty serious oversight on MPC's part... Oooh. I like this. Maybe figuring out what’s going on at MPC is the V4 metapuzzle. Like maybe the SZ have infiltrated it and are trying to get rid of all of the really good puzzlers by sending us pewter statues and papercrafts instead of puzzles.
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Post by wortelboer on Nov 25, 2017 8:49:24 GMT -5
Well that didn't take long - the website contacts are hidden via a company called contactprivacy.com but CA's equivalent to Companies House show MPC has two directors, Miles Bossons and Jason Kapalka. (The name Miles should raise a smile if nothing else.) They are supposed to file annual accounts by 20th April each year and...they are overdue for 2017 (they were on time for 2015 and 2016). Seven months overdue is a pretty serious oversight on MPC's part... No they did not provide me an explanation of what “in transition” means.
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Post by wortelboer on Nov 25, 2017 9:01:00 GMT -5
There has definitely been a change. When I looked at their corporate info. in June it listed Colin Bolton, Tim Sullivan and Mikhail Schneider as the corporate directors. The address has for the company has also changed. It could well be that MPC has been sold. In the past, Tim Sullivan was the face of the company and used to do interviews. The fact that he is no longer a director is one of the reasons I think MPC has been sold. Also back in June when I pulled them up the status of their annual filings was overdue for both 2016 and 2017. It was incorporated on February 19, 2014 and was modified on 5/4/17 and again on 10/13/17.
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Post by Todd on Nov 25, 2017 9:13:16 GMT -5
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Post by wortelboer on Nov 25, 2017 9:17:46 GMT -5
It says that he was the founder and then lists that he was with the company through September 2017. So that confirms it. He is gone and the company has been sold.
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Post by dmikester on Nov 25, 2017 9:32:17 GMT -5
Well, I’m sad to see that my theory was correct, but it’s not too surprising. The feel of the company has changed dramatically since I joined up last year, and I doubt I would be as into them if I had discovered them say this summer as opposed to last summer. Makes me rather wary about Rise of the Cult and Hunt for the Forgotten Tomb.
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Post by distantsmoke on Nov 25, 2017 10:29:20 GMT -5
I agree. The confirmation of a change in the leadership of the company is disheartening. I will tag along for Vol %, but I may jump ship after that. And I doubt I will buy any more experiences, except perhaps Tempus Fugit which I have wanted since I first joined. Other than that, this may be the end of this particular journey for me.
With that said, I do hope Todd can keep the forum going. Perhaps more of a puzzle forum, than a specifically MPC with puzzles on the side forum.
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Post by dmikester on Nov 25, 2017 10:33:22 GMT -5
Well that didn't take long - the website contacts are hidden via a company called contactprivacy.com but CA's equivalent to Companies House show MPC has two directors, Miles Bossons and Jason Kapalka. Jason Kapalka is (or at least was) a MAJOR figure in the online gaming world as one of the founders of Popcap Games, as in Bejeweled. Very cool that he's been involved with MPC, but I can't imagine it's close to his main thing. Taking a quick look on his Twitter feed, he's mentioned MPC twice since May of this year, once in a retweet of a blog post about an unboxing of Century Beast, and one bizarre and ominous tweet made two hours ago about the current Dread Holidays sale (I'm quoting it below): "I knew someone who got one of these packages! They’re dead now."
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