Valium Wasn’t Enough
Nope…Can’t touch this
Classic Evening Gown Barbie® Doll
Apparently even Valium wasn’t enough to carry the day for Mattel’s latest scheduled platinum sale. According to Mattel, a server error before the sale even started was enough to cancel the entire thing for that day and no date has been named for its release as of this posting. I have experienced Mattel and Barbiecollector system issues for years (YEARS!) before this hence my previous blog post “Get your Valium Ready” but even I did not anticipate a complete customer fail.
Customer Fail = to fall short of success or achievement in something expected, attempted, desired, or approved.
What?!!! This begs the question, if one server error was enough to bring this sale down, exactly how many servers were allotted to this event? I am thinking….2. Come on people. It is a platinum sale. You hold it once a year. You know…I can believe that weird system things happen. Believe me, I have experienced just such a thing. The system issues that Mattel and BC experience at these platinum sales are consistent not just a “one-off” thing. To come in two minutes before kick-off and say “We are sorry, but we have a system problem”, just comes off as poor planning to me.
Don’t want to arm chair quarterback here but, if you don’t have the server capacity or you have had problems previously with the capacity, one would think you would have a back up plan…perhaps RENT some additional server space or start to question the ability of your system to handle the load you place on it during these high volume sales. There are companies like Amazon and Microsoft that offer up services to handle and solve such issues each and every day. If you can’t diagnose and treat the issue, perhaps it is time to seek outside help. Just a thought. In the meantime, Mattel and the BFC have left their most avid and loyal collector customers with a decidedly sour taste in their mouths. I have no idea if it is the IT staff at Barbie collector who plan poorly or Mattel Inc. itself that simply has not allocated the funding and resources necessary to handle these sales. It is entirely possible that Mattel has told Barbie Collector and its IT staff they must make bricks with no straw on this one. If that is the case, I feel for them. Either way, it leaves the collectors questioning whether they want to purchase the product or not. Not a positive customer experience. Not a good day for Mattel and the BarbieCollector brand.
As of this posting, no available date of sale has been given by Mattel or Barbiecollector for this doll.
Inside the Fashion Doll Studio 
WOW!! They are sure having their problems. I have never understood how Mattel as a large company does not keep up with technology. They are so far
behind the times, in so many ways, I’m not even going there………….. It just gets worse
instead of better.
The entire company needs a complete overhaul, from their IT department (if they have one), their Marketing department, and more importantly, their quality control. They have set themselves up for failure.
I guess they have some explaining to do for this one!!!
May 15, 2015 at 1:06 am
Sounds like classic Mattel to me, customer hostile, treating customers as if it is a privilege for them to buy their products. An excellent example is their refusal to sell beyond US borders.
I think they haven’t realized that these days they have some serious competition. This sort of thing just puts me off them more and sends me straight into the arms of places like Integrity Toys, who DON’T treat their customers like mushrooms.
May 15, 2015 at 3:55 am
Eloquently as always. I just said WTF, BC? :-{
May 15, 2015 at 6:01 am
this is why i hesitate to join the Collectors club :[
May 15, 2015 at 6:55 am
My honest opinion, after reading the history of this “problem”, I am strongly convinced no system failure exists at this time and possibly several previous failures. Been into too many companies. You would not believe the reasons given for not doing their job or customer service. I don’t think for one moment the systems went down on their own. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.
May 15, 2015 at 9:29 am
At LEAST this time Lou left a nice (albeit questionable) “reason”. It’s like Hilary saying, “I used one device and my own server for convenience”…really, Everybody else can have multiple emails on one device. Or our head of the IRS saying, everything was destroyed, her computer, their computer the back up tapes…there’s nothing fishy going on. Yep BFC BC …just another unbelievable tale for anyone with any tech knowledge.
However, the rage that ensued were great entertainment. Hopefully they won’t treat the Platinum sale like they did Skipper-gate. Also, I stopped getting my emails from them late last year…they tell me it’s fixed and I tell them…no it’s not, so they try again. That’s really sad.
May 15, 2015 at 11:02 am
It’s not just Barbie Collector that is having a huge problem with IT related issues–American Girl is as well. Their website has become an honest to god dumpster fire of issues–now their website crashes when I try to log on to mobile or computer. Forget buying anything. The AG website was redesigned to where they don’t give you a chance to review your order before your card is charged–you only see what is actually sent and charged to you after you’ve clicked “Complete my order”. My last experience trying to buy something during their cyber monday sale was a complete disaster start to finish because of IT related issues.
I have no idea who is in charge of IT at Mattel, but they are simply not doing their jobs. I don’t get American Girl OR Barbie Collector related emails even after repeated requests and attempts for them to do so. After attending my first W Club webinar, I can say that Integrity is going to be getting most, if not all, of my doll dollars this summer. Much more professional and well done–like they actually value the customer. I really don’t see a reason to renew my BFC membership next year. W Club is much, much better.
May 17, 2015 at 10:18 am
Currently I am working out of two billing systems at my current job. We planned to go live with a new billing system thirty months ago but with hiccup after hiccup we decided to go live twenty three months later. Went live and all hell broke loose. The trainer/instructors had no clue about hospital billing. We are still getting emails and revised instructions and procedures. I feel for Mattel. That being said, I was pissed. The sale is scheduled for this Thursday at the same time.
May 18, 2015 at 5:37 pm
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I’m with Irini above, it’s so irritating that I can’t buy collector Barbies on-line to be sent to Australia, even though I know the doll will never be available here. I have to send them to my shipping buddy. And as for articulation, better late than never I suppose, although I so wish they would get rid of those permanent plastic nickers on some of them. Those Made to Move bodies, great. Plastic nickers… not so great. What kind of mind puts permanent nickers on a doll???
July 31, 2016 at 1:34 am