Colonel Angus wrote:Has there been any update to this? […] Do you think it could have been a one-off, freak, defect? Physical deterioration/self-destruct aside, have you had any luck with compensation? Or any means of amends from their customer service?
I will try to give an update.
Firstly, one of the goals of purchasing a sample is to get a first-hand impression about the reality behind marketing blurb as (not only in China) words can be cheap. Even
if previously unknown flaws are discovered in the sample, the respective manufacturer can still demonstrate their problem solving capability, so a flawed sample is not automatically a desaster. For example, in case of
Sino-doll the (paid)
review sample was severly overweight and also had several other issues. Sino made a replacement and demonstrated their willingness and
capability to build a
flawless doll. So a borked sample shows a lot more than just the doll itself. It also shows to what degree a manufacturer can be trusted to get things right. With the excellent replacement, Sino re-gained my trust.
Working with manufacturers this way is not as easy as just forwarding unverified promotion claims as most other vendors do. Purchasing samples is not only a financial risk, it sometimes also terminates the business relationship with the respective manufacturer right away. This happened, for example, with
Maiden Doll and
Candy8teen. But it also gives me a level of market insight unknown to pure drop-shipping vendors who never see the products they are selling. On the other hand, financial ressources of a small vendor like
Dollstudio are not infinite. A total loss like the GT doll - it's a four-figure amount - also means that we can not purchase other samples for a while.
Having that said, the loosening of the joints and the disfunctional standing feet without bolts are definitely neither regular wear & tear nor one-off issues. Both are
design flaws, caused by the way the doll is engineered. If a metal plate is not deburred on the edges, it will cut through any soft material as it works like a knife.
Here is the explanation why the joints loosen so quickly. This is a fundamental engineering principle which not only applies to tools and the GT skeleton, but also to many other skeletons.
These things
could be enhanced, if the factory
wanted to make enhancements. For example,
Doll Sweet uses brass and nylon washers in their skeletons since 'forever', but average TPE skeletons don't. The first type of skeleton keeps full posability at least for months or even years, the latter one can lose posability within weeks. Things like this are not rocket science, it's very basic mechanics. Sharp things cut through soft things; and when steel runs on steel, there is friction and wear. Steel on steel has a high coefficient of friction, similar to concrete on steel. Steel on PTFE (Teflon) has very low friction, brass on steel and PE on steel are somewhere in the middle which is quite nice for joints - engineering joints for durability means to make targeted use of these material properties.
However, so far there is no evidence that GT enhanced the metal foot plate or the way the joints are engineered. There are only vague claims which can not be verified without tangible evidence.
Secondly, another goal of purchasing a sample is to have something for showcasing. Every manufacturer with trust in his products should have an substantial interest things like more photos for free or a vendor showing their products to customers, especially if the vendors pay money for the display sample. And this is where I really don't understand GT anymore. They do nothing to help their reputation. They seem not to care about photos or showcasing their dolls. They seem not to care about providing evidence for their verbal claims or demonstrating their willingness for after-sales support.
Regarding replacement/compensation, the negotiated deal was to return the flawed doll to China, with return shipment arranged by GT, and to pay freight costs/import fees for a replacement. Overall this would make the sample more expensive than the regular retail product. However, since the injured doll can not be fixed with available expedients (e.g. common silicone adhesive), a replacement would be the only way to demonstrate and
verify that the foot plate or joints have been actually enhanced. So I accepted to pay some more, asked GT to make arrangements for the pickup of the flawed doll and to prepare a replacement. Obviously, as a vendor I have a natural interest in good dolls and reliable manufacturers, and I would rather like to have enhancements to be proven than flaws chiseld in stone.
Though, this was last month. So far GT did not make arrangements to pick up the injured doll nor did they respond to my last three emails. It's now safe to say that non-responsiveness was and still is a recurring communication pattern over the past months. If a manufacturer has any interest - or capability - to fix the issues encountered in June, it should have been possible to do so until September. At the moment, my patience is running low and I have not so much motivation as in the past weeks to invest more time and money in a replacement which might be borked again.
So the only GT configuration I can recommend at the moment is: dedicated sex doll with loose or loosening joints, definitely not for posing or standing. Storing a GT standing, like it is possible with a
Z-Onedoll or a
Sino-doll, is out of the question. Also you need to accept that there might or might not be a working silicone adhesive, and when you need it, it might cost you another $100 for freight. And if a shipping damage or loss should occur, I have no idea how how GT would handle it.
Sandro
[quote="Colonel Angus"]Has there been any update to this? […] Do you think it could have been a one-off, freak, defect? Physical deterioration/self-destruct aside, have you had any luck with compensation? Or any means of amends from their customer service?[/quote]
I will try to give an update.
Firstly, one of the goals of purchasing a sample is to get a first-hand impression about the reality behind marketing blurb as (not only in China) words can be cheap. Even [i]if[/i] previously unknown flaws are discovered in the sample, the respective manufacturer can still demonstrate their problem solving capability, so a flawed sample is not automatically a desaster. For example, in case of [i]Sino-doll[/i] the (paid) [url=http://dollbase.org/node/2904/]review sample[/url] was severly overweight and also had several other issues. Sino made a replacement and demonstrated their willingness and [i]capability[/i] to build a [url=http://dollbase.org/node/3010/]flawless doll[/url]. So a borked sample shows a lot more than just the doll itself. It also shows to what degree a manufacturer can be trusted to get things right. With the excellent replacement, Sino re-gained my trust.
Working with manufacturers this way is not as easy as just forwarding unverified promotion claims as most other vendors do. Purchasing samples is not only a financial risk, it sometimes also terminates the business relationship with the respective manufacturer right away. This happened, for example, with [i]Maiden Doll[/i] and [i]Candy8teen[/i]. But it also gives me a level of market insight unknown to pure drop-shipping vendors who never see the products they are selling. On the other hand, financial ressources of a small vendor like [i]Dollstudio[/i] are not infinite. A total loss like the GT doll - it's a four-figure amount - also means that we can not purchase other samples for a while.
Having that said, the loosening of the joints and the disfunctional standing feet without bolts are definitely neither regular wear & tear nor one-off issues. Both are [i]design flaws[/i], caused by the way the doll is engineered. If a metal plate is not deburred on the edges, it will cut through any soft material as it works like a knife. [url=https://dollforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1566055#p1566055]Here[/url] is the explanation why the joints loosen so quickly. This is a fundamental engineering principle which not only applies to tools and the GT skeleton, but also to many other skeletons.
These things [i]could[/i] be enhanced, if the factory [i]wanted[/i] to make enhancements. For example, [i]Doll Sweet[/i] uses brass and nylon washers in their skeletons since 'forever', but average TPE skeletons don't. The first type of skeleton keeps full posability at least for months or even years, the latter one can lose posability within weeks. Things like this are not rocket science, it's very basic mechanics. Sharp things cut through soft things; and when steel runs on steel, there is friction and wear. Steel on steel has a high coefficient of friction, similar to concrete on steel. Steel on PTFE (Teflon) has very low friction, brass on steel and PE on steel are somewhere in the middle which is quite nice for joints - engineering joints for durability means to make targeted use of these material properties.
However, so far there is no evidence that GT enhanced the metal foot plate or the way the joints are engineered. There are only vague claims which can not be verified without tangible evidence.
Secondly, another goal of purchasing a sample is to have something for showcasing. Every manufacturer with trust in his products should have an substantial interest things like more photos for free or a vendor showing their products to customers, especially if the vendors pay money for the display sample. And this is where I really don't understand GT anymore. They do nothing to help their reputation. They seem not to care about photos or showcasing their dolls. They seem not to care about providing evidence for their verbal claims or demonstrating their willingness for after-sales support.
Regarding replacement/compensation, the negotiated deal was to return the flawed doll to China, with return shipment arranged by GT, and to pay freight costs/import fees for a replacement. Overall this would make the sample more expensive than the regular retail product. However, since the injured doll can not be fixed with available expedients (e.g. common silicone adhesive), a replacement would be the only way to demonstrate and [i]verify[/i] that the foot plate or joints have been actually enhanced. So I accepted to pay some more, asked GT to make arrangements for the pickup of the flawed doll and to prepare a replacement. Obviously, as a vendor I have a natural interest in good dolls and reliable manufacturers, and I would rather like to have enhancements to be proven than flaws chiseld in stone.
Though, this was last month. So far GT did not make arrangements to pick up the injured doll nor did they respond to my last three emails. It's now safe to say that non-responsiveness was and still is a recurring communication pattern over the past months. If a manufacturer has any interest - or capability - to fix the issues encountered in June, it should have been possible to do so until September. At the moment, my patience is running low and I have not so much motivation as in the past weeks to invest more time and money in a replacement which might be borked again.
So the only GT configuration I can recommend at the moment is: dedicated sex doll with loose or loosening joints, definitely not for posing or standing. Storing a GT standing, like it is possible with a [i]Z-Onedoll[/i] or a [i]Sino-doll[/i], is out of the question. Also you need to accept that there might or might not be a working silicone adhesive, and when you need it, it might cost you another $100 for freight. And if a shipping damage or loss should occur, I have no idea how how GT would handle it.
Sandro
