ARH announcement on QC issues

[Wombat]

From Facebook:

ARH Studios quality control issues.
It’s with heavy heart that we come to you guys, first to apologize and second to try to fix the problems we are having right now with the quality of our recently delivered products.
Our 2014 line of statues took over a year to ship. A situation we had no control over. We as every other company in this industry depend on factories in China. There are very few factories in China capable of delivering a high end quality product, and unfortunately there is a large number of companies saturating the market of statues right now, which is overwhelming the capacity of these few factories in China to deliver a high quality product in a timely manner.
We have just been a victim of this problem, and although we strive to produce and deliver the best product we are capable of producing, we depend on the factories in China to make our products.
On the other hand, ARH Studios stands behind its products, and we will make sure that every single one of you guys receive a product that you are 100% happy with.
As of this moment, we are issuing a recall on every 2014 statue that was delivered and does not have the quality that you expected to receive. We will send you a paid return label, and all you have to do is to pack the statue and send it back to our studio in Idaho, USA, and we will re-paint all the statues, top to bottom in house for free to guarantee that every single one will match the prototypes we have shown in quality and value.
ARH Studios consists of 5 people! Arahom, Alex, Ehren, Spencer, and Hayley. We are all committed to the same goal, and we all strive to create and deliver the best quality product in the market. We will make it right, and we will make sure that you guys get what you paid for, even if we have to stay night and day in this studio repainting every single statue ourselves!
This is my promise and guarantee,
Arahom Radjah
ARH Studios Inc.
Please contact us through our customer service email or phone:
Email: arhstudios@hotmail.com
Phone: (208) 899-4038

[The13thWarlock]

I wonder how much more it would cost to produce the statues here in the US instead of China... I'd pay a few more dollars for that.

Anyway, I'm glad to see Arahom is standing behind his product. This is just a bad situation. Hopefully there will not be a lot of statues that need to be returned and repainted and the ARH team can get back to creating new product!

[thecollector80]

wow. fixing each statue with broken parts and repainting them is a nightmare especially if it's only 5 guys running the operation.

[yeek]

Wait, so what were the issues with the statues? All of them had problems?

[dao2]

Originally Posted by yeek

Wait, so what were the issues with the statues? All of them had problems?

Not all I don't think, but a fair few seemed to have breakages in the skirt and some had the odd paint blemish. I think the only "all" issue is that the bikini part sits lower than it should.

[ReTardist]

yeah the problems were almost exclusively with Arhian

[zeus]

Originally Posted by thecollector80

wow. fixing each statue with broken parts and repainting them is a nightmare especially if it's only 5 guys running the operation.

Yes but I think only Arahom is the painter.

[The13thWarlock]

I'm still waiting for mine to ship. I hope they are really checking over the pieces now before they go out and really packing them good around the skirt part. ARH is really handling this first rate, I just hope they don't have to use too many resources in the process.

[risingstar]

The HUGE positive I see here is the accountability. Some companies, sadly, appear far too quick to say things like "all our pieces look like that" as if that somehow alleviated them from having to produce something better resembling the prototype. As these pieces become more expensive, there is a justifiable and reasonable expectation to get what you believed you were paying for... All this to say, let's hope other companies follow suit because there are times when the final product is just not good enough. In fact, there should be a law (or at least an unwritten rule) which compels companies to post pics of EXACTLY (factory painted) what you are buying at the pre-order stage as opposed to posting pics of an expertly painted piece which looks perfect.

As consumers, we are aware that there are shady and/or subpar statue-making factories in China. However, that is a risk the producer takes not the client. The client should never be held responsible for a company's production woes. If you order class-A hardwood floors and receive class-B floors upon delivery, there isn't a court on the planet that would allow a contractor to argue, "While we realize the quality of hardwood flooring isn't the same, this is what the factory in China sent us so this is what we're giving the client. All the wood we received looks like that." First year law students wouldn't have much of a hard time arguing a case for fraud. Sadly, nowadays, if a statue company gets duped, that dupage is often passed down to the client.

[Valkyrie]

Originally Posted by risingstar

In fact, there should be a law (or at least an unwritten rule) which compels companies to post pics of EXACTLY (factory painted) what you are buying at the pre-order stage as opposed to posting pics of a expertly painted piece which looks perfect.

I agree with this point, especially. I would like to see that become an industry standard. More companies should adopt this practice so it sets realistic expectations for the potential customer instead of hiding behind the "Prototype shown" label.

It's nice to admire how these statues look after a master painter has taken their time to make them look amazing. The harsh reality is they just aren't going to get the same level of expertise and attention to detail by a factory worker that has to paint 25, 50, or even hundreds of these things on a deadline.

That being said, it is admirable that ARH is showing accountability and I applaud them for going that extra mile. They get a lot of grief here for delays and communication, but what matters to me the most is how they handle problems like this. They've definitely earned my respect with this move.