Hey all,I recently purchased over $400 USD worth of new Marvel United games from The Game Steward.After nine days, I received a shipping notification and was excited for the delivery. Unfortunately, that excitement didn’t last long.When the package arrived, I was surprised to see the shipping box had been custom-cut to fit the ~22 lbs of games flush, with only a single thin sheet of bubble wrap between the games and the box itself (pictured).Unsurprisingly, damage occurred.The large X-Men promo box—central to my order and purchased at more than twice the original Kickstarter price—arrived with two damaged corners and a damaged edge. I left the box sealed, as there’s a good possibility the internal plastic card holder is also cracked.I immediately contacted The Game Steward, politely requesting an exchange. The damage was clearly the result of insufficient packaging, not carrier mishandling.Rather than acknowledge the packaging oversight, they refused any exchange and offered a $13.59 partial refund—period. They stated the damage was not their responsibility, despite the lack of adequate protective materials. I insisted I’d like an exchange, and six days later, they’ve ghosted me and are now not even offering the token refund.For some, this might seem minor. For a collector purchasing premium-priced items, it significantly impacted my enjoyment of the product.What makes this particularly disappointing is that I’m also a small business owner. I understand margins, competition, and the challenges of operating without the scale of large corporations. But I also believe customer service—especially when mistakes happen—is where small businesses can truly differentiate themselves, even when it costs something in the short term.I know others have had positive experiences with The Game Steward, and I’m glad for that. I’m sharing mine because I believe transparency matters, and because I hope the company course-corrects toward the strong customer service reputation it once had, living up to their claimed tagline of “Trusted Quality & Service”.
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The first and largest kickstarter board game store dedicated to selling crowdfunded board games with all the stretch goals.
