The Kapowwe Saga; Our research to Date

In the months of January through March, my job is such that I have very little time to focus on airsoft, let alone other basic components of living like hygeine, self actualization, or really anything from Mazlow’s hierarchy other than anything.

That said, something caught my eye in the brief glimpses of ChairsoftPress I took when I was able.  The comments on our Kapowwe Mystery Box had gone from mostly in line with our results to out-an-out animosity.  Given the quick turnaround, I was compelled to do some investigating.  The Kapowwe Boneyard box has been a staple for alot of us.  I myself have purchased 3 outside of the review box, so four total.  Several other people who have commented on the original box claim to have bought several, and if I recall correctly, a few of our commenters have bought several more than me.

That said, recent commentary on the website had suggested that boxes received in the winter were nothing near what we reviewed a bit under a year ago.  All of our commentary suggested that recent boxes received included a single incomplete AEG (Most typically a FAMAS), a low-end spring pistol, and various party favors akin to the sundry novelties I got in my review box. 

This is where I got a little bothered.  The delta in our review box compared to what people were getting in in the winter months was getting to be substantial.  This is the point I had to abandon my busy-season hiatus to do some investigating. 

The Readers Side:

Given the limited time I had, I started by reaching out to a few of the commenters who reported the new boxes in question.  

Reader 1:  Ben

The first reader I reached out to, we’ll call Ben.  Ben ordered a box this winter after a few successful purchases prior, and was the first to respond to my inquiry.  Ben’s quoted text below;

Hello Brandon,

I would be more than happy to help you solve this little mystery box mystery. At the present, I can send you the emails I sent (below) and the one Kapowwe sent me back (in a minute). I can send you a detailed review with pictures in a few days. My camera is acting up, so I’ll have to borrow one, hence the time it may take. If you like, I can also send a comparison picture of everything I got in my first mystery box. The picture quality is sub-par, but you can clearly see everything in it. A good side-by-side comparison is always nice.

Anyway, good luck solving this mystery. I’ll be snooping around too, so if I find anything, I’ll be sure to let you know. 

-Ben

While I didn’t get anything back from Ben on a comparo-review, he did pass on some important information; his communications with Kapowwe regarding his box.  As forwarded from our reader, here is the transcription of his interraction with Kapowwe;

From: Ben <Chairsoft-Press Edit>
Subject: Mystery Box Complaint
To: sales@kapowwe.com
Date: Monday, February 28, 2011

Firstly, let me say that I have ordered from your website more than once. I purchased a mystery box during the summer, then bought some other accessories to go along with it afterwards. I was very happy with both transactions, which prompted me to buy another box when I saw that the boneyard webcam was up, and was brimming with beautiful FAMAS AEG’s. I placed the $128 order and waited. When my box came, I opened it and was extremely disappointed.

1 AK-47 Spetsnaz Beta AEG, no magazine, no butt plate. It works.
1 low quality spring pistol, several parts broken off it. No brand name.
1 small pistol holster, too small for any respectable pistol.
2 helmet covers (I believe that’s what they are)
1 Texas baseball cap
1 unusual sex toy holster thing (really?)

I would just like to express my disappointment in this order. I was very polite in the special instructions with my request for a FAMAS or Gas BB pistol. I waited until the boneyard was full of stuff. I am completely dismayed at what I received. I understand that you can’t shell out loads of goodies to everyone that buys the mystery box, and that $300-400 worth of stuff is not a realistic expectation. But this is unacceptable. What I was sent is worth $50-65, at the very most. The majority is junk that you were obviously just trying to get rid of. I would really like this wrong to be put right. I don’t want to sound obnoxious, but anyone could see how ridiculous this is.

As can be garnered from the above, Ben was not pleased with his box.  Ben was also kind enough to forward along Kapowwe’s response;

From: sales@kapowwe.com <sales@kapowwe.com>
Subject: Kapowwe.com Order# 26106
To: (Chairsoft-Press Edit)
Cc: sales@kapowwe.com
Date: Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The status of your order is “See notes below”:

Order #: EDIT
Date: 02/18/2011 22:26:48

Hello,
Ben,
We are very sorry that the mystery box you received was disappointing. We do understand the frustration. The special order instructions were not completely clear on the request for a FAMAS. The instructions requested we include a magazine if a FAMAS was in the box. Of course, we state we cannot guarantee requests, but we do agree this box could have been better. Please accept this coupon code for $50.00 towards something else. It is valid until 3/1/12. Thank you for being a great customer. We appreciate you. Again, we apologize for the disappointment. Coupon Code: EDIT

Please see http://www.kapowwe.com to view your order history and/or status.

Thank You,
The Kapowwe Company

The important thing to garner from this reader’s experiences is in Kapowwe’s response.  Kapowwe did agree that the box received by our reader was below their quality.  Kapowwe maintained professionalism, and did offer our reader a $50 credit to smooth things over.  Our discussion with Ben indicated that he was still a bit incredulous about the end result.  Quoted from the comment archive (and hoping by the time this makes it out to our readers, that you can see all our comments on each article again);

“…Part of me is happy about this and part of me still feels bitter-sweet. I’m happy that Kapowwe at least recognized that they jipped me, but there’s 2 problems with my compensation:

One, I don’t want to have to pay another $28 for the shipping of another box. It’s just way too much. Second, nothing else is in stock. 98% of their store is out of stock, so my only logical choice would be to wait, watch, and listen to others and cross my fingers as I buy another box. I want to know what’s going on here; I used to love Kapowwe…”

A quick look at Kapowwe’s site as of 3/30/11 showed a reasonable stock of merchandise, in the new and refurbished categories, but this is nearly a month after Ben’s restitution was offered. 

Reader 2:  Jac

This reader (who if you hadn’t garnered from above, we’re calling Jac), also ordered a recent box, and responded when I reached out.  While he didn’t cover his correspondance above, he was kind enough to write a mini-review of their most recent box.  The results summarized by a picture?  See below;

Also, click the image to link to Jac’s Review.  A quick excerpt from Jac’s review states the following;

“Will we ever order a mystery box again? NO. Not even from other retailers.

Will we do business with Kapowwe again? NO. NOT UNTIL THEY MAKE RIGHT ALL OF THE BOXES THEYVE SENT OUT IN THIS LAST WAVE OF UTTER JUNK.

I am not asking for a refund, I’d just like to get enough to put my purchase on par with what the mystery box used to be, and maybe a nice apology from Kapowwe posted on their item description. I have never seen a company so radically change a product in such a short time. Kapowwe seems to have seriously ruined their reputation in our opinion”

Reading any of the other myriad of our recent comments on the boxes reveals a cavalcade of similar sentiments, though we did not speak to our other commenters like we did with Jac and Ben above.

Another sentiment echoed by out commentariat scorned is what Kapowwe has to say about the whole thing.  Well, we got that too.

Kapowwe’s Side:

We’ve waited so long to publish the story as we wanted to hear what Kapowwe had to say about the recent turn of events.  Kapowwe did humor us with a response;

“Hello,
 
Thank you for contacting us.  Of course, mystery boxes vary.  We have always put well over $100 worth of merchandise in each box, but it is true our boneyard is not as abundant as it was months ago.  Costs have also increased.  There has been no change in management or ownership.  We did have an “off” week of mystery boxes and we provided adequate compensation for the problem to customers individually.  We are not currently able to offer a mystery box such as the one you received and reviewed in spring of 2010, but we do promise a customer will definitely receive more value than paid. 
 
Thank you for the opportunity to address the concerns. ”

What we can glean from the above is the following;

• The old boxes have become cost prohibitive
• Kapowwe still wants to provide value for the boxes
• Kapowwe recognizes that some bad boxes went out

I feel like this is sort of a bittersweet realization.  We all really enjoyed the mystery boxes.  Heavy emphasis on Really.  I’ve ordered 4 boxes including the box I reviewed, and had not been disappointed before.  The new boxes, in the context of the old boxes, are pretty disappointing.  

A counterpoint to this is found in the greater economic scale of whats hapenning in our country.  Small business is hard to maintain in our current economic environment, and while I don’t necessarily know the margins of the old boxes, Kapowwe is cutting the costs  to improve margins.  While they said there has not been a change in management or ownership, the potential for going concern (closing down) always a motivator to improve profits.  The best case scenario in my mind would be for Kapowwe to find a decent medium between the old boxes and the new ones, which would provide decent value to players (Value that keeps people happy enough not to set off an article like this anyways), and would allow Kapowwe to improve margins still.

At this point though, its up to the management of the store to see how low they want to cut costs at the risk of their consumers.  Kapowwe was a favorite store of mine for the boxes, as it was for many other players, and I’m rooting for things to improve.  Based on the letter above commentary from Kapowwe, the forecast may be grey.

If anyone else wants to share a Kapowwe box story, please feel free to forward it on to me at brandon@chairsoft-press.com, and I will try to get it up for all to see.  Kapowwe is always welcome to chime in further here as well.

The days of the easy boneyard haul may have been fun while they lasted, it seems we may have to work harder for our broken guns.