Figma Yagami Hayate from Otacute – Customer Care Plus

Otacute ♥ Me

Back in August, I was on a mad search for Figma and chanced upon an online seller called Otacute. They had a good selection of figures in stock, unlike stores like Play-Asia which sell out within minutes.

Otacute had Figma that I really wanted in stock, so I made a few orders (I’ve bought close to ten Figma from them as of writing). The prices were great and shipping was fast.

Anyway, I placed an order for Figma Yagami Hayate (Figma Fate T. Harlaown couldn’t be backordered pfft). In my excitement, I chose EMS shipping and after a couple of days, I got the package and started unboxing immediately.

It was then that I realized something was strange with my Figma Yagami Hayate.

1. Eyes – Hayate comes with a second face. Upon close inspection, mine had eyes that weren’t aligned. If you look closely, her left eye is lower than her right eye.

2. Paint Quality - Figmas, like any mass-produced figure, are subject to quality issues. The Figma Hayate I received had a slightly sloppy paint job.

3. Arm – I was just about ready to ignore the above problems, but having two right arms was just hard to swallow. Pictured are the right and left arms for comparison.

With Figma Nanoha for further comparison:

Figma elbow joints shouldn’t be exposed like that.

And it hit me – this could be a factory defect, or worse – one of the infamous bootleg Figmas. I immediately contacted Otacute. The problem being it was the Thursday before Silver Week in Japan and Otacute was going on a holiday.

The next week was spent wondering if they’d ever reply, or if I’d make the 10-day return deadline. I was resigned to the fact that I got a fluke… until I received an email from Otacute’s Yuhei.

Yuhei asked for pics and I obliged; in just a couple of emails, he told me that yes, the arm was definitely a defect, but the eyes on the faces were also the same. Then he said “Anyway, We will send you another Figma Hayate Yagami for free.”

I was floored. They even sent it via FedEx THE SAME DAY. You gotta love that kind of customer care. I was really happy. Yuhei also gave me instructions on how to contact Max Factory and inform them of the my first Figma Hayate’s defects, and so I did. I’m still waiting for them to reply, though.

The FedEx package arrived after a couple of days. They just gave me a free Figma. And then I opened the box.

What’s this?

They added a Hokuto no Ken Revolution Shin. For free. I’m speechless. Otacute (and Yuhei) – you guys are pretty swell.

And here she is. Figma Yagami Hayate side by side:

Figma Yagami Hayate is from the anime series Nanoha StrikerS.

Thank you, Otacute. You have one very satisfied customer in me.

(I wonder what I can do with my extra Hayate? Hmm…)