A Change in Direction...
Over the course of the last year, we have witnessed continued uncertainty in the one sixth scale industry due in part by a struggling economy, high unemployment and a severe drop in customer spending. We have witnessed a sharp increase in the number of suppliers who have been unable to fill orders aggravated by a rising number of customer orders that were placed but not paid for. Ironically, one of the most unsettling developments has been a promotion/career change which has consumed much of the free time enjoyed in the past and used for customer service and project builds.
When Steel Dragons was first formed, it was never intended to be a profit driven corporation with sales quotas, marketing strategies and a worldwide client base. It was designed solely for the purpose of supporting this terrific hobby/industry while offering parts and services (often with little or no financial incentive) to a growing customer base. We have never relied on Steel Dragons to "pay the mortgage" so to speak or send the kids to college. Instead, it offered an enjoyable and rewarding means by which a passion for armored vehicles could be cultivated and a network of friends and acquaintances soon followed. Over the last few months however, our ability to fill orders, work on project builds and address customer service needs has been severely hampered by many of the issues outlined above. For this reason, we are making the following changes:
Effective immediately, we are suspending new parts orders indefinitely until we are able to fill all existing orders. For those orders that contain backordered parts or parts that are out of production, we will be issuing refunds. We have set aside monies for the sole purpose of reimbursing customers and will be focusing on orders that have been on the books for the longest period of time first so please be patient. It is important to note that this also applies to tank kits as well. After over a year of struggling with several kit suppliers in particular we are discontinuing our relationship effective immediately and reimbursing customers accordingly.
Secondly, we will continue to work on our project builds which will form the basis of this company now, and in the future. We are currently wrestling with a backlog of approximately two years and are giving this aspect of the business our highest priority in the future. Each project link will be featured on this home page so that the respective owners can observe the progress of their vehicle. For example, we are wrapping things up on an M3 Halftrack which will be the first project featured below. It will be followed by an FOA Tiger, a Panzer IV, Jagdpanther and several others.
Finally, we will eventully reformat this homepage to better reflect these changes. We will continue to develop our own line of parts while moving away from parts and accessories produced by other vendors. We have never made money on this aspect of our business and with the limited amount of time available to process orders, it doesn't make sense for us to continue doing so at the present time.
We are confident that this change in direction will help resolve many, if not most of the issues we have encountered over the last year. We realize that we will have to work hard to restore our credibility with our customers but we are committed to doing so. In the meantime, we ask that you all be patient as we execute this revised business plan.
Thank you! (09/10/11)
