Is vortious still alive?
 

https://vortiouscustomaccessories.ecrater.com/index.php

I ordered some stuff on 6/21.

I gently poked him via email on 10/9.

I more sternly contacted him via email on 10/17.

No reply.

I know things take a while, but this is getting silly. Are we officially in a brokenarrowtoys situation here? Should I just write off ever getting my stuff and never order again?

I have an order still unfulfilled from July of 2020.

He's not too busy to be constantly spouting Q Anon Trumper bullshit all the time but he'll blame homeschooling and anything else he can on why he hasn't fulfilled orders. He's always run the shop like a pyramid scheme begging for orders so he has enough money to buy what he needs to fulfill previous orders.

oof really? I've never seen anything he's posted outside of figure stuff, and even that hasn't been so for a year+ out

He updated yesterday on his FB, said he's been out since October with COVID and a skin infection. Doesn't quite explain the rest of absence, though. I mean you can shitpost and work at the same time lmao. He announced 8 more orders apparently going out this week... none of which are mine. Ugh. I've gotten faster turnaround time from literally everybody I've ever ordered parts from, including a guy who was in hospital for 3 months and lost fingers to cancer *before* he sculpted my order.

The "pyramid scheme" comment actually isn't too far off. And yes, he's been another BrokenArrow for years. He doesn't really want to ship any orders, do any work. I believe his shop used to say 4-6 weeks. I see it's now 8-12. I'll say the same thing I tell everyone who asks me about ordering casts or figures: if your order hits the deadline with no "apologies for the delay" update (with no prompting), file for a refund. And even if they do delay, if it still doesn't ship by the extension date, file for a refund. A 6 week shipment time doesn't deserve 6 months of patience. Things happen, yes, but when you can never meet your deadlines, you have no business selling. My last order, years ago, only shipped, weeks late, because I said "ship or refund." Lo and behold, it was in the mail the next day. The stuff isn't even worth the effort. Best to just file for a refund, leave a negative (to hopefully warn others), and move on to the worthwhile casters. Guys like AvacsLab, StarWarsGeek, PlasticCurves, MarauderGunRunners, even Fantastic3D. I even see new people pop up on eBay that might be worth checking out. We have tons of options these days. I really hate how often I'm seeing people get screwed over by him these days. This isn't even the first or second forum where I've seen the issue pop up.

I think I ordered from him years ago. Can’t believe he’s still in business because I knew he had a ton of complaints as well during that time. I’m not sure how he’s keeping his business afloat or even breaking even.

It's not completely unheard of. There was another cast site years ago that had abysmal turnaround times. Never shipped on time, never kept his promises, quality was eh. But no matter how many times people complained, others still actively went to bat for him. He thankfully finally closed down, but guys are good at making friends who will always buy from and defend them.

But, there's also the fact that a lot of sites used to put together lists of cast sites for reference. He was always on them, and they haven't been updated in years. So he still gets promoted to new customizers, and newer sites get ignored. And then there's his stock. You go to his site and see something like 2000+ items?! Yeah, that's gonna attract anyone that doesn't know better. So if you're making consistent big sales to new creators, but shipping as little as possible, you can pull good money when you're not taking on the expense.

Sounds like Broken Arrow Toys

That’s interesting. Not to beat a dead horse, but a friend of mine recently had to file a PayPal case on him.

From everything I’ve read on other forums, the reality seems to be he needs new orders to pay for his expenses to make older orders. I don’t believe he is making big money, which is why his turnaround is an absurd 1 year or more. A business with a serious cash flow problem.