Those are different numbers than she gave in her email to Xerico.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/michelle-bianchi-update-aug-8-2016

I'm guessing that the 630 number is her direct line at Beltman. She provided her cell number in the email.

As for the toll free numbers being different, I would go by the one Michelle sent from her personal gmail account.

Marcus

I'm confused - normally I would think of the business "owning" the customers, not the person working for the company (Michelle).

It seems like there's 2 ways to look at the situation...

- Forum Logistics is trying to keep their own customers from following Michelle to her new (previous) company (Michelle "Stealing"?)
- Michelle owns the customers, and Forum Logistics is trying to steal them (as stated by the op)

I normally go back to the company I purchased from before to buy their product/service again. I don't follow the sales person around to whatever company they are working for thinking I'll get the same service as last time because the sales person now works at a new company.

It doesn't seem like Forum Logistics has done anything wrong, and is not "stealing" business, unless I'm missing something.

People change jobs all the time. I have a massive problem here in China as most staff use their own personal mobile (cell) number and WeChat accounts to converse with suppliers and when they move to another job you lose contact with companies that have MY moulds/dies etc and I find that disgusting, greedy and very VERY slimy.

Seems to me (unless I have read the OP incorrectly) that this is another case of a staff member moving jobs and trying to take customers with her to the new place of employment?

If that is the case then it is WRONG on a lot of levels.

So what is the average cost to ship a game?

I can see the OP's logic in this instance and I agree with you, you are Michelle's customer and not the companies.

If I get really good service from someone I follow them wherever they go. I have a relationship with "my" person and them with me.

If your regular barber changed shops would you quit using them?

Agree, it all depends, sometimes I feel loyal to the company sometimes the salesman. I don't think the OP has done anything wrong and I appreciate the info, use it as you like.

I agree with you in principle in most cases, but this situation is a bit different. Michelle B basically started the "coin-op division" of NAVL many years ago, made the category/code used to book shipments, and has kept in touch with parts of the coin-op community over all these years. I've shipped thousands of games with them and Michelle and her crew of agents have been prompt handling the few issues I have encountered. I'm sure the remaining people at the (old) parent company can book a shipment just fine. But for me, that history and experience will keep me a customer with Michelle's group.

$400. Usually the same price to ship two games as one.

i always try to buy 2 or more to offset this initial hit of 400.00.

Is this the way things work in China?? So what happened here, You didn't write a PO to a Supplier? What did you do just hand cash to your employee and say "go buy me a mold"?

Interesting....

Bob

We have had the same situation within the shipping industry. Nothing to do with pinballs, but shipping stuff that has values 10-20X higher. We have followed the rep who has taken care of us for years to different companies. When she moved the first time we stayed with the original company, who had always been great, and it was immediately a disaster with her replacement, so we jumped ship to her new company and everything was good again. Funny that it should work that way, you would think that a company would figure out how to keep their customers even if an employee left.

The entire shipping industry can really be a pain to work with, but that's a long rant for another time.

Doing business in China is certainly not for the faint hearted.

The company will pay for things usually direct into bank accounts but connection between businesses is very much between two people and not usually between "companies".

One of my staff received a call at 11.30PM last night to tell her that a shipment of glass would be delivered to the factory the following morning. Many times I have had calls on Sunday over various business matters.

In Australia, if you tried this, you would be abused and hung up on but in China it is considered "normal".

We have done business with one particular supplier for several years and when their staff leave we will practically always get a call asking "if we want anything" - they can help us because now they work for XYZ or they have started business on their own. This one company seems worse in this regard than many others.

Its usually $100 extra for the second pin. Still a bargain IMO if you can add one more.

Wonder if I can bring her a box of chocolates to get a good quote on shipping a machine... (On a more serious note, I wonder if this will be good for my prices?)

Screenshot_2590_(resized).png
Screenshot_2591_(resized).png

Good to know, I've got two games down in Texas that need to be shipped.

So....the same local crew will be delivering the game in my area? The same trucks will be carting it across the country? The "middle-man" has changed? Is that the case?

Maybe, maybe not. This is one of those annoying things about the entire way this industry works. You never really know who will be handling your stuff. In typical cross-country shipments, it can be moved on and off multiple trucks, and staged in different areas. Like you said, there is typically a local crew who handles the pick-up and delivery and gets it to the next step in a short haul. Then someone else moves it from one point to another. There are a lot of subcontractors involved, its not just all under the auspices of a "single shipping company". They hire at least some of it out.

So what you are hopefully getting from your top-level customer service rep is the knowledge that they are selecting their contractors according to strict criteria and holding them to good standards. And hopefully backing you up if things go wrong. But don't count on it, when things go wrong, the system is set up such that blame can be passed around from one party to another, and you will get a runaround as basically everyone will deny responsibility. Somewhere floating around here there is a thread about a really expensive ACDC pin that was shipped and ended up in a semi truck that crashed, totaling the game. The experiences described in that thread are all too common in my experience.

HI EVERYONE, THIS IS MICHELLE BIANCHI. I JUST WANTED EVERYONE TO KNOW , THAT YES I DID RETURN TO BELTMANN. YES FORUM LOGISTICS IS TRYING TO POACH MY BUSINESS. I KNOW THERE ARE THOSE ON HERE THAT SAY THAT THE BUSINESS SHOULD STAY WITH THE COMPANY AND NOT THE SALES PERSON, HOWEVER IN THIS INSTANCE, THERE WAS AN AGREEMENT WHEN I WENT WITH FORUM THAT HE WOULDN'T TRY TO KEEP THE BUSINESS THAT I BROUGHT TO FORUM, WHICH IS ALL OF THIS COINOP BUSINESS. THIS IS BUSINESS THAT I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT, THAT I HAVE BEEN DOING FOR 15 YEARS NOW, SO THIS BUSINESS WAS MINE WHEN I WENT TO FORUM AND IS STILL MINE NOW THAT I HAVE LEFT. I APPRECIATE EVERYONE'S LOYALTY OVER THE PAST 15 YEARS. I DID SEND OUT A MASS EMAIL YESTERDAY AND IN A BIG ERROR PUT MY HUSBANDS CELL PHONE. SO THE CORRECT CELL FOR ME IS 630-344-3093, THE CORRECT EMAIL IS [email protected]. THANKS AGAIN

That poor guy is never going to want to here the word "pinball machine" ever again...

Thanks for the update!

So the "michelle" that responds to my emails sent to [email protected] is not really "michelle bianchi"? weird because they sign their email responses as "michelle bianchi".

I have seen that move pulled before too

But it seems the real Michelle has now posted here and made it very clear how to contact her, so hopefully things will go well for everyone. I haven't used shipping to buy any pins yet, but if I decide to, I will contact her based on the recommendations of so many here. If she has a good reputation and is committed to supported this segment, that is good for me.

You can always tell the real Michelle because SHE LIKE CAPS.

The "fake" Michelle doesn't, so it's easy to differentiate.

Sorry I was in a rush to type it all out
Clay it was really me answering your emails I just made the switch and still have a little access to my emails (for now )

Michelle, I am awaiting a pin that was shipped via yourself from CT to IL this week. (CENTAUR) Can I assume there's no issues with its arrival as a result of the change?

So how long were you at this other place? Think I had a game shipped with you a year ago but was through sti is that who forum lagistics was? Or is that who Beltman is now? I can never keep track of these things. Guess it doesn't matter as long as I have your number!

I only use Michelle........I go where she goes! Shipped 5 games with her, she is lightning quick with her responses and I have never had a problem. She gets my vote over Trump!

Yes there will be no issues, I am still with STI just with a different agent ,

I'll also be sticking with Michelle. I've always gotten good pricing with her, and *knock on wood* I've never had a problem.

Just got this:

We are pleased to announce that Forum Logistics Inc. is now an agent for CRST Specialized Transportation, effective immediately. Previously we were going to market as Precision Transportation. Now we are an agent for CRST Specialized Transportation, we are conducting business under our own name as Forum Logistics.

We certainly have had some name changes over the years - northAmerican Van Lines (NAVL), northAmerican High Value Products (HVP), Specialized Transportation Inc. (STI) - and for the last five years CRST Specialized Transportation, a CRST International Company.

Thank you for sticking with us, even if you can't remember what name to call us. We answer to them all. Different name one more time, now as Forum Logistics, but same great blanket wrap service that you rely on to move your coin operated pinball games, arcade games and jukeboxes. Whether you ship one game a year or one a day, we are your resource for moving new and out-of-box arcade equipment.

Please update your records with the key contact information listed below:

Customer Service Hotline
[email protected]
HOTLINE: 1-844-309-3854
FAX: 844-581-8446

Cindy Rohl, Director of Customer Service
[email protected]
1-630-503-6605

Jan Bodine, Forum Accounting
[email protected]
1-630-503-6606

Justin Morrison, Sales Representative
[email protected]
1-630-503-6608

Randy Bodine, President
[email protected]
1-630-503-6601

Mailing Address:
Forum Logistics, Inc.
1155 W Hickory Point Rd
Decatur, IL 62526

If you have any further questions, please contact Randy Bodine. Thanks!

I just received the same as well.

Did Judy go as well?

Judy is at Beltmann now too.