Virtual Conference Challenge Coin

[Holding Pattern]

Question: I ordered my coin from vanguard on 11 Aug, on the 13th I got an email stating it was "backordered."

Has anyone had a successful delivery of their coin?

[PHall]

Dude, it's only the 17th. Not even Amazon Prime is that fast.

[Eclipse]

Dude, it's only the 17th. Not even Amazon Prime is that fast.

What kind of Prime do you have?  Because mine is order-to-doorstep in 2 days.

[etodd]

Dude, it's only the 17th.

The anticipation must be killing him.  LOL

[Holding Pattern]

Dude, it's only the 17th. Not even Amazon Prime is that fast.

It's not a question of shipping. It's a question of it being in a backorder status.

The rest of my order I placed along with the coin is not only fulfilled but in my hands. Since they stated only 600 were made I was curious if the backorder status was due to them already selling out or because they were waiting until after the conference to actually make the coins.

[Eclipse]

They say they will limit the number to 1200, odds are they ran a couple hundred and then will make
them as needed from there. 

I'd say the over-under on receiving it is around Christmas.

[Holding Pattern]

They say they will limit the number to 1200, odds are they ran a couple hundred and then will make
them as needed from there. 

I'd say the over-under on receiving it is around Christmas.

I'll reserve my airing of grievances for Festivus then.

[Capt Thompson]

I ordered one as well, and then sent them an email when I got the backorder notice. I was told they would have them in stock this week, so most likely they hadn't finished making the whole batch when they put them up for sale, and they are engraving them as you order them which usually adds a week or two anyway.

[PHall]

Dude, it's only the 17th. Not even Amazon Prime is that fast.

What kind of Prime do you have?  Because mine is order-to-doorstep in 2 days.

IF . . . IT'S . . . IN . . . STOCK!

[Eclipse]

Dude, it's only the 17th. Not even Amazon Prime is that fast.

What kind of Prime do you have?  Because mine is order-to-doorstep in 2 days.

IF . . . IT'S . . . IN . . . STOCK!

You order things Prime that aren't in stock?

[MSG Mac]

They weren't expecting in excess of 10K members logging into the Conference. At a live conference they would expect anywhere from 6-800 attendees and maybe sell half of them coins.

[PHall]

They weren't expecting in excess of 10K members logging into the Conference. At a live conference they would expect anywhere from 6-800 attendees and maybe sell half of them coins.

And they're not complaining a bit. Their profit potential just went up 10X.

[jjmalott]

I ordered on the 7th and received it on the 12th. Coin shows #536

[Capt Thompson]

I ordered on the 7th and received it on the 12th. Coin shows #536

Strange, ordered mine on the 6th and received the backorder notice.

[Holding Pattern]

I ordered on the 7th and received it on the 12th. Coin shows #536

Well that answers what I was wondering, not a chance I'm in the initial run. Kind of annoyed they kept the link active instead of a backorder notice on the site though.

[PHall]

I ordered on the 7th and received it on the 12th. Coin shows #536

Well that answers what I was wondering, not a chance I'm in the initial run. Kind of annoyed they kept the link active instead of a backorder notice on the site though.

That would discourage people from ordering and possibly reducing the profit potential.
And Scamguard never, ever passes up a chance to get more of our money.

[baronet68]

I ordered on the 7th and received it on the 12th. Coin shows #536

Strange, ordered mine on the 6th and received the backorder notice.

Ordered two coins (one for myself and one as a gift to another attendee) on Aug 12th and they were immediately back-ordered.  Coins arrived today and they were #730 and #751. 

I usually try to select interesting numbers (because I'm a math geek) so I'll probably keep #751 for myself since... well heck, it's a prime number. 

[Stonewall]

I ordered the coin on the 14th using the conference's 15% discount code that was only available for 2 days. I got everything I ordered except the coin week later. Coin is on back order.

It happens. It's not like I need the coin, it's just going into my CAP coin rack where it will sit for eternity.

As for Amazon Prime, we get 75% of our orders next day, about 20% in two days, and 5% same day. And we order A LOT and we order some random stuff. In the last month I've ordered 2 boxes of chem lights, 3 signal mirrors, dog/cat/rabbit food, blender, "soccer mom" canopy, lawn mower blade, single hole punch, samurai katana, drawstring backpack bag thing, large sphere ice tray, and a dozen other items. Not a single thing was on back order. I have no clue how they do it, but brick and mortar stores are a thing of the past.

[baronet68]

... brick and mortar stores are a thing of the past.

I can see potential for brick-and-mortar stores going back to a "catalog showroom" model that was somewhat common in the 1970's (think Jafco or Montgomery Ward). 

Stores would only carry one of everything, or especially for clothing one in every size, where you can physically pick up a Black & Decker drill to feel its heft, see if that backpack will actually hold all of your books, or try on a pair of pants to make sure they fit. 

Scan the items' bar codes with your Amazon app and your drill, backpack, and properly-sized pants arrive at your doorstep the next day.

[NIN]

Service Merchandise.

Man, that place was nifty. Look at things, then go to the terminal, order your things, pay for it, and wait by the rollers. Couple minutes later... Down comes a tote with your stuff.

The concept of "order picking" was alien to me at the time. No longer.

[Capt Thompson]

I ordered on the 7th and received it on the 12th. Coin shows #536

Strange, ordered mine on the 6th and received the backorder notice.

Ordered two coins (one for myself and one as a gift to another attendee) on Aug 12th and they were immediately back-ordered.  Coins arrived today and they were #730 and #751. 

I usually try to select interesting numbers (because I'm a math geek) so I'll probably keep #751 for myself since... well heck, it's a prime number. 

Strange, I would have thought they would send them out in sequential order, I double checked and I did indeed order on the 6th, and when mine arrived it was #1000. Pretty cool to get an even number, but strange that I know of at least 3 people that ordered a day or two after me and received coins in the first run. My guess would be that maybe they prioritize larger orders, and since my order was only 3 items, maybe they waited a few days to fulfill and by then the first run coins were gone?

[baronet68]

Strange, I would have thought they would send them out in sequential order, I double checked and I did indeed order on the 6th, and when mine arrived it was #1000. Pretty cool to get an even number, but strange that I know of at least 3 people that ordered a day or two after me and received coins in the first run. My guess would be that maybe they prioritize larger orders, and since my order was only 3 items, maybe they waited a few days to fulfill and by then the first run coins were gone?

Not surprising... I picture all of the coins at Vanguard being dumped into a single bin and the order picker simply reaching in to grab x-number of coins that happen to stick to their little fingers.

[Eclipse]

[Capt Thompson]

Sad but true! In most (not VG) operations, if there is a limited number of items and they are individually numbered, don't they send them out based on the order purchased, so the first person to but one gets number one, or is that not how companies do things usually? As you can tell, I don't buy numbered items all that often.

[wacapgh]

#1100

Ordered 12 AUG; Shipped 20 AUG; Received 24 AUG.

[Private Investigator]

I ordered on the 7th and received it on the 12th. Coin shows #536

I ordered on the 7th and it was in my P.O. Box today, 8/28. My coin is 0191.

On the Vanguard site originally it was 600 coins then 1200 and now it shows 1800.

[Private Investigator]

Strange, I would have thought they would send them out in sequential order, I double checked and I did indeed order on the 6th, and when mine arrived it was #1000. Pretty cool to get an even number, but strange that I know of at least 3 people that ordered a day or two after me and received coins in the first run. My guess would be that maybe they prioritize larger orders, and since my order was only 3 items, maybe they waited a few days to fulfill and by then the first run coins were gone?

Nice number. I always want 99 or lower but my coin is 0191 so that leads me to ask, why not 1191? 

[Capt Thompson]

Strange, I would have thought they would send them out in sequential order, I double checked and I did indeed order on the 6th, and when mine arrived it was #1000. Pretty cool to get an even number, but strange that I know of at least 3 people that ordered a day or two after me and received coins in the first run. My guess would be that maybe they prioritize larger orders, and since my order was only 3 items, maybe they waited a few days to fulfill and by then the first run coins were gone?

Nice number. I always want 99 or lower but my coin is 0191 so that leads me to ask, why not 1191? 

The original run had 4 digits, the coin that was given to the Morse Center is 0001, so I assume yours came from the first batch and not the second. My theory is they prioritized orders based on size, so although you ordered a day after me, you might have ordered more than me so your order was picked from the first batch and by the time they got to my order they were out? You're the third person I've seen who ordered a day after me and got the first batch so if you had a larger order that would make sense.

[Holding Pattern]

I got my coin batch in, and kept coin 0747.

[PHall]

Got my coin in, #0640. Sounds like there's a big tub of them and the pickers are just reaching in and grabbing whichever one they grab.

[Johnny Yuma]

Not sure how sitting on my butt in front of the PC all day streaming sessions that half the time didn't work rates a challenge coin I gotta pay for, but to each his own.   

[Capt Thompson]

Not sure how sitting on my butt in front of the PC all day streaming sessions that half the time didn't work rates a challenge coin I gotta pay for, but to each his own.   

I was always told a challenge coin is only a challenge coin if it is given to you, otherwise it is a souvenir. Many of us collect them, so while I won't carry this one around, I'll put it with all of the others I've collected over the years.

[Stonewall]

Not sure how sitting on my butt in front of the PC all day streaming sessions that half the time didn't work rates a challenge coin I gotta pay for, but to each his own.   

I was always told a challenge coin is only a challenge coin if it is given to you, otherwise it is a souvenir. Many of us collect them, so while I won't carry this one around, I'll put it with all of the others I've collected over the years.

Yeah, Coins for things like conferences are like refrigerator magnets for when I travel the world. Nothing earned, but a keepsake to remember or keep track of where you've been or what you've done.

Challenge Coins, used to be a BIG DEAL back in the day. You carried your UNIT coin, not someone's personal coin, and if you didn't, it meant that you either hadn't earned one yet, or you're buying a round for the guys.

I have a personal coin that people must earn. I have a list of everyone I've presented my coin to that includes their name, unit, date, and their actions that warranted recognition. And my coin isn't issued for "excellence" or "outstanding performance", it's issued for "badassery."

[Eclipse]

...like refrigerator magnets for when I travel the world.

Dude, you must have like 4 refrigerators...

[Stonewall]

...like refrigerator magnets for when I travel the world.

Dude, you must have like 4 refrigerators...

Two, actually. Main one in the kitchen, and another one in the garage. Plus, my work fridge is a small dorm room style fridge that I actually started putting stickers on. When we moved from DC to OH, I put them all in a big Ziploc and never threw them back on the fridge.

BTW, as far as I can recall, I've been to 54 countries.