Matthew Wilkerson sent this in:
As probably the best independent wrestling site on the Net, I was hoping you’d pass along to your readers my personal experience with ShopTNA as a cautionary tale for others who are considering buying stuff off TNA’s site. Basically, if you are considering buying anything off ShopTNA, you’d better shop around. Here’s my story:
Way back on January 15 I thought I’d support TNA and my wrestling idol Hulk Hogan by buying some stuff off their web-site, ShopTNA. I ordered the new CD, Emergence, The Hulk Hogan “Change” T-Shirt, and I was pleasantly surprised to see they still had a plaque autographed by all the members of The Main Event Mafia for only $200. A great deal or so I thought. I excitedly placed my order. Over 2 weeks went by and my order still hadn’t arrived. I called the ShopTNA number and got…an answering machine. I left a message trying to get information on my order. The next week I got an e-mail saying my order was “being packed.” 2 MORE weeks later still nothing. Wow TNA takes a long time to pack its orders. I called back several times and always got an answering machine. Then I got another e-mail saying my order was “being shipped.” 2 MORE weeks later still nothing. >:( Maybe they still use Pony Express.
Finally just last weekend on February 27 my order finally came in a cheap-sealable bag with a piece of copy paper as an invoice. After all this time I had the CD, T-shirt and….NO PLAQUE!! Of course, TNA billed my credit card for the full order! >:0 WTF!!!!! I angrily called back ShopTNA and couldn’t leave a message because the voicemail was full; probably full of more customers they screwed over like me! I was finally able to get through to TNA to ask where the hell my plaque was and they said they ordered their autographed plaques from a place called Tristar Productions, a memorabilia place in Houston, and I had to call them. Shouldn’t TNA be responsible for its own merchandise orders instead of passing the buck to their supplier? Anyway I called Tristar Productions, who by the way were much more helpful, and they said that they were out of Main Event Mafia plaques. They had no more Main Event Mafia plaques yet TNA was still advertising them on their site at the time. The lady I spoke to at Tristar called and e-mailed TNA saying they must refund me. As of yet, TNA has not.
If this is how TNA does its business and treats its fans to compete with the WWE they are already doomed. I ordered some stuff off WWE Shop Zone less than 3 weeks before Christmas at the height of the Christmas rush and yet the entire order was there in about 1 week, packed professionally in a box, with a professional-looking invoice, and even came with complimentary gift boxes. The big “corporate monster” WWE actually treats its fans a lot better than the “fan-friendlier” TNA. And another thing, whenever I have called the WWE about stuff I NEVER got an answering machine. It’s operators are great too. WWE deserves to be the best in the world and as far as I’m concerned this new Monday Night War is already over.