Make your dissatisfaction known

VIP Reward Center down is down in Canada too :(

US site is offline, down for maintenance. Guess that means I won't be able to get one of these. Big surprise!

I'm sure they'll shortly be on ebay for like $100.

This is incredibly frustrating. I work overnights and I got home and stayed up a bit extra so I could try and secure the GWP. Basically I either go to bed and accept that I'll never get the probe without paying an exuberant amount on the aftermarket, or I stay up and sacrifice my sleep for the day before my next shift.

VIP centre down worldwide I believe, yikes

After 15 minutes of refreshing I just managed to snag one.

Site appears to be working in the US now.

I actually managed to get one in the US! My website updated so that the VIP points were back; I clicked on those to find where to purchase the probe. I hope this helps!

Yep now 9:13 and still off for maintenance from Florida USA

Guys it is actually working in Canada, initially it said offline by after reading this article I tried again and it was up. Got my reward, limit is one.

I had to use the Chrome mobile app to get it. Desktop browser no go.

It is 8am in Texas and camt get past Terms and Conditions page.

Got one! Continued to refresh till I was let in. Took a screenshot of the confirmation as well, so if they give me any issues, I can hopefully share that.

Back up and just got one. Took a few refreshes

Just got in and redeemed the points, and received the confirmation email!

Also put order in quickly to include with double points and before they change their mind.

OK, willing to trade the probe straight-up for a Mr. Gold. Any takers?

Somehow got the rewards list to load for me once amid the supposed maintenance, but the set was not there.

I opened multiple tabs in Chrome on desktop. The content loaded in each tab seemed to be all different and almost random, probably due to the high network traffic. One loaded correctly and I was able to get a redeem code. Good luck to everyone!

Got one just now as well. Took some refreshing.

@CapnRex101 said:
"The launch for North America should be taking place now so let us know how you get on.

Asia Pacific - Disastrous.
Europe - Diabolical.
North America - ?"

N. America - same. Confirmed.

Redeemed it!!! It finally loaded in the US.

Got it.... after about a dozen refreshes.

Just got one in the US. I just cut and pasting this into Chrome: https://www.lego.com/en-us/vip/rewards-center/rewards until it finally loaded. First time I saw the probe, I clicked Redeem and it failed. Second time, about a minute later, I got thru and got my code.

Seems I can't buy anything...yikes.

Just got one in the US. Took a lot of refreshes and the rewards page only partially loading a bunch of times.

Got one about 9:15am, wife was also trying and could have gotten one as well around that time.

Not only is it offline here too, but I've also been unable to access my cart page and check out on totally different items for two days now. I contacted customer service and I haven't heard back yet. It might be unrelated, and the issue might be limited to me or Canadian operations, but it still shows the general ineptitude.

Sold out in US store

Back on online and sold out.

Got the page to load in Canada... The button was available and then got this message: "Sorry, but this reward is sold out." :(

I got one but, it said something went wrong as soon as my order was finalized

Update: the transaction is now showing up on my orders. So here’s to hoping it worked

Unreal sold out

I managed to somehow get one. Although I am worried as after processing my credit card i was taken to the "Looks like something has gone wrong!" as opposed to processing order and order number. My credit card has already been billed but I don't have an order number in my account.

Looks like I now have to fight to get a refund

Sold out in Canada. Page only accessible now that it's gone. Thank Lego...

Initially rewards page was only showing tickets for Legoland. After that it said that VIP was down for maintenance. A couple refreshes after that all of the rewards were shown and I was able to get the Space Probe. More complicated than the Space Coin for me but nothing to the scale of the Nebulon.

Sold out. Beyond frustrated.

@CapnRex101 said:
"The launch for North America should be taking place now so let us know how you get on.

Asia Pacific - Disastrous.
Europe - Diabolical.
North America - ?"

Took about 11 minutes but I did get through and get one. From what I’m reading here it looks like a complete and utter disaster overseas.

Wasn’t working on my phone, but surprisingly I was able to redeem my points on my computer. After I refreshed the probe was sold out. I can’t believe something like this happened again, though - it’s not like the VIP system was crashing with the coins.

Kept refreshing until I saw it appear - and it's sold out. Lovely job Lego.

I got in, got my promo code, applied it in my cart (with the Space Shuttle), and every time I try to put my payment info in, it says something went wrong and empties my carts, even after appearing to process the payment.

I doubt I'll get one, even though I got the code.

I'm in the US. I was on the VIP page since 8:40am and everything was fine until I refreshed at 8:58, when it started giving me a "VIP is down" message and/or a broken terms and conditions prompt that it wouldn't let me accept every time I refreshed. I probably tried refreshing about a dozen times over the next ten minutes; sometimes it would go straight to "VIP is down" but other times it would show the normal VIP rewards page locked up behind the terms and conditions popup. Eventually around 9:09 I got through to the rewards page and was able to claim the reward.

I tried refreshing the page again right after that to see if the site was now "fixed" or I just got lucky, and it seems I just gotten lucky because I started getting errors again! That said, it's now 9:25 and the site seems to be working fine every time I refresh. Can't tell if it's "sold out" now though because mine just says "redeemed."

This was my first experience scrambling to claim a Lego reward on the site, and hopefully my last.

Managed to get one after constantly refreshing for like 20 minutes beginning at 8:55.

May have spoken too soon. I was able to redeem the reward and get the code, but when I try to check out with it, my order always ends with "Looks like something has gone wrong! Please try again."

I was able to snag one in the US, but I can't submit any orders. Tried twice and it says something went wrong.

Finally got through -- no longer available.

:-(

Got a vip is down page and by the time it cleaned they were gone.
Hopefully they post the instructions.

After 15 minutes of refreshing, I managed to snag one.

So LEGO said that my order didn't go through, but now that I go to my orders page it shows the order is "in process" and it includes the VIP reward, so that is encouraging I guess.

Sold Out when I got in about 9:30AM

Unfortunately did not get one. They were gone almost as soon as they were made available. I’m really disappointed as I wanted to add this to my collection of other sets related to our space exploration history.

@CapnRex101 said:
"The launch for North America should be taking place now so let us know how you get on.

Asia Pacific - Disastrous.
Europe - Diabolical.
North America - ?"

The site https://www.lego.com/en-us/vip/rewards-center/rewards was working fine up until 9:00. As soon as my clock flipped from 8:59 to 9:00, it redirected me to https://www.lego.com/en-us/vip/maintenance when I reloaded the page. So I copied the first link and pasted it in new tabs on Chrome again and again and again. Finally, at 9:10, I was able to get through and redeem my points without any further trouble.

When I went to place an order and use the code, I had no trouble until confirming my order (after payment information), when I got the "Oops, something went wrong!" message. However, I got a payment confirmation email from Paypal and my order (including Ulysses) shows up with an order number on my LEGO account (and I just got an order confirmation email as of 9:38), so I'll go ahead and assume it went through successfully.

I finally got a code and ran into a similar issue checking out. I switched my payment method and it seemed to go through however when I usually see the "Your order has been placed" screen I instead get a "Something went wrong" page show up. Now I did check my orders and it's there but we'll see if it actually ships out.

@NWRobotics said:
"So LEGO said that my order didn't go through, but now that I go to my orders page it shows the order is "in process" and it includes the VIP reward, so that is encouraging I guess."

Hmmmm, mine is showing the same now as well but the payment didn't go through that I am aware of. Will have to see what is actually happening.

I got to the redeem page but when I clicked complete is said this item is sold out. What a debacle. I have never liked the new website. I work in IT and the website is too flashy, they need something more simplistic like the Shopify websites (I do not work for Shopify).

@shaase said:
"I managed to somehow get one. Although I am worried as after processing my credit card i was taken to the "Looks like something has gone wrong!" as opposed to processing order and order number. My credit card has already been billed but I don't have an order number in my account.

Looks like I now have to fight to get a refund"

same situation here, but after several minutes the order number appeared in my account

I didn't care to get a Ulysses, thank goodness. But this is why I haven't even bothered with VIP since it changed - too complicated and not worth it. Is there anyone who actually prefers this to the simple discount system they had previously?

No luck - Site went down at exactly 9:00 and after constantly refreshing came back online st 9:25. Of course - already sold out!

Also note it is on eBay already for $270 US.

Need to tell Lego what they can do with their VIP Program! This farce today is not acceptable to those who spend a lot of money on Lego and get treated like ths - and how can some greedy ***** get the set so that they can try to screw over "real Space Lego" fans.

Managed to get the reward code at 9:20EDT. Placed an order for 10283 immediately and it crashed. Ordered again at 9:28EDT, crashed again but this time I checked on "My Orders" and I have an order number (with an order date of 13 April 2021??) and it shows the shuttle and the Ulysses as "in process". Email confirmation arrived at 9:38EDT.

Sold out of course. This is a reminder to me LEGO is supposed to be a fun and enjoyable part of my life. Unfortunately the mad rush for exclusives coupled with infuriating technology is anything but fun.

I think it’s time for me to focus elsewhere. Spend more time in nature or something real perhaps!

I initially encountered issues with the VIP site being offline. However, after 5 minutes of refreshing the same page on my phone's browser, I opened a new page, and the VIP rewards center fully loaded for me, and I was able to complete my redemption of the Space Probe.

I did encounter additional issues when it came time to finalize my order. I purchased some items so I can officially order the probe, but the confirmation page did not load. Instead, I got an error message. However, since I used PayPal, I did receive a confirmation from their end that the order went through, and order did eventually show up in my Lego order history 2-3 minutes later.

However, after reading the comments regarding the difficulties encountered by everyone else here and around the world, this rollout has been an inexcusable debacle at best and a complete and utter failure at worse. LEGO's Achilles heel is clearly its IT and its inability to improve their digital infrastructure to accommodate increased traffic, especially during days when highly-coveted releases are scheduled to occur.

Now have received the confirmation email, but after the Nebulon B issue, waiting for the second email telling me the item was sold out......... Fingers crossed that this does not happen this time.

By changing the topic: how is it that in the poll is 100% = 25% + 74% (= 99%)?

Edit: 26% + 73% = 99%

Launch on par with all the other recents...
I didn’t get a code and even if I I had one it would have given me a sour taste as it did with one of the SDCC exclusive of this past summer.

suppose to go on sale at 9:00 based on the add. how is it soldout at 8:41? what a load of crap. I logged in on 3 computers and my phone and still couldn't get through.

@CapnRex101 said:
"The launch for North America should be taking place now so let us know how you get on.

Asia Pacific - Disastrous.
Europe - Diabolical.
North America - ?"

Well, I got one, but it was tough. VIP services were offline for about 10 minutes starting at 8:58, and every time I reloaded it would download 1 of 2 text files named "callback" and "rpiframe". After I was able to get the code, my cart wouldn't load and PayPal wasn't working; luckily, both of these issues were resolved.

Still, though, LEGO should at least acknowledge these issues. They have been a scourge for months now, and given that many people are still quarantined until the vaccines roll out, this is LEGO's main business location. They should at least make sure it works as intended, even with increased traffic around product launches.

Also, I understand that LEGO is using some of their plants to produce PPE during this current time, but as it is starting to wind down in many areas, they need to do a better job of keeping their product in stock. Lean Manufacturing (aka Toyota Production System or "Pull" System) may work for some companies in industry, but LEGO should not be one of them; they shouldn't wait to produce sets until enough orders roll in, or have all the big-ticket items selling out within the first few hours (or in some cases minutes) and cause everyone else to wait AND deal with their website during it's "moody" phases.

I eventually got a code and ended up adding the crocodile locomotive to my cart. Applied the code, went for a PayPal checkout and "Place Order" would do nothing. Clicked it like 5 times and the page never changed. Switch to a credit card, the screen changed but got the "Something went wrong", but was able to see an order number in the new URL which I copied down. The order eventually showed up in my profile, and has also showed up as a pre-charge in my CC account. Luckily, I guess, nothing has appeared via PayPal.

I understand the frustration with IT and such, but here is a fun fact: It actually took me longer to create/get login credentials to brickset.com this morning than deal with lego.com. Brickset would never send the login password. And in the time of typing this reply, I have gotten my email order confirmation from lego.

Frustrating to say the least, but I hope the probe does arrive.

@EliReybuck said:
" @shaase said:
"I managed to somehow get one. Although I am worried as after processing my credit card i was taken to the "Looks like something has gone wrong!" as opposed to processing order and order number. My credit card has already been billed but I don't have an order number in my account.

Looks like I now have to fight to get a refund"

same situation here, but after several minutes the order number appeared in my account"

Same thing here, but I do have a pending charge on my CC. I just got an order confirmation email, but I am still nervous. Hopefully all that those that were able to redeem points, the orders will go through despite the error messages. Even if I do receive my Ulysses, I will still (continue to) communicate to the company my frustration with the website, including the launch of the Discovery, the black card, today’s mess, etc.

Site was down for me starting at 8:59. Didn't get access until 9:27 by which time they were sold out. This is my first time having an issue with the VIP site. Very disappointing.

Good plan, Huw. I don't normally bother complaining, but I have this time thanks to your prompt.

@Zackula said:
"Did anyone manage to even get to the VIP page in the US? It went down for maintenance the second the clock hit 9:00 for me, and it looks like it did that for every other American in the comments."

I made it to the VIP page and it said sold out :(

@Lego_Prime said:
" @CapnRex101 said:
"The launch for North America should be taking place now so let us know how you get on.

Asia Pacific - Disastrous.
Europe - Diabolical.
North America - ?"

Well, I got one, but it was tough. VIP services were offline for about 10 minutes starting at 8:58, and every time I reloaded it would download 1 of 2 text files named "callback" and "rpiframe". After I was able to get the code, my cart wouldn't load and PayPal wasn't working; luckily, both of these issues were resolved.

Still, though, LEGO should at least acknowledge these issues. They have been a scourge for months now, and given that many people are still quarantined until the vaccines roll out, this is LEGO's main business location. They should at least make sure it works as intended, even with increased traffic around product launches.

Also, I understand that LEGO is using some of their plants to produce PPE during this current time, but as it is starting to wind down in many areas, they need to do a better job of keeping their product in stock. Lean Manufacturing (aka Toyota Production System or "Pull" System) may work for some companies in industry, but LEGO should not be one of them; they shouldn't wait to produce sets until enough orders roll in, or have all the big-ticket items selling out within the first few hours (or in some cases minutes) and cause everyone else to wait AND deal with their website during it's "moody" phases."

On the off change are you in eastern Canada?
Because out west here the splash page still says 9:00am (with no time zone) and it was "sold out" before 7:00 am Mountain Time.

Messaging them on Twitter PM can get faster results.
Edit: because ot seems they have not a soul answering their email services (I contacted for a situation last month and still haven't heard keep from them.

I was able to successfully get one of these sets. I'm not sure if this information will be helpful to others in the future, but I thought I would describe how I got through.

I started with two browsers open and logged into LEGO.com (Chrome and Firefox). Almost like clockwork, the website went from responding well at 8:59 to "Something went wrong" at 9:00, EST. However, the "Something went wrong" screen would quickly be redirected to a maintenance page. For several minutes I was stuck on the maintenance page. Something about the "I accept the terms" message made me think that I should try to clear cookies and log back in. I choose to do this with Chrome. Unfortunately, that only made things worse for Chrome. I was barely able to log back in and then I was stuck at the accept terms screen, and no longer redirected to the maintenance page. A minute or two after that I was able to get through to the rewards page on Firefox (which doesn't actually render the VIP rewards page correctly) and redeem the Ulysses Space Probe. Once redeemed, I had a difficult time completing a purchase. Everything was fine until the payment was being processed. After processing my payment, I was presented with "Something went wrong" again. I tried again, and had the same issue. Several minutes later, I received an email thanking me for my purchase, despite the errors. Hopefully, I did not make two purchases. :-/

I've been here waiting for 9AM eastern time to arrive. It's currently only 8:57AM. I'm west coast but got up early. Refreshed the VIP Rewards page just to see if it shows up ahead of the time it's stated to go live. I see it listed there already now, and it shows Sold Out. What sort of nonsense is this?

Its not just the VIP lego, but its everything lego at the moment. I got kicked off the Lego Ideas platform as my computer was spamming the system. It was right around the same time that Outlook accounts were getting hacked, go figure. So I've tried contacting customer support and I guess there is none. They are quick to kick you off vs reaching out to hear your side of what is going on. It was the same week I slipped and had an accident and a tree fell on my car. So add insult to injury. So guess I have to make lemons out of lemonade and just go sell my idea somewhere else on a Moc fan page. It just sucks that Lego which had excellent customer service before the pandemic has been reduced to 0 at this point. Complaints just go out to the vacuum of space.

LEGO should change its way of putting the VIP items in order not to create the shame that happened today, I had my VIP account blocked for over an hour saying that I had to create an account, and then see people selling the outrageous prices on the secondary market, I think LEGO should profit from these speculations

@FourMoBro said:
"I eventually got a code and ended up adding the crocodile locomotive to my cart. Applied the code, went for a PayPal checkout and "Place Order" would do nothing. Clicked it like 5 times and the page never changed. Switch to a credit card, the screen changed but got the "Something went wrong", but was able to see an order number in the new URL which I copied down. The order eventually showed up in my profile, and has also showed up as a pre-charge in my CC account. Luckily, I guess, nothing has appeared via PayPal.

I understand the frustration with IT and such, but here is a fun fact: It actually took me longer to create/get login credentials to brickset.com this morning than deal with lego.com. Brickset would never send the login password. And in the time of typing this reply, I have gotten my email order confirmation from lego.

Frustrating to say the least, but I hope the probe does arrive."

It happened to me too when I finalize a PayPal order. Just out of curiosity...Does your shipping or billing address that Lego has on file have any non-alphanumeric characters? While dashes are fine, I noticed that their system - as of the start of the double points promotion, stopped recognizing the hashtag/pound sign. When I revised my billing and shipping addresses to only include alphanumeric characters and dashes, the order went through.

@HoMa - I really like your letter and will use it as a template.

I became frustrated with LEGO with the purchase of the Millennium Falcon at the infamous Black Card. I contacted LEGO after finally being able to purchase it a week after the Black Card cutoff date. Considering the Falcon wasn't available anywhere they should have made exceptions. This doesn't even get to the point that the Black Card was useless anyway...never heard of any real benefits.

The issue with “Something went wrong” after placing an order on Lego.com is not new this morning. I placed an order yesterday with a VIP redemption for a Patent print and also got the “Something went wrong” message after my credit card was charged. I went to the orders page and my order was not there. I was thinking of calling Customer Services, but waited 5 minutes and my order showed up on the Orders page and I finally got an email confirmation. So I suspect most orders are being placed but here is a backlog in completing them on the site. If your card is charged, wait a few minutes and see if the order does eventually show up in your orders list.

My experience in the US:

At 9am...
VIP is offline
VIP is currently under maintenance.

Members who wish to use their points will not be able to do so at this time. However, members who converted them into voucher codes before will still be able to use their discount online or in-store at checkout.

Updates:
10-15 minutes to get the rewards page to load with the Ulysses Satellite, then was able to redeem for a code.

When redeeming the code, I got an invalid code error for a few dozen times of trying to apply it. I got on hold on the phone with customer service right away.

Finally the code worked and added the Ulysses Satellite to my cart. First few times trying to check out, I got a couple different payment errors.

Then it acted like it was going through, but finally came back with an error.

Went back to my cart and it was empty. Added items back and tried to use the code a few more times, but came back as invalid.

Then I got a Paypal receipt that showed the Ulysses Satellite, but the order hadn't showed up on my order page. Finally it showed up several minutes later with the Ulysses Satellite on it. I took a screen cap of the order "in process" on their site as well as the rewards page showing I redeemed the Ulysses Satellite.

So I hung up before getting through to customer service.

Just now, I got the LEGO email with the Ulysses Satellite on it.

So I figure I've done as much as I can and hopefully should be good...though I'll feel better once it ships.

The rewards page went offline at 8:59 AM in Canada. It came back online around 9:15 AM and I was able to redeem the code after a few refreshes. Entered the code during checkout and placed the order, but instead of getting confirmation, I got 'something went wrong message'. Thinking the order did not go through, I created a new order but the code did not work this time as it said the code was invalid.

The order did appear in my orders list after a few mins with the status being 'In Process'. Also after a few mins got confirmation email.

Was using the phone with mobile data and single browser (edge) and tab, if that helps.

Keeping fingers crossed that it indeed ships.

Checking back the rewards page, it shows the ulysses as 'redeemed' (not sold out).

I'm amused by people talking about their "experience" in the Lego US store "at 9am", when it was sold out BEFORE 9am arrived and nothing about it changed at 9am or anytime after 9am. You did NOT buy it at 9am. I know because I was there 3 minutes early and it was already Sold Out.

I have always gotten the exclusives at the appointed time. This time, Lego screwed people by posting it earlier than the stated time. That's the first issue here. The fact that it should have a larger production run to accommodate more VIP members is the perpetual issue, but that was not the surprising and most disappointing thing this time. It was that they made a big deal out of when they said it would be available and then it was already sold out well before that time.

Just sending back my 10283 Discovery right now...

@yacoub said:
"I'm amused by people talking about their "experience" in the Lego US store "at 9am", when it was sold out BEFORE 9am arrived and nothing about it changed at 9am or anytime after 9am. You did NOT buy it at 9am. I know because I was there 3 minutes early and it was already Sold Out.

I have always gotten the exclusives at the appointed time. This time, Lego screwed people by posting it earlier than the stated time. That's the first issue here. The fact that it should have a larger production run to accommodate more VIP members is the perpetual issue, but that was not the surprising and most disappointing thing this time. It was that they made a big deal out of when they said it would be available and then it was already sold out well before that time."

You missed a time zone in your calculations. It's a 2 hour difference from MT to ET, 3 hours if you are PT. 9AM ET happened 1.5 hours ago.

Got one. There were some hiccups but it really wasn't an issue. The priority was getting the code. Orders don't matter. You have 60 days to redeem. I sure wouldnt have ordered during this time but getting the code, after some errors, wasn't bad. I was sipping coffee at like 9:15am.

@EliReybuck said:
" @shaase said:
"I managed to somehow get one. Although I am worried as after processing my credit card i was taken to the "Looks like something has gone wrong!" as opposed to processing order and order number. My credit card has already been billed but I don't have an order number in my account.

Looks like I now have to fight to get a refund"

same situation here, but after several minutes the order number appeared in my account"

Thanks, after about 15-20 minutes an order number showed up in my account and I received the confirmation email. will be happy once the set arrives and is actually in my hands.

@Real_Jonny_G said:
"Got one! Continued to refresh till I was let in. Took a screenshot of the confirmation as well, so if they give me any issues, I can hopefully share that."

Good luck - I did the same with the Porsche GWP - It didn't arrive though. I contacted CS and was offered an Ice Rink.

I don't think this is an IT issue. The fact is they have made made too few Ulysses' and the profiteers have pounced on it.

@yacoub said:
"I'm amused by people talking about their "experience" in the Lego US store "at 9am", when it was sold out BEFORE 9am arrived and nothing about it changed at 9am or anytime after 9am. You did NOT buy it at 9am. I know because I was there 3 minutes early and it was already Sold Out.

I have always gotten the exclusives at the appointed time. This time, Lego screwed people by posting it earlier than the stated time. That's the first issue here. The fact that it should have a larger production run to accommodate more VIP members is the perpetual issue, but that was not the surprising and most disappointing thing this time. It was that they made a big deal out of when they said it would be available and then it was already sold out well before that time. "

It was 9am eastern time, I am in central time zone and I got a code at 8:12am or 9:12am eastern time and before 9am it wasn’t listed and the site was “down for ‘maintenance” between 9 and 9:10am so I am assuming you just got the wrong time zone.

I don’t know why Lego website didn’t specify which time zone but I assumed it was Eastern since most everything is and just happened to be correct.

VIP = Very Important Problem... take note Lego... oh wait, no one high up in the company reads Lego related social media... wait, WHAT?? So someone further down the pyramid reads and passes the information up to top management? Hmm, we all know how that will work out...

And guess what... we all keep buying more Lego so they don’t care.

Refreshed for 20 minutes constantly from 7:59 till 8:19 CST. Secured a code, added it to my cart with Barracuda in it and tried to check out. Didn't like PayPal so I had to enter my card. The tax showed up wrong but I just sent it anyways... then after I submitted it crashed. No order in my account or email confirmation. Then 15 minutes later I got an email confirmation with both sets and the correct tax amount, and it shows up on my orders too now. Looks like I got one. Lol

@dontfeedthebrickster said:
" @Lego_Prime said:
" @CapnRex101 said:
"The launch for North America should be taking place now so let us know how you get on.

Asia Pacific - Disastrous.
Europe - Diabolical.
North America - ?"

Well, I got one, but it was tough. VIP services were offline for about 10 minutes starting at 8:58, and every time I reloaded it would download 1 of 2 text files named "callback" and "rpiframe". After I was able to get the code, my cart wouldn't load and PayPal wasn't working; luckily, both of these issues were resolved.

Still, though, LEGO should at least acknowledge these issues. They have been a scourge for months now, and given that many people are still quarantined until the vaccines roll out, this is LEGO's main business location. They should at least make sure it works as intended, even with increased traffic around product launches.

Also, I understand that LEGO is using some of their plants to produce PPE during this current time, but as it is starting to wind down in many areas, they need to do a better job of keeping their product in stock. Lean Manufacturing (aka Toyota Production System or "Pull" System) may work for some companies in industry, but LEGO should not be one of them; they shouldn't wait to produce sets until enough orders roll in, or have all the big-ticket items selling out within the first few hours (or in some cases minutes) and cause everyone else to wait AND deal with their website during it's "moody" phases."

On the off change are you in eastern Canada?
Because out west here the splash page still says 9:00am (with no time zone) and it was "sold out" before 7:00 am Mountain Time."

I’m in Calgary and got mine at 7:13.

We got the “Black Card Holder”! Which apparently not enough people redeemed because you can buy it for 6.99 CAD on the Lego site.

@OttawaChris said:
" @NWRobotics said:
"So LEGO said that my order didn't go through, but now that I go to my orders page it shows the order is "in process" and it includes the VIP reward, so that is encouraging I guess."

Hmmmm, mine is showing the same now as well but the payment didn't go through that I am aware of. Will have to see what is actually happening.
"

Same happened to me, never got the payment processing screen or even an order number. So, I called Customer Service after the VIP Reward Code kept coming up "invalid" after trying to place the order again. Order eventually showed as "In Process," but by then I was already on hold w/Customer Service for 30 min.'s. I went on to wait another hour to speak w/a Customer Service rep. but was able to verify the order was placed. She said the no "payment processing" and no "order number" issue has been reported throughout the morning. I was also able to get an expected ship date on 75978 Diagon Alley (4/25/21), which I ordered on 3/5/21. So, Customer Service was their usual friendly and helpful best, and the rep. even gave me some bonus VIP points as consolation for my frustration. However, the whole Shop @Home experience was the typical disaster.

Well I managed to get one, but it was a fiasco as everyone had noted.... I won't go into detail but I would add Black VIP Star Wars card as one of the first events that I recall for going off the rails. I was not able to purchase the set required for this card in time (I got about 12 days after the cut-off) due to unavailability online and in person at a local store. From there the light saber thing was the next big one for me... VIP invite to buy the set but they ran out of the light saber bonus very early. And on and on... I've had bonus items in my cart during check out that vanish when my order gets processed. Etc. You would think after acquiring a major percentage of all Star Wars sets they would have just sent me a black VIP star wars card based upon data mining their own customer data. Why can't they do customer data mining and send us customized offers in the first place instead of making this first come first serve all the time. Sure its "unfair" to the folks who aren't the most VIP but this isn't about "fair" in the sense that everyone gets the same chance this is about customer loyalty programs that reward the best customers. Surely they can start determining who these customers are and reward them without the click fest experience. If they can reward influencers with free sets why can't they reward their best customers? Sure it may turn out that it leaves me out of the equation if I don't make the cut but at least I would respect what they are doing and why. I can decide then if I want to go to ebay and buy from one of the folks that are willing to sell it (like their employees who sell their holiday employee only gifts -- and more often then not I decline overpaying for them)

@dontfeedthebrickster said:
" @Lego_Prime said:
" @CapnRex101 said:
"The launch for North America should be taking place now so let us know how you get on.

Asia Pacific - Disastrous.
Europe - Diabolical.
North America - ?"

Well, I got one, but it was tough. VIP services were offline for about 10 minutes starting at 8:58, and every time I reloaded it would download 1 of 2 text files named "callback" and "rpiframe". After I was able to get the code, my cart wouldn't load and PayPal wasn't working; luckily, both of these issues were resolved.

Still, though, LEGO should at least acknowledge these issues. They have been a scourge for months now, and given that many people are still quarantined until the vaccines roll out, this is LEGO's main business location. They should at least make sure it works as intended, even with increased traffic around product launches.

Also, I understand that LEGO is using some of their plants to produce PPE during this current time, but as it is starting to wind down in many areas, they need to do a better job of keeping their product in stock. Lean Manufacturing (aka Toyota Production System or "Pull" System) may work for some companies in industry, but LEGO should not be one of them; they shouldn't wait to produce sets until enough orders roll in, or have all the big-ticket items selling out within the first few hours (or in some cases minutes) and cause everyone else to wait AND deal with their website during it's "moody" phases."

On the off change are you in eastern Canada?
Because out west here the splash page still says 9:00am (with no time zone) and it was "sold out" before 7:00 am Mountain Time."

Yeah, South-Western Ontario.

@1265 said:
" @kolaxanthe said:
"I have just written a draft of my complaint email.

Which 'Topic' should I be selecting? I don't see "LEGO VIP is s**t" as an option.

Seriously though - which 'Topic' did everyone else select?"

I selected "Anything else" under LEGO VIP.
"

That's what I was thinking - it is the only one that makes sense, I guess.
It's like they are avoiding the option for customers to complain and give feedback.

@sbpyrat said:
"My experience in the US:

At 9am...
VIP is offline
VIP is currently under maintenance.

Members who wish to use their points will not be able to do so at this time. However, members who converted them into voucher codes before will still be able to use their discount online or in-store at checkout.

Updates:
10-15 minutes to get the rewards page to load with the Ulysses Satellite, then was able to redeem for a code.

When redeeming the code, I got an invalid code error for a few dozen times of trying to apply it. I got on hold on the phone with customer service right away.

Finally the code worked and added the Ulysses Satellite to my cart. First few times trying to check out, I got a couple different payment errors.

Then it acted like it was going through, but finally came back with an error.

Went back to my cart and it was empty. Added items back and tried to use the code a few more times, but came back as invalid.

Then I got a Paypal receipt that showed the Ulysses Satellite, but the order hadn't showed up on my order page. Finally it showed up several minutes later with the Ulysses Satellite on it. I took a screen cap of the order "in process" on their site as well as the rewards page showing I redeemed the Ulysses Satellite.

So I hung up before getting through to customer service.

Just now, I got the LEGO email with the Ulysses Satellite on it.

So I figure I've done as much as I can and hopefully should be good...though I'll feel better once it ships.
"

Same experience. Fingers crossed. Wondering why buying Legos makes my blood pressure go through the roof?!?!

What a joy! On April 1 when I was going to buy the space shuttle, because the satellite appears
Disappointment. I just got the shuttle.
Spend the night refreshing the page and nothing.
Today I find out that the satellite came out and nothing, out of stock.
But, what annoys me, is not that there are few units, but that people buy to sell on ebay, auctions, etc.
The fans want it because they want it. Opportunists to earn money.
They would have to have a serial number assigned with the person's vip number, so that when they put it up for sale by auction they would block it!
At least if we have to fight for opportunists, they are forced to keep it for a time (years) so that the set goes on normal sale and thus its set devalues.

@Pete said:
"Although I agree with most of the comments made in this thread, I have to add that a BIG! part of the problem is dealers. Dealers are using a variety of way to buy large numbers of sets, and then sell them for outrageous markup on E-Bay and other such sites. And they only do it because some people are so desperate to get sets like this, that they're stupid enough to pay the prices asked. If people would stop buying from dealers, they would disappear. I'm not talking about the people that buy 3 or 4 sets and sell them for a little profit, but the ones that buy 10 or more and the sell them for huge mark up. I just checked E-Bay and the Ulysses Space Probe is already up at asking prices of $300 to $400 us. That's ridiculous, It's like when the pandemic started and people bought hand sanitizer and toilet paper, and tried to sell it at outrageous markup. It didn't take long for them to be stopped. "

You cannot equate a toy with essentials that people bought out the entire supply of to artificially drive up the price. Also because an item is listed at 300-400 does not mean anyone is going to pay it. But if they do it is because that is the value the put on the item. And given the issues with the Lego site it maybe a bargain

@guybrush This definitely isn't the forum, but please post it in the actual forums

I managed to get one. I feel downright awful for the ones that didn't. I was actually on the phone with Customer Service while trying to get one, and the woman I was speaking with was so happy to hear I managed to get a code.

It was an absolute disaster though. At one point their website actually became blocked and I had to do a quick disconnect/reconnect from my wi-fi to access it again. I did mention to the customer service representative that they should really consider doing a restock of it. She said that feedback has been noted several times and will be getting sent to the appropriate departments. Whether anything comes of it we obviously won't know for a while.

Of course, trying to then place an order resulted in an error and I ended up ordering again. So now I have $424 worth of held money in my account. Spoke with Customer Service again and they assured me they could only see one order and fully expected the extra hold to expire after a day or two. I did get an email confirmation for one of the orders, so I think it will all work out in the end hopefully.

I will submit feedback on this even though I was able to get and redeem a code though. I understand that producing a lot of an item and being left with leftover stock is a concern for companies, but it feels like this is getting to be a trend with Lego intentionally underproducing desirable promotions and sets for release day.

Got through to CS as my CC was charged 3 times due to the fact that I had to attempt multiple times due to errors. Apparently there is a specific code tied to those orders and any multiple charges will be deleted and pending charges will go away. Seems that 1 of my orders did slip through (to be clear I was only trying to order 1!) so it seems I was one of the lucky few to get the Ulysses. Still a terrible experience overall but one that seemingly we have become used to.

Unfortunate.

Since yesterday's announcement that (finally!) Ulysses Space Probe would be available that the access from my PC to the LEGO VIP page itself was anything but peaceful: connection errors, extreme slowness, the page didn't load, leaving everything blank, etc. , etc ...
Being LEGO, a company of excellence, my opinion regarding this VIP reward is that it was a big stone in the shoe!
When I finally managed to properly access the LEGO VIP rewards page, the Ulysses Space Probe was already SOLD OUT!

For what it’s worth it’s not even 9am on the west coast yet and (no surprise) it’s already sold out before it’s even expected to go live. One can assume they mean 9am EST, but that wasn’t specified. And that would also mean half of the country has to get up before dawn to compete with the other half, and success is unlikely. Why is it so difficult to make sure it’s available in waves for each time zone? Guess it doesn’t matter though if the site crashes every time they release something. What are we even doing here? This is bonkers. Is LEGO the new sneaker fad? Pleeeeaaase don’t feed the scalpers! A few extra bucks for someone’s luck and trouble is one thing, but paying 10 times the value for something that was expected to be free and available to you is dumb. It’s not worth it to perpetuate this cycle.

@GrantChl said:
"Hey, it's available!..... on ebay..... $150.... frickin' scalpers!"

Yep, this is the way of the post-pandemic world. Too many people need to scalp stuff to make ends meet. I run into this problem with every hobby I have, be it mountain biking, lego, star wars figures, or gaming devices. Until these online exclusives are fixed by enabling bot defeating features like captchas then it will continue to happen. I'm totally shocked that this set is going for this much, even Star Wars exclusives from the past year aren't this high. I'm bummed because my kids and I build all the space sets as they are inspired to one day go into the space program in some way. I just ordered the shuttle and hubble set, which this Ulysses set should have been a VIP gift for.

I also sent off a nice, to the point, sounding a little upset email to Mr. Christiansen. I made some points and asked many questions. Heck I even challenged him to crash his kids dreams of going somewhere like Disneyland (just an example) to have an idea of how some, if not all of us feel. I am still bummed and hurt over the space coin. I got all the others. :( maybe just maybe, Lego will pull their head out from where they sit and not let something like this happen again.

I also had trouble placing an order this morning. I was fortunate to get a code for the Ulysses but I put two orders through, both with error messages and holds on my card. I was just about to put a third order through when a pending order appeared in my account and an email confirmation came through half an hour later. Looks like one order is coming but a really poor website experience.

"On April, 13th on various fan media I could read, that the Ulysses becomes available on April, 14th starting at 10:00 a.m. I had severe issues to login to my LEGO shopping account and even worse the VIP site asked to accept Terms and Conditions. While clicking the accept button an error showed up and I could not proceed. At about 10:25 it worked and I could access the VIP reward site. The Ulysses was listed and already sold out :-("

--> just like my terrible and frustrating experience!

My 2 cents. West Coast here. Came on 6:30am pacific and of course it was sold out. I'm ok with limited items but what's the point of having an item like this? Where is the fun in this? I was able to BrickLink the 40448 Vintage Car for $18 and likely I'll wait to BrickLink this once it comes down in price. Ideally, I want to make other payload displays for my shuttle. This would have been a fun addition.

I had a dream last night that I had redeemed two Ulysses sets lol, but I woke up and realized it was just a dream and felt pretty disappointed.

This morning I tried my luck and after some frustration and a few page refreshes, was able to redeem the code and place an order. Got confirmation after sometime and now the status is 'In Warehouse', for both the Ulysses and the Ship in a bottle that I ordered. Hopefully, should be able to receive one.

Some dreams do come true I guess.

Fiery Huw is fun :D

I don’t want to be too negative but this VIP situation adds to the death by a thousand cuts. I’ve complained about Lego’s website for a long time. Photo viewing on a phone is bizarre and does not match any common paradigm for viewing photos.

I can’t figure out if they are reworking the entire tech stack as they go, or plugging in new UI into legacy backend systems. It’s not all bad but there’s definitely some rough edges. Perhaps they are running into the Mythical Man Month.

Dall'Italia... UNA VERGOGNA !
ore 9.55 inizio problemi ore 10.30 Fine scorte nel mentre solo refresh

From Italy ... A SHAME!
9.55 am start of problems 10.30 am End of stocks while only refresh

It's not the first time that I/we have this kind of LEGO VIP "malfunction" and certainly not the last one!
I'm still waiting for the 40448 Vintage Car wich is in "Waiting for new stock" since my order on the 12th of January 2021!...

I guess I am one of the lucky ones. It took over 15 minutes of battling the website. I wasn’t going to miss this one like the space coin. I gave up on the coin maybe a little early. The coin will haunt me.

@rasputin1970 said:
"It's not the first time that I/we have this kind of LEGO VIP "malfunction" and certainly not the last one!
I'm still waiting for the 40448 Vintage Car wich is in "Waiting for new stock" since my order on the 12th of January 2021!...
"

In North America (I am in Canada), the Vintage Car GWP sold out in just a few days at the beginning of January. However, I did manage to get it along with the Modular Police Station. In march, when I was ordering something else and lego messed up the GWP at that time, (not sure which one was it), I talked to customer service and they added a different GWP to my order as a compensation.

Later when I checked the order online, it mysteriously had the Vintage Car GWP added, after it had been sold out in Jan!!!

And I did receive it after a few days as well.

Tried for 10 minutes but kept getting an error message or a request to accept new VIP terms and agreement but it wouldn’t register the click. Was able to refresh the page and display the available reward at 7:20, clicked to redeem and it said <50 available but when I tried to hit the final confirmation button I got a message that it was sold out.

Not the end of the world though just a bit disappointed.

I mean, they can really only make so many of the items...I get it’s frustrating waiting for something only to end up missing out on it, but if it’s not a timing issue on LEGO’s end(like I read it was with the Classic Space coin), you can hardly blame LEGO.

More understandable when it’s a site issue. I’ve read time & time again about their site. I’ve fortunately never had a problem with ordering at release with sets I wanted. I can certainly get the frustration at missing out because the site won’t cooperate or, as comments have been saying, the VIP page was down...

They’ve acknowledged it and basically said they’re doing nothing about it then. To be expected, but their customer service is a bigger joke than the “VIP” scheme!

Anyone else having trouble making purchases too? My cart has two items in it - after I added the second item, I clicked on "Cart" (which, in the corner of the screen, says it has two items) and it takes me to a new page that says "You don't have anything in your bag" with a link inviting me to "Start shopping -->". Been getting the error all day and my patience is dwindling.

How long will it take for a parts list and instructions to get online?

@drewtstew said:
" I love that Julia Goldin is trying to push sets that revolve around mobile phone apps, and yet Lego can't even get their website to function properly. Time to get rid of her and hire internally for her position like they always did before her."

I think that for a company it's good to have someone who can obscure the mess that there is internally. Even when there's no real mess it's necessary to fight false claims, preferably before they go viral. I reckon that in this case it's quite obvious that the company has some difficulties, to put it mildly. For advice, I'd be happy to help, for what it's worth.
We don't want black boxes or meditative blahblah, we want sets that just make you happy when you see the box, when you buy them, open them, and build them! There's already so much exclusive vintage stuff that collectors could have a lifetime occupation pursuing it. No need to make everything so hard-to-get.

I'm located in the US MST time zone. I encountered the same thing and shared a similar experience of many frustrated VIP members this morning. First off, I would like to state that I believe I am a "TRUE" lego fan, much like many of you, who actually KEEPS or GIFTS away the VIP rewards that I redeem. I don't sell my VIP rewards on secondary markets for gain.

I was on-call last night, saving lives (and I mean that quite literally), and I didn't get to sleep until 1:30 am my time, but I still set my alarm for the VIP redemption event. But I had to make a guess ... "Was it 9 am MST or was it 9:00 am EST?" ... because the LEGO email I received didn't specify the time zone. I decided to play it safe and set it for 6:45 am, corresponding to 8:45 am on the east coast.

I would like to encourage everyone to hold back from vilifying the LEGO group and try to refrain from accusing them of incompetence, malevolence, or greedy schemes. Especially, don't bully or give Lego customer service represantives a "bad" day. They don't deserve that!

The LEGO company isn't perfect and neither is their VIP program, but neither are any of us! Can we not allow people and the companies they run to be imperfect? Let's not badger the Lego Group to death so that they decide to discontinue the VIP program all together.

Instead, let's offer real solutions and feedback that is productive and makes things better for everyone, including ourselves. I believe in giving people (including the LEGO group) the benefit of the doubt first, not knowing all of the facts, before deciding to rip their heads off.

Pretty soon, Lego is going to put an age limit on buying LEGO ... you have to be aged 18 or less to buy on-line because the adults (who buy almost 100% of LEGO on-line) are behaving too "childishly" and throw too many "tantrums" for us to handle.

So, I'm pretty sure that the aim and intent of the LEGO group isn't to create this "artificial exclusivity" and to psychologically manipulate their loyal customers. Again, I could be wrong ... it's definitely possible that Lego has evil schemes to improve their revenues, but do you really think they need to? I think their product popularity is all they need to drives sales. I believe they have good intentions. But just like everything that starts off as good ... it is often abused by greedy people, and this is what has happened with the VIP program.

I believe the VIP program has been infiltrated by sinister consumer opportunists who are really abusing the VIP system and creating the perceived supply-demand mismatch, and are manipulating this to "get gain" through secondary markets. It's ruining the experience for everyone! THE LEGO GROUP SHOULDN'T BE BLAMED ... it is the greed of pseudo-lego fans who are THE NEFARIOUS ONES!! Just look at what exclusive VIP rewards are going for on eBay! It's ridiculous ... the LEGO group values the Ulysses Probe set at $14.99 USD, but fake lego VIP members are selling it for as much as $400 USD (thanks a lot eBay seller "fivehole1959" for being a driving force for this problem and for true lego VIP members around the world!!)

Let's root out these bad players by offering the LEGO group some concrete suggestions to tighten-down the VIP program so that it doesn't get abused. If not, we could lose the VIP program all-together!!

I've mostly given up on the VIP stuff. I don't care about most of the rewards (coloring pages?) and the exclusive ones are impossible to get if you try more than a few minutes after they're released.

I don't think I've even redeemed points towards a purchase since they started making us redeem them for vouchers instead of just using points at the time of purchase. (These days nothing stays in stock long enough for me to wait for an email with a voucher code that is specific to either in store or online despite being the same value for either...)

I wondered if bots could somehow have taken over this, but I cant see it.

This morning was just so frustrating, I got to the point to redeem, then it all went dark and crapped out.
So close.
I hope they re-release it as GWP or even to buy.

@mscott71 said:
"I've mostly given up on the VIP stuff. I don't care about most of the rewards (coloring pages?) and the exclusive ones are impossible to get if you try more than a few minutes after they're released.

I don't think I've even redeemed points towards a purchase since they started making us redeem them for vouchers instead of just using points at the time of purchase. (These days nothing stays in stock long enough for me to wait for an email with a voucher code that is specific to either in store or online despite being the same value for either...)"

Kinda makes you wonder if this is what they are aiming for......

I didn't even know this was happening today until 5 minutes ago, but I feel your frustration is somewhat warranted because of all of the hype that's happened over this from what I've seen.

I feel like Lego is not doing great right now in general, though.

@LegoDad_itsforme_ said:
" @mscott71 said:
"I've mostly given up on the VIP stuff. I don't care about most of the rewards (coloring pages?) and the exclusive ones are impossible to get if you try more than a few minutes after they're released.

I don't think I've even redeemed points towards a purchase since they started making us redeem them for vouchers instead of just using points at the time of purchase. (These days nothing stays in stock long enough for me to wait for an email with a voucher code that is specific to either in store or online despite being the same value for either...)"

Kinda makes you wonder if this is what they are aiming for......
"

Thought I read somewhere that there are a TON of unused VIP points for LEGO and are worried about it. Thought I read they are trying to force people to use them and this was an example of a test for this. Seems like it went VERY well...ugh

@joshchris11 said:
"That is why they have destroyed their VIP program in my eyes, and these 'exclusives' are very limited to reduce straight costs. They should lock the number of sets a VIP individual can purchase related to the exclusives, one ideally (maybe they do but they don't make it easy to know). There will be those resellers that find a way around this but at least LEGO would be doing something that shows they care about their community. Yes, in theory they do care and have done things for us but they are making more poor decisions and ignoring the issues then they addressing and talking to the issues. Just one external individuals' opinion based upon my experiences, and sorry for many grandpa length post."

I believe this particular set was limited to one per VIP account.

I find it shocking that Lego is regarded as 'the most reputable company,' whatever that really means. As a PhD-educated college professor, I really question the validity of those findings. I recently got back into Lego and am amazed at how terrible their customer service is; at least here in the US. I first ran into this with the limits on Power Function motors - As a train enthusiast, I quickly used up the three - then five - allowed units. Sure, I could go to the Lego store for more, but doesn't that defeat the point of having limits? And now they have discontinued the line altogether. Then there's the s-l-o-w response time for any contact to customer service. I have twice waited not he phone for literally hours to have a two-minute conversation; or waited well over a week many times to get a stock e-mail response. And let's not talk about their shipping time - Orders from BrickLink tend to be delivered faster than it takes Lego to even ship the order; and that's for in-stock sets - Not Bricks & Pieces or Pick-a-Brick. And blaming any of this on COVID is outrageous as the world is quickly emerging from the pandemic. Oh, and then there's the pricing - Their prices are way above-market for all but the exclusive sets, on which they have a monopoly. And then, when one does purchase from them, you get this friendly e-mail asking you to complete a survey - Each time I factually describe my experiences and check the box to 'contact me;' but they never do. The only reason I ever shop directly through Lego is for an exclusive set or for a GWP. If their products didn't offer such a compelling bonding experience with my children, I would probably find a different hobby. While I did get the Ulysses Satellite this morning, I have lost out my fair share of times on other promos. I just wanted to share my experiences too in the hopes that Lego will heed the call of their AFOL fan base and to address the numerous endemic issues with the way they run their direct-to-consumer business.

I've written a formal feedback to LEGO on this matter starting with the most recent release of the LEGO Collectible Coin (Space) which was SOLD OUT and then only to be re-sold in the online markets for ridiculous prices. While you cannot prevent scalpers from this sort of stuff (see PS5 launch), LEGO can certainly make an impact to its true patrons by providing the product much more available ESPECIALLY to VIP members who have been active supporters of the company.

I still fully support LEGO and certainly hope that they can reconsider BETTER strategies and think LONG-TERM when it comes to giving back to its customers (kids and adults alike).

Here's to seeing more NEW releases that are AVAILABLE for everyone. Thank you LEGO and more power!

StaySafe everyone!

What a joke of a statement they put out. They simply don't care.

@huw it's hardly LEGO's fault for there being so much demand for their products. It's not exactly feasible for there to be one of every promo for every VIP member. Would you rather that they switched production of sets due to be released later in the year to producing more promos? They're trying to strike a balance between meeting demand and ensuring that the rest of the product portfolio is available for regular customers to buy. Keep this up and it's not hard to imagine that LEGO might stop sending out those sets for you to review so often. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you

Very disappointed in the statement put out by LEGO. Platitudes...if that. I like to see a company admit when they've screwed up and own the problem. The company with the world's greatest reputation ought to do just that.

@Legonk said:
"Please remember that the customer service reps aren’t to blame for these problems, so don’t take out your (understandable) frustration on them :) "

I completely agree, however I rang the Lego customer service on Tuesday, and was told ‘login half an hour before the Vip launch as we expect the website login and vip pages to crash and being already logged in gives the best chance of getting the reward’, so what eventually happened can’t have come as any surprise to Lego at all.

I do feel sorry for the customer service reps who will no doubt be on the sharp end of a lot of anger and vitriol all caused by Lego’s repeated mis management of these events, and failure to capacity plan for their website.

@rolomolo12345 said:
"I stopped caring about VIP after they got rid of the "Every 100 points is worth £5 in store" without even giving me notice of the change. VIP points are pretty much worthless aside a few exclusives, but when they sell out within a day, its hard to get a hold of."

How about when they sell out with a few minutes?????

After about 19 minutes of cycling through the "VIP Maintenance" screen and the "Something went wrong..." modal window, I was finally able to redeem the points and get a promo code. I then went to purchase an item and applied the code with no problem, only to get an error page after clicking the 'checkout' button (a page with a big message "Looks like something went wrong!" with a smaller "Please try again." and "Home" button). I went through the entire checkout process again, with the same promo code applied, and got the same error page. Third time through, the promo code was no longer valid! I freaked out. Then I got one order confirmation email, but was charged twice!

Very frustrating, but the order confirmation includes the Ulysses set - I can't believe how frustrated all of you who were not able to get one are feeling now.

The timing of these releases is poor also. 9AM Eastern is 6AM on the west coast - and 4AM in Hawaii. That is not kind to most of the US. Why not do 2pm Eastern when it is reasonable across the US?

The new VIP program and the VIP points is a JOKE..
I haven't use it at all , since it started.
It's absolutely crap most of the things you can get there.¨

True! Great point! Our poor Hawaiian lego brothers and sisters!! Just when you thought you had it bad, right?

It’s nice of Lego to put out a statement, but it’s difficult to take seriously until real change is made.

Same thing happened in September with the Mos Eisley Cantina and Yoda’s lightsaber debacle.

@Roccomediatay said:
"Has it occured to anyone that even if the Lego site worked perfectly, they still only had x amount to give away, there would have still been hundreds/probably thousands of dissapointed VIP members, me being one as I didn't get one either! It would have just meant they they sold out quicker!"

Quite honestly it isn't anything different from those little free gifts - and they had plenty of those to give out. Given the original plan was to make it available along with the Shuttle, surely they'd have a good idea the public interest in that add on?

LEGO doesn’t care about fans. It cares about making money. I love building LEGO sets, but refuse to buy full price at their store. I usually get sets cheaper at regular retailers than I would even with VIP points. I don’t really care about these promos, but I understand if you have a LEGO NASA products collection missing out on this set sucks so hard. Especially when scalpers immediately put the sets they obviously don’t want for themselves online for ridiculous prices.

@Mr_Hankey said:
"LEGO doesn’t care about fans. It cares about making money. I love building LEGO sets, but refuse to buy full price at their store. I usually get sets cheaper at regular retailers than I would even with VIP points. I don’t really care about these promos, but I understand if you have a LEGO NASA products collection missing out on this set sucks so hard. Especially when scalpers immediately put the sets they obviously don’t want for themselves online for ridiculous prices."

It doesn't even suck that bad given the build itself is (from what I can tell) made with some really mundane parts that you can just pickup from Bricklink or whatever (nevermind the build itself looks mediocre). It is the principle of it that bothers me more than the inability to secure the set.

@johnny_minifig said:
"I've written a formal feedback to LEGO on this matter starting with the most recent release of the LEGO Collectible Coin (Space) which was SOLD OUT and then only to be re-sold in the online markets for ridiculous prices. While you cannot prevent scalpers from this sort of stuff (see PS5 launch), LEGO can certainly make an impact to its true patrons by providing the product much more available ESPECIALLY to VIP members who have been active supporters of the company.

I still fully support LEGO and certainly hope that they can reconsider BETTER strategies and think LONG-TERM when it comes to giving back to its customers (kids and adults alike).

Here's to seeing more NEW releases that are AVAILABLE for everyone. Thank you LEGO and more power!

StaySafe everyone!"

I agree with your thoughts ... especially about the whole basis of the program, which, as you describe as "giving back." Although they are struggling with giving back to a large percentage of their deserving loyal customers, at least they are trying ... they certainly don't have to do this.

If they abolished the VIP program all together, I believe the Lego group would do just fine with sales and revenue.

I'm afraid Lego is going to take a page out of the Book of Yellowstone National Park ... "DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS!" Why do park signs say that? Because the animals develop dependent-type tendencies and start displaying entitlement-like behaviors. They start to expect it. Us lego fans shouldn't become like that. But we should help Lego come up with some "BETTER STRATEGIES" as you put it, to reward their loyalty customers.

They probably should change it from VIP to loyalty. Anyone can sign up for a VIP account and therefore pseudo lego fans who are motivated by greed can really create this supply-demand mismatch for true lego fans. Loyalty and access to special promotions should be incentivized ... maybe tiers within the Rewards program and access to promotions related to specific tiers. Tiers would be based on purchasing loyalty ... it's just an idea ... there are tons out there. This issue can be fixed ... more people's expectations can be met, but we have to make sure our expectations are realistic. "EXPECTATIONS ARE PREMEDITATED RESENTMENTS"

I hope everyone kept it civil and reasonable with customer service today. Those folks do a good job and it's not their fault about this issue.

Supply chain remains a massive disruption and actually will continue for at least the next year. It's not what anyone wants to hear, but it's reality.

However, TLG should be setting appropriate expectations. It's been release after release lately that is limited quantity. So if that's the case, don't do the release. This may have roots in a manufacturing and supply chain problem, but to get this far is a failure of marketing and sales.

On top of which, what is it going to take to get that site functional. I can't believe there continue to be so many errors.

1. The site didn't work like it's supposed to. That's bad customer service and bad user experience. Users deserve better functionality whether they're AFOLs, resellers, random shoppers, collectors, etc. Businesses usually figure that out over time.

2. Not enough promo sets were made due to a likely underestimation of demand. So it goes. If a person can't get one, that's unfortunate, and hopefully the business recalibrates future VIP and/or GWP promos or reconsiders how it rewards loyalty to the brand. (It's worth noting that folks in the forum understand many items are limited and a set might not have been available even if the site had been functional.)

3. Either one of those problems is probably fine or at least tolerable on its own, especially if the problem is being actively addressed, but to have both of them occur simultaneously ... that looks a lot like a complete business failure, and it means people can't trust Lego SAH to deliver on promises it made in advertisements and marketing messages. It also means basic commercial transactions can't be completed, even for frequent buyers. People deserve to be upset by this failure.

@CapnRex101 said:
" @SpaceCadet01 said:
" @huw it's hardly LEGO's fault for there being so much demand for their products. It's not exactly feasible for there to be one of every promo for every VIP member. Would you rather that they switched production of sets due to be released later in the year to producing more promos? They're trying to strike a balance between meeting demand and ensuring that the rest of the product portfolio is available for regular customers to buy. Keep this up and it's not hard to imagine that LEGO might stop sending out those sets for you to review so often. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you"

Product demand is very important. However, LEGO dictates their production quantities and anticipating demand should be relatively simple, particularly for items like this or the recent collectable coins which are created primarily for adult fans. Online communities like Brickset provide an exceptionally easy opportunity for LEGO to assess potential demand.

No matter how extensive their research, there will inevitably be continued instances of LEGO underestimating or overestimating demand for particular sets. However, when products like this are available for mere minutes, the anticipation of that demand was obviously woeful.

Having said that, there are alternative methods of fairly distributing rarer products, should production capacity preclude increased quantities.

With regard to 'biting the hand that feeds you', LEGO is seeking honest feedback. Whether they act upon that feedback is their decision."

Thanks for replying @CapnRex101. Would LEGO producing one of every promo for every member of an online LUG or fan website be enough then? Is this a suggestion that LEGO would have access to Brickset data to be able to assess demand?

Perhaps the reason that the promo was only available for minutes was that resellers had caught wind of what was happening and decided to jump on the bandwagon? Regardless, even if it was available for hours or days before stock ran out, some people would still not be happy because they would feel as if they had missed out.

Maybe a more equitable method of distributing the promo would be to attach it to a launching product - but then that too would lead to some not happy because they feel as if they're being forced to buy a new or big set just to get the promo item.

This tirade of articles as a kneejerk response to not getting what you want isn't entirely helpful to LEGO nor to Brickset readers. Yes we understand the frustration but should it be the case that influential members of the LEGO fan community are using their platform as a soapbox to rant about a perceived injustice?

Looking through the comments, it is helpful to always remind ourselves “two things can be true at once”. In this case:

1. It does serve us well to keep things in context of real issues and assumptions about what we deserve in life. I would argue that this is a great daily reminder.

2. Speaking of context, *in this context* of the VIP program, the relationship between Lego and their customers, and how much loyalty there is for this hobby, *it is absolutely justifiable* to make our complaints known regarding their marketing, promotion, value proposition for the program, let alone the basics of failing infrastructure.

This is the context, and with that understanding Lego should hear feedback that they will (hopefully) act on and use to improve. Of course, actions will speak louder than words.

Like so many on this thread, I too tried to redeem this gift this morning, logging on just before 9am, experiencing the same issues with Terms and Conditions pop ups and site hanging, giving up to attend to job, and then coming back to find set finally visible on the site but sold out! All in the space of about 35 minutes.
Needless to say a quick mail was sent to Customer Service to notify TLG of my disappointment and frustration.
I agree TLG has major IT problems they need to address and improve how they see and treat their VIP customer base.
In closing, when I got home this evening after 9pm, I logged in. As I write this the VIP rewards page is still trying to load. Roll on May 4th and what they might (not) bring!!

I think we all need to dial down on the pessimism and remind ourselves that right now we can still spank 1800 points on a stranger things sketchbook, a picture of a duck and 15 colouring in pictures. Who needs a crappy exclusive lego set that is is compatible with the space shuttle anyway?? Any losers would want that, surely!!

The site was extremely slow, but I managed to snap one at exactly 10 o'clock. Apparently I was one of the few lucky ones this time.

And on another point, I have no beer left...Feck.

I am a VIP member but I prefer to shop from my local stores because the economy where I am in upstate New York is very dim. I do shop at the closest Lego brand store (50 minute drive away) for items that are exclusive to the Lego store or that I can't find otherwise. Since I don't spend lots of money with Lego directly, my VIP points won't get me anything for a couple of years now that the rewards have been tamped down.

So, anyone else more annoyed at the 30+ Ebay scalpers and the Bricklink guy listing THREE Ulysses Space Probes for sale, than at LEGO. I feel like if the resale value wasn't there, they would not have sold out so quickly...I mean you can still get a limited 1 of 500 K-Pawp poster.....
Perhaps Lego should implement some form of serialization on the VIP promotions?
Or the item sent to you has your name printed on it.
Ie. "VIP set 32 of 1000 - John Doe"

I still think Lego dropped the ball here, but there are other factors at play.

It so sucks for those that didn't get one. I feel bad for you and I so know the feeling. I missed out on the Space Coin. I got the probe but the feeling of missing out on the coin is still there and it's been 2 weeks. And how about the folks in the call centers that had to deal with everyone. I was once a chef and a server and yeah, I feel so bad for them.

TLG released this statement and I found it on The Brick Fan,

“We’re very sorry about your experience with our current VIP promo. We do our best to make sure items like this one are available to as many LEGO® fans as possible, and we know how disappointing it can be when you can’t get the LEGO set that you want. Listening to our fans helps us get better, so thanks for letting us know we got it wrong this time. We’re taking a very close look to see what wasn’t quite right, and I’ve shared your comments with the correct team so we can do better in the future.“

For me, it seems like this is just them giving a quick non-heart felt response and not really wanting to take responsibility for the latest debacles. I am even more happy I wrote the CEO but I wish I knew about this response from Lego. I would have told the CEO the same thing I wrote here.

If you advertise, then delay the release, then don't have enough for ALL VIP members, plus the website issues, as a company, they should have their top spot removed as being reputable. Right now the only good thing that has come out of this is how professional the call center folks are.

I just saw the poll and man, 75% didn't get one!!! And out of the folks that have responded, that is 2,648 folks that we know of. Off just this number of folks that missed out, how many missed out world wide or just 1 country? Take your pick of which ever country.

Man, Oh Man.

I didn't even try to get the Probe.

But I did contact customer support by phone. Well, here's what the girl told me: LEGO is aware of the issue. In fact, they were predicting it. She - like me - didn't even bother to try to get the probe.
And she also mentioned she also gave up on the VIP collectable coins which are another massive joke.

So, when LEGO's own representatives are giving up on the VIP promos, you know there's a sh*tshow going on.

I'd say "I hope this leads to the end of limited editions, regional/convention exclusives, etc" but let's be clear: LEGO does NOT give a flying flamingo.
They didn't when they p*ssed off the people who pre-ordered the UCS Millennium Falcon 2.0, they didn't when they p*ssed off the Coin collectors and they won't now they p*ssed off the NASA fans.

I just got through to LEGO.com to ask some unrelated questions (I have to return some items, and have no experience with this process). While I had the person on the line, I asked a few questions related to today's events. The people working the phones have taken it on the chin over this, and it's not their fault. Keep that in mind if you're going to complain. The queueing system is, apparently, not automated (I suggested they consider changing that). They have to choose to activate it, and it sounds like it's not set up to work with the VIP site at this time.

@rolomolo12345:
Points are now earned, and spent, at a rate that's based on the currency used in your transaction, and which maintains the 5% rebate structure across the board. You just won't see any change in value when you travel internationally. And if you don't care about the physical rewards on offer, then all that should really bother you is the way you have to jump through hoops to get cash rebates.

@Zander:
My sympathy for that person knows no bounds. I would hate to have that job on a day like this.

@Minifig290:
They also need to make sure the IT team stays hands-off for the site code right before major launches. Don't tip the boat over right when you're about to leave port.

@CapnRex101:
For sure someone forgot that, when you launch something into space, the pointy end should be at the top of the stack...

@TheMikeStrikesBack:
If all I ever used it for was cash rebates on purchases, I'd hate it. That process has gotten more complicated, and for a period of time you couldn't even cash in your points without access to the internet. However, I got the two metal keychains, the first four coins, the coin holder, and now the Ulysses, all at an effective rate below what they would have sold for at retail. When the new site went live, a lucky few managed to grab Batpods if they had enough points saved up

I've passed on all of the prints and barely spent any points on rebates (only when they were selling them half-priced) since I realized that you need a decent balance held in reserve for stuff like this. As long as they keep rolling out a handful of items that tickly my fancy, and I don't get shut out when the codes go live, I'll be cautiously enthusiastic about the new system. If I miss that last coin, though, I'll be incensed. I'm one of the people who would have gladly picked up at least a full extra set (excluding the large case, as I only need one of those) if I could have.

@ShadoWind:
On a two-option poll, where you report in whole numbers and round correctly, it's possible to produce 101% results, but not 99%. If you get 75.5% for, and 24.5% against, the results should show as 76:25. Both answers can round up, but both can't round down. If you get _three_ options, you can end up with three fractions that fall below the .5 mark, and when all three round down you can get a result that totals 99%, or you can get three subtotals that end in "and 2/3" which all round up, again getting you 101%. As you add even more options, the split can get really messy, and can lose or gain you several points in the overall count, but they probably also cancel each other out a lot (five options that yield two +1/2 and 3 +1/3 will round up for a +1 and down for a -1, resulting in an even 100% total). And keep in mind, this isn't even what Twain was talking about when he defined the three types of lies...

@dontfeedthebrickster:
Are you on Mountain Standard or Mountain Daylight at the moment? It was advertised to go live at 9am Eastern Daylight, which should be 8am Central, 7am Mountain, and so on. But if you're still on Standard rather than Daylight, 9am EDT would equate to 6am MST, not 7am. If that's not the case, I have no idea what happened to you, as nobody got through for the first ten minutes, and it was sold out about ten minutes after that.

All Lego needs to do to make this right is print more copies. The fans that want the set will get one, and those scalper on ebay will get screwed. Its a win-win. Obviously the fans want it, so just make more.

@CCC said:
"If they feel the need to severely limit numbers of VIP sets, I think it would be better to do it via lottery rather than first come first served, especially if they are going to block logins with poor web service as they did this morning, with "something wrong" when forcing long time VIPs to (yet again) sign up to the agreements.

"

This. So much this. At least it would be fair and if they also offered it as a pre-order they would have the ability to adjust the production to at least attempt to match the demand.

@BluntDiplomat:
I've got a basic street address, and my order returned an error message. It also resulted in a payment notification from Paypal, and I'd already seen how things played out for other people. I sat tight (but dialed the phone line, just in case), and 18 minutes later I got my order confirmation e-mail (and hung up without ever talking to anyone).

And it better not choke on dashes, as everyone seems to favor making you use ZIP+4, which means you'll have a dash in your ZIP code.

@tjkemperle:
I got the Black Card. You could enter a raffle for _one_ metal astromech (like nearly everyone else, I didn't win). You could qualify for a free Y-Wing schematics poster when the UCS Y-Wing launched (purchase of any SW set was required). You could get double points on SW sets a few weeks after everyone had just gorged on the January 1st releases and didn't want to actually buy any SW sets until May. And the one real tangible benefit was, again with a SW purchase, you could get a free brick-built holder for your Black Card that came with an exclusive minifig sporting the silver Millennium Falcon from the front of the Black Card. I just cracked open my copy, and apparently it also came with a fake VIP Black Card, because the card I have on display has no account info printed on it.

Oh, and if you were at the front of the line at Leicester Square, I hear you got a special VIP Black Card on the spot that had a new member number that started with "THX" (plus they still sent you your regular Black Card with your original number, and both would work with your account).

@kkoster79:
Sure. How exactly do you tell which VIP account is tied to what eBay account?

@JayCal:
I just ordered new workboots, to wear to my "essential job", and I have no idea when they'll actually show up. I was told it could take about a month, which means I might only have another week and a half wait?

And there absolutely was a shortage. The plant in Mexico got shut down for a period of time, which resulted in North America being supplied from Europe (if you've ever received a set that had big white stickers sporting the set info including number of pieces, and the UPC barcode, that was a European box that was updated for sale in the US). They've also diverted some of their production capacity to make face shields for the medical community.

@Idasiv:
What? You mean the one with the black minifig that has yellow hands? I've never seen that listed for direct sale, but I'd actually buy at least one, if that's true. Where is it listed? I just tried the Canadian site and couldn't find it under Theme-SW.

@Pete:
Dealers were doing that with popular GWPs for ages. Look up the Vintage Car on Bricklink, and there's _ONE_PERSON_ with 145 copies listed for sale right now. There aren't that many copies of the Ulysses listed on eBay and Bricklink combined yet. I do see one person on Bricklink with three copies listed, which is pretty ballsy to do on a LEGO-owned site when the sets are supposed to be limited one per VIP account (is that you, @The_scizz?). On eBay, they might not be able to figure out who you are. On Bricklink, they have access to a lot more information that can tie you back to your VIP account(s).

Anyways, people were absolutely buying them to flip. People were not buying piles of them to flip because there weren't that many available in the first place, and they weren't available long enough to corner the market (and I suspect bots would have had extra difficulty getting through, based on my personal experience).

Uhhh, wow. *insert gif of Michael jackson eating popcorn* Honestly, can we talk about how the GWP itself is kind of an ugly build? Do yall actually want it or is it more just the idea of getting the exclusive? LOL

@ogel_chicago:
Sure, there's a ton of points because people saw the Batpod go up for 15,000 points when the new site went live. People saw these prints, metal keychains, coins, and so on be offered, and realized you have to sit on a hefty balance to be able to claim these rewards. But the way their claim process works, they get a bunch of new orders every time they release one of these physical rewards, as people use the orders to secure shipment.

If they track data on individual users based on how they redeem points and what their spending habits are, I'm sure they'll find that people fall into three camps. One will burn points off as fast as they accumulate (I used to do that with the old system, unless a point multiplier was in effect). Others will rack up points and use them to buy one big item (it takes $10,980 in VIP purchases to be able to "buy" the Colosseum without paying anything for it). And then there's the nuVIP crowd, like myself, who save them for stuff like this and almost never cash them in for rebates.

I can absolutely see how bean-counters would be worried about everyone dumping their points into rebates and buying everything up without spending any money in the process, but they should be able to figure out how many of those accounts have stopped using points for rebates. In fact, they have a new survey in the VIP Rewards Center that even asks that question. I said "physical rewards", which is backed up by my use of points over the last two years compared to the previous ten years.

@asherkobin:
Funny you should mention professional line-waiters. I recall a year where the SDCC exclusive sets sold out before the public was even allowed in. Vendors were allowed in early, but not allowed to buy the sets. Vendors used their vendor ID to get them in early, and then put on a public ID once they were inside. This then allowed them to buy exclusives before the doors opened for the first time, which they could then resell from the SDCC floor, or post online for later shipment.

@HOBBES:
No, I was waiting for the Pirates coin to go live right at midnight. On one refresh, it wasn't there. On the next, it was. No delay of 10+ minutes while the site was down for maintenance. This is something different. I have no idea if something on the site just broke, or if they timed an update very badly, but this wasn't just taking the site offline to add an item. Besides, if it was, it should have been the ten minutes before the announced 9am launch, not the ten minutes after.

@CCC:
Do you realize the abuse that would be heaped on the poor customer service reps if they announced that they were doing a series of coins where each coin in the series would be available by lottery? Nobody would be able to guarantee a full set without committing to making some expensive purchases, and you _KNOW_ under those circumstances all five coins would be flipped for hefty amounts. I'd been actually thinking that it would have been nice if they'd offered a "season pass" on the coins. Early commitments would be able to spend the points all on the front end, and be sent codes for each of the six items at monthly intervals (with the 60-day expiration countdown starting on the day the code is sent out). People are going to be gunshy about committing to any multi-component VIP reward after seeing how things went with the coins.

@TheInfamousBobaFett:
It's based on a real satellite launch. They aren't designed to look sexy, or be aerodynamic. Space is at a premium, so boxy is best. This particular probe might be the only one that has been launched out of the solar plane, using Jupiter to slingshot it into a solar polar orbit. It's also got to be in rare company to have used a _SPACE_SHUTTLE_ORBITER_ as the first in a multi-stage rocket launch. I mean, I don't think I've ever heard of it before this promo was announced, and I've come to think it was a great choice for an add-on release to Discovery. I also have zero interest in flipping my copy when it arrives.

Got one but....what a nightmare

@dontfeedthebrickster:
If they _gave_ you points for taking the poster, it might still be there...

@magykfyre:
Sure. I mean, the Space Shuttle was the space program of _my_ generation. I completely missed Mercury/Gemini/Apollo. Skylab was pretty much done except the reentry when I was born, but I was old enough to understand what the Space Shuttle was about when it first launched. I kinda hope they don't, because I don't have the points or the funds to keep up, but imagine how cool it would be if they released a full lineup of every Discovery payload, designed to fit inside the bay of this set (obviously some would require removing the Canadarm, since that was not flown on every mission).

Well, my order shipped tonight in the US with the Space Shuttle and the Ulysses Space Probe both saying they are a part of the order, so that makes me feel a lot better. I can't wait to display it next to all of my other space-themed sets. Sorry to all those fans that weren't able to get one. I sincerely hope LEGO makes more of these. I feel like they would have been better suited just selling them for $15 or including them as a GWP. Really the only people that win with these limited release sets are the scalpers.

@PurpleDave said:
" @magykfyre :
Sure. I mean, the Space Shuttle was the space program of _my_ generation. I completely missed Mercury/Gemini/Apollo. Skylab was pretty much done except the reentry when I was born, but I was old enough to understand what the Space Shuttle was about when it first launched. I kinda hope they don't, because I don't have the points or the funds to keep up, but imagine how cool it would be if they released a full lineup of every Discovery payload, designed to fit inside the bay of this set (obviously some would require removing the Canadarm, since that was not flown on every mission)."

Even if LEGO doesn't officially release payload sets, I can't wait to see what MOCs people come up with. I might even try my own hand at making a MOC of the Raffaello MPLM, since we share nearly the same name. :)

If these limited sets aren't supposed to be for everybody maybe they could change to a more fair system where people get selected at random in some sort of lottery after they've show interest in the set. You don't get selected, you get back your VIP points + perhaps a little extra for sportsman-like compensation?! I rather lose in a raffle than lose my set to a scalper or bot.

I'm not sure how far this would get, but it might be worth asking Lego to make a second run of the Ulysses Probe sets.

OK, so the issue here really isn't the horrible execution, its the marketing. They marketed a Lego set being available, which obviously was not what they were really doing. They should have marketed it as Tickets to get a Lego set (which is fairly accurate) and renamed the Maintenance page a Virtual Waiting Room. They already have a convenience fee as you need to actually purchase another Lego set in order to use your ticket. In fact, instead of sending out emails from the Lego VIP program to give us 15 hour notice, they could have TicketBastard send out the emails instead. The only problem is that the scalpers prefer to use eBay instead of Stubhub.

So please stop complaining about the website, and start complaining about the marketing instead.

I hope that should they ever have a limited run Classic Space set they take a retro approach to selling tickets. We can wait outside a record store and enter a lottery for the right to go into the store and have an employee dial up Lego on a 14K modem. What can go wrong with DOS 3.3?

C:\> del *.*

So disapointing and frustating... I will give a call today.

I'm sure I'm in the super minority but what I really want is the option to out of the "get x free with a purchase worth $y". I've got more hobbies than Lego these days, and none are super cheap and all are taking over my house. Hubby and I still like looking at what's new and I'm still sucked in by new Harry Potter stuff, but we're not huge Lego buyers at the moment (that may change). And the last thing I want is an extra set that's little and demands shelf space and isn't something in a theme I care about. And sometimes...you don't really get the option to wait until there isn't a promo.

with much difficulty I was one of the lucky ones, not sure how but I was, but I sincerely hope they make more so others can have a chance at having it, the heck with the scalpers!..let people that really want it have it

This really sucks. I was actually holding off on ordering the Discover waiting for this. Finally caved for the x2 VIP points (oh, the irony) figuring the Ulysses wouldn't come out until after the offer expired. Kick in the teeth more ways than one for me.

Comment 320 - you have read this far?

Rather than giving it away with the Space Shuttle as an GWP, the Ulysses was a new approach by LEGO to see if VIPs are willing to redeem their points. It would be interesting to see it from the company's perspective. Did they produce not enough sets or did they just "sell" it for a price way too low? 1800 points it was. What about 5000 points or 10000 points? Would you still have enough to get one? If the demand is so high and the supply is so low that they are selling on German eBay for 175€ (with 750points equals 5€), then LEGO should have set the point price to 26250! At least you'd feel like you have purchased an exclusive set.

On the other hand LEGO maybe just wants VIPs to get rid of their collected points, as this may look bad in their yearly financial report. After all the points we hold as VIP members are financial liabilities which need to be calculated in.

Reading the current numbers of the poll, over 3173 Brickset members tried to get the set without success. LEGO has produced limited numbered sets for San Diego Comic Con with lower numbers than 3000. In order to keep the AFOL community and VIPs happy and drain their VIP point accounts, they could do another production run for this set. It would be good advertising for them as well.

For me: I wish they would just simply cancel the whole VIP and GWP thing and go back to just produce good old Classic Space. But what do I know?

I had the same problem with the Winnie the Pooh set, most recently and did contact Customer Service. Their statement above is almost exactly what they wrote to me. It sold out in hours if not minutes for VIP members but yet it was available for a couple of weeks when they listed it to the public. Customer service was nice and gave me some points but I would have rather had been able to purchase the item. I told them that LEGO is a third of our income most likely, like so many people on this site and if it was not for the pandemic (and I do NOT say this lightly, for all those that passed and for their loved ones) LEGO would NOT have had a banner year in 2020 and most likely 2021. So, yes, I am another VIP member who is disillusion and upset that I have been a VIP member since the day they offered it, have had the opportunities to visit many of the parks including Billund, and in doing so have helped LEGO's bottom line and this is how they treat "us". I am sad, but LORD knows my husband and I are LEGO maniacs till the end! :)

I don't understand how they can't give every member who wanted one a set. They know how many VIP's member they have so how come they always have so few sets.
The same with the GWP's. They know they are in demand so why not make more of them.

@CapnRex101 said:
"The launch for North America should be taking place now so let us know how you get on.

Asia Pacific - Disastrous.
Europe - Diabolical.
North America - ?"

Well how did it go.?

Lego are intentionally creating scaplers markets to ride the wave of publicity it creates and raise the tension around rushing to the next offer

Fuelled by the i want it now culture its already grown

@Davla said:
" @CapnRex101 said:
"The launch for North America should be taking place now so let us know how you get on.

Asia Pacific - Disastrous.
Europe - Diabolical.
North America - ?"

Well how did it go.? "

Badly.

For me, the business model is all wrong for both the LEGO Group and the customer, its a lose-lose.
LEGO offer points, which can be redeemed for VIP sets, rewards, or money off. In my experience, most people will buy a set anyway, regardless of whether they manage to get £5 off or not. So

LEGO lose because they don't get full price for a set, give away theme park entry or have to pay to distribute some other reward.

The customer loses because the rewards are not as good as they used to be, VIP sets end up on eBay, or the additional rewards are just not for the masses. So it is just disappointment and frustration all round.

Dare I say it, a better model is a paid subscription. So for a nominal fee of say £10 a year, or £1 per month, LEGO guarantee income in. Then they can offer better, truly VIP gifts, maybe every quarter. And these could be purely GWP, because lets face it, you have no chance of getting a VIP only gift unless you are very, verty lucky.

Just a thought.

For me, GWP are the things I like. I buy LEGO products, not because I am a VIP, but because I like the set, and I would be MORE likely to buy more if there was a cool VIP set that came with my purchase.

Interested to know what anyone else thinks?

Huw?

Seems they need to add more "proper" rewards for VIP points, not downloadable colouring sheets. Hence an overwhelming rush when there _is_ a proper reward. If there were more good rewards I guarantee it would boost sales through the web site. I have 4000 points just sitting there because I have nothing to spend them on.

@oceanclub said:
"Seems they need to add more "proper" rewards for VIP points, not downloadable colouring sheets. Hence an overwhelming rush when there _is_ a proper reward. If there were more good rewards I guarantee it would boost sales through the web site. I have 4000 points just sitting there because I have nothing to spend them on."

See my comments above ! - VIP is actually supposed to mean that, not just a label

It's already on eBay for USD 199. It's dumb decisions like these by Lego that encourage the scalper market and real Lego fans suffer.

@CapnRex101 said:
" @LegoDad_itsforme_ said:
" @huw , @CapnRex101 what's the record for a comments thread with the most comments? this ones got to be getting close :) "

I think this article, taking nominations for our 2018 minifigure poll, holds the record with 655 comments: https://brickset.com/article/36610/what-is-your-favourite-minifigure

I dread to think what controversial topic would surpass that benchmark!"

Lego pulls the pin on the VIP programme, all points are wiped....

@Legoguy29 said:
" @yellowcastle So people are trolls because they’re not mad & badmouthing TLG, so you hope they get banned? Wow.

The complaints, while understandable, are laughable. Maybe some know, but I never saw the limit of sets they made or how many flocked to the site at release. So the complaints & mindset of they should’ve made enough for all VIP’s is laughable. They do have other, regular products that still need to be made. "

@Legoguy29 - Nope, they’re trolls for badmouthing all of the other users here for simply expressing their concerns and frustrations. They’re trolls for diminishing all these concerns as “laughable”, for purposefully ignoring the great volume of nuanced posts here and then for rebranding and hyperbolizing this erroneous idea that we simply expect LEGO to make enough for all of us.

I think it is worth us all remembering that the people behind the LEGO website are all people. The CS team, the VIP team, the marketing team.

No-one at LEGO would have gone out of their way to make people feel bad or angry, it was clearly a good intention gone wrong.

By writing to the CEO and phoning CS, we are all putting peoples jobs on the line and at risk and it’s serious mob mentality.

We have a voice on here and LEGO do listen and are listening to this - but bullying behaviour and risking people’s livelihoods is not right and it’s not the community way.

@CapnRex101 said:
" @LegoDad_itsforme_ said:
" @huw , @CapnRex101 what's the record for a comments thread with the most comments? this ones got to be getting close :) "

I think this article, taking nominations for our 2018 minifigure poll, holds the record with 655 comments: https://brickset.com/article/36610/what-is-your-favourite-minifigure

I dread to think what controversial topic would surpass that benchmark!"

Hopefully it will be 'Lego drops Star Wars theme'!

@Banners:
They do have shareholders. They're just not a publicly traded company. All the shareholders are members of the Christiansen family.

@doe:
1800 points roughly equates to $14, which seems a bit low, but still a fair price for something like this. Raise the point cost to 5000, and now it's closer to $40 and overpriced. 10k points is about $75, and the person who was constantly whinging about how they're trying to steal our VIP points is suddenly correct.

Can we channel all that energy about a desirable set in small quantities that only scalpers profit from and translate it to Comic Con exclusives? That would be great.

@LondonLEGO123 said:
"By writing to the CEO and phoning CS, we are all putting peoples jobs on the line and at risk and it’s serious mob mentality."

I agree with the sentiment that they're all people, but the above sounds a bit weird. Remember it's still a company, and customers have every right to file complaints - especially with the customer service department, that's what it's for. What a weird way of thinking that you shouldn't even phone them?

Of course you should always stay polite, even when expressing frustrations and filing serious complaints. Perhaps that is what you meant?

Check out the alternative Ulysses MOC by genius Jonas Kramm.
https://www.stonewars.net/lego-news/ulysses-instructions/

Looks waaaaay better and the instructions are for free, thanks to stonewars.de/.net

@Legonk said:
"Please remember that the customer service reps aren’t to blame for these problems, so don’t take out your (understandable) frustration on them :) "

They get paid for standing in the first row of the "battlefield" ;-) .. I told her "I know it is not your fault, but you need to know that I am upset and angry, please forward this to your manager"..
They have to tell their boss "there are many frustrated and angry customers", they should not say "I had several nice calls, some are not so happy, but everybody was very quiet and friendly"... ;-)

@rolomolo12345 said:
"I stopped caring about VIP after they got rid of the "Every 100 points is worth £5 in store" without even giving me notice of the change. VIP points are pretty much worthless aside a few exclusives, but when they sell out within a day, its hard to get a hold of."

I thought that was a fairly stupid thing too but the reality is that you also get an equal increase in points that you receive. Spending $100 still gets you $5-off.

All employees of a company are representatives of said company and therefore accountable to any and all failures of that company - I'll most certainly voice my extreme displeasure (as well as exceptional joy) regarding my experience with said company whenever I get a chance to interact with one of them and expect them to pass that comment up the chain. At the very least a good intentioned employee would hopefully want to take pride in their work and in their place of employment, and want to avoid negative impressions of it.

@darkstonegrey:
All employees of a company are certainly representatives of said company, but they are not all accountable for every failure of that company. That's just silly. They may get blamed for it, but the people on the other end of the phone have no say in decisions made at the c-suite level, and different departments aren't even answerable to each other.

You want to know why there was such a limited supply of these? I've had sometime to think about it, and read some comments describing the packaging. These are packaged in the plain yellow boxes where the instructions are packed so they're visible through a hole in the front, thereby serving as the "box art". This type of model is probably designed by one of the model shops, which would also pull the parts and pack the sets. It'd be a manually intensive process compared to retail sets, and they're limited to whatever parts they have available in the model shop at the time. This would therefore have been implemented by a completely different department than whoever normally comes up with GWPs.

Reading this and Lego's bullsh*t apology just pisses me off all over again. No wonder Lego spends so much recruiting new customers, they are so good at pissing off their existing ones. I normally would spend a couple hundred during double VIP, but with this and all the other examples people have mentioned above, I wont be. Great job Lego "rewarding" your best customers

For the record, Lego's "reply" is 100% scripted copy and paste.

I have the exact reply from well prior to this regarding a different issue. A customer service agent wasn't actually responding with sympathy.

Lego does this on purpose and WILL continue to do so.

I thought the supply issue was scalpers? I see exorbitant prices for lego sets on ebay all the time. Same case with transformers and my constant griping about scalpers selling Ratchet and lifeline on ebay for 350.00 USD!! My most favorite Transformer, gone to the scalpers.

Anger....

Like many of you guys I called in the 14th after the debacle release. CSR said the normal we are sorry, gave me some worthless VIP points. Ended the call.

The more I thought about this whole thing the madder I got. Being a parent of a lego kid and a lego kid that eats, sleeps and breathes all things space. This promotion was the first VIP item my kid was even interested in. I decided that I was going to email and call lego everyday until they made this right.

Yesterday I sent my daily email and made my daily call. Finally the CSR acknowledged the fiasco that took place on the 14th. Said that the team was working on a way to make this up to everyone. She then put me on hold, came back and confirmed my shipping address. Then stated that she had the instructions for the probe in front of her and that she is going to put in a pick a brick order for me free of charge. This set will not have the printed name plaque in it. But at least we will have the probe.

You guys should hold their feet to the fire. Call and email them everyday. Don’t let lego treat us like this. We have to much time and $$$ invested with them to be swept under the rug.

@MainBricker said:
"I contacted customer services last time with the Porsche, and essentially got nowhere, no interest in any compensation. In the end I requested a refund which cost £17 in Royal Mail charges (to Lego), it would've been cheaper to send out one of the small Speed Champion sets or £10 VIP points."

I now open the set before returning so it canr be resold, that costs then even more money. Lego have a cartell with scalpers and dont give a hoot about loyal fans who have soent hundreds if thousands off pounds buying their products over the decades.

On April, 14th I wrote to LEGO Customer Service. Today, April 27th they replyed:

Dear Holger,

Thanks for getting in touch with us.

I’m really sorry you missed out on the LEGO® NASA Ulysses Space Probe.

Lots of you have been in touch to say we should let you know the quantities of our promotions and improve our IT setup — to prevent both website issues and disappointment. We’re listening, and we’re looking into how to avoid these issues with future promotions.

We produced more of this product than any other VIP reward in the past and we were still overwhelmed by its popularity. It’s incredibly disappointing when you can’t get the LEGO product that you want, and I understand your frustration.

We’re committed to giving everyone a wonderful LEGO experience, and your feedback helps us get better at what we do.

Thank you so much for taking the time to get in touch with us – we’re very lucky to have so many passionate fans like you.

We want to make sure we're doing a good job for you, so you’ll always find the link to a four-question survey in our emails. Please tell us how we did today:

LEGO Survey link

Please let us know if you need anything else.

Kind regards,

ANYNAME
LEGO® Customer Service

@HoMa:
They made _more_ of these? That's vaguely disturbing. I guess never underestimate the power of true fans' ability to sniff out an opportunity to make a profit, huh?