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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Kim'sTower of London Poppy has arrived!


Tom Morgan

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I'm blowed if I can find it - I can find what looks like two 'official' Twitter feeds, both with a couple of messages, but nothing current. Have you got a link to what you're looking at?

Sue

Edit: Sorry, that was to Kim, before I saw Anne's post

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Sue, this must be terrible for you. This is just a thought - in the booklet that arrived with my poppy there is a section on "Making the Poppies" with Paul Cummins website details. When I went to the website and scrolled down to the Tower of London Poppies it states:

For information or any other enquiries relating to the poppies please contact:

https://poppies.hrp.org.uk/faq

Email: poppies@hrp.org.uk

Telephone: 0303 770 1914

I don't know if this number is the one you have been given but it might be worth phoning quoting your order number. You could also try emailing them. I doubt if the FAQ would do much good though.

Anne

Yes, that's the phone number they give, but it's obviously been deluged today, which suggests that these 'few anomalies' are rather more than they're letting on. And the email is the one that I've got telling me 'please do not reply' but I have of course.

Sue

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I'm blowed if I can find it - I can find what looks like two 'official' Twitter feeds, both with a couple of messages, but nothing current. Have you got a link to what you're looking at?

Sue

Edit: Sorry, that was to Kim, before I saw Anne's post

Sorty, Sue, I went out shopping.

Try this (there's a different email address quoted soecufically for your email recipients):

https://mobile.twitter.com/HRP_palaces/status/545940132973776896

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Basically you need to email them with your name and contact number and they will call you to take your payment details

Email addy (including capitals, as they've written it):

PoppyQueries@echo-ms.com

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Thanks Kim - I've emailed the address they give on that page. I wonder why on earth they didn't just send out a new invoice to all those affected? They seem to have assumed that because they made an error, the people on the end of their mistake will not longer want a poppy - 'we will give you an opportunity to purchase another poppy' !!

Sue

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But you don't want to purchase 'another poppy' (and if there were others to be bought everyone would have them!), you just want what you bought originally.

Hope it all goes smoothly now :D

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The latest email has just arrived and reads:

<<We are contacting you further to a previous email we sent you (please see below for reference) regarding an unprocessed payment for an order of a poppy that has affected a small number of people. We understand that this is a busy time of the year and, to avoid any inconvenience and disappointment, we are extending the deadline for confirmation of orders until 9th January 2015 from the 23rd December as previously indicated.
If you have received this email then your order has been affected but your poppy is currently still reserved for you. If you would prefer us to contact you to complete your order, then please email PoppyQueries@echo-ms.com with your name and contact telephone number only and we will call you to collect your payment details. Security questions will be checked when you are called based on details you have already provided.
Please don’t worry if you have not had direct contact with us by the 23rd December, as the deadline for confirmation of orders is extended to 9th January 2015.>>
I would have preferred it to contain an apology both for the original error and for the lack of foresight in dealing with it - goodness knows how many make up the 'small number of people.' And please Lord may I know the answers to the security questions when they finally get round to contacting me.
Sue
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Well yes, an apology would have been good! That email should have been the one you received, not that silly first one.

Just glad that you were able to make contact and to know that 'your poppy' is safe :)

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Regardless of an apology, this is much better news Sue and I'm sure the security questions will only apply to yourself and you will be able to deal with them.

Anne

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Better news Sue. I don't remember having to enter answers to the usual security questions when placing the orders so the security questions can only be of the 'what is your postcode?' variety (i.e. not really security questions at all).

Neil

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I don't remember having to enter answers to the usual security questions when placing the orders so the security questions can only be of the 'what is your postcode?' variety (i.e. not really security questions at all).

Sounds as though I might have to remember where I live :w00t:

Sue

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All sorted now I hope. Received a phone call from a cheerful young man called Will in response to my email and fingers crossed that payment goes through, though I shall make sure it does this time. I asked how many people have been affected, and it's estimated that there are about 2,000, so Saturday working to plod through a long list.

Sue

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All sorted now I hope. Received a phone call from a cheerful young man called Will in response to my email and fingers crossed that payment goes through, though I shall make sure it does this time. I asked how many people have been affected, and it's estimated that there are about 2,000, so Saturday working to plod through a long list.

Sue

Sounds like it is probably all sorted now Sue, good news.

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Although an apology would have been nice, I am impressed at the response; that and Saturday working to clear the problem indicates that the bloated capitalists running this affair must have a soft centre. Given the demand, flogging the "spare" 2,000 for a bit of extra profit must have been attractive.

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I take back all that I have said. Mr Yodel arrived with a package this afternoon.

It is all there, and the packaging is impressive too. I just wish that Ayesha hadn't answered the door to the delivery man, who informed her that it was a poppy.

So much for a Christmas surprise.....

Bruce

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They seem to have assumed that because they made an error, the people on the end of their mistake will not longer want a poppy - 'we will give you an opportunity to purchase another poppy' !!

They have also given people the opportunity to back out, and I think that's reasonable. It can be a bit of a blow to discover that something you thought you had budgeted for months ago hasn't actually been paid for. There may be a few people who feel they can no longer afford the £30, plus there may even be a few who have died since ordering.

I do wonder how they can 'give your poppy away' if they've stopped selling them!

I am sure they must have made some extra to be kept in reserve against breakages. At a guess these will be disposed of after all the orders have been safely delivered. They might be offered for sale, donated to museums or even raffled.

Given the demand, flogging the "spare" 2,000 for a bit of extra profit must have been attractive.

It wouldn't be extra though, would it? If the first payment didn't go through, and the original customer didn't want to confirm the order, the poppy would still only be sold once.

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I am sure they must have made some extra to be kept in reserve against breakages. At a guess these will be disposed of after all the orders have been safely delivered. They might be offered for sale, donated to museums or even raffled.

Do you think they would have spares? They've veen quite adamant only 886,234 (or whatever the exact number was) were ever made and no more would be made, else they'd have sold that number twice over AND it would detract from the others being representative of each Commonwealth life laid down. It has always been my understanding that spare parts are available (stalks, petals) but there would NOT be any other poppy available at all. Ever. So there couldn't be, could there? Unless they've erm, misrepresented things.

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A friend of mine was a volunteer who pulled up the poppies and she told me there were indeed spares (to cover breakages). However only the 886,234 were actually planted. So it seems it is possible to receive a poppy that has not been planted (my friend saw 2 broken as they were pulled up - so likely there were quite a few spares needed). She may or may not have the correct information - but it sounds reasonable to me. No idea what they might do with spares not needed for replacements.

Judy

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Do you think they would have spares? They've veen quite adamant only 886,234 (or whatever the exact number was) were ever made and no more would be made, else they'd have sold that number twice over AND it would detract from the others being representative of each Commonwealth life laid down. It has always been my understanding that spare parts are available (stalks, petals) but there would NOT be any other poppy available at all. Ever. So there couldn't be, could there? Unless they've erm, misrepresented things.

Now then, Kim, suppose your poppy arrives and it's smashed to smithereens! What would you say if they told you "nope, sorry, only 886,234 were made and no more, here's your refund" :devilgrin:

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I'd be very upset!

But i'm quite sure, even if there are spare poppies (not just spare parts) they won't be sold. Paul Cummins has been quite emphatic about it.

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I am kicking myself that I left it too late to apply for one of the poppies and that I didn't manage to see the installation itself at the Tower of London. It is my biggest regret of 2014. Ah well, I'm glad that the problems some people had have been sorted out. It seems to have been an efficient operation given the sheer number of orders to be processed and delivered.

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I suspect the south coast is not in receipt of regular visits by couriers.

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Ours has arrived safely! A neighbour said he had read a press report about some being received in a damaged condition. He had been down to see the Tower installation and gave us a great framed print of his photo of the moat and poppies as a Christmas gift, which was a nice thing to get.

Happy New Year to all GWF Chums,

Mike.

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Mine arrived safely this morning!

A couple of Forumites' have contacted me about getting a trench art shell cartridge case to display their poppy, which a 75mm casing lends itself to very well - image below.

As a result I think I'll bring some suitable ones along to the Conference if people would like to purchase one from a 'friendly' source, including a piece of that green oasis foam cut to size to support the poppy centrally...

Good idea?

James

post-2897-0-98694800-1420469175_thumb.jp

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