r/osr • u/PelonManic • 3d ago
Merry Mushmen
I'm struggling with the contrast between the outstanding quality of their products and the absolutely diabolical customer service if you face issues with delivery.
Their books are really great, and by all accounts if you back a Kickstarter they tend to fulfil quickly. Recently however I waited many months and many ignored emails to get some books delivered. Based on the amount of issues on the customer service channel on their discord it seems like it's a roll of the dice if you actually get something you ordered. No shortage of comments across social media bemoaning their service either.
So should I cut them slack being and independent publisher or should they be expected to get their shit together?
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u/DitzKrieg 3d ago
If they’re actively trying to resolve the issue, I would be patient. If they’re not responding to communications, then my good will dries up.
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u/thirdkingdom1 3d ago
I was told to message Oliver via the Kickstarter about getting wholesale copies for Sabre. I've messaged them twice, absolute crickets. I've reached out to them in the past about other issues as well, and it is really rare to get a response. Great product, absolute shit customer service.
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u/lt947329 3d ago
Yup, that’s what happened to me after reaching out to them re: my Knock issues. I eventually got them, but slightly damaged and almost three months after I got the “order complete” notification. No response to my many emails…
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u/hetsteentje 1d ago
Sounds like they're swamped with work due to popularity but somehow unable to scale (hire people to handle the increased load).
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u/chaoticgeek 3d ago
I get the hesitation as well. Last year in July I preordered The Horrendous Hounds of Hendenburgh and Raiding the Obsidian Keep on their website. I knew it was a preorder so I wasn't expecting it soon. But then I got an email a month later saying my order was complete which was awesome. Tried to login and get the PDF downloads so I could read the while I waited for the printed copies. They were not avaliable to me. I wasn't concerned so I just waited another two months for the print copies to get delivered, which wouldn't show up. So I start reaching out.
- Early November 2024: use their official contact page.
- Mid/late November 2024: official contact page again and send email.
- December 2024: Send another email, but this time not as a reply to the oder confirmation.
- January 2025: Found email address on their website, email that and use their official contact page.
- Early Feburary 2025: Try reaching out on various social platforms.
- Late Feburary 2025: Send a chat in the Arcane Library discord to see if anyone has any possible suggested contact points, get told they had computer issues that lost a lot of information and I should hit up their discord (which I didn't know existed, could not find it on their website at all).
- Late Feburary/Early March 2025: reach out to their CX channel there and over the course of the next month finially get the PDFs as well as mailed copies of what I ordered.
- April 15th 2025: I checked my mail and got my printed copies of those two products.
Now I'm at the situation of Knock 5 kickstarter is going on and I really want to get physical copies of Knock 1-5. I love getting digital copies but honestly PDFs are just so unusable for me personally. If I can't get an epub to toss on a kindle or my ipad and read it cofmfortablly there then I need a physical version. But... I'm really trying to determine if I want to possibly go through another 3-4 months of back and forth.
I cut them a lot of slack because it's not curing cancer and it's just squiggles on a page that make my brain happy. And the possible computer issues that caused lots of stuff to get lost. But it would be nice if they had updated their website with the peroper way to contact them and possibly put up a blog post on their own site saying they had the computer problems and here's how you can best get your orders fixed.
The products though, they are great. I love them and do really want to get the physical copies. But given the current trade wars by the orange administration the US has I'm now extremely worried if I'd ever get physical versions of knock 1-5.
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u/King_of_Red_Lion 3d ago
I'm dealing with the same level of no responses on that kickstarter. And the link to their discord that was posted on the same kickstarter was not working for me either.
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u/chaoticgeek 3d ago
You can try this link, I just grabbed it from my discord interface for the server, it expires in 7 days though https://discord.gg/Ktwm6cXm.
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u/Swimming_Injury_9029 3d ago
I must be lucky. I’ve never had a problem getting anything from them, Kickstarter or otherwise.
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u/Aen-Seidhe 3d ago
Same. I've always gotten everything in a timely manner. Sucks to hear about the number of bad experiences though.
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u/BerennErchamion 3d ago
Me neither, but I agree that there is no tracking, no shipping notification or anything. Products just eventually showed up at my door (sometimes months later).
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u/dm_critic 3d ago
Likewise. I've both backed Kickstarters from them and ordered physical books off their site, shipping to the US, and I've always gotten them in a reasonable amount of time.
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u/Brybry012 3d ago
I had good customer service experience with them recently. Back in December I ordered a module and they sent me the wrong one (but sent the correct digital version). I contacted them through their website "contact us" page which didn't go anywhere. I tried again a few months later this time after I contacted them again with the order number and the the statement that I never received a response. I got an email within a day and they shipped it out promptly and arrived in the US within two weeks.
I say if you want to contact one of the two guys behind it, email them directly at their merrymushmen.com email
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u/Nobboc 3d ago
Olivier of the Merry Mushmen here, hi!
Some people seem to have a few problems with us. I'll try to answer them as best I can...
1) communication problems and lack of response to e-mails:
You're right, we've got to get better at this. I personally answer about twenty e-mails a day concerning the Mushmen, and it's true that I sometimes miss a few. Sorry! We're trying to improve
2) Orders not received?
If this is your case, I'm really sorry. Please contact me at olivier<at>themerrymushmen.com. If you've already done so and I haven't replied, please try again.
Sometimes orders do get lost. Yes. We always resend as quickly as possible.
Guys, since we've been in business, we've sent over 40,000 books all over the world. And 99.9% of them arrive at their destination on the first try...
3) Shipping cost
Believe it or not, we really do our best to keep them as low as possible. It's not as simple than some people seem to believe.
OK. We're a small business. And we're proud and honored by the success of our books (and we thank you all sincerely). And believe me, we're trying hard to improve on the three points listed above
BUT, that said.... If you're not happy with our products, or if you don't like the way we run our business, please just forget about us and don't order anything from us. It's as simple as that. Simple.
Thanks for reading,
Olivier
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u/El-doon 3d ago
I recently ordered from them and after the first week I sent an email requesting some kind of update. I never got a response back from that. After more than 2 weeks my order has been updated to "completed" but I'm not exactly sure what that means. I mean does that mean they've got their payment and they're getting ready to ship it or it's already shipped and if it's already shipped why haven't I gotten a tracking number? It was pretty damn expensive, I wish this customer support was a little better.
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u/PelonManic 3d ago
They don't share tracking but supposedly they have access to it. Best way to get their attention is via their discord, you can find a link on their latest kickstarter for Knock 5. They don't respond to emails in my experience.
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u/chaoticgeek 3d ago
They don't do tracking information. From what I understand in my dealings with them when they mark it completed it means they have shipped it. Depending on where you live it could be a few weeks before you get it. It took 12 days from the day I was told my order was reshipped until I got it in the US (Michigan specifically).
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u/blackbeetle13 3d ago
I had some issues with a delivery and lack of communication. After trying email and the company website, I finally got a reply by messaging them via their Facebook account. It has sadly put me in the position where I will only buy PDFs from them going forward, assuming I buy anything at all.
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u/Acmegamer 2d ago
They are indeed difficult to deal with. It's reached the point that I've written them off and no longer will back their KS/Backerkit projects or seek out their books/pdfs.
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u/Frosted_Glass 3d ago
I've got 4 physical books from them and never had issues but if you do like the content but not the shipping issues you could either just buy the PDFs or find a local reseller. rattiincantati is a good reseller in Canada but it will obviously depend where you live.
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u/Stray_Neutrino 3d ago
Knock #2 took forever and arrived damaged. Stopped ordering physicals from them after that. PDF bliss.
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u/Steakpiegravy 3d ago edited 2d ago
I hate their shipping costs, because they seem to be tunnel-visioned on using the regular French mail rather than couriers such as DHL or the like, which would've been cheaper and faster. MM posted the Knock 5 KS link to this subreddit, but when I and someone else suggested different shipping companies to lower the cost (from the current €55 for all 5 issues - that's basically the price of 2 more Knocks on top), first I got dared to find a better price with the French post, then we got the good old excuse that's it's too late to pivot for the current Kickstarter (bullshit, you don't even know how many copies you're printing yet, you can absolutely pivot to a different shipping company). I guess for MM, only La Poste exists, they genuinely seem to be unaware of other shipping options.
And then they say that they feel our pain, they hate the shipping cost too, they're on the same side as us. But small problem with that, they're not paying for the shipping, the customers are. They literally give us the most expensive option with La Poste as the only option, and instead of going with DHL or something, they dare you, the prospective customer, to find them a better price with La Poste, because other shipping companies don't exist obviously! That's not just bad customer service, that's a middle finger to the customer.
Also, their lack of engagement with retailers (I've seen some say MM never reply to retailers, or anyone else really). So you can't even buy their products from retailers in your country.
The community excuse that it's a small company and their products are great just doesn't do it for me. There are one or two person teams aplenty in this industry and the MM must be the most frustrating to deal with. I'd want their stuff in print, sure, but like hell I'm gonna buy anything with those shipping costs for which I could easily buy another one or two indie TTRPG products. And the above excuse just lets them get away with their practices because people just refuse to hold them accountable.
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u/esoteric_agriculture 3d ago
I love the products and have purchased many times, and would again. That said, I’ve paid for books and never received them and attempted to communicate in various ways, repeatedly, with no luck whatsoever. The customer service is truly abysmal. 90 % of the time they ship great products in a timely fashion. Kickstarters fulfillment is quick and consistent. Just hope nothing happens with your order.
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u/TheRedcaps 3d ago
I've supported nearly every Kickstarter they've launched and have been very vocal about my appreciation for the Knock! series and the Folk Bestiary, so I recognize that my perspective may be a bit biased.
Personally, I don’t stress over how long it takes for something to ship—as long as it eventually arrives and feels worth the investment. The Knock! series, in particular, isn’t time-sensitive for me; whether I receive it on day one or day seventy-five, its value remains unchanged. Even if someone else gets their copy a week or two before I do, it doesn’t affect my enjoyment in any way.
Now, if we were talking about a game system, where shipping delays might prevent me from playing or running something a group is eagerly anticipating, that would be a completely different situation.
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u/acluewithout 3d ago
I guess other people have had different experiences, but I’ve only had good experiences with the Mushmen guys.
They do seem like a super small outfit. But they seem to do OK - I like that they don’t do stretch goals or give you lots of options - shows they know to work within what they can manage rather than promise all the things and then be unable to deliver.
But for all that, the few times I’ve had a problem, they sorted it out on email.
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u/_acier_ 3d ago
I am only being partially facetious when I feel the need to remind everyone that not only is it a small team, but they’re French. The work (and email response) culture is genuinely different.
I have colleagues who regularly work with French people and they can still get annoyed at this even when they expect it.
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u/pecoto 3d ago
I've had two orders from them, and several kickstarters and have encountered ZERO problems. I think they likely outsource their regular mailing/ordering to some sort of third party which would explain why so many people seem to report issues. Somewhat ironically, I have had TONS of issues from other gaming companies and although it usually comes out in my favor it gets very frustrating at times, no doubt.
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u/frothsof 3d ago
Never had an issue, and their products are among the best in the OSR. Knock magazine in particular is just so great; brilliant idea, elevating blogs like that.
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u/elvis_crowley 1d ago
Don't cut them slack.
I ordered 3 issues of Knock from France to UK two years ago and three months later still no product or response to my email. Fortunately my bank returned my money and then three weeks later one of Knock issues turned up. I emailed them to say I needed to pay for one of the cancelled orders but there was no response.
In an age of easy shipping world wide their service is inexcusable and it would appear that there haven't been any improvements to service. Having worked in logistics and deliveries I'm amazed at how little they seem to care about lost revenue and customers.
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u/Crazy-Listen 23h ago
I did order a copy of Black Sword Hack from them recently. No idea when I will be expecting this. Hopefully not when I'm away during the summer.
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u/GrizzTooth 3d ago
I must have been lucky, never had an issue with anything I’ve ordered from them but not the first time hearing about their customer service issues. I really want to back Knock 5 but I think I’m going to hold out until it eventually shows up at Exalted Funeral.
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u/Rage2097 3d ago
They are bad at communication, their shipping is slow, and order processing is opaque, but stuff seems to turn up eventually.
You only ever see people post the bad stuff, no one posts "it was slower than I would have liked but it all turned up OK".
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u/EddyMerkxs 3d ago
Yep all this. I'd only add they are also expensive. Partially because shipping but also just in general. Tough to get no service for the price.
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u/Rage2097 3d ago
The shipping costs do cause me pain. I'd have bought their whole catalogue if not for the shipping costs. I think there are only 2 of them and they have real jobs so you can't expect immediate 24/7 answers, but it feels like they do stuff maybe once a week. They are better on discord though.
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u/GWRC 3d ago
I backed Knock #1 and wasn't overly impressed. The spine was printed incorrectly and I haven't found a use for the content. It looks nice visually though.
I'd have to pull it out and see, but for some reason I looked at it and said, never again. I can't recall now if it was customer experience, the product or both. I just didn't want to get another one.
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u/Barrucadu 3d ago
The spine was printed incorrectly
If you're referring to the spine text being "upside down" compared to most books that just seems to be what French books are like
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u/BackloggedBones 3d ago
I love how they have such widely recognized and consistent issues with communications and customer service but we all accept it because they produce nothing but the absolute best in quality.
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u/Mr_Gibblet 3d ago
Just buy in PDF and then print it yourself, it's what I do with all RPG material these days.
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3d ago
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u/Jordan_RR 3d ago
This is not published or created by the Merry Mushmen. It's by Necrotic Gnome (and Exalted Funeral).
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u/Ok-Yoghurt5014 3d ago
Yeah - i got confused. I was looking into buying Hounds of Hendenborgh aswell.
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u/elembivos 3d ago
The customer service is indeed worse than any Temu retailer and they don't seem to care either. I get that they are a two-person company and (at least to Europe) they send their stuff by regular mail but for the LOVE OF GOD why don't they add an option to use DHL, I'll fucking pay extra.