posted 05-10-2021 09:27 PM               

I purchased an Apollo 7 flown Beta cloth patch a month ago and have not had any updates. I sent a message asking about shipping, but no reply. Is this normal?

posted 05-10-2021 11:00 PM               

A few months ago, I sent Walt a Beta Cloth name tag to be signed. I had a conversation with him last week, and he mentioned that he was getting a batch of orders ready for shipment. So it may take some time, but it sounds like things should be shipping soon.

I know it can be tempting to write and ask for updates, but that just adds to the stack of emails and orders to sort through, and it can get very confusing. So for anyone waiting on orders, I'd recommend patience. Asking for updates will likely make things slower, not faster.

posted 12-09-2021 02:27 PM               

I was recently showing my space collection to my father. The next day, he mentioned that after seeing it, he went to Walt's site and bought a flown patch. I immediately felt bad, because I don't think he's ever going to receive it.

Walt is a really good person, and an entirely honest man. But in my opinion, he should probably just close the store section of his website, because it's just too much of a burden for him. I think his best option would be to sell everything in his store to a site like FarthestReaches, who can facilitate sales from then on.

posted 12-09-2021 04:04 PM               

But Walt is the one who processes the orders, because even pre-signed items don't get shipped quickly. Walt's flown patches are pre-signed and certified, yet they take months/years to ship. Back in July, I purchased one of the Paul Calle prints from his store, which was signed years ago. And it hasn't shipped. If Dot was able to help with the orders, those types of things could be shipped immediately, even if Walt wasn't able to assist.

posted 12-10-2021 08:57 AM               

Dot responded to me later in the evening, with a response that seemed to understand the situation more clearly than Walt did. She told me that she was going to look into things and to "stand by". I am waiting on her follow up after that.

I have absolutely no doubt that Walt is a wonderful, genuine, and honest man. I feel that the online aspect of this, is beginning to confuse him greatly and orders are being missed as a result. He mentioned that I could send him the signing and postage $ to his address and he would get something out to me after that (which is where I am saying he seems confused with the online ordering aspect and what has or hasn't been ordered).

posted 02-10-2022 08:59 AM               

Walt and Dot are both elderly, decent and outgoing people. I'm sure that the delays in orders are purely accidental, and that they are trying their best to catch up.

posted 02-10-2022 12:47 PM               

However, it's very troubling that in the past year, not a single person has received anything, and yet they continue to accept new orders. Several people have received emails from Dot, stating that they're going to try and catch up with orders. But the longer they wait, the more orders are made. There must be hundreds by now.

Personally, I don't mind waiting, as long as I can be confident that it'll arrive eventually. I understand how difficult it is for them, and I'm happy to be patient. But at this point, I doubt that any of us here are actually expecting to ever receive our orders. Some of us have paid thousands of dollars for flown items, and that money is likely lost. Paypal won't help you after six months. And it seems crass (and pointless) to ask the Cunninghams for a refund.

I absolutely don't think Walt is trying to steal from anyone. However, I do find it troubling that they haven't closed their site, at least temporarily. They have a huge backlog of orders already. And if they cannot fulfill a single one after a year, they shouldn't be accepting any new orders until they've caught up.

posted 02-11-2022 12:05 AM               

However, there may be a way around this. As far as I'm aware, I'm the only person who received an order in the past year. And it's because I sent in the item, and I included a stamped return envelope. That way, Walt could actually see the order for himself, and I think it's easier for him to take care of this when he simply has to put the item in the envelope and send it. So here's my recommendation:

1. Go to your PayPal account, find the transaction, and print out the order details/invoice.

2. Write a brief letter to Walt. In it, mention that you made an order, but that it's been a year with no updates. So you decided to make it easy for him, by sending a return envelope that had your address and postage already filled out, to save him a trip to the Post Office to ship it.

3. Get a 9x12" envelope and a 10x13" envelope. On the smaller envelope, fill it out to your name and address. On the larger envelope, address it from you to Walt. Add about $5 worth of stamps to both envelopes.

4. Place the smaller envelope, the letter, and the Paypal invoice all together in the larger envelope, and mail it to him:

   Walter Cunningham
   5110 San Felipe #162W
   Houston, TX 77056

posted 02-11-2022 06:21 AM               

That was the address I sent the letter to. I actually hand wrote the letter as well so he wouldn't think it was junk mail and put in the entire transaction proofs from PayPal as well.

Nothing.

It may be that Dot doesn't mention it to him. However, if there are that many transactions, then will he be scratching his head when his accountant asks him where this extra 200k of income came from?