Warning-Pawstar

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

I posted asking a question before, but now I fear I have to give a full negative report.

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ETA: Apparently I am NOT the only one. The plot thickens, so to speak:
http://forums.ohayocon.org/viewtopic.php?t=3151&sid=cee603a9492e9ca8c9d4f1a8e03578fe
and
http://news.deviantart.com/article/69827/

Between the FOUR (2 in the news article, read the comments) of us that's nearly 300 dollars worth just "disappeared" without any contact whatsoever. Not to mention the person in the comments who harassed daily to get their refund. There is also another person that was left waiting for a year O_o

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On the 11th of December I ordered a fox yip hat from Pawstar (www.pawstar.com). On the 18th, I received a tracking number ( 9101150134711493290548 ) for it. The status of the tracking number, as you can see here, never changed. Thinking that USPS is sometimes silly, I watched and waited for my package. None ever arrived.

After about a week and a half of looking, I sent a polite email (with all information needed) to Pawstar asking what was up. No response. I waited a week, and sent another polite email, this time from a different email client as well as her email form wondering if maybe it was my email. Nope, nada. On the 22nd of January sent a third email and opened up a paypal dispute (not a claim) with a message asking what was up, as it was nearing paypal's timelimit. Still no response.

My message says that I want the hat, not a refund, and all I want is contact. Just something to let me know what is happening. I did not send more than one a week (not even one a week!) and each was polite and to the point. 4 emails now, over 5 weeks.

The hat has since been edited off the website. According to her myspace page, the last time she was on was yesterday (1/30/09). There's no way she could have missed my paypal dispute. According to the website you can still order!

Today I escalated the dispute to a claim. I was going to wait the full 20 days but honestly if she hasn't contacted me by now (over a month later), I don't think she will and I can use the money. If she has a good reason not to have emailed then I would gladly resend the money as I really wanted the hat and I don't see others in that style, however this is ridiculous. There is no excuse whatsoever to leave a customer that long without contact when there is a problem. Seriously, what I want is just an email. (ETS here are the messages I sent with he claim, so people know I really didn't harass:

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1/22/2009 10:35 PST - Buyer: I'm genuinely sorry for doing this, I'm opening a dispute to try and get your attention. I have sent 3 emails over the past 3 weeks and gotten no response. I was informed my item was shipped the 17th of December via priotiy. I have not recieved anything and according the the tracking number it was not shipped. I would at the very least like a response to my emails. Was it sent? What happened? I'm not doing this because I want my money back, I just want to know what's up. ~Michelle

1/31/2009 14:59 PST - Buyer: Because it's been a week and a half without even any contact I'm escalating to a claim now. I genuinely hope that you are okay and that nothing happened to you. If you let me know what is up and have a good reason for the lack of contact, I will happily pay you again to get the hat. Otherwise, I am sorry it came down to this. ~Michelle/ Stormslegacy

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If it weren't for the updates to the interior of the site, (though not the front page) I would believe something happened. But then I check out her myspace page and I think the uncommunicativeness is just towards me. Not cool.

Since she clearly isn't speaking to me, here's hoping that I get my 40 dollars back.

Edited to add copy of the messages left in Paypal

Comments

[lastres0rt.livejournal.com]

Is this the same person who complained about Pawstar last month?

If so, okay... but if not, I wouldn't be surprised if they were still backlogged.

[leahtaur.livejournal.com]

Being backlogged is no excuse for just ignoring a customer and hoping they'll go away.

I'm not the OP but it sounds like they'd be willing to wait at least a little longer if they'd get SOME sort of response.

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

Yup, same person.

If you're backlogged you edit your site to state a longer waiting time, give an apology and at least respond to something like a paypal dispute. Leaving me with no response for 50 someodd days when the timeframe you give is 2-3 weeks, especially after you've given me an email that explicitly states that the item was shipped, expect it in a couple days is not okay.

A month is more than enough time to "get around" to answering a customer's emails, especially when said customer opens a Paypal dispute after 40 days and 10 days later there is STILL no response but you're still taking orders. How long does it take to write a quick message saying "I'll look into it?"

[warsawkook.livejournal.com]

This.

Wholly friggin' unprofessional. I SUCK as far as business practices myself, but hey - even if I had a booming industry of thousands of orders to manage and had twenty people EMail me going "Hey where's my stuff?" I'd still make sure I got back to each and every one of them in a reasonable time frame. NO ONE is ever THAT busy that they can't send you a simple one line EMail, especially not in 50+ days. :|

[theredangel.livejournal.com]

Wow. Thanks for the heads up. I was thinking about ordering from that site but now I think I'll forget about it.

[kappyjeanne.livejournal.com]

Yeah, me too.
Hope things turn out for the better, OP. Thanks for the heads up.

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

If it changes, I'll edit the post to reflect the good news, but I'd still leave the rest of the post up as a reminder that someone had problems so that next time someone might have some warning.

I'm looking at the furducers, their custom hats are adorable:
http://www.furducers.com/

[kappyjeanne.livejournal.com]

Oh I know, trust me.
http://superwailingbonus.com/passion06/folders/6517/3233KappyAndStreaks

hehe!

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

That's awesome ^__^

Were they good to work with? I think I'd love a hat of my fursona, and their prices are similar. I liked the yip hat because it looked very classy, but the furducers have some very cute and fun stuff.

[kappyjeanne.livejournal.com]

I have NOTHING but GREAT reviews about them-- I worked with Taren in particular back before the furducers existed. He was GREAT to work with, very very sweet (I think he even gave us a discount cause we bought two at once) and had fantastic communication skills. The hats were done in NO time on top of that!

I highly recommend them.

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

Thanks for responding ^_^ I'm glad to hear that! When I'm in a spot to treat myself again I will definitely be ordering from him.

[jovino.livejournal.com]

Taren's awesome for the custom work.

We don't have much in the way of foxes, but if you want better customer service, check us out over at bunnywarez.com. :)

[rileycostello.livejournal.com]

I've only ever gotten anything from them at cons.

At least then I'm guaranteed to get it haha.

Sux for you though-- hope you get your money back. D:

[theidolhands.livejournal.com]

Me too. I wouldn't Internet order from them after reading this. How frustrating.

[epiceternity.livejournal.com]

There seems to be a note on the home page about being behind on orders/ emails. I hope this gets resolved for you.

On a side note, wow, their bad kitty logo look just like Death kitty/ bye bye kitty's logo...a deliberate rip/ cash in?

[epiceternity.livejournal.com]

and looking on their FAQ page-
How long will it take to get my order?

'This time may differ depending on order volume, season, etc. Regardless of the time taken, you will be emailed when your order has been filled. Please don't email us asking when it will be done.

We only ask that you please be patient, the quality is well worth the wait.'

hmm, guess it's their policy not to reply to customers about a time frame. I can understand for avoiding impatient naggers but it's still not very polite or professional!

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

I got an email on the 18th from them saying my order was filled and would arrive shortly along with the above tracking number. I waited for the package and emailed them a little more than a week later (it was sent priority), and that's how this started.

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

The package was never sent. When you print shipping from your home computer, it creates a tracking number, however if it does not reach the post office, you get the message "Electronic shipping info received" as I have here. Nothing I can trace on my end.

I know USPS sometimes forgets to scan the package but...I honestly don't think that's what happened here.

I can do HTML, I promise!

[marlinkhylacat]

I know USPS sometimes forgets to scan the package

Yeah, and any USPS package is actually scanned MULTIPLE times, each time it arrives to or departs a new sorting station. It would be a crazy coincidence if a package was never ONCE scanned at any point in the shipping process! Especially since the USPS is getting so anal about revenue lost due to mistakes, and is seriously punishing employees who fail to scan (former mail carrier here with a current mail carrier mother, so I still know many of the ins and outs. XD )

Re: I can do HTML, I promise!

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

That's exactly why I think it's bull that it may have gotten lost in transit. At SOME point that package would be scanned.

[epiceternity.livejournal.com]

aye, it seems a little strange. I'm wondering if your emails are being ignored because it's being mistaken for a 'when will it be done' type message.

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

I'd believe that if it weren't for the paypal dispute I opened 10 days ago, and the claim I filed yesterday. If she really is still taking orders, it would be impossible for her to "not have noticed" it. Paypal is quite harassing when you have problems!

[banewulf.livejournal.com]

Meh. I tried ordering from them once over their website. I never EVER got a response.

[runcoyoterun.livejournal.com]

i really dont know what to say. I think i commented on your last post.

I eventually did get my hat, although i dont remember if i got a tracking number, just a random email one day saing "it shipped". Honestly, their communication was terrible, but i did get my hat and i am pleased with it. i wear it a lot.

im not sure what to tell you, im sorry :(

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

*nods* I remember your post. I'm sure that I might get my hat "eventually" if I just waited but honestly, that's poor business practice and I refuse to let myself be treated like crap. It's never okay to just dick around a customer even if you do get things out to them eventually. From the responses in my FA journal too, this isn't uncommon though no-one left a poor review or anything because they either assume it was a fluke or they eventually got their order.

It's too bad because as I said in my first post, their stuff really looks to be quality and the people that have gotten things say that they're great. This is why, if she has a good reason I'd be happy to resend the 40 dollars to reset the Paypal timelimit but I refuse to not be covered when dealign with someone who doesn't communicate.

[acinom19.livejournal.com]

Wow. It makes me really sad that they turned out to be this way. A couple years ago I ordered one of their Cabbit hats for a Christmas present for a friend and it got here very quickly, the hat was adorable (I was tempted to keep it actually XP ) and they even sent some free pins with it. I was really happy with my order and thinking of eventually getting a custom hat of my character so it's really sad that can't happen now :/

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

*nods* Their stuff really looks awesome, I really want the hat that I had ordered! I'm glad that you got the things you ordered ^_^

Have you looked at the furducers? They have hats at similar prices, and their custom character hats are amazing!
http://www.furducers.com/

[darktiger77.livejournal.com]

I've never had an issue with Pawstar.

I ordered a hat from them a while back for my son, green base with blue interior for the ears. After a few weeks I got it in the mail and opened it before my son got home and the colors were inverted (blue base with green interior). I sent them an e-mail about the mix up, expecting to have to pay for another one since their site clearly states no refunds. Got a response within hours apologizing for the error, since my original order was green base with blue interior ears. They sent me the correct green hat to me and told me to keep the blue one.


I'm sorry that you've had issues with them but i've had other friends of mine get custom items from them and never had a single issue.

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that you got your things. Businesses with bad practices don't typcially start out that way, nor is every transaction unpleasant.

I don't know if they went downhill since you've dealt with them or what but apparently, I'm not the only one to have problems as this showed up recently on DA:
http://news.deviantart.com/article/69827/

According to the comments in this girl's journal, there's a third person as well.

It's been 5 days since I made this post and I still haven't gotten a response from them, neither email nor through paypal. The paypal claim is halfway to the timelimit, and they haven't even given me an "I'll look into it."

How I judge a business is not how they act when everything goes right, but how they respond when problems (inevitably) arise. I'm not saying they originally meant to screw me but at this point I feel pretty screwed.

[therg.livejournal.com]

http://taikata.deviantart.com/journal/22975943/
Because I saw this and, literally, thought of you!

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

Left her a message, I also faved her newsartcle on it to help it go higher in the standings and make it more readable. Hope she posts here with her experience. Someone else posted on that hjournal about their expereince too, so that makes 3 of us.