Warning-Pawstar

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

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

__
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

__

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:

____


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

___

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.

[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.

[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:

[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?

[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 :(

[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 :/

[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.

[therg.livejournal.com]

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