I get a lot of mail from my readers who identify with what I post and otherwise. I thought this email would be interesting to post as I don't collect Sybarites. The two purchases I've made from Superfrock were not for dolls and went very smoothly.
The writer has given me permission to publish her name along with the content of her letter. In two instances I have substituted XXX for the name of a company.
Dear Ms Gold!
I am a frequent visitor to your blog and just today I read about what your buying experiences with XXX were like.
This might not be a big comfort, but anyway: I bought this ultra-expensive Tock doll from Superfrock. They had put me on a waiting list and then recently e-mailed me that they had one left and if I wanted it. I did. What I received was a doll with indentures, filing marks and bad creases and scratches on her back and shoulders and front upper bosom part.
And it was no fun arriving at being able to return her and receiving a full refund, i. e. one including my shipping cost back to the UK. I am still waiting for my credit card to be refunded with the amount for the doll, I got my shipping cost back via Paypal. Hopefully this credit card refund delay is only due to it being week-end.
Anyway, I would have never expected such an inferior quality on such a highly priced and allegedly high quality doll.
I was told that "oh, this was out of our hands" and that "the quality check in China was bad" etc. Furthermore, the e-mail address given on Superfrock's home page, i. e. "sales@ superfrock.com" leads straight to China. So it's the customer's fault if they write to the wrong address...I wouldn't want to say Superfraud.
What annoyed me even more, however, was the Lady I talked to on the phone hanging up on me three times and thus making me call again and again. On top of it all, she sighed into the phone annoyedly. The connexion was admittedly bad, but only in one direction. In case you're interested I can send you some photographs of the faults described above.
This whole affair reminds me of what you wrote about getting the last Fashion Doll Agency doll from XXX This kind of behaviour really provokes a customer to think that the sellers are trying to get rid of their last dolls which had come back before (for who knows how many times).
...[Shortened for Clarity]...
Thank you very much for taking your time to read all this and for all your endeavours. And for not sweet-talking to the sellers all the time on your blog. Their success has already gone to their heads far too much.
Best regards
Petra
Wow what a nightmare scenario. So much headache just to be treated fairly.
ReplyDeleteTerri did you ever comfirmed with Superfrock that this indeed ever happened?
ReplyDeletethis is the 2nd SF PR stain i've heard of in one day.....not sure what's going on...
ReplyDeleteI did order from Haute Doll once, the doll come with lots of stain-dyed by the cloth. I wrote to Haute Doll, never received reply...sign, I still kept her now, but no interest in Sybarite anymore
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Dolling_Boy - have you verified this with Superfrock? Sorry to hear of anyone having problems with their dolls but I've been purchasing dolls and fashions from Superfrock for several years without incident. I've always had pleasant dealings with Luc, too, when I had a question about my order. I've never heard of Superfrock keeping a "waitlist", so that sounds very strange to me. It is true that if you have an issue with a product, they do ask you to return it complete. That's always been their policy. I suspect some communication problems here, if this is a legitimate situation. Just think you should try to confirm this with Superfrock. There are always two sides to every story.
ReplyDeleteI have doubts that Superfrock would be telling me whether something happened or not. The writer did send me photographs that support her story.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand what makes this worth posting on a blog, Terri. The doll was returned and she got her money back, including the postage. But now that you have done this, it is important that some sensible people speak out and put this in its place.
ReplyDeleteIt always amazes me that people do not read carefully. Most of the missive was conjecture. Look at the facts alone and you will see the truth. Any intelligent person's alarm bell starts to sound when reading some of the things she posted.
First is that Superdoll's email goes to China. This is just not true, and what proof does she have of this particular statement?
So then she called and got a bad connection. What could be more frustrating to anyone. If she called repeatedly and someone hung up on her, would that not be the reason?
But above all else,it is extremely unreasonable for this person to ask Superdoll to buy her another doll on the secondary market and ship it to her to replace her doll. Once she received her refund she could do as she wished with it. And what if the secondary market doll turned out to be in bad shape too?
It was also extremely unreasonable for her to insist that her return shipping costs be refunded as soon as she emailed the receipts to Superfrock. Refunds, including shipping costs, are issued once the goods are in hand, by everyone I have ever done any business with, on or off EBay.
I have returned dolls to Superfrock in the past and yes, they always what the complete doll in her box with her outfit, stand, etc.. They must have the complete doll and outfit and packaging because then they can eventually get a credit for the doll from the factory. If that is how the doll has to be returned, the buyer ought to comply, not complain. She forgets that Superfrock has to wait to get its money back, perhaps for a long time, and they are kind enough to give her a much faster refund rather than waiting for the factory to refund them, if ever.
Yes they are a very small firm with perhaps five people working, most part time and if it takes a few days to get a refund that is unfortunate but it is taken care of as soon as possible.
Addressing the quality of the dolls -- thousands of fans love the Sybarites, and collect them avidly. Some people have forty or fifty of them. Occasionally a damaged doll slips under the wire, this is true for any doll I have ever collected. Rather than judge the whole crop by one bad apple -- be reasonable.
While this lady accuses Superfrock of being rude, let's also remember that these kinds of conversations are two sided and she is probably not disclosing any of her own off the wall statements she made to Superfrock (remember, she is the angry party -- and Superfrock did not call her to start yelling at her, but the reverse) nor does she realize how suspicious the person on the other end of the phone would be when listening to her unreasonable demands.
I don't doubt that she received the doll with Flaws , I just think that this maybe alot of the person's perception of how thigns were and asuming things (like that lucrezia may be implaying that she will be selling the shoes to make money..or that Lucrezia herself does it ) and not exactly how things were. JMHO tho.
ReplyDeleteYou wonder why I posted it...apparently it was worth a well written response from you. I thank you for that and I thank everyone else who posts responses. As I said, I don't have experience with Superfrock other than ordering two non-doll items from them.
ReplyDeleteI suppose some of my posts are more worthwhile than others.
Thanks for sharing this customer experience Terri!
ReplyDeleteThese very expensive (and beautiful) dolls need to be inspected before being sent to customers. I can't see any difficulty with this, as the dolls are extremely limited edition!
I can only relate my own personal experiences with Superfrock and they have all been positive. Have purchased many Sybarites and other items from this company and I will continue to buy from them in the future.
ReplyDeleteBoth Luc and Marie from customer service have always been very polite, professional, helpful, and very pleasant when I wrote them or phoned.
Thank you.
Aquabluerose
That experience doesn't surprise me, you should have a look at this blog created by some US angry Sybs collectors
ReplyDeletehttp://iusetobeasybaritefan.blogspot.com/2010/05/why-i-am-no-longer-sybarite-fan.html?zx=1b65f7fef318d71e
Hello!
ReplyDeleteThank God I have read that long response dated 5/11 only just now and not back in May. It would have caused me further dismay.
Everything I wrote happened just the way I described it, why on earth should I invent such a story? I used to love Sybs, I still have six of them with me.
As for the "sales at superfrock" e-mail address leading straight to China: the gentleman at Superfrock's I had on the phone that morning told me so himself. He said to me that had I posted to the above address, everything would have landed in China. I was just lucky enough to have posted a copy of my e-mail with all the photos of the damaged doll to "despatch at superfrock" as well.
Which I let him know, by the way. And I said to him that if the Chinese had received this e-mail, it would have just reached the right persons, as, as Superfrock stated, it all "was the Chineses's quality control's fault"
Anyway, this was a non-forgettable experience. The only time I had been treated in a similiar way was by a German FR retailer. Of course I don't buy there anymore, either.
Thankfully there are lots of retailers/dealers who treat their customers lots better.
Best regards
Petra