Bad (and lengthy) experience with Bambicrony -- Resolved 5/10

That sounds appalling. Thank you for letting us know. I hope you can get her torso problem sorted out.

 

OMG. How HORRIBLE!! On all accounts! That's extremely unfair for the company to do that to you, and then especially make that kind of mistake on her body!
I really hope they step up and give you better customer service for that.
I really wish you the best of luck in fixing the problem!!

 

heh, i didn't have a great transaction with them either. I ordered a blank Kumi in January on a Saturday, Monday she shipped, and that Wednesday I got her home.

i found that both of her hands had large air bubbles in them. I've had a mythdoll leroi before, and he didn't even have air bubbles, i didn't expect Bambicrony to send out a doll with apparent defects.

i contacted them about the hands, and they said they would ship two new pairs out the next day by air mail. A month almost passed, i contacted them again, and they said they would send two pairs of hands out the next day by ems.

Three days went by and then i asked for a tracking number. they said sorry, that he/she wasn't in the office and couldn't send me it. Another 4 days went by, and nothing. I got pissed and told them again, and then finally 4 days after that, i got my replacement hands.

So, you're not alone in bad customer service from Bambicrony. It seems a hit or miss with them. They did send me free soap with the replacement hands, but i just would have liked to have non-defective hands in the first place. Sad to say, i shortly sold my Kumi shortly afterwords.

 

That's horrible!
I had an order (not from bambicrony) that the ship date kept being pushed back, but they said they were having delays and didn't lie to me.

And that torso mix up is unforgivable. Why didn't whoever was stringing it say...gee, that don't seem right >,<"

 

I know that bambicrony had a good reputation--I was one of those people who ordered from them right after they opened up their own site, and I think I even posted somewhere (tiny forum maybe?) specifically saying how impressed I was with every aspect of my order. But from the start of this year, things have been a different story entirely. My second order with them changed my mind, and made me regret recommending them. I don't know if they grew too fast, or tried to do too much at once, started cutting corners, or what... but they seem to be more and more in the habit of making lots of mistakes. What's more, when people point them out, their customer service people either lie or get defensive, rather than explaining themselves... -_-

Regardless of whether they're being consciously deceptive or just sloppy--it's totally inexcusable, all the moreso when you're paying that much for a product.

Err, and now that I'm off my soapbox--I will summarize with a "you're not alone, I agree" and--good luck getting the torso issue resolved!! It sucks to have to say it, but just be stubborn and keep posting about it, make public posts if you have to, but don't give up, okay?

 

When I ordered from them, it was during the time of the Charity head event. had to wait two months before they shipped my dolls (I was ordering another for someone else with mine, so I could get the head). They first said that the dolls would be ready soon, then said, no, it was because ViYa was behind (I was told by a friend of ViYa that Bambicrony had apperantly been blaming their delays on her). Well, no, they were redoing the molds during an event. No, wait, the mold broke. No, wait...
They ended up giving the other person a free basic faceup and sent two wigs, but I heard that they were giving away wigs sometimes anyways, and the wigs barely fit the doll they were intended for. :/ I put a thread up in the Transactions section, just do a search there for more details.

 

While I'm sadly used to delays and waiting when it comes to BJDs and BJD items... I think companies make it so much worse when they aren't up-front with their customers.

And even worse, when they mess up on an order that is already going to an annoyed buyer. That mis-matched torso is bizarre. How can they not catch something like that before they send it out to someone???

I hope it gets sorted out ASAP.

 

This is terrible. I really like the Bambicrony dolls and have even been setting money aside planning ordering one when they start introducing the new molds next month.

However, if they are sending out poor quality product and then not offering to set things right, that is unacceptable. I just can't risk spending that much money on something that could arrived so flawed and I'm sure many others feel the same way.

It's just common sense that all the pieces for a single doll are cast from the same batch of resin. Or, at least, the resin batches are numbered and all pieces cast from that batch are numbered to match. Just like dye lots for yarn. It's also common sense for any company to have some sort of quality control check prior to the dolls being assembled and shipped!

I'm heartbroken that Bambicrony would behave in such a way. I certainly won't be ordering from them until they start owning up to their mistakes and setting things right.

Who can afford to take such a gamble?

I hope they do right by you, Chibaraki!

 

Ah geez. And here I was, wanting to get a BC Gun... I don't think I'll be getting on any time soon, until they get their customer service situation all worked out. This is just appalling and no reason for it -- especially with the amount of money people are putting down for these things.

 

I'm sorry about your situation, Chibakari.

I was also gonna get a BC but opted to buy a Pipos Baha Cat (which I equally wanted) instead. I think I'll put off buying a BC until next year.

I really hope they do the right thing for you.

 

Wow... That response was... SO inadequate!!!

I've got one Misty Blue Kumi, and I've got a LSG Pepe still coming (been waiting over a month)... and I'm worried about color fading. BC won't let anyone cancel an order after a few days of ordering and paying. They are SO cute... but that doesn't make up for problems and bad customer service. Hopefully this is just because BC is having growth problems and going through a bad phase... BUT this won't help people who are having problems NOW.

Keep after them, I say! They need to send you a replacement! Even if you end up selling her, at least you'll have a whole doll in decent shape.

Your postings have been very politely worded, by the way. Good idea about filing with PayPal...

 

I would keep posting, unlocked (don't let it get buried by just posting it as a response). Take a new picture in different lighting or next to other dolls that don't have mismatched parts and make a new post with your 'evidence'.

Resin color may vary, but from DOLL to DOLL, not between PARTS of the same doll.

Really appalling on their part, I added a comment to yours, hopefully they will see how stupid they're being... -_-

 

This morning I fell hard for Pepe, and had hoped to get one later this year. Now I'm not so sure. I feel very sad for you having to deal with such bad customer service from Bambicrony. I hope they shape up and you get your baby's torso in the RIGHT color. Though they definately should take care of this, I just wanted to throw out the idea that I am sure someone with an airbrush could straighten her out if BC never gets their act together. I wish you the best of luck one way or the other. 33

 

Looks like theres a new response...I tried to read it on the Bambicrony board, but it's locked again. ^^;

I wish you luck!

~Anrui

 

That's really crappy, bad enough to have any kind of internet order go wrong, but when it's with a doll it just sours your whole perception of them sometimes Good luck getting it resolved and please keep the rest of us updated.

 

Bambicrony lied about the ship date of my doll too, twice. They did manage to ship the doll on the 21st business day, though.

I can't believe they are ignoring your torso problem! Don't give up until they resolve it!

 

Just keep bugging them, took them a freakin month just to send me replacement hands. >< But, of course the wrong color torso is way more important, I hope they get it right, it's a shame when good companies start to go downhill.

 

Oh man, I've been thinking of getting one...they're so cute. But, it's not worth the hassel of bad customer service. I'll just wait.

 

Sorry Chibaraki - I think you are getting overly bent out of shape on this. You accidentally were given a snowskin upper torso on a normal skin doll. They are sending you a new torso.

If I am understanding correctly, you made them aware of the problem on the 26th (Thursday in Seattle, possibly their Friday). You did it in a publicly visible way, got annoyed when they locked the thread (which may be standard operating procedure for order-related discussions), and more annoyed when they added the explanatory note about color variations? And you expected your part to ship over the weekend?

Sounds to me like they wanted to make sure they send a part that is a good match. It also sounds to me like there was an excellent response time considering that their daytime hours are not the same as ours, the message had to be translated, and a weekend was in the middle of all of this. And also remember they are currently working on renewing molds and may be very busy.

And before you get steamed about shipping or shipping status, I know one Korean doll company is only visited by the shipping service once a week to pick up packages. And in my experience EMS is very bad about updating package status. And if EMS does not update it, it is not the doll company's fault.

Relax a bit. Stress is bad.

Carolyn

 

Actually, I totally disagree with you Carolyn.S.

I think Chibaraki is WELL within her rights as a customer to feel the way she does. There is absolutely no GOOD and REASONABLE excuse for the torso being mismatched the way it is. Absolutely none. And given how many times they lied to her about when they were going to ship the doll itself, I can understand why she's feeling wary about when and IF she will ever see a replacement torso.

I really don't understand why people should be good little boys and girls and accept bad customer service.

Good luck with all this Chibaraki. I seriously doubt I will ever be ordering from Bambicrony again because of this and the various problems they've been having with their coloured dolls.

 

Sorry Chika - I didn't not realize it went that far.

I got a Banji once with two left upper arms. Someone else got a doll once with two left feet. The dolls companies sent correct parts and all was well. Several owners have said that Bambicrony snow skin and normal skin are very close in color. It's a simple mistake (and should be easily correctable if explained properly).

Pehaps they misunderstood your original color complaint and didn't understand it was a snow skin chest part. English translates horribly into Korean. I always run my English messages for Koreans back and forth through a translator until I come up with statements that can translate back into the same thing I meant. It's very hard to get the right wording.

What was your original text?

Carolyn

 

Same here, chibaraki. Their first reaction was very unprofessional, and sounded like a complete cop-out. The fact that they didn't want to own up to a very deliberate mistake is just wrong and makes me very leery of buying from them in the future.

But if they are actually making attempts to amend the problem, then that might change my mind. After all, it's not like this is a measley $10 we're dropping here -- it's hundreds of dollars.

For someone to say that you are getting too bent out of shape for something like this may not really understand the value of the dollar, nor the value of quality. Like Kurosakura said, you are very well within your rights to be upset.

Do not settle! If this was a cheaper doll, then I'm sure it wouldn't matter. But Bambicrony dolls are far from cheap, and you have every right to expect matching resin parts.

 

A while back I handled the DoA members' problems about Dollmore Banji's original knees by communicating repeatedly with the Dollmore person who knew some English. I can tell you I was getting nowhere with compound sentences. I would ask a question with a choice that that was not yes or no, and would get back the answer Yes. Finally I started using simple sentences that I ran back and forth through an online translator until I got wording that worked. After that things went smoothly, new leg parts were sculpted, and early purchasers were able to get new leg parts.

This is your text automatically translated to Korean, and then back to English, by two different automatic translators. Compound sentences can cause translation problems. This may have led to some confusion.

Google translator:
Goodbye, me above me receiving a normal skin s.Kumi (order 20070317163423136MC) today, the resin color of the bust remainder of the doll than is lighter me pays attention to the thing very. I am attaching the photograph. Me the bust of up of her the normal skin instead of is the eye skin, it thinks! where Above being to the color which is suitable there is a method for me who get a bust attachment? Thank you.

Babelfish:
Goodbye, me me normal skin s.Kumi today (order 20070317163423136MC) above receiving, the bust resin color pays attention remainder of the doll compared to a very lighter thing me. Me it attaches the photograph. The bust of up of her in substitution of the normal skin the eye skin me it thinks! It gets an up bust attachment the hazard method which will carry it is inside the right side color? Be extensive and thank.



In contrast, here are 3 sentences I edited repeatedly until they translated into and out of Korean pretty well:

Original:
Hello,
I received normal skin Kumi (order 123). Kumi has white skin part upper body. Please send normal skin part upper body.
Thank you,

Translated back Korean:
Hello,
I received normal skin Kumi (order 123). To Kumi there is a white skin attachment upper body. Send the normal skin attachment upper body.
Thank you,

Carolyn

 

I agree that I don't think anything is being machine translated, so it doesn't matter what google translations do to her initial post, its a pointless argument. I haven't seen any evidence that Bambicrony is machine translating in any of their responses on Q&A.

It sounded simply like they were denying that it could have been a snow skin part, or who knows, maybe they overlooked that part of the post. It happens to everyone once in awhile.

Even if it was a translation error, there was no evidence of that, so of course Chibaraki has a right to get upset, thinking she was being brushed off!

It's odd that they didn't notice it when putting it together. I'd hate to think that it was done on purpose. Perhaps their lighting is just really poor

 

Sorry Chibaraki - I didn't mean to make you more upset! If everyone is sure Bambicrony reads English very well then they should have understood your post and should have responded that they would correct the problem.

Carolyn

 

Hmmm... if matching resins is that difficult, what they really should do is replace your entire doll (or rather, the entire body) with one from a batch that is matched. Then they can sort resin pieces on their end to fix the doll/body that's mismatched. That would immediate solve the problem. Now there's the possibility that the piece may still not match (and they're warning about it).

Oh, well. I hope it does all work out this time!

... And I did think the chronology of your messages and how you worded them were pretty clear (and politely worded and quite calm in tone). As were the answers from BC. They definitely seemed to say they thought it was normal that the color of parts didn't match and did NOT offer any resolution in that first reply after you sent photos of the mis-matched parts. (It's easy for someone who quickly reads this thread all at once to probably make a mistake about what was sent when, though.)

But, at least they finally came around...

 

Yes, I have to say, online translators are not very accurate and a company would not have gotten the same sentence that the online translator gives.

 

Rinoa - I didn't say the online translators were good. They are so bad that I figure if I can get an English sentence into Korean and back to English using an online translator without it getting jumbled, then I have a clear simple sentence that will be easy to understand.

Chibaraki - I hope it all works out ok and that you get your part soon.

Carolyn

 

This sucks so much. I really want a Cookie but this is such a turn-off! I had some questions to them and they didnt reply very well, and i did get the feeling that they avoid stuff that requires some... thought or whatever you say, and now i know im right.

 

Good Luck chibaraki...........if they could'nt tell the difference between the resin body colour then they need specs!
I think you have been more than reasonable in your expectations and your handling of the situation has been far more polite than i could have managed.

As for translations......these companies know damn well that they will be dealing with a lot of english speaking customers and it's about time they all got their acts together and stop giving us the old "we don't understand" excuse. I reckon they use that excuse too often to get themselves out of trouble over orders going wrong etc.

Fingers and eyes crossed for you chibaraki ^_^

 

There is never an excuse for poor customer service. These companies understand English enough to take our money!

Some companies go the extra mile to rectify a problem. I ordered a tiny from Elfdoll. I waited a month or so and when the little box arrived, the wrong doll had been sent. I e-mailed them right away. They apologized up and down and said they would get the right doll made and sent. On top of that, they told me to keep the doll they sent as a gift for my trouble.

Am I still their customer? Of course and I've purchased two more dolls from them since then because I know they will treat me fairly. I have also sung their praises to many people and let's face it, word of mouth advertising can work wonders in making or breaking a company. BC has a lot to learn!