I don’t do customs because they can end up being a nightmare…I have 1-2 customers that I have done them for…I require 1/3 down NON-REFUNDABLE…this would cover my costs if anything happens…I save ALL communications between myself and my customer…that way if anything comes up I just whip out their email and gently remind them of terms agreed upon.
Everyone has given you lots of good advice and I hope you can get it resolved with her…I totally don’t understand her mid-stream change on what she wants…??? Crazy!!!
Thank you, Izzy! I’m not really in the mood to share the Juan twins right now after the whole debacle, but I will post another that I have almost finished so you can see new work of mine. Baby Maisie. She is so little.
I am sorry you are going through this Marissa. Some people can just be so picky when it comes to customs and I am only a collector. I <3 the Juan kit! I know he’s huge but he looks so cute and cuddly!
The one in this picture is my absolute dream baby!:
I would probably adjust the color, but i also like making AA babies. The Lulu redo baby i sent her work in progress pics. She was unsure of her skintone, but decided to go with a darker tone. In the middle of adding layers i sent her a wip pic and she said stop! She loved it. So Lulu ended up biracial and beautiful
Now if your not comfortable then i would be upfront about it and let your customer know. You might need to refund all except a reasonable amount for kit and supplies ordered. If your light skinned juans are beautiful you can always try selling them. Reborn dolls of color on fb is a good place to advertise your babies.
No, you do not need a legal contract, but you should have stated conditions and make it clear that by ordering the custom she has accepted them. I might be bit unfair to start telling her now that you want to refund minus your expenses. That is not likely going to end well.
If you do not show us we cannot judge if your customer has any reason to be unhappy with the progress photos. On the face value I would say to her that you cannot change the hair colour, as you already have the wigs, and maybe compromise little bit by doing few more washes to darken the skin tone.
This is all well and good to talk about not refunding…I agree that you should be able to keep the deposit, IF you told her up front that it was non-refundable…Whether it is LEGAL or not is another issue…I don’t think you have to be worried about being taken to court…That is highly unlikely as it would be small claims and most people would not follow through - unless of course they have paid you fully and you haven’t sent the item…you can’t keep the dolls and the dollars if you did not state clearly that it was non refundable…(and even if you are allowed to keep some deposit, it would be what the person deciding the case considers fair and justifiable) .In any business, if it did become an issue, you have the burden of proof that you made it clear about the non refundable deposit and proof that they understood and agreed…I have owned several businesses both here in Oz and in the USA and we had to have a SIGNATURE from the people showing that they realized that a portion of their layby payment was non-refundable or we had to return the full amount.
In this situation, you have to consider if Paypal is involved as well…Just understand that no matter whether YOU say non refundable or not…if a buyer pushes it and a payment was made through paypal, unless you have proof that you shipped and they received the item, you will most likely be sowing to the wind and will reap the whirlwind if you do not refund them or send the dolls…meaning that you could end up in a dispute and Paypal will lock down your account and funds until they make a decision. Most institutions unless it’s a clear cut case in the sellers favour will rule on behalf of the buyer especially if they have sent you money and you did not send them anything…They do not care about your “Non-refundable” conversation - their interest is that you are paid for something and the buyer received it…Just realize that a person can file that they paid for something and that even though they received it they are not happy because it is not what they wanted and they can still file a dispute and receive a refund once they prove they returned the item to you…(especially this lady who can send proof of her emails to you that she was not happy with the item ) All you do is give yourself unnecessary stress and cause your business to come to a screaming halt because your account will be locked down till they sort it out…Even if you do not have the funds, they are able to extract them from your bank account or whatever other sources are attached to your account…
Like Ludmila said as well, it is hard for us to help without any photos…if you uploaded them to send to her, they should be on your computer and you can post them here like you have done the others above…maybe we can have a look and help you a bit once we see them to give you some advice about how maybe you can fix the dolls to suit her taste more without a lot of extra cost…
To say this is a ‘custom order’ problem only and curse custom orders is really a bit silly as there are many ladies that list their dolls with photos and still have unhappy customers because the ladies don’t like it once they get it or whatever the reason…When you deal with the public, you are always going to have to deal with these issues - custom order or not…the only negative about a custom is that you may have had to reborn a kit you wouldn’t have particularly chosen to do but you still have other avenues to sell the dolls if the buyer backs out so personally, to save yourself lots if hassle, I would try to appease her (and if you will post your photos we will try and help you with that) or refund her because eventually you will probably have to do one or the other in the end anyway and you are just prolonging your own stress…
I understand. So I keep asking, and no one has given me an answer about this-- do any of you use contracts? Is there a standard contract that can be used, or must I have a lawyer draft one? Additionally, if I am following a customers instructions, and they change their mind, I want to be protected financially. If Paypal is not the best way to do this, what other method might be appropriate? If she had an issue with the quality of my painting, or some other mistake I’d make, I would absolutely refund her in full, but she likes the way that I’ve painted this one, LOVES her previous baby, and is just unhappy because she suddenly wants dark skin and lighter hair vs the dark hair and lighter skin that she requested originally. I have her previous emails to back this up. When I tried to discuss it with her, she just said “oops, my mistake”, and nothing more.
Okay, thanks Sony for being so detailed with your reply! That really outlines the process for me, and I like the idea of screenshotting things so that there is a very open communication line from the beginning. On my previous sales, I had nothing but super happy customers, so I wasn’t prepared for this, and I should have been.
Sorry, I thought this was your question?
Didn’t realize that you were just wanting to know about whether to have a formal contract concerning non-refundable deposits
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Sony72 gave good advice in her answer…the only thing I will mention is that emails do not constitute a legal agreement Though they may help in deciding your case if it became a dispute through Paypal…
As far as other means to protect yourself…If you can get them to agree to do direct deposit, sometimes that is a bit harder to turn around as the Bank should protect their customers first more so than Paypal in a case like this…
I totally agree with you…It is a shame we even have to think about all this stuff and I really feel for Marissa as it is so frustrating when you put your all into something and have people do what they have done to her…If I were the one to decide about it if it developed into a problem, I would definitely decide in her favour…lol People are really very thoughtless sometimes and they don’t realize that just like they can develop emotional or maternal ties to our babies when they see them, how much more so for us when we are the ones who create them and then to have someone do what this lady did…grrrrrrr…well unfortunately we can’t do or say all the things we would like to…lololol
I was reading too where she mentioned that she was concerned about the lady slagging her on the forums and that was why, I mentioned that if it were me, I would just either fix the doll or get rid of her (and preferably the latter…lol) …she’s sounds like she is turning into a problem and none of us need that with all the work we put into these little ones…especially here at Christmas…
I’m so sorry to hear you are dealing with this mess. It sounds like she’s costing you more money than you probably charged by making the changes and making you buy more wigs, etc.
I do customs occasionally but they mostly let me do what I want to do with the doll, although I’ll do requested hair color and skin tone. But when I send them the PayPal invoice for their deposit, I state clearly on there what my terms are, so if they pay the invoice they are agreeing to what I’ve stated. That way, they can’t change their mind and get the deposit back. Most of my customer have been easy going, though. Just for my own safety, I don’t think I’d let a customer pay in full but only take a deposit first, just in case they end up changing their mind and such and wanting it all refunded to them.
Since you all asked to see them, here is the update. They need all their finishing touches/minor corrections and assembly. I agreed to work on them between other projects, and this is where we ended up. She’s very happy so far. Not my finest work, or the best photo, but you get the idea.
These are my FAVORITE Juans. They are soooo cute! I especially like the one with the dark eyes. Where did you find the curly wig for the one on the left?
Aww, thank you! I am feeling much better about them now. They came to life so much more when I put in the eyes. That usually happens much earlier in the process for me. Doll wigs weren’t fitting. They have BIG heads, so we had to go with petite synthetic adult wigs. Not the best, but cute enough without rooting.
Baby Maisie. She is so little. 
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