I bought a kit recently from a company I have done business with in the past; a reputable company. I don’t want to name them because every other transaction I have had with them was excellent. But first, the kit was very orange. I mentioned it in a post to, I think, Colleen. Starr had great ideas for neutralizing the color so I set about doing that. I sealed the kit and proceeded to try and lighten it. It was beginning to work although I had to fight to keep the paint from getting powdery, even with thin, thin layers. As the color began to change, I noticed an area that was not taking color and seemed very light. It had been the color of the rest of the vinyl. it was about the size of a dime and circular. Running my hand inside, underneath the spot I found a huge lump of vinyl, like a tumor inside her, right where the spot was. Also, when she came, her arms were not opened. I had to cut them open,.I thought the arms had maybe been designed for a kit that took a different kind of body, but she just takes a regular body. There was what we used to call “flash” on all her parts, even the eyes, where i had to sand off bits of vinyl. Today, I baked her and put her away. I don’t even want to work on her I’m so disgusted. I found another vinyl lump in her head, but it hasn’t caused any color change YET. This was not a cheap kit. I can’t really return it because I’ve done too much to it, but I think they are going to get a letter of complaint. G-r-r-r.
I appreciate Bountiful Baby so much. Their vinyl is nice. The kits are ready to go. And quality control is very good. They would never have sold this as a first quality or even a second quality kit. She’s really only fit for practice parts.
Sorry that happened to you, Helen. I’d ask for a refund no matter what work you have done with it, and send it back when you get one. What you describe, cannot be from anything that you did, and “the company” you bought from should make it right. If they are indeed, a reputable company, they will make restitution. I just sold a doll as a boo boo baby from a “reputable company” that has just changed their business, and the doll had bubbles in the skin, but I just sealed the bubbles as best as I could as I heard that during the change over, this company was in chaos. It is sad that these kits slipped their quality control.
This is not that company, Diane, but I know who you mean. I just found another problem. There is a broken bubble between the toes that has made an almost quarter inch long slit. There is no way I am going to try and repair that. I hope they don’t try to give me a replacement kit, cause I don’t want it. This is a Linda Scherer kit and should have been inspected before it was shipped. They are getting a piece of my mind. I don’t want to ship it back at my expense either. I took photos and will include them in my “piece of my mind” letter and see what they offer to do about it. The kit is Anna-Marie. If you ever considered buying that kit, don’t. The vinyl is terrible.
I understand exactly what you are saying Helen. I just posted a thread regarding “other companies” vinyl color. I have ordered a few “expensive” kit lately and been highly disappointed in the vinyl colors and some had “hard” problems. I was so shocked figuring expense would equal quality-------WRONG !!! Now I wish BB could offer some of these other kits but in THEIR vinyl. Love BB’s vinyl. Sorry you are having these problems, it is so frustrating to have spent hard earned money on inferior merchandise.
I understand exactly what you are saying Helen. I just posted a thread regarding “other companies” vinyl color. I have ordered a few “expensive” kit lately and been highly disappointed in the vinyl colors and some had “hard” problems. I was so shocked figuring expense would equal quality-------WRONG !!! Now I wish BB could offer some of these other kits but in THEIR vinyl. Love BB’s vinyl. Sorry you are having these problems, it is so frustrating to have spent hard earned money on inferior merchandise.
Oops! I said it was Colleen I posted to about the vinyl, but it was you Lynn. Sorry. Yes, I prefer BB vinyl in most cases. I wrote my “nasty” letter with pictures. My phone even cooperated and took nice clear pictures. Now it’s up them if they will stand by their product. I told them I don’t want a replacement kit, I want a refund. I actually hate the vinyl on the kit and don’t want to mess with it. I have a toddler class project coming up and I have Celeste, so to heck with this one.
Well, they offered me a replacement or an in store credit. i took the in store credit, but have to ship the doll back at my own expense. I really was hoping for a refund. In store credit is good though as they have lots of nice kits. I’ll just use it to get one of those. I feel mollified now. On with my day in a better mood!
Good for you Helen and they should stand behind their product. LOVE BB’s customer service… had a similar problem with a Princess Pup “front leg” (semi-circle not taking paint), e-mailed them a picture and two days later had a replacement “rear leg”. Emailed them about the goof and mentioned maybe I should have said “front arm” and sure enough in the mail two days later was a “left arm” LOL. Also, neither time did they ask me to return the defected one or the wrong replacement… I now have a few more practice pieces Good luck!
I love BB’s customer service too. This problem was not at BB, but at another company though. I would never have sweated the problem if it was BB. They always stand behind what they sell.
I know what you mean…I have to say that though Linda Scherer makes some lovely sculpts, I have always found the vinyl to be a not very nice orange colour and it takes quite a bit to neutralize it which is sad because I won’t buy any of her kits any more even though I love the innocence she captures in her babies… Glad you got the credit…Hope you find a kit you love…
Wow. I’m so sorry this happened! It’s so disappointing. Glad it sort of worked out. I still think shipment should not have been charged to you. I have only had a bb issue twice. Once was a yellow spot on my Presley kit and they sent a leg immediately! So now I have three legs lol. I’m what to do with the one that’s stained. Use it for practice i guess. The other time was when I had very first started. I ordered a sienna and the inside cuf2f of one leg had a horrible hard spot with a year started on the cuff itself,and felt a little crumbly. I emailed the company but never heard back that time. She was a first and I was very upset. I figured maybe it was because I couldn’t figure out how to send a pic. I am one of the least tech savvy people out there. In any case I couldn’t make her to sell that way. She’s now a playbaby for my daughter. I hope it never crumbles the rest of the leg or tears. Normally tho I think bb has exceptional service.
So glad it worked out and you’re getting store credit; I wish you’d been given a refund, but store credit is better than nothing and seems like you’re happy being able to choose another kit so it’s all good.
Just another reason I stick with BB for my kits and supplies; I trust them and their reputation. Companies with such great customer service are getting harder and harder to find these days.
That is sad for such a kit to be shipped that way. One of the reasons I have not ordered from anyone else…I am scared to lol. I started with BB and their vinyl is excellent as far as I know. I really do not have anything to compare it to except for what everyone here says about it.
So glad you got an in store credit, but still cant believe they asked for the doll back.
I’ve done some excellent Linde Scherer kits that have had no problems. I’m hoping this was a fluke because I really like her sculpts. I agree that BB kits are good ones and BB will make it right if there’s a problem. But even their kits are having some problems with bubbles developing in the vinyl after the parts have been painted and baked several times. I wonder if the manufacturers have changed to a different composition of the vinyls and that’s what’s causing these problems.
Starr, have you ever done a Salina kit by Linda Scherer? I ordered her a couple of days ago, I sure hope she isn’t that ugly orange color. If you have done her I would love to see a picture,
I have looked at each of the kits that I have ordered, but I don’t think I have “inspected” them. I think that needs to be a weekend project as I am getting ready to start reborning again. I would hate to notice something so late that nothing can be done about it.
I have done several Linde Scherer dolls, and I do not mind the orange colour some of their kits have. It’s easy to tone down. But i did have some problems with their kits, and I will not buy another one. Although i love faces of her babies. I was able to work around the problems, but it was disappointing, and as sending kit back to Germany is so expensive from here, it just would not be viable.
But in this case, with so many manufacturing problems, I would not have accepted store credit, and I would not accepted I have to pay for return postage. Photos should be good enough to show the faults, and if the company wants the doll back to examine what went wrong, then they should pay for it. At least here in Australia, it would be against the Consumer Law to refuse refund.
I agree they should have at least sent you a call tag to compensate for all the work you did (and paint you wasted) for nothing. Since it’s obviously a manufacturing defect I also think they should have given you a refund. At least they didn’t say Too bad. Too late.
Good luck!
Glad you got the credit…Hope you find a kit you love…