So after a recent sale I heard back from a customer. She is complaining about paint “peeling.” I asked for pictures, so she sent them. It looks like paint is stripped down to the bare vinyl… I’m in shock because I have sold a lot of dolls, shipped all over the world, and have never had a single complaint. I have only had compliments and repeat business. This baby was painted in babyfx and sealed properly. It was fully cured before shipping. All of this happened in ONE day. She claims to have given it to her daughter (dont know age), but of course her daughter didn’t do anything wrong.
Here are my pics, then the ones she sent. Please give me your honest opinion. If something went wrong on my end, I will fix it somehow.
That’s what it looks like to me. A scrape or drop… Must have been a hard one. To give you some perspective, I recently messed up a kit. After an hour of Windsor and newton, alcohol, and finally acetone, I gave up and threw it in the trash. That’s how hard it is to get this paint off.
I’m irritated that all my hard work looks like this. But now what do I do? Shes asking me to fix it because she spent good money on this doll. I get that, but I can’t expect the dealership to fix my truck if I scrape it against a telephone pole. I’m not sure I could really fix it anyway. There are 15-20 layers of paint along with a layer of varnish scraped off.
That was a beautiful baby. What a shame!! Definitely in that case, there is NO way the paint just fell off. It is clear to see that this was rubbed off. Must have been rubbed hard too. That child can come strip my kits any time. Lol
I feel badly for this lady, I really do. If I spent hundreds of dollars on something for my daughter and she ruined it within 24 hours, I would be upset too. But I can’t blame whoever I bought the toy from.
I wrote the lady back, told her that 100% this is not an issue of paint peeling. Told her is was scraped off or something like that. I asked for her help in solving this mystery, then asked a bunch of questions. I’m not offering to fix anything until we figure this out, otherwise it will just happen again.
Doll paints of ALL types will chip and rub off from child’s play. There is no way to prevent that when you give a doll to a child to play with. You can not guarantee a doll against child’s play and thus should state this up front on all transactions. Then state your policy is to perform any repairs from child’s play at the buyer’s expense, if the repairs can be done. Some things can never be fixed. If this was not stated up front, she may well get a refund from PP.
Its right there in my paperwork- This child is not a toy. Small children should not be allowed to handle without careful supervision. I go on further to state that the baby needs to be handled as you would a real newborn with head and joint support. There is another section on skin care, scratch prevention, dressing gently… all that.
People either don’t read or are convinced that their children could never do wrong… not sure which.
In any event, her own email stated that this happened within a day of her getting it. That means that is arrived in good condition and was damaged afterwards. Does PayPal not care about that?
Good point, @Sony72. I wrote again and offered to attempt to repair it. The last thing I need is a bad reputation.
The thing that sucks is that there really are some people who sell dolls where the paint just comes off. I have repaired one done by a lady on Ebay who sells tons of dolls just like this and doesn’t seem to care… As someone who has invested a small fortune and lots of time into being able to produce a nice doll that people can afford, I would hate to be lumped in with people like this. Right now I paint because its relaxing. This kind of stuff just sucks the joy right out of it.
Kids can be so rough! I wouldn’t have the heart to give such a fine collectable to a small child! Its bound to be messed up any any way! I’m sorry your beautiful artwork had to have this happen.
I am so sorry this happened to you. NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING we sell will hold up to rough abuse. You can ruin anything, if not taken care of properly
and it isn’t always children, I see adults all over FB mishandling dolls, smearing food on them, giving them “baths” even dying their mohair (ON THE DOLLS HEAD!!!) crazy
This lady is not responding to my emails now, so who knows where this is going. Probably no where good. It’s not that I’m pressed for the money; I’m more interested in fairness. And it definitely would not be fair to expect me to refund because someone’s child ruined something that I sold them. Had this really been a problem on my end like with the paint not being cured or something like that, I would have her ship the baby back and refund her in full… for the exact same reason. It’s what would be honest and fair.
The irony is that my 4 year old has had reborns for 2 years now. They may be dirty, but the paint is still on them minus the first one I ever painted that was done with cheap paint and no varnish- that one just faded. Even that one has no missing paint.
I am so sorry that you are dealing with this and I hope it works out. I always worry about something like this. Even though I say that my dolls are art meant for adult collectors and are not intended nor safe for children- about half end up with kids. However, I have seen plenty of adults playing with dolls in a rough manner on youtube so maybe I need to reword my statement about children.
Half of my dolls have ended up with kids too, @jennyk. It’s been older kids mostly, but even some younger ones. The parents taught their kids how to take care of this kind of baby, so there actually have been no problems otherwise… I couldn’t get into much of a conversation about this or anything with this buyer as she was non responsive.
As a parent, you just have to know your child as well. My oldest was very rough and destructive with everything. would have been a poor candidate for a reborn doll and almost any age… except now. At 22, I think she could handle one finally. My 4 year old is very gentle and takes care of them better than my oldest one ever would have. Different kids, different temperament.
Yes, absolutely. Some kids are very gentle and some are not. My sister is only a year and a half younger than me, but never did a Barbie survive Christmas Day without her bending the legs in a direction they were not supposed to go. Mine I still have to this day with original packaging. Hopefully, in the end your customer will be reasonable. I think offering to try to fix it or perhaps make it blend more if she pays the shipping should make her happy. Let us know how things turn out.
I totally agree, it is all about fairness. We work so very hard to get everything right, and can make honest mistakes too, BUT sounds like you are being played and that is upsetting
I was only trying to be nice, plus I would prefer not to have my name dragged through the mud as one of those people who slaps on some craft paint that slides right off. My reputation is solid right now.
If she goes the PayPal route, I hope they will be fair. I don’t even know the process. Do they just send an email and freeze that portion of $$ until everything is resolved?
Even if you offered to fix it for free she still has to pay to send it back and forth and for that reason you may not hear back from her. Here’s hoping she just goes away.
These dolls are Not for children. Shame on her for doing this and allowing it. She did pay Good
money for it. Exactly why a child should never have been able to do this, If that is what happened.
My 4 year old is very gentle and takes care of them better than my oldest one ever would have. Different kids, different temperament.