So a woman gave me a deposit on a custom baby on Sept. 15. I completed the doll, showed her photos (she loved her) and she said it would be a little while until she got the balance. OK - - - so I e-mailed her every couple weeks and she said it would be soon. I sent her another invoice on Oct. 3 and then a reminder on Oct. 17. Haven’t heard anything since. I told her if she no longer wanted the baby that she forfeited the doll as well as her deposit. No response.
Should I give her one more e-mail with a final acceptance date and then close the account???
I think email her one more time and then sale the baby. December is just starts and you have. A chance that somebody may want it for Christmas .
3 months should be enough time to save up for a baby and plane ahead .
It is sad that some one would disregard the hard work that you put into making these dolls. I agree with the ladies on emailing her one more time and letting her know that if there is no response, then her deposit would not be refunded and sell the doll to someone who’s willing to pay. I have a somewhat similar situation that I was going to discuss here on the forum as well, so when I read your post I thought that it would be fitting to talk about it within this thread. I paid for a reborn doll back in Sept. 2012. She was a custom made sold out kit of "Cianne’ by Romie Strydom. The reborn and was to be finished in 4 weeks according to the artist who was making her. Communication between us was going very well until she received my last payment, which I paid a total of $725.00. I have been emailing her often, but no response. I have sent her a total of ten emails. Still nothing. I visit her website where she blogs and sees that she is still making dolls and selling them on ebay, and other custom orders. My doll kit is still under her “Babies in progress” tab at 40% painted. Now she is saying that she is no longer taking custom orders because of a sickness that she has, OCD. I don’t know what I should do. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. That is one of the reasons why I decided to make my own dolls. I am highly upset with her lack of professionalism, but she lives in Florida and I live in Michigan. What do you think that I should do?
Judy, write her one more very nice email. Give her that last deadline. Remind her how much she will be losing and then close this transaction. Sell the baby to someone else.
Wow. That’s just not okay. It may be time to call her out. Does she have Facebook? Can you post on her blog? This seller seems to be hiding in plain site and is getting away with it. September 2012…two years. That’s insane. At this point I would figure out how to post online for all of her followers to see and ask for your money back. I’m guessing your Cianne may not even be available anymore.
She has probably done the same thing to multiple people. There are several scammer websites on FB and she has probably been mentioned on them. What is the artist’s name - If you paid in September of 2012, she has had over 2 years to complete the baby. When did you make the last payment?
Pita unfortunately it sounds like this lady has some issues and hidding behind a medical condition which does not make you irresponsible.My son has OCD …Did you purchase on ebay ? PayPal ? Can you get by reporting her to one of these sites…how did you pay her is the real way of solving or not solving.Even personal credit cards you use will fight for you up to 90 days after purchase.So maybe you fall into that category??
Hello Pia, her name is Brittany, and she is the artist at Stork Bites Studios. We first began conversing via email in August of 2012. We shared a lengthy conversation at multiple times on different days. I made my first initial payment in August and my final payment in September. She seemed so genuine and friendly. She has videos on YouTube about her dolls. I pray that this is not a scam that has cost me a lot of money. She seemed to get very personal on her blog , which is why I thought that she was a legit person. I am just at a stand still of what should be done.
Hello cindym, yes she does have a facebook, but she hasn’t posted on it in a very long time 2 years to be exact. When I try to post on her blog it has to be accepted in order to be posted. The last two times that I made a comment she didn’t allow it to be posted so that others could see. I have to find another way to expose her.
@judym, I just had the exact same thing happen to me. What I did was send the buyer an email stating that if she did not respond and pay within 48 hours, I would be relisting the baby. Then I rewrote my layaway terms to include everything I’ve learned!
Thank you so much dothehokeypokey, I had no idea that so many others had been scammed by this artist. I really appreciate the link and I am going to join the forum and communicate with the ladies who has been taken advantage of just like me. She needs to be stopped before more people are ripped off from their hard earned money.
I am sorry, but I am getting bit confused; I thought this was “judym” topic about buyer not making payments? Judym, I would send last reminder stating the date by which you want the last payment, or at least to make another substantial payment, or that the transaction is void.
Thank you everyone for your responses. I did e-mail her telling her I needed the final payment by Friday or she would forfeit the doll as well as her deposit. And guess what??? Her response came right away (with the same old excuses of how first she forgot, then she wasn’t getting e-mails - - yadda yadda yadda.) So we’ll see if that payment comes thru.
I think you just have to put your foot down, and if at least part payment does not materialize, let her know the deal is off. If it was me buying, I would at least make small part payments along the way, so the seller would know I am serious and still want the doll. And would keep apologising profusely.
I’ve modified my layaway terms to state that the buyer must make at least one payment per month - even if it’s only a token payment - to attest to their continued interest in the transaction. Not making that payment can now be cause for cancellation of the sale.
Stores that still do layaway, have a contract stating their terms which usually lists a pick up date that the buyer must hold to, or forfit a percentage of their downpayment and merchandise. Those of us who do layaways should probably have the same terms and hold to them. I would probably contact the buyer, and give her a definite date to complete the transaction or she will lose her downpayment and doll.
