Review: Mahar Dry Goods
I spend a lot of time for both work and play surfing the Internet for products to feature and purchase. Although I don't have children of my own, I've got several neices and nephews (and an adorable godson), so lately I've been cruising some web sites that offer kid-friendly products.
One of my favorites was Mahar Dry Goods (I am not linking to the site because I do not want to encourage anyone to do business there), which offers hand-crafted items, toys, clothing, CDs, etc. I love the authenticity of the goods and also that the toys inspire creativity and imaginative play.
As a trial run, I ordered a kids CD for my godson for Easter. Although I received a prompt response that my order had been received, a week passed and the item still had not shipped. After a few emails that went unanswered, I called the phone number on the web site and left a message. Finally, a few days later, I received an email in response. Robert Mahar, the owner of the site, apologized and said the CD would be sent out promptly. By this point, there was no way the CD would be received by Easter as planned, and I was miffed that my godson would be present-less -- so I had already ordered a replacement gift.
I sent Robert a strongly-worded email explaining how disappointed I was in his service and lack of communication. To his credit, he shipped the CD anyway, and credited my Paypal account with a full refund within 24 hours.
A few weeks ago my sister emailed me to ask for a suggestion for her to purchase a baby shower gift. I sent her the link to Mahar Dry Goods, and a warning that although I think the products are wonderful, I'm not confident in the service, and that she should be warned to follow up with him should she not get a shipment confirmation. I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt here: his own web site specifies that items will be shipped within five business days--perhaps my experience was just a fluke.
Now, weeks later, my sister is in the same situation that I was. She had to follow up several times to even get a response from Robert, and then when she finally did, he apologized and said he'd send the items she'd ordered very soon. Which would STILL make them late for the baby shower.
In conclusion: I am a moron for recommending a store that offered me such bad service, and also, no matter how beautiful the products or well-designed the web site, you just can't always trust online vendors.
One of my favorites was Mahar Dry Goods (I am not linking to the site because I do not want to encourage anyone to do business there), which offers hand-crafted items, toys, clothing, CDs, etc. I love the authenticity of the goods and also that the toys inspire creativity and imaginative play.
As a trial run, I ordered a kids CD for my godson for Easter. Although I received a prompt response that my order had been received, a week passed and the item still had not shipped. After a few emails that went unanswered, I called the phone number on the web site and left a message. Finally, a few days later, I received an email in response. Robert Mahar, the owner of the site, apologized and said the CD would be sent out promptly. By this point, there was no way the CD would be received by Easter as planned, and I was miffed that my godson would be present-less -- so I had already ordered a replacement gift.
I sent Robert a strongly-worded email explaining how disappointed I was in his service and lack of communication. To his credit, he shipped the CD anyway, and credited my Paypal account with a full refund within 24 hours.
A few weeks ago my sister emailed me to ask for a suggestion for her to purchase a baby shower gift. I sent her the link to Mahar Dry Goods, and a warning that although I think the products are wonderful, I'm not confident in the service, and that she should be warned to follow up with him should she not get a shipment confirmation. I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt here: his own web site specifies that items will be shipped within five business days--perhaps my experience was just a fluke.
Now, weeks later, my sister is in the same situation that I was. She had to follow up several times to even get a response from Robert, and then when she finally did, he apologized and said he'd send the items she'd ordered very soon. Which would STILL make them late for the baby shower.
In conclusion: I am a moron for recommending a store that offered me such bad service, and also, no matter how beautiful the products or well-designed the web site, you just can't always trust online vendors.
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