Does seeing so many companies have 'issues' make you worry more when purchasing BJDs?

I'm not really worried about it since the vast majority of dolls I want come from big, established, old, widely known companies (volks, luts, iplehouse, etc...). However if I'm ordering from a company that's not so stable I always look up company reviews and whatnot.

 

There's enough companies out there and a big enough second-hand market that if I want dolls, a bit of looking around or being patient will land me what I want/something very close. Not enough time or money to waste on companies who cannot deliver or maintain communication.

 

1. Do you always research them thoroughly ie wait times and product quality before purchasing?
I do, absolutely. I make sure I know what their stated wait time is, what the average actual wait time is (I usually do this by poking my head into waiting room threads here!), and do a lot of research on things like resin quality, faceup quality, look at tons of owner pics, etc. before I order.

2. Once you have bought your doll is there a length of time you are happy to wait before you start to worry whether it will be delivered, or do you feel secure enough in the company to wait indefinitely?
Usually I start getting anxious/antsy after 45-50 business days have passed, since that's the upper limit for most of the companies I order from. I can be assuaged if there's clear, consistent communication from the company, though.

3. Do you feel your 'trust' in BJD companies in general has been eroded by some of the bad examples you have witnessed/heard about?
Only really in the companies in question. I still hold absolute trust in most companies, and unless I see a reason to distrust a company, I don't mind trusting them. :3

 

1. Do you always research them thoroughly ie wait times and product quality before purchasing?
Not all that thoroughly or necessarily directly, by which I mean I tend to hang out in company threads and get a feel for things that way. I do read some company feedback/review threads as well, but I'm not that proactive about it, really.

2. Once you have bought your doll is there a length of time you are happy to wait before you start to worry whether it will be delivered, or do you feel secure enough in the company to wait indefinitely?
So far I have never doubted that the doll would be delivered. As long as some basic communication was happening, I don't think I would panic. I'm impatient regardless of the length of the wait though! I would imagine around six months I'd start getting antsy enough to be concerned, but I've never had to wait quite that long for a doll (urethane eyes are a different story).

3. Do you feel your 'trust' in BJD companies in general has been eroded by some of the bad examples you have witnessed/heard about?
No. There are now so many companies out there that there are going to be more mess-ups and complaints because there's more everything. And some of the issues raised -- like Spiritdoll being slow on their Q&A board -- wouldn't deter me. People taking the money and running, of course, would warn me off! And in terms of ordering dolls, I've only dealt with established companies like Volks, LUTS, Iplehouse, Soom, Crobidoll, and Fairyland, which have given me no reason for concern. Like roserising said, I'm inclined to trust until given a reason not to.

 

If dolls come from a company I don't familiar with, I normally make research and ask others who have its experiences. But sometimes, even you know that this company always have 'issues', you will anyhow try your fortune,ie Soom. I hear about kinds of 'issues' from friends around such as delivery delayed for one-year, no hole in hoof, two left legs...but it seems that I still fall in love with their new released dolls and empty my pocket by knowing that I will wait for ages after making payment...

 

I tend to stick to the more established companies as well, because they have a wide selection of dolls and products, but also because as an english speaker I feel more comfortable ordering from places that I can communicate with easily. The older companies can afford to take the time to do that. I would be most likely to order dolls from other companies through an english-speaking dealer company, such as Mint On Card or Denver Dolls, because they are well-established as well and I would trust them to help me if something went wrong on my order.

I also try to avoid limiteds for the same reasons, even from well established companies, unless they have released something similar in the past that people have gotten and are happy with. I'm not the sort of person who wants to test-drive a new doll concept.

But I don't think there's anything wrong with taking a chance and ordering dolls from new places or anything like that, and there are companies who have issues in the past and fixed them, and somebody had to be ordering those dolls for us to know the problem had been solved. I'm just a very overly cautious person, and I don't like to order things until I can see that people are satisfied with the product.

Of course, there's always the chance that something will go wrong anyway, with any companies. That's why I'm glad we have such a well-knit community here - if something goes wrong, there are lots of people here who are willing to help out.

 

I do EPIC research on a company now and that's a new thing tbh. Obviously I checked feedback and the like before, but I definately had a lot more faith generally in the way a company would behave before this last spate of disasters in the last couple of years. I've been stiffed too many times in what is fast becoming a deeply unstable market and I've taken to keeping a list of companies (and people/dealers) I just won't deal with anymore as a result since a lot of the time, you can't even trust feedback anymore! I suspect a great portion of people will either say nothing, or leave a short, positive feedback for fear of retaliation now, especially if you buy through a dealer on ebay or the like and that does mean that you have to dig a bit deeper to get a true impression of a company.

Wait times have always been an issue of course, but with the collapse of some of the bigger names, it's just no longer worth the risk for me to touch a fair few companies that back in the day would have been top of my reliable list...which any way you look at it is just a sad state of affairs. Generally speaking, if communications are good and I don't feel that they're giving me a string of excuses, I'll let listed production time estimates go over by about a week or two, but any longer than that/poor communication/the lies begin and I'm out of there with refund in hand and straight into the secondary market. It's no longer worth putting my faith in them to "come through in the end" anymore because I've seen countless people say that and never see that money or doll again.

All in, I have very little faith left in the majority of them now, I've dealt with I don't even know how many companies over the years and sadly these days I operate on a jaded system of expecting very little from any of them. Who can say which one's likely to go bad next?! A few years ago, would anyone have picked the companies in that list as the next disaster? Sometimes you can see it coming, sometimes you can't, after my recent dealings, I'm settled firmly into the play it safe category and tend to buy second hand where possible.

 

1. Do you always research them thoroughly ie wait times and product quality before purchasing?
I definitely look through the feedback threads and scour the waitingroom to see what the wait times are like. Usually alarm bells go off if there are people complaining about lack of comunication etc. For example, after the Dollfair mess with Bimong, I thought it might still be safe to order from Limhwa or that there was a way to order a round Dollfair. As it turned out there wasn't and those who had ordered with all sat huddled and worried in the waiting room, talking about how there had been no communication.
So thankfully, I didn't fall into that pit.

2. Once you have bought your doll is there a length of time you are happy to wait before you start to worry whether it will be delivered, or do you feel secure enough in the company to wait indefinitely?

Depends. If there is good communication if I ask them, then I'll probably be happy to wait longer but I would really think 4 months would be my limit. If I'm getting no communication, then I might even be tempted to put in a Paypal request for the money back until they start talking.

3. Do you feel your 'trust' in BJD companies in general has been eroded by some of the bad examples you have witnessed/heard about?
Definitely. Many companies have just been disappearing left right and centre. What happens if that's a company that has my money? I ordered from CCC before it went to hell and was shocked how a good company can do a complete about-face and become something that caused people misery. I am very cautious to only use reputable, popular companies, Soom etc, that are not going under anytime soon.
If in doubt, buy secondhand!

 

That's true, there are many issues, delay, ruin, post problem and so on. But normally they'll be fine at last.

 

1. Do you always research them thoroughly ie wait times and product quality before purchasing?
If it's a company that I've never ordered from before or one that I've heard has had some issues, I do like to look up information about them. My order to Leeke is the first doll I've bought direct from a company in several years, so it's not really been a problem. I haven't been avoiding buying direct for reasons of concern - I've just been able to find a lot of what I've wanted on the marketplace. I do think it benefits people to at least to a quick DoA search or check out the company feedback to find out if there have been any recent problems.


2. Once you have bought your doll is there a length of time you are happy to wait before you start to worry whether it will be delivered, or do you feel secure enough in the company to wait indefinitely?
If it hits the three months mark, I need some kind of update or I'll start to worry that something is wrong. I realize that these are small companies, and if they get hit with a lot of orders it can take some time. Plus, legitimate things can come up, and I'd rather them take the time to make my doll well, then send me a doll that has issues. However, if I'm going to be waiting a long time, I need some communication from them. What's really bad is waiting and waiting and not knowing what's going on.

3. Do you feel your 'trust' in BJD companies in general has been eroded by some of the bad examples you have witnessed/heard about?
No, there are a lot of companies out there and it stands to reason that not all are going to do as well in the customer service department and that a few will end up being downright flakey. It just means that hobbyists need to be aware and take the time to check things out before ordering.

 

For the most part, the dolls I order have come from the well-established companies like Volks and Luts, so I've never felt the need to do any research. I've had personal experience with both and that's enough to convince me to keep coming back because I know that the quality is reliable. I am quite relaxed with shipping times because my longest wait has been from Luts and that's been barely over a month - I've been quite fortunate in having short waits when ordering a doll. I feel secure ordering from these companies - the one time I had an issue was with Soom and since then, I've not ordered from them. The doll was defective and my friends are suffering horiffic waiting times, so that has put me off ordering direct from them.

I have a list of companies I won't deal with. My trust in those companies has been eroded but not with the bjd 'market' in general. When spending a good amount of money on something like this, it is the buyer's prerogative to make sure they research before buying from a company because you cannot trust the company to show both positive and negative feedback. I often think at times this is what some people forget. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. As the Latin phrase goes, caveat emptor. Buyer beware. >_>

 

1. Do you always research them thoroughly ie wait times and product quality before purchasing?
Well, I always have but recently I got suckered into assuming that a US company would be reliable and didn't do the research... if I hadn't made that huge and stupid assumption I would have read the Dollfair feedback and the sprawling car-crash of the Dollfair/Narin Creative thread and never ordered my US produced artist doll, one that I never recieved. That would have saved me a whole lot of grief and I have to say it has taught me a lesson. Now I can't do enough research!

2. Once you have bought your doll is there a length of time you are happy to wait before you start to worry whether it will be delivered, or do you feel secure enough in the company to wait indefinitely?
No, if the wait is long and the company isn't communicating, then I get really angsty. Other than Dollfair my only other bad experience was with Domuya in 2009, they kept either ignoring me or saying "it is about to ship"... it took over 5 months and I was told the doll was ready to ship countless times during the wait. That's another company whose dolls I would only now buy second hand, no matter how good other people's experiences with them have been.

3. Do you feel your 'trust' in BJD companies in general has been eroded by some of the bad examples you have witnessed/heard about?

Sadly yes, but there are still some shinning examples of efficiency out there like Peakswoods and Dollstown, all my dealing with both companies have been really pleasant and good. They deliver very fast and communicate very well and in the case of PW they even offered to correct a mistake that wasn't really their fault. I'd recommend them both to anyone. They keep my faith in this business going and I'm sure there are plenty of other great companies out there too.

 

1. Do you always research them thoroughly ie wait times and product quality before purchasing?

It isn't just resin companies I research. I also check out a user's feedback before buying something off the MP. IMO it's always a good idea to do some basic research, no matter who you're dealing with.

2. Once you have bought your doll is there a length of time you are happy to wait before you start to worry whether it will be delivered, or do you feel secure enough in the company to wait indefinitely?

It depends. Some companies (like Soom) have a wait time guarantee. I know my order will ship in X days. If the company doesn't have a guarantee I'm OK with waiting as long as the company keeps everybody up to date. I believe Withdoll was having some casting issues. So they made sure to inform everybody that they were working on the problem.

3. Do you feel your 'trust' in BJD companies in general has been eroded by some of the bad examples you have witnessed/heard about?

No. But then again 1) I haven't dealt with any of the companies listed in the first post and 2) some of those issues (like Customhouse and CCC) have been going on for a very long time. I feel horrible that so many people have lost money/items/resin. I take their experiences to heart and avoid those companies.

 

1. Do you always research them thoroughly ie wait times and product quality before purchasing?

I research the wait times and product quality, but long wait times don't bother me. I've waited months for a doll to be completed and sent, but have always been very happy with the end product. In some cases, that has been the only way to obtain the dolls I wanted without paying inflated after-market prices.

2. Once you have bought your doll is there a length of time you are happy to wait before you start to worry whether it will be delivered, or do you feel secure enough in the company to wait indefinitely?

It depends on the company and the circumstances. If it's a company I have bought from in the past or if I know that a huge volume of dolls have been ordered (as in the Dollshe event), I am content to wait until my doll arrives. If it's a new company, I join the waiting thread and take note of when shipping begins. Some companies are very small, some of them just one or two people, so I expect for there to be a wait. If waiting for these dolls made me miserable, angry, or terribly unhappy, I would probably find a new hobby. I pretty much forget about it and occupy my time making plans for how I want my doll to look. I also think that badgering a company constantly about wait times on the Q&A board of their website is counterproductive and takes time away from making my doll.

3. Do you feel your 'trust' in BJD companies in general has been eroded by some of the bad examples you have witnessed/heard about?

I think that judging all companies by the misdeeds of a few is very unfair. I have personally never had a bad experience ordering directly from a doll company and I have a bunch of dolls from many companies.

 

1. Do you always research them thoroughly ie wait times and product quality before purchasing?
If it's a company that I've not yet purchased from, I usually breeze through the feedback section for them and see how it goes (but some bad reviews you have to take with a grain of salt, because user error factors in sometimes). If I'm going to make a large purchase like a doll or a particularly expensive order of items, I also check the waiting room and see if there's any outstanding orders (ex. trouble with getting things out on time, etc). I check waiting rooms before buying dolls as well, so I can ballpark about how long it'll take to get mine finished and shipped. I think it's worthwhile to take time to research, even if it's a company you've ordered from before and had no problems with - better safe than sorry.

2. Once you have bought your doll is there a length of time you are happy to wait before you start to worry whether it will be delivered, or do you feel secure enough in the company to wait indefinitely?
For the most part, I give myself a 2 month wait period (for a nonlimited, nonfullset ect) that I won't question during. I accept that this is the normal working period, and I do not bother them on the Q&A board about where my doll is/etc. If it starts going into 3 months, I'll check the waiting room and news discussions to see if anything had changed during the period I ordered. Only then I would consider leaving a notice checking up on my order status.

3. Do you feel your 'trust' in BJD companies in general has been eroded by some of the bad examples you have witnessed/heard about?
As a whole, no. Some companies, yes. I used to really like Customhouse, and I've always wanted one of their older sculpts one day. However, I would probably never order from them with the way they've been doing business. Likewise, any company with a huge wait time and outstanding orders dating months back, I would definitely avoid or wait until it was sorted out. I also won't accept poor customer service (reply delays I can understand sometimes, but lying and rudeness from a seller is a flat out deal breaker for me) and any company with a reputation for it will not get my business. As someone said earlier, the second hand market is always thriving, so if it came down to it, I would check there first for a doll by a company I'd not have ordered directly from.

 

1. Do you always research them thoroughly ie wait times and product quality before purchasing?

I mostly just buy from companies that I've had good experiences from already. The companies I like tend to make enough molds that it is not an issue. When buying something from someone I've not bought from before yes, I check feedback regardless if they are an individual seller or company.

In the case of some of the companies listed at the start of this thread:
Customhouse has been having issues for years, ever since their first huge sale. Dollfair has had paging threads and people complaining of poor communication before this recent fiasco. Even LaTi use to have long shipping times, it was one reason they use to for all intents and purposes close for a while between each order.

2. Once you have bought your doll is there a length of time you are happy to wait before you start to worry whether it will be delivered, or do you feel secure enough in the company to wait indefinitely?

A lot depends on communication and what the expected time frame of the wait is. I'm hoping to join a Blue Fairy pre order this week end. The expected wait time is 40 working days. I am not going to worry if my doll is not ready before then.

I have bought from a few sketchy people in terms of wait time. I was luckily not involved in the last orders from Mio but I had previously ordered from her. Her wait times were always longer than claimed and communication was nil. I also joined a group order for Everpurple eyes in Feb 2010 knowing that the last group order during their buy one get one free sale took 6 months to produce and having just run a group order with them, I knew how bad EP''s communication was. I did not get my order until Sept 2010. I was joking it was taking as long as my pregnancy. After the nearly 9 month wait I will not order from EP again.

3. Do you feel your 'trust' in BJD companies in general has been eroded by some of the bad examples you have witnessed/heard about?

Not really, I still trust the companies I trust, but it does make me even more leery to test out new companies.

 

When you are dealing with a company -
1. Do you always research them thoroughly ie wait times and product quality before purchasing?

I generally buy from the same companies, so I'm familiar with general quality and
and their wait times. Also I almost always buy on layaway, so waiting isn't as much
of an issue for me as it might be if I paid in full. But when looking at a doll from a
company I've never bought from before I definitely try to research.....making sure
they are in fact still functioning!


2. Once you have bought your doll is there a length of time you are happy to wait before you start to worry whether it will be delivered, or do you feel secure enough in the company to wait indefinitely?

I definitely look around in the WR threads for my particular doll to see if there's
any news/discussion about problems with communication/damaged items or
delays.


3. Do you feel your 'trust' in BJD companies in general has been eroded by some of the bad examples you have witnessed/heard about?

Not really. I was one of the customers who had problems with CCC, but was fortunate
to get a refund from DDE....things do sadly happen, a ABJD company is no different
from any other company where problems arise but I view them all as an individual
even if they are from the same country. One bad experience won't shy me away from
buying from another company as long as they have good FB/customer service!

On a side note, I purchased from Spiritdoll last year and had positive experiences with
my questions being answered and both my orders arriving in good time and condition,
they are a smaller company, and I try to remember that not all ABJD companies have
hundreds or thousands of people working for them, sometimes it's only a few people.
I've never had a business to run but can imagine that it's difficult and there will be a
few bumps in the road now and then. Also even if a company has problems but then
they try to get up and running I'd like to think that many would give them another
chance, within reason depending on what the problem was of course! Not all things
are forgivable or should be, just because you feel bad isn't a reason, but if they do
try to make amends and prove they are trustworthy (which often requires one to buy
from them again..) then I would consider being their customer again.

Just my opinion, I completely understand if others who have been hurt feel differently.

 

1. Do you always research them thoroughly ie wait times and product quality before purchasing?
I make sure to research them, and their dolls through here to make sure they're going to be a good fit for me. My only experience has been with Dollmore, and that was good. But I think every company - BJD or otherwise - can have a bad sale, or have something go awry. Part of making a sale involves risk.

2. Once you have bought your doll is there a length of time you are happy to wait before you start to worry whether it will be delivered, or do you feel secure enough in the company to wait indefinitely?
I only worried because this was my first doll, and I didn't know the steps that went into production. They said it'd take 7-15 days, but that was not including shipping time, so I worried that people would think I was scammed, and get an earful later on.

3. Do you feel your 'trust' in BJD companies in general has been eroded by some of the bad examples you have witnessed/heard about?
Not 'eroded'. More observant, definitely. Like, when I wanted to possibly buy some wigs from Leeke World, I found out that it seems like their quality had been going down lately. People were getting messed-up wigs, and such. I've ordered from Dollmore again since then, and I'll admit, on both occasions, something was not perfectly up to par (a sweater I ordered had holes in it, and a pair of white sandals had some kind of pink coloring on one heel), but those were minor issues to me. That's different than just not getting what I ordered.

 

1. Do you always research them thoroughly ie wait times and product quality before purchasing?

Well, the dolls I've ordered are mostly from Luts or DZ, so I haven't had this kind of issue yet. I'm not one to really investigate about it, but I do like to read some feedback from time to time, and right now my opinion stands that, in example, I would never order anything from Custom House. I don't mind waiting a lot for my dolls, but that people is abusing the clients' trust.

2. Once you have bought your doll is there a length of time you are happy to wait before you start to worry whether it will be delivered, or do you feel secure enough in the company to wait indefinitely?

I'm usually pretty calm about deliveries. I don't mind waiting. I get nervous, though, when it seems every order I know of a doll has been delivered, except mine... And I'm talking about waiting rooms in forums and such as the "orders I konw of".

3. Do you feel your 'trust' in BJD companies in general has been eroded by some of the bad examples you have witnessed/heard about?

Erm... Well, my trust in Custom House is practically non-existant, and I have never ordered anything from them... So, yes, I guess I'm pretty influenced by the customers' reviews. I mostly read the ones in this forum anyway, so... You people dictate my opinion... *zombie mode on*