Dollfair Feedback (ALL)

I'm editing my feedback as I have finally finished all transactions with Dollfair, for good.
I would say the service offered by Dollfair for narindolls at best is atrocious.Fast to take your money, Quick to Avoid communications after.
Communications were pathetic.
No, it wasnt in spam mail either.
No, she wasnt away travelling, she was here posting advertising on the forum.

People came on the forum to seek for answers on the discussion page
and had to trawled through pages after pages just to find answers.
How difficult i wonder is it to setup a mailing list to customers for updates.

My first doll was ordered on Xmas eve 2007. I went on to order more dolls and heads.
I had issues with my narin dolls in addition to a 4 month delay to which no answers
were given until much later on when people on the forum pressed for it.

I also had the feeling because she relies on a korean interpreter,
every question eats into her business as she has to pay fees therefore so many of us here on the feedback
forum did not get the answers we required.

Delays are inevitable but not being told why until much later on not acceptable.
ignoring of emails for weeks! and when finally confronted, a "she didnt have the answer" so no reply is simply not acceptable. not when you have spent usd$1-2 K!

In fact the way my transactions were handled has caused me to sell almost all the narindolls I have bought because of the unprofessional way it was handled. It leaves a bad aftertaste.

Promises that it would be shipped directly from korea instead of korea to usa back to UK
just conveniently "forgotten" and packages came from usa.

Problems were never really handled well and it was really the money and sales and you're basically
chasing for problem solving and communications after paying a good few thousands.

I love supiadolls but because dollfair was the agent I decided never again to let them have mymoney
and was glad to find another agent for supiadolls.

Joan from dollfair was the only saving grace but she was hired in the midst of resin shortage and had no answers
and unfortunately had to take directions from owner of Dollfair.
I also resented that their communications were so poor as echoed by many of us here, with no email responses for weeks on ends, that she now blamed it on her own customers, saying customers wanted a 24 hour service and now needed to increase the price.
I dont need 24 hr customer service, i need a reply in at least under a week esp if i see the company active on this board and posting and never replying to my mails

if you research on the dolls they carry on DOA, you can see ongoing problems they fail to solve (example) limhwa (resin with uneven lumps) ..

customer BEWARE
i would never buy from them ever again.

 

This is a great idea! I'm really glad someone's posted this cos it would have been nice to find this before I'd ordered This is an edited version of the review I posted on my DA account already, so some of you may have already seen it.


The Company
I ordered my Narin from Dollfair because it seemed to be the easiest, english speaking method that took paypal. I've dealt with plenty of Korean companies direct, but I've found if there's an english speaking option, it's often easier to take it just for convienience's sake really. That, and their website didn't do any of the ridiculous "ordering period" milarky that some of the others pull and it was nicely laid out and easy to understand. I paid, all was well, I got payment confirmation the next day, so he officially went on order December 12th 2007.

Then the waiting began! The website claims a 4-6 week wait, I ALWAYS take website listings with a pinch of salt, so I estimated more like 8-9 weeks and settled in.

Seven weeks passed and I hadn't heard anything, so I mailed Catrina and asked what was happening. She told me the order was "being made" and that "sometimes patience is required because they make the dolls each by hand." This was fine, but did rather tell me that Dollfair never had expected the dolls to arrive in the order period listed on the website. I figure Christmas holidays probably slowed it up, fair enough.

I waited another 10 days. This is now the end of January 2008. I mailed Catrina again asking for an update as she said I could do in her last mail. Got no reply.

I waited until Feb 12th 2008, this was now 2 months since order confirmation and COMFORTABLY outside the both the website's and my estimated shipping times. I mailed Catrina through the website again and this time got a swift reply saying that mine was at the top of the order that was being processed, and that the dolls were being shipped from Korea direct to save time. She also said I should keep an eye on the website where the news of the shipping times would be posted soon.

I waited...and waited...that front page never changed. By now I was starting to get annoyed. It was OVER 3 months since order confirmation, I understand delays because of Christmas and Chinese New Year, fair enough, but at least TELL me what's going on! I mailed Catrina again and was finally told that a french resin shortage affecting all of the BJD companies in Korea had been caused by someone forgetting to restock after the holidays. Catrina also apologised for the delay and assured me that Narin were doing everything they could to get back on schedule.

Now, I find it incredibly hard to believe that Dollfair didn't know about this long before they finally had no option but to tell me and the many others in the orders affected. I really can't help thinking that we'd all have dealt with the wait far better had we actually been informed of the reason for the delay instead of constantly being told to be patient! Patience I can do, but you do have to give me a valid reason why the doll I paid over $500 for is not in my hands after 3 months of waiting when the shipping esitimate was 4-6 weeks on the website.

In the end, the doll arrived without my ever having had a shipping notice. It just turned up, out of the blue, on the 26th March 2008.

The Doll
Firstly, I will say that he genuinely is a work of art! The faceplate is GORGEOUS, truely a beautiful thing to behold and it even looked like my character before I painted it which is a BIG plus. The resin quality is beautiful and the casting practically seamless (mine wasn't sanded).

His body has a fantastic torso joint that allows for GREAT posing, his hands and feet are lovely little works of art, he can even touch his own face! *joy* THEN we come to the knees.

Narin implemented a new "invisible string" knee joint and mine happened to be in the first batch of these released. Now, this joint would appear to be, frankly, useless. It only allows you a movement of 90 degrees, meaning that they're all unable to sit on their heels or sit cross legged, the standing posing is also limited because the stringless joint consists of a resin ball with two prongs that go up in to the thigh and down into the shin, making the joint very weak and some of the first batch to be sent out actually snapped the resin shaft within days. It has also meant that the legs below the knee are often floppy and very loose because the resin hooks lack the strength to take a tight stringing. This weakness has been put down to a "casting error" by Narin and Dollfair and will apparently be rectified in later orders.

This joint is a MASSIVE problem for me as posability was why I wanted a narin. Following discussions between Catrina and Narin, I have been offered a replacement set of legs with the OLD knee joint instead. These are apparently being shipped shipped direct from Narin, but I have heard nothing since being told that by Catrina on the 8th April. I will edit this with any resolution when I have news.

Conclusion:
Dollfair -
Yes, the delays were totally out of Dollfair's control and were understandable, but the complete lack of communication between Dollfair and the buyers over the resin shortage issue was, for me, unacceptable.

I honestly have nothing against Catrina, she clearly was dealing with a difficult situation, and has done her level best to get the issues fixed, but not telling us of a delay that had a perfectly valid reason left a very bad taste in my mouth. There is only so long you can tell people to be patient without any kind of explanation and that time passed somewhere around 2 months in.

My total wait time was about 3 and a half months.

Would I go back to Dollfair? No. The entire sorry and as yet still unrectified debacle has killed any desire I had to return, regardless of how well Catrina has dealt with it.

The doll:
Beautiful, a work of art, WHY in heaven's name did they bother with an utterly useless and uncessary re-design that robbed functionality for the sake of aesthetics.

 

I ordered in 1 doll Jan 22nd (is part of order #64) and another Feb 12 (part of order #65) . The only status I'm aware of is "in production".

The good: I was very excited about getting Narae
The bad: I've waited so long now that I'm quite indifferent

 

I got my N-doll Miru and Supia Roda last year about the same time from Dollfair. They are both very beautiful and in perfect condition, I love them very much and Dollfair has no doubt very good after sale services. I'm so tempted to Narae classic but I can't make up my mind not because the issue of new joints I believe it can be fixed but I had experienced a hard time communicating with Dollfair before decided to shell out the money. I'd tried to reach them for over half a month to no avail but as I wanted the dolls so badly I went straight to order my Miru, just a few mins after done with the order I got a thank you note from Dollfair. I understand there's only one or two persons to handle all the inquiries, I was not expecting quick responds but I don't think anyone would like to be ignored. Other than that, I have no complaints. It's my own experience with them.

 

I've ordered two Narae girls from Dollfair/Narin last year. Both girls have the old knee system.

First Narae:
Ordered: 26 April 2007 Arrived: 04 August 2007
I ordered a Narae open-eyed tanning w/ faceup on April 26th 2007.
Same day I shot an email to Dollfair asking to confirm receipt of payment and faceup request.
Same day I received an email back with confirmation from Catrina.
No updates until another member here started pressing for info here on the board (she was in the same order as me).
Mid-July we get update here on the board that dolls have arrived at customs.
Dolls were held up at customs for a couple of weeks.
Catrina updated here on the board and contacted officials at customs.
Doll Arrived August 04, 2007.

Conclusion: Doll was spectacular with lovely basic line face up. Resin was beautiful and doll tightly stung and stood right out of the box.
I wish Dollfair would update their website and change the 4-6 week waiting time to 8+ weeks waiting time to reflect the more realistic waiting times. Not including the hold up in customs, the doll wait was much longer than 4-6 weeks.

Second Doll:
Ordered: 31 July 2007 Arrived: 24 October 2007

Ordered a Heartbreak tanning Narae without faceup on July 31st.
This time I didn't email for confirmation.
No updates on website.
Arrived on October 24th 2007.

Conclusion: Doll was loosely strung and I found it difficult to get her to stand.
I noticed the resin was much lighter and creamier than my first narae.
Narae changed the tanning color to darker just recently, but mine was lighter than my first girl and I had ordered & received her before the change was ever mentioned. At first I thought they had sent me the golden beige by mistake, but she has absolutely no yellow undertones. I kept her anyway because I liked the lighter color better.
Again the wait was longer than the 4-6 weeks mention time. The wait is more like 8 weeks at best.

No one is asking for 24/7 grocery-store service. We would just like our email(s) answered in a timely manner and updates every now and then especially after two to three months have passed and no doll. Unfortunately, emails are sometimes never answered and customers have to come to DOA to find out information. This is not something new as I've seen in the older discussion threads and was aware of the lack of inconsistent customer service before I purchased my doll. Even though I love my Narae girls, and my particular email did get answered in record time, the lack of updates on their website and the fact that customers have to come here to press for some kind of response and the curtness of some people's responses to these queries makes Dollfair look inconsistent and unprofessional. Also, blaming "newbies" for "demanding" 24/7 customer service and blaming them for the price increase is unfair and unprofessional. Customers are not asking for the exaggerated 24/7 customer service; they just want what is fair and not to be ignored when they ask a legitimate question in regards to their order.

 

I ordered my first Narae in Dec 20, 2007. Narin sent out in April 16, 2008 and I received on April 18.

I emailed dollfair at the end of January and tried to find the status of my order. They said “my order is soon to arrive” but I received her after two months. I never see an update of my order on dollfair official website. I think I know nothing (French resin shortage and problems of new knee joint) if I don’t go to Narin/Narae thread on DoA. I know dollfair can’t estimate our waiting time but at least they have to give us some updates and the status of our orders. I expect to wait for my Narae about two months because Dollfair’s website stated that they receive shipments in 4-6 weeks.

Finally my Narae arrived in April but she came with a lot of problems.

1) I saw two different color/skintones/materials from her lower torso and leg.
2) Loosely left foot. I can’t hold her left foot and she can’t stand perfectly.
3) A scratch on her headback
4) Sorry, I don’t know how to describe this problem clearly so I just post a picture.


I emailed Dollfair about these problems and asked for refund on Apr 18. Cartina replied my email and she said she will work to get a replacement for me.
I asked her more details about the replacement (When and How?) but she hasn’t replied yet.

status: Cartina will have a replacement for my Narae and I'm still waiting now.

Btw, I read a lot of comments about the customer support on the other threads. I don't think people expect to have 24/7 customer support and at least reply the email in 3-5 business days. We all can wait if the doll is worth to wait. I waited for my first bjd for more than 4 months in few years ago and i have no complaint on it.

 

Catrina is a doll to work with beleive me she will go out of her way for you perhaps she is just busy.. You can try posting on ZONE OF ZEN as she is on the boards a bit there


Wish you luck but beleive me she will give you her attention and make everything right if she can..

Luck you get this all clearned up soon

 

I have ordered two Narae dolls, Two Limhwa dolls, and three Supia Babies from Dollfair, communication from Catrina was always very good, relatively prompt, and customer service was always excellent. Yes, sometimes messages would go unanswered, but if I couldn't find the answer on my own, I just re-mailed the question. Perhaps a better updated site and a bit more attention to emails is suggested, but overall I have been 100% satisfied with my buying experience and wouldn't hesitate to buy again or refer others to Dollfair.

 

I have ordered 4 dolls from Dollfair and only my Limwha had a problem, but that was resolved quickly and Catrina was always polite and pleasant with me. For all the newbies coming into the hobby if you are impatient and don't read everything and jump in too quickly you will be disappointed a LOT of times with this hobby. This type of hobby requires PATIENCE which seems a lot of people are starting to lack having. So many people were ordering Narin's and Narae's that you quickly forget it starts to take even LONGER for the orders to go thru, wire the money and then the wait starts when they actually make the doll itself not including face painting by the artist which is 1 person at a time per faceplate. French Resin shortage was the HUGE problem and maybe too many orders at once also, but I have my doll and I am 1 happy customer. The only downside is that since so many new collectors want 24/7 customer service like credit card companies have the PRICE is going to go up for Narin and Narae dolls, which I am NOT HAPPY about, but if it pleases everyone else then it's a price everyone will have to pay. Oh and my Narin came with 2 extra joints incase the one's he has break, so everyone that has the new knee joint check your purple box he or she came with for them, they are in there.

 

I was very displeased with my order from Dollfair.

I ordered two dolls from Dollfair, and Narin and Narae without face ups last year. I ordered them November 16th and never got an order or payment confirmation from them, and it WAS NOT that any emails had been blocked by my address, none were sent to me.

I tried to email them FOUR times at different email addresses I was given and with separate email addresses I have to ensure they weren't just getting lost. I only got ONE reply, and that was only when I was beginning to get upset with them and voiced it, they asked for my order number(which I had to get from my Paypal, there weren't any sorts of emails that let me know even what my order number was), which I replied to with the information and NEVER got another reply. I resent the information twice and still never got any information. It wasn't an issue of them not replying within a certain amount of time, THEY JUST NEVER REPLIED TO ME.

I received the dolls February 13th. I recieved no updates in the amount of time I was waiting, and none of my questions answered by them. The wait on their website said 4-6 weeks, and I was expecting something closer to that, especially since the dolls I ordered did not have to have face ups.
The order that was to be received before Christmas went in November 11th, I only ordered 5 days after that so I wasn't expecting to have to wait two extra months. Not only that, but Dollfair asked Narin doll to ship my order, and the next order to her at the same time, delaying the order my dolls were in.

The dolls arrived to me just fine, and they're nice dolls and everything, but I was not at all happy with Dollfair's service. I personally would avoid ordering from them in the future.

 

Dollfair has caused me a great deal of frustration. In good faith I was part of the first Narin doll order and I chose a BW Narae 60 because I already had normal dolls and I wanted 1 BW.

My first disappointment in the product was that for an expensive doll there were obvious seam lines. I asked if I could send her back to be sanded and my requested was rejected.

Since then seam sanding is available for an extra fee (which I would have paid) because I was probably not the only one complaining.

Nothing I could say or do would remedy the situation.
I was accused of being unreasonable.

Well I just started covering her body with leggings and clothing to hide the unsightly seams.

Less then a year later I noticed yellowing of my BW Narae. She was my only BW doll and I wanted her to stay White.

I again contacted dollfair and was told that it was my fault that i did not seal her with some sealer solution. When I purchased her I was not told that this would happen.

Dollfair once again was not knowledgeable about the product they were selling.
First the seams which they eventually corrected not for me though and now the french resin yellowing.

I asked that my doll be whitened or sent back for replacement and once again I was treated negatively.

Other people were experiencing the same problem because there were long threads about the problem. People were using dangerous acids and solutions to try to whiten their dolls.


I would not jeopardize my health working with such caustic materials,

Sound business practice is to recall and replace a faulty product.

I will never do business with Dollfair again because I was treated very poorly as a customer and their product has a resin yellowing problem. They have switched to urethane because of this problem but IT IS TOO LATE FOR MY DOLL.

 

Figured I would weigh in here...

I was surprised to hear that so many people were having trouble with Dollfair's communication and customer service. My boyfriend ordered me a Limhwa Half-Elf for my birthday (I love him!). My doll was part of the November order. I contacted Dollfair several times over the course of the order (once to ask for some body measurements that weren't on the webpage, a few times to work out faceup details), and my emails were always answered promptly and helpfully. Because of the French resin shortage in Korea, my doll took about four months to arrive. This was a bit disappointing, but I do not believe it was Catrina's or Limhwa's fault. I was pleased with Dollfair's customer service, and would order from them again. Perhaps not a Narin doll, though -- it is troubling to see the problems that some people have been having with the new knee joint -- but I am sure that Catrina and Narin will work hard to straighten this out.

 

I've been following this thread and trying to decide whether or not I should comment...
I ordered a Narae last summer and although she took forever to arrive, she was in perfect shape when she got here. So, no real faults with the doll.
However, practically every email I sent in regards to the order status went unanswered.

 

I have a 60cm pinky white Narae and I am pleased with the doll. However, I was not happy with the customer service I received from Dollfair. Virtually every email went unanswered - even the one saying I wanted to place an order. I had to call her on the phone to get any answer. I put my doll on layaway which required an email notification you want to make a payment so a shopping cart button can be added to your private web page. My emails would go unanswered as well as posts on DoA or other boards.

Updates on the status of the order were nil. I eventually had to resort to every email being sent with a read receipt or delete notice. The excuse that she receives too many emails is unacceptable. I ordered my doll long before Dollfair had a storefront. As an internet only business answering emails should be a priority. Once the doll was shipped to Dollfair from Narin Catrina was very prompt with shipping.

I would love to have a 60cm Mature Narae but I will never order another doll from Dollfair.

 

First sorry for my english, hope you will understand ^^

I was loonking for Narae since a long time, and I took one one 31 december 2007 because of the new "uv cut" resin and new knees.

I had her 3 months later (without having the tracking... just *driiiing* "yes? hello?" "chronopost, I have a package for you" "oO").

5 days after her arrival (she was played just 1 hours and she was in her box all the time), one of her knee broke....I posted it here on DOA and Dollfait worked to give me new ones. As the others says, it was quick for this decision and I like the way they did it.

I received them nearly a month later (and I had to work on my girl to make her stand during this time...). I thank dollfair and Narin for that. BUT one is not working at all, and the other one is not perfect... so I can't perfectly use those replacements...


.....

I just wrote to Dollfair yesterday and I'm waiting a reply, I hope, during next week (I don't mind waiting 1 week, but not 1 month).
EDIT: Dollfair gave me a response very quickly So now I wait, because doing thing take time (hope not much months :/)

EDIT: I just restrung my girl and... broke two others knee parts. So I really think it will be really difficult to restrung those dolls without braking a knee. I just dis another systeme with the broken parts that is working quite well and is hard to break. I can't use replacement knees, so I have to be creative!

So:

I like the way Dollfair stays in touch with the customers, and the way Narin take some good decisions. they were quick to act and that's really a great job. I love my girl, she is just incredible!!! And I don't want to loose this attachment because of the problematics knees.

But I'm not completly happy of this 500$ purchase, because my doll is defective. And I don't think it's normal to make reparations on dolls 5 days after their arrival, or to fear playing with it, because she can loose a knee without any indications.


Now I don't know what to think about that. I will buy from Dollfait in the futur (I want a supia) that's for shure!! and from Narin too, but I think Narin has to work on their dolls, because for me I didn't have a doll here, but a prototype.

 

SUPIA~

The contact With Dollfair was alright during my wait for her,
she was send from Korea directly to me.
The doll is stunning and the quality high.

No problems there.


Jumping off heads problem:
My Supia Roda's head pops off 2 times a week..
and posting this asking if anyone els had this problem Dollfair told me i should have pm'ed them first about this.
(I wasn't even sure if this was a normal problem.. something i was trying to figure out be for stalking them about it.)

Supia simply posted a restringing guide in the threat,
while restringing wasn't really the problem.
It almost feels to me like Dollfair thinks it is normal for 700 dollar dolls heads to pop off
at random.

Now a friendly person send me a pm that she had both a mini supia and a supia with the same problems.
So i know i'm not the only one :/

I simply hope they contact Supia about this and try and fix this problem.
Because the dolls themselves are simply super.

 

This is long overdue, but this wasn't here when I bought my Narin.

I ordered a 60cm LE Narin Tattoo v.1 through Dollfair. Catrina is an outstanding business woman and liason! She communicated with me every step of the way, and allowed me to purchase my boy via layaway. Since he is a limited Narin, a custom face-up was included in his price. I chose to have Kim Kyu Yun bring my boy to life, and Catrina conveyed every detail and photo/image of my vision to the artist beautifully.

My only small complaint is that I paid for seam sanding (because once the tattoo was painted on I would not be able to sand the seams myself) and Narin Creative did not sand all of the seams. Ha ha, I think it may have been a language misunderstanding, because they sanded the seams in the areas of the tattoo. No biggie. My initial concern was met.

Yes, it is normal practice to wait quite a while for Narin/Narae dolls. However, I felt it was well worth the wait. Even with the custom face-up, my boy didn't take any longer to receive than an average Narin order. And he is spectacular. ^_^

 

I just found this thread. I have purchased two Supias, three Limwhas, and a Narae from Dollfair. Each transaction went flawlessly. The thought never occurred to me to e-mail Catrina about my orders because I went into them with the expectation that this is a prolonged venture. The dolls are created in small studios, some in the artist's home, through a labor intensive, time consuming, skilled crafting process. One mishap, such as the shortage of French resin, or inclement weather, can cause extensive delays in the process.

I agree that communication with the customer is an important part of doing business. The customer, too, should have done his research about the product he is buying, and have realistic expectations. Catrina maintains a very visible presence on this and other forums. She makes regular announcements about the progress of orders and possible delays. I knew about the French resin shortage from her posts on this board, and I did not have a doll on order from her at the time. It is clear from the complaints aired here that when problems arise, they are addressed by Dollfair. Replacement parts are sent, even if the wait is prolonged. It must be said that Catrina has no control over the manufacturing process, nor the design process. But it is very clear that she works as a liaison between the artists and the customers to solve the problems.

I have to commend and thank Catrina, too, for encouraging artists. Many dolls have reached our hands thanks to her hard efforts. Notably, she convinced Limwha that there was a large market for her dolls (and the rest is history. . . :-)

I am not a spokesperson for Dollfair. I am a satisfied customer. Were my transactions perfect? In my view, they were in every respect except that I became acquainted with the disappointment of yellowed French resin. Do I hold Catrina accountable for this? No. She does not manufacture the dolls, and, apparently, the artists were not concerned about the yellowing because this is an accepted part of the doll aging to the Asian collectors. Thanks to Catrina, again, the artists, who were initially resistant, agreed to sell the dolls in urethane resin to please the Western collector's doll palate.

Edit: Just saw that this is a company feedback thread I posted in. Some of my comments may not apply, as they are not specific to my transactions and experience with Dollfair. I have decided to leave them stand because I am seeing criticism over things that are considered accepted practice in bjd manufacturer, chiefly manufacturing delays.

 

i have ordered 5 narins/naraes from dollfair - and each transaction was a nightmare.

my first one (ordered 2 years ago) i was told he would arrive in 4-6 weeks and took 14+ weeks WITH NO COMMUNICATION AT ALL about delays.

my second narae was ordered last december and then it wasn't until a good deal into the wait (i think about 10 weeks) i found out that there was a resin shortage - but not from catrina!!! i had to read about it here - she never told me until much later!

then my girl came - with the new knees - and was fine at first, but developed problems quickly, including weak resin (she had scratches in her resin from her hand touching her throat as well a broken ankle from turning the foot ever so slightly), warped knees - one of with eventually broke. i tried contacting her about replacement knees and at first she was kind and kept telling me over and over again my replacement parts would ship "soon" (the first time i asked about parts was right after i got my girl in march i believe).

i even joined her forum on the new knees - but all my concerns were unanswered and i don't think she took them seriously.

several months past and i didn't get anything and i told her i didn't want the new knees, i wanted the old ones. she said she would get the parts for me, and that was the last i heard from her - about 1.5 months ago.

i have since sold that doll and contacted her about 2.5 weeks ago for an update on the replacement parts - but she never responded.

i have 3 more naraes on order (one from end of march and two from mid april) and i asked that they will be old knees.

i didn't hear anything about those until 15 WEEKS!!! into the first order i got a message saying they were delayed due to weather, but would ship the next week. (that was at the beginning of last week)

the communication was deplorable. updates are far and few between, and she still tells people it will take 4-6 weeks to get your doll - which it doesn't.

i will never do business with her again because of these problems.