Lack of quality customer service/etiquette: still order from companies?

Not sure where you've heard this, but I mostly have all Sooms and their customer service is impeccable. They answer their Q&A board regularly and Victoria is always nice and polite and very helpful. If something arrives damaged they replace it.

Anyway, to the question at hand. Like some others have said, if it is bad enough, I will not buy directly from the company but if I want the doll still then I will search for a dealer or on the MP. But I also agree that the language barrier can be a lot of it, but if they are blatantly rude or not responding to you then yeah, I'd look else where.

 

No, I wouldn't buy a doll from a company who is not respecting or/and taking care of their costumers. One thing that I learned from hosting my own company is that my paying costumers means that I'll have food on my table. If the costumer isn't properly taken care of then they won't come back. I can't afford to lose costumers on such reasons.
Having language issues and not being able to express yourself is not IMO a bad costumer service, because hiring someone who's properly trained in that matter is usually extremly expensive.

 

I've only ever had one bad experience while dealing with a doll company directly. It was really hard to get them to send the doll out and it was quite a bit later, like more than a month later, than they said they would ship the doll by the time it was sent and communication was really almost nonexistent.
I would consider buying from them if I really wanted something, like one of their limited dolls I couldn't necessarily get second-hand, but I'm still pretty hesitant when it comes to thinking about ordering from them again.

 

I have dolls from Soom and Volks (and many other companies) and have never had anything but great customer service from them (I have 3 DDs as well as resin Volks dolls). I think a lot of people forget that there's the time zone difference, different holiday schedules & translation issues, so someone expecting an answer to their problem in a couple of hours in perfect English is just unrealistic. There are some companies with well deserved reputations for poor customer service (Custom House, or Ai Dolls as they are known now, for one) but in the main I think a lot of people complaining about poor customer service are just not familiar with the company's business practices or have unrealistic expectations (dolls arriving with seam lines, or the wrong color (free) eyes sent, or not answering emails immediately).

 

I'm willing to cut the overseas companies some slack, but there were some domestic BJD dealers that I would not do business with under any circumstances. (All out of business now FYI.)

 

I can only second what others said already:
there is a huge difference between business in east and west, and the language barrier is huge.
What you consider as rude might just be a person not being capable of expressing themselves better in a foreign language, sometimes they barely understand English and have to use tools like Google Translate.
Which also means that YOUR message might be seen as rude to them after they've translated it, because you are not used to their idea of politeness and through translating a lot of information can get lost.

However, other things can't be brought down to these issues.
Badly packed orders, ignoring questions/messages (especially when you can see that they've answered questions before and after yours), blaming the customer for something that is definitely not their fault and sending out badly made products is an absolute no-go and can't be excused at all.
I sometimes think though that people prefer to ignore these issues, even when others complain about them. I know enough people who worship Soom and dismiss any kind of bad experience with them. Others are always lying or their usual response is "Well, I NEVER had any problems with them", like that would mean nobody else can have a problem with their service.
A friend of mine received FOUR faulty casts of a Soom Shale hoof, it was always bubbly and cloudy and didn't look at all like the other hoof.
While Soom tried to help her at first (after she had pestered them for a loooong time) they never really fixed the problem. Just imagine you ordered two windows, and one arrives clear and the other with a milky, cloudy look to it. Four times you order a new second window and everytime it gets worse and you never get two clear windows. You wouldn't accept that either, would you?

@Jescissa:
I think what most people dislike about Volks' service is how strict they are compared to other companies, other companies pretty much do everything for their customers while Volks has a bit of a "take it, or leave it" mentality.
With Volks you can't combine orders or add something to an order, they won't mark packages down and they even mention on their website that they ban you from future orders if the package gets send back to them and you don't message them to fix that. Also they always use EMS, no Airmail as option, and won't ship the order to someone else than the one who placed the order.
Volks is not flexible at all. And this is sadly true for other bigger companies too (Iplehouse goes the same route), but people LIKE having a choice of being able to combine orders or having the feeling of not dealing with a huge, faceless company.
That doesn't make them a bad company to deal with, but people have different preferences when it comes to companies and the way they treat their customers.

I can't talk about their SD line, but at least in the DD area they are...uh, a bit annoying.
The DDIII bodies had a lot of issues, some dolls arrived with already broken insides or broke even after gently handling them, and Volks was VERY unwilling to admit that the body indeed has issues and something needs to be fixed.
Their own default outfits are pure stain monsters sometimes (the Saber Alter V2 was horrible for example) too, so they pretty much sell a product they KNOW will destroy your doll when re-modeling their photos (i.e. put outfit on the doll for which it has been made for) :I
Yes, they warn that they will stain, but what's the use of a full-set I'm never able to use? Heck, they sometimes even stain through the protection suits Volks sells to avoid these problems.

 

Customer service isn't just the ordering and answering questions, but definitely how they handle problems and issues, as well as how they package their product, imho.

I know several companies who are rapidly going down in customer service right now (not replacing broken parts or giving refunds because of poor packaging, never answering questions, taking 15 days to answer a question, refusing to handle problems, etc) and it's really problematic. I would not order from a company if they have poor customer service.

 

This. I'm a patient person. I've worked in Customer service for 15 years (since I was 16) so I can appreciate what they go through on the other end.

On a side note, I had a friend that was so rude to clerks and waitresses that she was embarrassing to be around when we were out. For this and for other reasons (there were a lot of other reasons), I had to end the friendship. No one likes a rude, demanding customer, either. These types of people may think they're going to get better service, but I'm guessing they get worse service. (and maybe some saliva in their lunch!)

Back on topic, I sympathize with the people answering all those questions on the Q&A and I've only gotten great service from both Luts and Soom. (though I cannot speak for other companies)

As for the poor packaging and broken parts bit, I want to add that Luts immediately sent me a new hand to replace a broken finger for my order last year. Though, I think if a company had a reputation as knightjeran describes above, I would probably not order from them either.

 

Well I can agree that if a company had appalling customer service (outside of language and cultural challenges), I would not shop there again. It's simply not worth my time to put up with bad behaviour. I would finish my transaction and never return and I doubt they would miss my $500 bucks in the long run. But I have been so lucky in this hobby so far and have dealt with several companies that have wonderful service. I am grateful for them and they have my loyalty pretty much.

 

Bad customer service is a deal breaker for me, speaking as someone who has worked in the service industry for a number of years and providing top notch customer service is VERY important to me. I've been on both sides of the fence, so I do understand, and with the language barriers and how busy these companies are, I will give them some leeway. But if I'm ignored, or dealt with rudely, or my doll is horribly packed/damaged and they won't compensate me in any way, then I'm not going to order from them again. I always read their policies on damage etc. very carefully before ordering so I don't wind up in a bad predicament. This goes for pretty much anyone I buy from, not just BJD.

Fortunately, so far I haven't had to deal with anything like that. The only company I've ordered directly from was LUTS, and I personally think they try to go above and beyond for every customer; certainly they made me feel like my business was appreciated.

 

I'm not one of those people who expects a small BJD studio to run like a WalMart. Reasonable communication, shipping with insurance/tracking, clear policies, and a product I really want = pretty much enough for me.

But since I hold up my end of the bargain, I do expect the company to hold up theirs, and will call them on it if they seem to be trying to wriggle out of a problem. The few times I've had to push an issue, I pushed it politely & professionally, and that did the trick every time. (Checking your deliveries immediately, providing clear photographs of the problem, and using short clear sentences in your communications all help.)

I read the fine-print on every company website & sales page I deal with, and I also read their News posts.... so I understand their policies & current situation before I buy, and I don't get whiny when one of them comes into play. Eye color will be randomly chosen? Damage must be declared within 48 hours of receipt? Please expect production delays from November to January? No substitutions on faceups? No problem - if that's how it is, then it's not poor customer-service to stick to the policy, even if the customer believes s/he is entitled to special treatment Just Because.

 

It depends on the extent to which the companies have bad communication. If it were simply that they didn't respond quickly, or their translations seemed negative, I wouldn't mind so much because I understand that there's a language barrier and that they have set work hours. However, I love Kizdoll Saiy, but they don't respond at all, don't fix quality control problems, etc. I would not buy from a company like that.

 

If the company is rude, I feel as though I should not buy from them anymore, but there dolls are too pretty!!

 

I've been buying dolls from companies since 2004 and have a bazillion (not really, but it's a lot) of dolls...

I have never had a problem with customer service.

But--I'm not easily bothered. I don't email companies. I don't have a lot of questions. I just see a doll and expect to get it when I pay for it. I'm easy, basically.

I think that some people are a lot more demanding than I am and dislike a lot more things.

I'll only be upset if I don't get the doll (or items). I've had a few companies forget things (faceups, items). It's annoying when they just refund the money, but at least they do that. I won't stop buying from them because of that.

The doll comes first for me. But if I think it will be more trouble than it is worth, I just won't buy--but I won't be upset at the company. I may think twice about buying if people report big problems. But usually it is just a few people complaining and I will totally ignore that, since there are always people who complain about things. If it's a LOT of people, about the same issues, then that is a true problem.

I do think Customer Service is important. I think companies should communicate IF there is a big problem, like very long delays... (like a YEAR... That's bad! A month or two delay is just the way things go and people can complain, but I don't care about that), or some major fault (joint cracking in a number of dolls, or resin discoloration in a number of dolls). I think with big problems with the dolls, the company should replace the dolls... or at least partially replace or offer to make returns if they can't. That won't always be a deal-killer for me, since I will continue to order from Iplehouse and they've had problems in the past, but have not continued to have problems... not major ones, anyway. All companies will have minor problems. Nothing in life works perfectly. So if a company doesn't have endemic problems that they refuse to fix, I won't stop buying automatically.

I did buy two of the colored elves from Bambicrony that had big problems with the color changing drastically and quickly. I haven't bought any more dolls from them, although I think they have fixed that (by stopping that problem resin, French resin, in those colors). If they had a doll I really wanted, I would consider buying from them again, since they don't seem to have major problems. Although I do have some minor bad feelings. That usually won't get in my way.

Volks policies don't bug me.

Lack of quick and understandable communication doesn't bother me.

As long as I get my doll and the doll isn't damaged in a big way, I'm cool with it. (I've had ill-fitting clothing and wigs and missing items, but that isn't a deal-killer.)

I have never felt that a company I've dealt with has been rude... but then, I don't interact with them much. I just send the money and get the doll!

If I don't get the doll, THEN I'll be upset!

But that's just me.

 

I think the biggest questions I would be asking myself is, "Where is this company located?" and "Is this really bad customer service or is it something else?" The thing is, in many cases in this hobby, buyers are dealing with companies in different countries, where the sellers native language isn't the same as the buyer's native language and where ideas about what counts as 'good customer service' may be different. As a non-doll example, in Japanese restaurants that have wait staff, 'good customer service' doesn't involve hovering around the customers, stopping by the table constantly to see how things are, constantly keeping drinks topped up without the customer asking, etc. In the USA that kind of service would be terrible, but things are different in Japan and that kind of service is not only not 'bad service,' but it's the norm. In Japan it's expected that you'll call or wave to staff members when you need service. 'Bad service' in that situation would be something like...the wait staff in a quiet, not-busy restaurant ignoring your calls.

Anyway, for me, I try to take possible language barriers and cultural differences into account when I'm dealing with customer service situations like the ones that are common in the BJD hobby. As a result, I'm willing to let some things slide that I might not let slide in other situations (e.g. I'm willing to wait longer for an answer to an email or to a question posted on a Q&A board because I don't know how many English-speaking people work for the company, how often they're at work, if they have other tasks in addition to handling English-language correspondence, etc.). I feel like actual rudeness is a totally different thing and is usually pretty easy to identify, especially once you've had a chance to get used to English as used by the non-native speakers working for a lot of these companies, or with the norms of customer service in the countries where a lot of these companies are based. And in the case of actual bad customer service then yes, I would be inclined to avoid a company in the future until their customer service situation was resolved.

 

It's hard to pin down what counts as 'bad customer service' or 'lack of etiquette' when multiple nationalities are involved. For example, there was a lot of discontent lately when Soom changed the prices of dolls in their Free Choice Event. I honestly would never have considered that 'bad customer service' on Soom's part, or anything other than an unfortunate accident, but many people posted saying that they found the mistake offensive enough that they'd be skipping the event.

So far, the only behaviour I've seen that would prevent me buying from a company is: companies that don't replace parts broken during shipping, companies that accuse customers of lying when they report problems (like parts missing from dolls or parts broken in transit), and companies that have scammed customers (either by never producing dolls paid for, or by taking substantially longer than expected (6+ months for paid-in-full dolls, for example).