The company goes bad - can you still enjoy their dolls?

I would feel bad about the company and wonder weather it would be better to not buy from them in the future, (I still don't know if it's better or worse to boycott a sweatshop;;; That whole issue is so complicated) but I wouldn't feel bad towards the doll itself, because the artists who made it were not the ones at fault.

 

I actually don't care much for Dolkot--but LOVE their dolls. My first doll was a Dolkot, and her packaging was horrible, I was shocked there was no permanent damage (regardless of all the cleaning I had to do.) I've enjoyed the other Dolkot owners company in the waiting room, but was truly disappointed that they such horrible experiences with Dolkot. The dolls are at a premium price and they pack them like junk! Torn up boxes, mismatched eyes, balding wigs, missing items, and worst of all--poorly packaged dolls that break in transit!

Dolkot has had a bit of a bad reputation for a while, and their service and communication doesn't seem to have gotten any better. I know this isn't as bad as say copying a doll or losing track of orders, but it is still putting nails in my refusal to order from them again. However, a Dolkot doll in good shape on the DoA marketplace would be a safe purchase for me since I know at least doll owners tend to take good care shipping their dolls.

As for how I feel about my doll after realizing how fail the company is? It doesn't change it at all! As far as I'm concerned, any Dolkot doll that SURVIVES the horrible Dolkot manufacture/shipping process deserves a bit of respect O_o

 

Neither I nor my previously-purchased dolls are responsible for any future actions taken by the employees or owners of the companies that made them. Those business-people are all adults. They make their own choices and I have no part in them.

Given that, why in the world would I suddenly cease to appreciate one of my dolls because the company decided to screw up months or years after my purchase? If they weren't being jerks when I bought the thing, I don't see why I should feel bad about it now. It's ridiculous.

 

I have a Mythdoll Little Leroi! Didn't bother me a bit. XD I love my clockwork servant Thomas.
I also have an Angel Street Zazean, and was recently told that the reason they were so 'cheap' was because they were being cast of 'inferior' resin and would be prone to chips and breaks. I have two chips. But I still love my Stephen.

So if something happens with that company, oh well. I still love my dolls because they're mine. Nothing the company does will change that.

 

Yes I can, because I fall in love with the doll. Why should I care with the company?
Even when the doll is copied, if I've already bought it, I will still love the doll.

 

I'd be torn.
I think everytime I looked at the doll in question I would feel sad and a little betrayed, even if i wasnt the one that was betrayed....

This entire community is built on trust and goodwill, and without trust, it will collapse.

It's like..... when you're wearing a shirt from a favorite clothing store, and then you see on the news that they used child labor or sweatshops. Your attitude towards your shirt and the store would change.

It would be like that for me.

 

Hmm...Well, having made a little mental inventory of how I feel about all the scandals I know of and those involved, I do have to say that knowing about them really tarnishes how I see my dolls. There are certain people accused of copying and certain people who seem to have darted with thousands of dollars without delivering the dolls and because of this, I just don't think I'd be able to enjoy their dolls just because of knowing of the unsavoury actions of their creators.

Take, for example, a VERY well known scandal, that of Mijn Schatje. She doesn't make dolls but she creates art. Now, if I was totally inexperienced and unaware of the doll world, I would actually love and support her art because I actually think it's quite beautiful. But knowing how lazy she is in its creation makes me disinclined to see her as an artist; instead she just presents herself as someone colouring in the lines of a beautifully created colouring book page.

Even if I do find the copied dolls attractive, I wouldn't be able to enjoy them knowing they stole someone else's hard work to create.

 

I own a LS Ted (Handcast original), and honestly, I want to believe that she was innocent etc (avoid talking about it), but the truth is that I now see the doll in a different light. It's more of a loyalty to the companies that make dolls, regardless of the truth. If a person/company does something questionable, and it cannot be accounted for, you automatically gain an opinion of it (generally in sympathy for the one who has been offended against). I feel bad about the badness of the LS line, and the fact that one error (or whatever you want to call it) ruins the doll. The doll is innocent.

I still look at the doll, and feel detached. I won't get rid of it, but I feel less happy about the purchase, and about the person/company who produced it.

 

I'm going to add on to my original post and say now (after I've thought more) that I think I would even feel BAD for my doll and the need to cuddle him more because his parents were suddenly found to be thieves of money or sculpt or what have you.

So it seems I HAVE bonded after all xD He looks so sweet and innocent that I could just never take it out on my dolly.

 

I also feel pretty bad about the Demon Garden thing. It was in close proximity to my purchase, and I don't like knowing that I supported the company, gave them a positive review, and then they treated another customer like dirt--basically they tried to scam her. It soured the whole deal for me.

 

Seeing as I choose the doll based on whether I like them or not, and not the company, I think I'll be fine. I don't see why a company "going bad" would affect my love for the doll. "Oh no this company has been labeled as evil~~~~ You should dump all your dolls that you have from them cause they are evil~~~~" Yes, I can hear the logic now.

If I love them, I'll keep them. That's that. If people feel the need to take a companies actions so personally that they want to boycott and get rid of the dolls they adore, then go for it. ^^ I have nothing against you doing what you want to do, but if I bought from said company (I'm assuming right now it's doing with the oh-so-wonderful Crobi "Scandal") and you decide you hate the dolls even if they are gorgeous then I can't do anything. My dolls are for me to enjoy after all. I don't really need to have approval from those in the hobby to enjoy my own dolls I assume. ^^

The only time I would be very much getting rid of something is a recasting, though I like to research a company before buying, so I doubt this would happen. If it did I'd most likely sell it for next to nothing, because I'd price the fake for what you'd usually get a fake for. ^^ (So like, $20? LOL JK) This, or if the company did what is truly bad business and was sending smashed dolls or so on then I'd avoid, but that's logical. xD

*Coughs* Sorry for my sarcasm oTL

 

I dont know, I suppose if I loved the doll It wouldnt get in the way of my enjoyment.

 

I agree with this 100 percent.

 

Regarding the whole LS thing... I was actually really interested in Serenity when she debuted her. The thing that put me off entirely wasn't the copying thing, though that was a shocker, and I don't condone it (I'm not totally convinced one way or the other, though I will say it appeared to me as though the odds were stacked against her). What did it for me was her response to the accusations. I understand that a person can get worked up over something like that (especially since it seemed she had a number of other "issues" going on), but she really lacked professionalism through the whole thing... I mean, ranting and name-calling? On your website where you're selling your product? That in and of itself was shocking. Next time, keep your bitching to your LJ...

So, how the company handles things, be it customer service, treatment of employees, professionalism, etc. does affect the way I look at the things they create/sell. If they can find a way to make up for it and turn things around, then more power to them. But, once the damage is done (especially if multiple people are wronged in the process), it can be incredibly difficult to repair.

 

I don't think it would affect me if I already owned a doll from that company too much but it would put me off future purchases especially if the problem is recasts. I remember the DG customer service issue and I was looking for a body for my MNM head at the time. I the DG body was a match but I decided not to order from them and looked elsewhere as a result.

 

I completely agree with this.

I wouldn't recommend a company gone bad to anyone. I would find them shady, and no longer do business with them. However, I'd still enjoy the doll I bought.

 

Would it taint your enjoyment of dolls you'd already bought from them?

I have a Mythdoll Leroi's Twin. While she is far from my favourite doll, she was my second and she was purchased during the time Mythdoll was running quite well as a company. During the time I took a break from the online doll community the company went downhill, crashed, and burned.

Has this changed my opinion of my Leroi's Twin? Not at all. I'm saddened by the fact that this happened to the company, whether it was by chance or by bad decision. I still like the doll I purchased and I will continue to, because she was from a time when everything was going fine.

Alternatively it would depend entirely on what the transgression was that the company committed, how severe, and how it was dealt with after the fact. Also, it would depend on how the company was being run at the time I purchased the theoretical doll. If it was before any wrong-doings - not just before being found out, but before anything wrong was actually done - then I would, like the Mythdoll situation, most likely (I assume) be saddened and upset, but would continue to love the doll I had. Depending on how the company resolved the situation (DollZone when it first debuted comes to mind) I could come to trust the company again.

The way I see it, my money went to the company when it was legit, and therefore supported something legit. People can become corrupt and change over time, but it doesn't change who they were.

 

If I found that a company I supported was using child labour or sweatshops, then I would simply never purchase from them again, and be vocal about my decisions not to. I am fairly poor for a developed country inhabitant, and can't afford to be choosy when it comes to clothing purchases and so forth. The fact that I am probably supporting sweatshops with my day to day purchases upsets me, but aside from trying to research who does and doesn't there is not much I can do.

But for a luxury purchase like a doll, hell yes I will try my upmost to make it an ethical decision. I wouldn't buy from any company that mistreated it's artists/sculptors either.

One of the things I truly love about BJDs is that lots of the time, you are dealing with the creators themselves. Therefore they are not being exploited by big companies. To use an off topic comparison, the alternative/goth-punk porn site Suicide Girls treats its employees badly, pays them not very much in comparison to other like sites, and the models do not have any say in what happens to their pics.

So they set up Godsgirls, which was a model run company, and put the control of the product back into the creators hands.

I haven't heard of anything like that happening in the bjd world, but i am sure it has and will, and unlike the adult industry, the bjd community is intensely interested and caring about that sort of thing!

I wouldn't think badly of anyone who bought a recast/problamatic doll, or who still liked a dodgy company. For the doll thing, that's hardly the customers fault! And for staying loyal, we can't help where our hearts lie!

 

This happened to me and the Ricky doll debacle. Over 1 YEAR later I get a head that I didn't want anymore (because she REFUSED to give us the refunds she kept CONSTANTLY promising) - hell that I didn't want after FOUR months of waiting and absolutely no communication from Ricky.

Frankly I'll never be able to look at a Ricky doll and like it. I'll never own one, or the body and I never want to deal with her again. Simple as that.

However, as for other companies that have had issues.. well I have three DZ dolls, but I wasn't around when the first scandal happened. I enjoy my dolls and don't really care what happened in the past. I would NEVER buy from DollK with what they did with Crobi's limited dolls (can someone say OMFG WRONG) - and the company looked really fishy to start with. Really, I guess it depends on a few things for me.

1. Was I directly involved?
2. Did the company look fishy to begin with?
3. Do I already own a doll/s from there and have no problems before?

Frankly if I already own a doll from there and am not directly involved... then I don't care. I'll enjoy my doll how I please. If I am involved, then I'll probably not want that doll by the end of the dealings and probably never get another/want another. If a company looks dodgey to start with, I'll just automatically not go anywhere near them.