Will you hesitate to reveal a bad point of a doll company you love?

I say write an honest review of what bothered you this time, but also talk about good transactions you've had in the past and why you love the company.

It is painful sometimes to find fault with things you love, but you should be able to take the bad with the good and talk freely about these things. Constructive criticism is necessary sometimes. You're not doing this to hurt the company, you're doing it because you want them to be better. And other people deserve to know if something's wrong.

It's possible that this is only a temporary issue, and future transactions will have fixed the problem- in which case you can leave another review that's good!

 

I think it’s important to be honest, but also respectful. I don’t believe everything can always be 100% perfect, and being realistic with constructive criticism can help a company grow. After all, if nobody talks about an issue, it might just end up never being addressed. I would say something along the lines of “I love this company, this is why, but XYZ with this particular order just didn’t work out.” I think a lot of people genuinely appreciate honesty, so long as it isn’t outwardly rude.

 

I think that, in general, honesty and and overall comprehensive review can be really helpful for everyone in many cases. As stated above, just make sure to give the positive aspects of the transaction experience alongside the negative... approach it as though your intent is to allow others to make an informed choice.

And it may turn out that something you felt was not acceptable to you turns out to be acceptable to others, so knowing what specifically you didn't like about a product allows those people to make that informed choice about their purchase!

For example, maybe pose-ibility is really important to me, so when I receive a doll that doesn't pose well, I review and say that the sculpt is gorgeous but I wanted it to be more pose-able.... for someone who is really just looking for an aesthetically pleasing doll, that is super helpful information and might actually help them make the decision to go ahead and make the purchase!

 

If you have not already done so, contact the company and give them a chance to resolve the issue for you(if applicable) before posting negative reviews anywhere. You can still leave an honest review about the issues, but if they've got great service and fix things for you, that's a huge plus in most collector's eyes...mine included.

 

I think honesty is important to help others decide whether to buy from a company or not. In your review, you could even mention that you’ve always been happy with this company, but this particular doll had some flaws that really bothered you.

I’ve had to do this. It was an artist doll cast by a doll company and while the sculpting and customer service and everything on the artist end was wonderful, I was pretty disappointed in the casting and shipping—there were resin chunks stuck to her feet, unevenly sanded eyes, took almost three times as long as the estimated time and they threw her in a shipping box with no doll box or padding. I found that very unprofessional and did mention it in my review though noted all of the good things about the artist and service. I think honest reviews with both the good and the bad are important. What might not be a big deal for one person might be a dealbreaker for others and I think it’s important to be able to get truthful information before buying.

 

Your honesty if not liked is honest and will help others decide with or against the said company. You’re distaste and pointing it out might be a pet peeve for some collectors and rather than waste money and get unsatisfactory from it could avoid a hassle all together.

 

I wish more people in the community were actually honest about their experiences, both with companies and individuals. Too often people just accept what they are given and stay silent about things that should have been made public or at least be mentioned in a review.
I see it like that: if you speak up, someone else can be protected from having the same thing being done to them.
Maybe someone else had the issue before you and if they would have talked about it, it could have prevented you from whatever you had to deal with now. Customers have a right to, politely, talk about their experience. You're not slandering the business or anything simply by stating the facts.

 

I would absolutely not hesitate to review badly about a company I love. For instance, Doll zone is my favorite BJD company, but I have *never* had a good experience ordering from them directly or through a vendor. My orders are always wrong, missing parts, it's a pain to get the proper parts, damaged, or something else goes wrong. x_x;; I can elaborate if people would like me to, lol.

 

In all honesty, I doubt that one negative review will be enough to "affect the company's profit in some way" - at least, not enough to make a real impact. Aside from the fact that one poor experience does not mean everyone will have the same, I also say this because I'm familiar with a couple of companies whose endless poor reviews haven't stopped a large number of people from continuing to purchase their dolls.

So the real question is, what kind of issues are you talking about? It's quite difficult to give an educated opinion without knowing anything. Thin resin? Sharp seams? Poorly fitting headcap? Lots of marbling or other discoloration? Poor sculpting or casting? Worst of all...terrible customer service and an unwillingness to make things right? You say that you loved the doll but sold it (or are thinking about selling it? Sorry, I didn't quite understand), so I assume that you think the buyer/potential buyer wouldn't be concerned with the issues.

Many problems can be resolved by contacting the company directly, and others can not. I'm absolutely in favor of honesty and sharing experiences with the community, especially if it saves others some grief - but it would help a lot if you come out and say what has upset you, even if you're uncomfortable identifying the company at this point.

 

I actually can't comprehend as to why someone would withhold a bad experience It's your money on the line.

On the contrary, I do think there are people in this hobby that overshare bad experiences and intentionally leave out their part in the whole matter. I've seen some people literally try to start witch hunts on independent artists because they wouldn't remake an item that was broken in shipping, but they signed up for the cheapest shipping rate and no insurance.

 

I think it's good to be honest about a BJD company and their sculpts. It helps people in the community make a more informed purchase. There are companies I would not purchase from based on such things as ridiculous wait times, bad sculpts, bad customer service, etc because of reviews from multiple sources. Also it's important for BJD companies themselves to know if they have issues. If nobody speaks, then how would they know to improve?

Dollshe comes to mind recently. I've heard horrendous things about them as company. However, I read an article just last week from them outlining in detail how they plan to improve as a business. Perhaps bad reviews are what motivated them to change?

 

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I think being honest is the best option in situations like this. It helps both potential customers of the company so that they are warned about all the possible downsides and the company itself as the feedback helps to improve quality of products and service. Objective and honest opinion is always the best. As long as the review is written politely and both negative and positive moments (if there are any) are mentioned, nobody should get offended, I think.

 

I would not hesitate to state the truth, whether or not that could cause negative effects, because if they don't know that there's a problem that company couldn't fix it. Also, as a customer, I would appreciate others talking about these issues to save me experiencing the frustration.

 

In an honest review, I feel as if it is totally necessary to highlight the good and the not-so-good about a company you still deem as your favorite. Nobody is perfect and I like to know what to expect when I am purchasing from a company I've not done business with before. So all feedback, is good feedback in my opinion.

As for a favorite company, if they are *still* your favorite even after the one not-so-good thing, than it means its easy to overlook and continue buying from there, IMO. Sometimes the good outweigh.