puppet productions took my money

[razzle]

puppet tunes

I was going to say, I don't remember Puppet Productions ever attaching the hands on the human arm puppets. As I remember they use to put a spandex strip so it clings to the wrist.
It's a shame, they were pretty innovative back in their hay-day, the early to mid 90's. Remember Puppet Tunes! Radio controlled puppet heads with mouth movement via remote control.

Hi Gerbert,
Well I do remember Puppet Tunes and we still have one and guess what? It still works! Just found out that some laid off employees of Puppet Productions have bought some of the rights to the puppets etc. and are starting a new company. They can not refund anyone that lost money from PP because they left before any of that happened.

 

[Nick22]

the SAME thing happened to me! except i paid $108 and i ordered mine on february 21. and i am ****** taht it didnt come and probably never will

 

[wes]

There Defunt know i guess, or bankrupt.

 

[frogboy4]

What a horrible thing to happen. There is no excuse for any company not notifying customers of incomplete orders. They should have an accessible email contact list for every order even if they are locked out of the building. Not only is it unprofessional it constitutes fraud. I'd expect more from a ministry-themed company. It shouldn't have to go into the lawsuit phase, but it seems that's the process here. I personally wouldn’t chance it with anyone attached to that operation. There must be alternatives around – and people on this very forum that can build darn good puppets for reasonable prices.

 

[ravagefrackle]

Might i suggest you file a Complaint with Your Credit Card Companies, they should be able to Credit your accounts

 

[Jinx]

Let us not make statements based on the limited information we have. We simply do not have everything that we need to know to say "they should have done this, that or the other."

I have heard (so yes, this is nothing more than hearsay) that they were seized by some authorities. Like immediately, no warning, and not allowed to take ANYTHING from the premises. I do not know of any business that keeps a list of current open orders at home. In my dealings with PP they have always been fair and above-board. If there were difficulties with an order they were always good about notifying and offering alternatives whenever possible.

This whole situation is extremely unfortunate for ALL involved. But let us be careful not imply bad intent or poor judgment without having ALL of the facts. To accuse them of unprofessionalism or fraud based on your limited knowledge of the facts is a very dangerous position indeed.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I have heard a lot of rumours about this situation too, but don't know anything first hand either. I think Jinx is right, it's sort of irresponsible - and quite serious - to suggest fraud, which is a criminal act and that involves intentional deception (believe it or not, someone can actually turn around and sue you for slandering them if you accuse them of fraud).

Although I can't stress enough that I have no personal first-hand knowledge of this situation, it certainly sounds like this was a case of someone being forced out of business suddenly because of back taxes, bankruptcy or something similar and some of their customers got caught in the cross-fire. On a much bigger scale, this is the sort of thing everyone has been afraid of in the auto industry; if GM or another big car company goes bankrupt their customer warranties end up being void.

The rights to most of Puppet Productions' products have been apparently bought out by a group of former employees (not the owners) who are now working under the name Puppets Inc. They've said that it's worth double checking to make sure your credit card was actually charged. Apparently, the Puppet Productions shopping cart was left online after they abruptly closed and was taking orders, but not processing payments. You can read more here.

Otherwise, everyone's suggestion of contacting PayPal or your credit card company to reverse the charges would make sense to me.

 

[frogboy4]

Let us not make statements based on the limited information we have. We simply do not have everything that we need to know to say "they should have done this, that or the other."

I have heard (so yes, this is nothing more than hearsay) that they were seized by some authorities. Like immediately, no warning, and not allowed to take ANYTHING from the premises. I do not know of any business that keeps a list of current open orders at home. In my dealings with PP they have always been fair and above-board. If there were difficulties with an order they were always good about notifying and offering alternatives whenever possible.

This whole situation is extremely unfortunate for ALL involved. But let us be careful not imply bad intent or poor judgment without having ALL of the facts. To accuse them of unprofessionalism or fraud based on your limited knowledge of the facts is a very dangerous position indeed.

Professional companies usually have an online database of customers' names, numbers and email information (not necessarily credit cart information) that can be accessed through password from any computer. I doubt they wouldn't have access to their email list. A business is supposed to prepare for such circumstances and possibilities. I find it hard to believe they couldn't have sent out a blanket email to all customers past and present as a CYA move. They are either disorganized or don't really care. Either way is not okay. Businesses fold and online orders go sour sometimes, but even in the worst cases most sellers contact buyers to tell them what the puppet happened. My post is not jumping the gun. It's completely logical.

As for using the term fraud, it was a poor legal choice of terms. Still, I put higher standards on such religious-based companies because they are not only business people, they are ambassadors of something very important to so many. I still don't see how they couldn't have emailed their customers. It's the responsible thing to do.

 

[Jinx]

And again you are proceeding from what you presume to be the case. I work for a manufacturer, and we have no such "online database". On what do you base your statement "professional companies usually have an online database of customers' names, numbers and email information (not necessarily credit cart information) that can be accessed through password from any computer?" There would be no reasons for us to have such a thing online. And even if that were the case, if a company is seized, their access to such a thing would be immediately cut off.

I understand your wanting to hold someone to a higher standard, but you quite simply are making assumptions (AGAIN) about the situation. You have NO WAY of KNOWING what happened. To say that they are disorganized or don't care is reckless and assumptive. Until such time as you have DIRECT contact with the powers that be, I suggest that you adjourn your little kangaroo court.

 

[frogboy4]

And again you are proceeding from what you presume to be the case. I work for a manufacturer, and we have no such "online database". On what do you base your statement "professional companies usually have an online database of customers' names, numbers and email information (not necessarily credit cart information) that can be accessed through password from any computer?" There would be no reasons for us to have such a thing online. And even if that were the case, if a company is seized, their access to such a thing would be immediately cut off.

I understand your wanting to hold someone to a higher standard, but you quite simply are making assumptions (AGAIN) about the situation. You have NO WAY of KNOWING what happened. To say that they are disorganized or don't care is reckless and assumptive. Until such time as you have DIRECT contact with the powers that be, I suggest that you adjourn your little kangaroo court.

I mentioned the word fraud and did already admit that was a bit far, but I'm not holding a kangaroo court as you suggested so let’s not further that unnecessary tone. I’ve temped for various companies large and small and they all can be accessed through the net with a login. Removing that sort of accessibility takes some time and some conspicuous IT people. Maybe I’m used to living in a tech savvy area, but that sort of thing is commonplace here. How long was this company in business? It seems that they have some references and name recognition worth saving so this predicament does seem odd.

Reportedly this company took large sums of money from customers and then disappeared from site. It’s a rare thing to happen without some sort of notification from a company with a good reputation. The fact is it is not right to have happened and there is no excuse. There is likely is a reason. Maybe a very good one. Do they have a special or different standard than everybody else? There are logical conclusions that can be drawn on those simple reports alone. There are usually safeguards in place – is that the creditor’s duty? Something very sloppy must have happened somewhere in management. Who knows, maybe they will get around to completing the orders? It did seem like a special company.

If a seller does that through Ebay they are banned for life. They can be banned for a lot less than that and often are. The buck stops somewhere. Someone is accountable. Let’s hope the employees got paid. Like customers, they are commonly left out in the cold too. Contacting one’s bank or credit card company is the first rout. I always think lawsuits should be the last resort. We live in such a sue-happy society. Mediation is always the way – but there needs to be some sort of correspondence for that. I’ve had a private seller pass away on me before and still his benefactor came through for every item and every buyer during a time of grief. Not only didn’t I expect that - I couldn’t believe it.

For every seller that skips out there are a dozen more that go above and beyond. It isn’t something to assume of people, but it’s a good thing to have experienced when a seller hoses its customers – for whatever claim. That’s probably the thing to focus on. The good sellers.

One thing I do know that there is no lack of creative people and resources. We hear about it all over this forum. I also know in my creative life that times are tough on artists and there's no lack of people willing to apply their craft for a fair wage and follow through on the task.