Think twice before buying from puppet-planet.com

[muppetguy]

I am not sure if anyone on here has bought from Michele (puppet-planet) before, but I think it's time to post this. I have posted twice on seeing if anyone had contact with Michele, and no one has. I have been told by some people on the central that she had been having issues lately with moving to another state or something, which i can understand, but as a business owner, she should know this is NOT the way to conduct business. If she had contacted me and told me any issues on why my puppet is NOT being mailed, I would most definitely understand and be patient, and wait for it when she was ready to ship. I'm a very understanding guy, but it's not right to just leave someone hanging when you have their money and they do not have the product they payed for. I had bought from her before from her catalogue and received the puppet. I then went and ordered a custom built puppet from her. On April first she e-mailed me stating that the puppet was completed and that pictures were going to be sent before the transaction would be completed. I did pay her more than half of the total price for her to have before starting. Since then i have yet to hear from her and made numerous attempts, to the point where i can't even count them, in contacting her through her e-mail, phone contact, contact form on her website and her facebook account. If anyone knows Michele, or has any contact with her, I would either like to complete this transaction or like a refund so I can pay another puppet builder to make this puppet for me. Thank you for your time, just looking out for anyone who might be looking for a puppet builder.

 

[jlucci]

Yikes!

So Sorry to hear about your situation.

I'm not in contact with Michele, but if it's been this long and you haven't been able to reach her at all, maybe you can try to get Paypal to process a refund if you used that as your payment method?

 

[muppetguy]

Yikes!

So Sorry to hear about your situation.

I'm not in contact with Michele, but if it's been this long and you haven't been able to reach her at all, maybe you can try to get Paypal to process a refund if you used that as your payment method?

Hey, thank you for understanding. The problem with paypal is that there is a limited span of time where you can get your money back, I think 45 or 90 days, and this is over that limit. I did however report a claim with them and with my bank and credit card company that was charged. It is a sad situation when someone takes advantage of people like us, who are saving our money for something we truly desire only to steal the money, run and never hear from them again. I posted this so everyone won't go through the same thing I did. Do not buy from www.puppet-planet.com.

 

[staceyrebecca]

While I don't know her personally, she doesn't seem like the type to maliciously steal someone's money and run. I'm sorry the communication has been lost. That's incredibly frustrating. I hope you hear from her soon and that everything turns out well.

 

[muppetguy]

While I don't know her personally, she doesn't seem like the type to maliciously steal someone's money and run. I'm sorry the communication has been lost. That's incredibly frustrating. I hope you hear from her soon and that everything turns out well.

I agree with you Staceyrebecca, but once you haven't heard from someone in over 3 months, one has to assume this is what has happened. After, like I've said, I have called, e-mailed and used her contact form on her site numerous times and left plenty of messages and a message on her facebook too to receive absolutely NO response back. It is a shame and very frustrating, but I had to take action to see if I can get a refund back. I hope I can. And I hope everyone is careful with this puppet builder.

 

[frogboy4]

I believe this sort of thing is going to be happening in the future with a lot of small businesses. It's unfortunate and not personal. A growing number of these businesses can not meet their commitments and this usually requires customers to file a claim. It does little good to defend or demonize these businesses. It's a sad state of affairs all around. I'm certain Puppet Planet wanted to fill the order, but for some reason they can't. They should have contacted you. That doesn't seem to be the standard of practice with such problems lately. I've been burned with several online purchases from various companies this year and it is frustrating.

I think Muppetguy has done the 100% right thing in attempting resolution, notifying the company and potential customers that the transaction has gone unfilled. I hope you get your refund. You deserve your puppet or your money.

 

[muppetguy]

I believe this sort of thing is going to be happening in the future with a lot of small businesses. It's unfortunate and not personal. A growing number of these businesses can not meet their commitments and this usually requires customers to file a claim. It does little good to defend or demonize these businesses. It's a sad state of affairs all around. I'm certain Puppet Planet wanted to fill the order, but for some reason they can't. They should have contacted you. That doesn't seem to be the standard of practice with such problems lately. I've been burned with several online purchases from various companies this year and it is frustrating.

I think Muppetguy has done the 100% right thing in attempting resolution, notifying the company and potential customers that the transaction has gone unfilled. I hope you get your refund. You deserve your puppet or your money.

Thank you, frogboy, I appreciate it. Sorry to hear that you've been burned too. It really is tragic though and a shame.

 

[kathryn]

Buyer beware of ordering from Puppet-planet

I agree completely with muppetguy. I ordered some puppet eyes, $34.05 worth back in April, paid in full through PayPal. It is now July and I have still not received my order, nor a refund. I have called and emailed her countless times. Left email messages and voice mail messages. Her website even gives a phone number and times to call. She does not respond at all to emails or my messages. I am pursuing a refund through PayPal now. She has 2 complaints filed against her with the BBB when she lived in Florida also. Her website is very deceiving because it appears so professional, so well done but her behavior contradicts that. Please be very careful ordering from her because you will not only not received what you ordered/paid for, you will also not be given the professional courtesy of a phone call or email response, nor wil you get a refund.

 

[muppetguy]

It's a darn shame....

You know, kathryn, I want to say I'm surprised, but I truly am not. It seems Michele (puppet-planet.com) is used to doing this sort of thing. It is very frustrating and I obviously know where you are coming from. You should definitely submit a claim to paypal and let the paypal agent know that she has had other complaints. The agent will probably see mine there already. Michele, if you are reading this, SHAME ON YOU FOR TAKING OUR MONEY AND NOT BEING RESPONSIBLE. You can also report her, which i have already done, on www.ic3.gov. This is a government website that monitors complaints of fraud like this. You should also complain to your card company that is affiliated with your paypal and let them know as well. Everyone that has been cheated from Michele, should stand up and help with this, so she won't be able to do things like this to anyone else again.

 

[robinthecrow]

Its a shame to read about this. I have never bought anything from anyone online, outside of ebay, like this and it is disappointing to see such things happen, so you all have my sympathy. It is certainly surprising when Michele use to post here (or PuppetsnStuff) and was an endless point of advice or information which I'm sure was valued here.

I'd like to imagine that this isn't Michele's fault and she isn't doing this maliciously. I can understand that payments sent via Paypal can be accepted automatically by the system if the recipient has set the option, so maybe, very maybe the system is accepting payments and Michele cannot access the system somehow.

Ah well, wishful thinking.

Again, you have my sympathies and support and I hope we all end up happy in the end