Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Few And Far Between...follow up on Houseoftheunusual.com and Boney The Skeleton

A while back I ordered and reviewed a Boney the Skeleton that I ordered from House of the Unusual and I wasn't entirely happy with the quality of Boney when I got him.  I am unfortunately one of those people who doesn't send stuff back, even in restaurants (the only two things that I have sent back was a chicken sandwich at Subway and a hamburger at a local barbecue joint...both were raw and bleeding in the middle and I don't play with food poisoning).  I usually just think, "oh well, there it is, this isn't what I expected".  I have done kind of like someone who leaves negative feedback on Ebay without giving the seller a chance to make it right (I can say I haven't done this, I just don't leave feedback to keep from leaving negative). In this day of big box retailers and cheap imported merchandise, I forget that there are people like me, smaller businesses that are trying to make it honestly and when something slips through the cracks, you want to make it right.



Shame on me.


I got this in my inbox yesterday...




Hello my name is Eddie and I manage the houseoftheunusual.com...


I was wondering why you posted an article on your blog about the skeleton and never asked or called me to see if I would give you a refund?
You see I have been trying for years to be able to bring people like you and me all those original comic book goodies of when we were kids.
The recreation of the Frankenstein and Boney are next to impossible without having to print hundreds, when only a few would sell. I have this 
printed upstate NY in a print shop that has a large format printer. After dealing with this person for so long, I receive the items and just send 
them out...in your case looks like the printer was short of toner...I also discovered the last 4 have similar defects.
After I read your post and examined the products I felt very bad and was ready to shut down my site for a while and rethink everything again. I was very frustrated in what had just happed to my company. I have never tried to rip-off anybody. And only now did I find out that the paper might be 50 lbs not 80 lbs stock...I feel betrayed by my printer, but that's what happens when his son takes over the business.
Hey I want to apologize and send you the Frankenstein in its place. I will have all this original stuff redone soon but I hate doing that because I would have to charge almost $200.00 for each..Is that worth it I don't know.
I recreated the Polaris submarine from my original at a cost of $645.00 and was able to sell it on eBay for $350.00 Not a very good investment.
Anyway I am very sorry and would like you to send me your address so I can send you the Frankie.


PS.  You know this is funny but after 40 years I just realized that Boney's hand is up instead of down as the ad pictures him...Believe me when I say this, the real one I have which is new in mint condition...looks worse than the copy.


PPS...I used to have 11 Boneys and 9 Frankie's...I have sold or gave most of them leaving me with only 1 of each...In 2004 I sold 5 Franks and 6 Boneys on eBay...You see the ones you see for sale now a days... most were mine.

This is obviously someone who got lesser quality products from his supplier who he trusted and in turn, didn't know anything was wrong until he ran across a strange Southern man's Hallowe'en blog.  This guy is obviously honest and got sideswiped from his printer and from me, to which I offer my apologies.  It wasn't the quality that I expected but it was unknown to him.   I LOVE the concept of offering all the stuff from the back of comic books like I grew up with.



In short, I'm giving this company another chance and I ask that you please do also. It's MY fault for not bringing the printer's error to his attention.  

Thanks to all of you for your kind consideration.

7 comments:

sausage von trapp said...

you know, mr. macabre...there are so many ways you could have handled this situation...thank you for sharing your path of vulnerability, honesty, humility and grace...wow.

The Artful Gypsy aka Wendy the Very Good Witch said...

I totally agree with sausage von trapp (that names makes chuckle)! You both did the right thing and I feel for the guy. But this kind of exchange is a perfect example of how life ought to work! Kudos Mr. Macabre!

suzanne said...

It's always good to hear of situations being resolved happily. My faith in human nature has been restored :)

The Captain said...

I used to be like that and just let most things slide, not any more! I am all about follow up emails and phone calls until I am satisfied or have exhausted all possibilities. WOW thats awesome that he is that sincerely concerned about his customers. I'm glad it has worked out for both of you in the end.

Anonymous said...

That kind of exchange is what turns me into the most loyal customer that guy could ever ask for. Thanks for the update, and thanks to your vendor!

Kelley Bochman Smith said...

Who said that there weren't any more "Good Guys" around? BRAVO to you both!

wiec? said...

wow that's way above board. sounds like a Halloween miricle.