1 /5 Jamie Sifferlin: If I could give zero stars, I would,—for Customer Service; specifically, for a lack there of.
I did place a new order thru the Arelia’s Dream website on January 12th, 2019; I’d placed a couple of orders thru this online boutique previously, and had no issues whatsoever with those orders; however, I did have a pretty serious issue with my recent January 12th order, where the fringed jumpsuit item I received arrived with a defective zipper, & I was not able to fully try the item on. I immediately contacted Arelia’s customer service using the posted contact information, and upon contact with a female who answered the phone, I identified myself & then proceeded to explain the issue, & then requested a prepaid return ship label, because the item arrived defective. I did not feel this was a normal returns request situation; however, the female who answered the phone immediately responded by defending the merchandise, stating that because the boutique was online, that no one ever tries on the clothing items sold online; Therefore, there is no way I could have received a defective item from this operation. She also stated that Arelia’s ships out all of their clothing items received, directly from the manufacturers they deal with, & they never even open the original packaging the items arrive in; Items are just shipped out to the customers, just as they’ve arrived from the manufacturer. I stated that this sounds rather negligent to me, because, just as in my situation, they are risking sending out defective merchandise to their customers; and then the customers are left to deal with the consequences of their negligence, of not inspecting items prior to shipment. I then asked that female again for their prepaid returns label & requested full refund for the defective item received. She promptly hung up the phone on me! I promptly tried calling her back a couple of times; she did not answer. I left a voice message. I then sent her an email, re-stating the defective garment issue in writing, & stated that I did not appreciate her hanging up the phone on me, and I considered her evasive actions to be very rude & unprofessional;—then I contacted PayPal, the payment resource that I’d used to pay for my order with Arelia’s Dream, and opened a case with them, in request for a return for the defective item, & my full refund.
The next day I received an email and a call from the female who’d treated me hastely & rudely the previous day. She said her name was Elandis, and shockingly, she was the shop owner! She proceeded to provide excuses for her prior behavior. I continued communications with her primarily thru the PayPal arbitration process, where her attitude emminated across as snorky & snipe. Finally, because I am an excellent paying customer regarding the PayPal payments service, they offered to pay for the return shipment cost of the defective fringe jumpsuit item back to Arelia’s Dream, in order to resolve the situation in a timely manner. Elandis’ only intention was to prolong my unpleasant experience with her shop. She had the nerve to offer me a discount regarding the defective merchandise, if I agreed to keep the item as is! How disgusting & disappointing. Apparently, Elandis’ primary goal is NOT Customer Satisfaction, but instead, to figure out at any length, how to keep the money. This is NOT an ethical way to build or grow Customer loyalty.
I did eventually receive my refund. Even after I did return her merchandise & she’d received it—I checked the USPS online tracking, Elandis procrastinated at processing my full refund. Finally, PayPal did take matters into their own hands and escalated the case, forcing Elandis to process my full refund.
The reason why I chose to write this review and expose Elandis’s shady reactions & demeanor, is because I feel it is important for everyone to know that with this online operation & Elandis, you are very much so appreciated and valued as her customer, as long as you do not have an issue with her merchandise. Very irrational. Buyers Beware; & Shop at your own risk.
