I've been lampworking since 2002 and during most of that time I ordered my glass from Monique of Jodel Glass. Up until late summer 2006 I never had any problems. I got what I ordered, charged what I expected and got my stuff in a timely manner. My last order with Jo-Del was for 10 pounds of Lauscha Clear 6-8 mm. I got my glass and about a week later I started to use it. As soon as I put one of the rods to the flame, I knew is was NOT Lauscha. I then emailed Monique about my concerns and asked if I could send the glass back and exchange it for the larger diameter clear, which I had never had a problem with before. Since there is a difference in price between the two diameters, I said not to worry about it since there would be an additional shipping cost involved. Within a few hours I got a response from Missy, her niece and then hired-help, saying that it was impossible that I received anything other than Lauscha since they store all the different clears far apart from each other.in addition, all bundles of Lauscha were checked and were all okay'ed. I then responded to the email with pictures of the glass I received, which clearly showed the difference between KNOWN Lauscha and the Lauscha I had just received.
I protested saying that I KNEW the difference between Lauscha Clear and the other clears and that what I ordered was NOT what I received! The glass I received got very sooty. Lauscha almost never gets sooty. The bundles of the Lauscha she sent me looked very different than the ones I currently had in my inventory, etc. I argued my point as nicely as I could, but I was irritated. There's $100 difference between 10 pounds of Lauscha Clear and 10 pounds of Effetre or Vetrofond Clear. I'm not a wealthy woman and $100 is a lot to me!
After receiving the email from Missy, I also received a phone message from Monique. She basically restated Missy's email that I was wrong in my belief that what I received wasn't Lauscha. She then said I could have an exchange IF that was the real issue. I returned her phone call and left a message with Missy to have her call me back. I waited and waited and my phone call was never returned. So, instead of waiting for days I repacked the glass in it's original box and included a note asking for the exchange.
A week later, the package was sent back to me as REFUSED.By now, I'm starting to get pretty pissed off! I start IM'ing my sister about the situation, who is also a lampwork artist who buys all her glass from Jo-Del. My sister's getting pretty miffed too with the whole situation and decides to send Monique an email explaining who she was and how she wasn't going to buy with her company any more because of the situation with me (bless her heart!). To our surprise, Monique responded a few days later. I no longer have a copy of that email but the gist of it was that your sister (meaning me) is mistaken; that she's NEVER refused a package in her life (said in all CAPS with tons of exclamation points). So, with this Monique was trying to convince my sister that I was the one that was lying! Unbelievable! So, then I promptly took a picture of the box and emailed it to my sister.
My sister then sent the picture to Monique stating that she didn't appreciate being lied to, etc. Monique responded stating that it MUST have been Missy who refused the package. Neither of us believed that Missy was at fault here.
Missy came online during this time and mentioned my situation and stated that Monique thought I had done some kind of switch cheap glass for expensive glass. Had Monique opened the box and inspected it she would have discovered that 90% of it was still sealed in the long plastic bags they use. I was a good customer for Monique buying over $2,000 worth of glass every year. All I wanted was an exchange. It would have cost her nothing to make me happy. The very first time I had a problem Monique automatically assumed that I was either wrong or trying to rip her off. The whole situation was unbelievable to me. I thought she was a reputable and reasonable glass vendor. Oh, was I wrong! I never heard from Monique again. She knows nothing about it, apparently. I take my business elsewhere now and encourage others to do the same.
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