I had decided to purchase a set of Gorilla Glass claws (they're jewelry for stretched ears) as a birthday gift for a friend-for those of you familiar with any body modification, you know that Gorilla Glass isn't cheap, so I was pleased & excited to get such a nice gift for my friend. I should have stuck to the regular sites I order body jewelry (including GG) off of, but I'd decided to go w/this site, as their prices were a few dollars cheaper-these days every little bit counts, right?
I'd been on the site in the past, but never ordered before-there was a point where their retail site was 'closed'. Now, normally that'd be a red flag to me, as it didn't give a reason as to why, but I kept reading about how as far as their Ezine goes, they'd been around for awhile and were a source for info that many used. So when I saw their retail site was back 'open', I'd decided it was probably fine, as their Ezine seemed to have a decent reputation for information. So I went ahead, placed the order, but there was no confirmation email like it said there would be. Still, at that point I didn't think it was a need for concern.
Over 3 weeks went by, & I'd heard absolutely nothing. I sent an email, asking about my order, then got one a few days later saying that it had just been shipped. I was a bit annoyed, as I had paid for priority shipping, and this was not a custom order, but at that point my friends birthday was fast approaching and my main concern was just getting them in time. When they finally arrived, it was the wrong item. I emailed several times asking how I went about sending them back, called, left a message, but got no response. I didn't know if there was any time limit to returns, plus at this point I really couldn't wait another month, as they were to be a gift. So I went ahead and sent them back.
That was about 2 months ago, and that's the last I heard of anything. I have sent over a dozen emails, even a snail mail letter, more phone messages, & have heard nothing, nor received any refund. The closest thing I got to a response was on Facebook: another customer was asking where his order was, & I wished him luck, saying that this company just ignores you, & that it's too bad they didn't take Paypal, otherwise I would have filed a dispute long ago. Then, someone from BME responded to my comment saying that the reason they didn't take Paypal was because of their 'abusive' practices, & how Paypal used to supposedly freeze BME's accounts because they didn't approve of what they were selling (I guess they thought it was 'weird'). And they encouraged me to email again, & that the problem with their email had been fixed.
I'd commented again that I'd tried emailing about 10 times & every other body jewelry/modification site took Paypal. Then they commented back that the other sites don't carry what they do, & Paypal doesn't approve of it, so they won't use it. Then they told me that they couldn't really discuss customer service issues on FB because it 'wasn't the appropriate place to'. I didn't continue the FB conversation because I knew it was useless to argue w/them, but I looked at the site again, & I'm not getting why they're supposedly so different than the sites that take Paypal. Because they sell suspension hooks? Big deal-so other places, that do take Paypal. Other than that, it's body jewelry & t-shirts, basically. So they're saying paypal messed w/them for selling stuff that they didn't approve of, yet it's just stuff other places sell, so I don't get it.
So basically, I've just been sending more emails, to no effect. Oh sorry, I did get a response-since they weren't responding at the [email protected] address, I tried their support@bmezine address, because I was hoping it'd somehow help, but they told me they don't handle the retail stuff and that was just for the ezine, but they'd forward the email for me. Of course, nothing has happened.
I placed the order on 11/9, and it's now 1/20, & I have no merchandise, no refund, nothing. I had to scramble to get a gift for my friend-here I thought I'd be giving them something really great, but guess not. And I don't have the kind of money to just have $40 taken from me. I couldn't even use it for Christmas, had it come later, because that's long since past. So even if by some miracle they sent me the correct item I'd originally ordered now, I can't even use it. I had a bad feeling when I packed up the wrong item to send back, & I should have listened to my gut-even though it was the wrong item, at least I'd have something for what I spent & I could try to sell it on Ebay or something & get at least some of my money back.
So please, please, please, stay away from this company. I don't care if people use their ezine alot for information, their retail shop has zero customer service, and just ignores you, then treats you like You're the one who did something wrong if you dare to reach out on Facebook because they won't answer your emails. There's a bunch of other great sites for body jewelery that have excellent customer service (or suspension stuff if that's what you're into, since BME thinks it's so unusual, apparently, when it's not, & think paypal singles them out for selling that stuff, when they don't seem to care when anyone else does). So unless you just want a company to take your money while wasting your time, go elsewhere, please.
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