I'm not sure exactly where to put this, so it's going here for now.

I don't know how many of you have ordered from Clotilde, but I for one, will NOT order from them again!
I put an order in over a month ago and FINALLY recieved it today.
I had called them every week checking on the order and they said.. it's been mailed. No, we cannot tell you what date it was mailed. It should be to you within 6-8 weeks.
I explained to ALL the people I talked to, nevermind, the people I bothered at their highly important job, that I was never sent an e-mail stating that the package had been shipped. Told them that they had already taken the money/payment out of my account, but I have not received anything as of yet. The last time I called was Monday and the lady told me...well, I guess you'll just have to wait a bit longer, won't you? I was polite and told her "thank you for taking time out of your busy day and answering my mundane questions". I then, hung up!

So, needless to say, their customer service is horrible and I will NOT order from them again.

I've ordered from them before and received my things promptly. It sounds like they messed up and don't want to admit it, too bad their customer service is so poor. I'll think twice before ordering again, a month is a long time to wait. Hopefully it arrives soon.

With an attitude like that, I wouldn't order from them again either, but I would write a letter of complaint and let them know that you're telling all your friends about it also.

I'm not even going to waste my energy on them. Not worth it.
Just thought I'd post here to let people know that their customer service is awful. I've never received such bad service over the phone like that before.

Thanks for the tip, I don't do business with places that don't know how to do business!

SIX to EIGHT WEEKS???? are you kidding me, I have sent in rebates, and special things like that, that do not even take that long, shoot while my husband was in Iraq and I was in KY a package only took 7-10 days AT MOST, normally more like 4-5 days!! where are they sending it that it could take six to eight weeks? around the world a couple times?

I wont be ordering!

Word of mouth is one of the best advertising methods - both the good and the bad recommendatios.

I order TONS of things online.
The most it has taken anything was 3 weeks and even that was an error and when I contacted the company, they were VERY, VERY nice and credited money back to my account.
Most packages take about 10 days for me to get them.

Talk about timing....

Terri, I had their catalog out last night looking for a
few things I couldn't get in our LQS and am glad I
read your post. They won't be getting "my" business.

I'm sorry you had to wait so long.......

I've used them for years and years. I would still complain and you'd probably get a refund for shipping at the very least. Most probably they are understaffed these days, just like most every company out there.
please try them again. i'm sure they don't want to loose your business.

No, I'm not going to try them again.
I've called them too many times and was more or less abused on the phone. Big heavy sighs from the person I was talking to. Made me think that I was bothering them and they had something better to do. It wasn't just one person, it was ALL the people I talked to. Not going to do business with a company that is like that.

On a side note, They owe me a refund for a book they didn't have anymore. On the packing slip, it says....refund to be sent in seperate mailing. Guess I'll be waiting 8 weeks for that!

That totally sux Teri... wait a minute, do you mean to tell me that they debited your account for a book they don't have and now have to send a refund?

Yup! Took ALL the money the day I made the order. Then took 7 weeks for it to get here only to find out that one book they are out of and they will send a check seperately instead of crediting my account. Stupid, yes?

That is terrible. In these times I think companies would be going out of their way to keep our business. My spending dollars are precious and I will go with a company that takes care of me.

I have had excellent service from Nancy's Notions. aka Nancy Zeiman's catalog/online. :D

I was the dumb-dumb that ordered their cute book for jackets. You will know which one it is for it use to be on the front cover and now is usually on the inside cover and the girl is blonde and the jacket looks like jelly rolls in soft colors. The prob is, you can't make these jackets w/the book....you also have to go buy patterns wherever they sell patterns...and, the gal used the pattern, made the jacket and put it in the book....w/o the original patterns....I say patterns for it takes more then one as suggested! I did get a refund and not a happy one, but, they did do it and guess they don't usually on books...but, how was I to make the jacket I thought I bought the book to make?! I told them they really need to reword the description on that so everyone would know before they bought this book they would need patterns to actually make them. Oops...then I guess there would be no reason to buy the book! Wonder who else bumped on that road?!LOL Sorry you have had to pull your hair out over there....w/money the way it is, people better get appreciative-huh?:)Skeat

I have never ordered from them. They have some great looking things. I'm sorry to hear that the service was so poor.

I bet Clotilde is the middle man, basically an ordering service. When your order comes to them, they then turn in the order to a distribution seller. That's why they wouldn't/couldn't tell you when it was mailed. It's easy to order from a wholeseller/distributor. Lots of them online. Jhittle for one.

Sorry to hear that... I have ordered from them several times in the past - never ever had a problem. I would definitely tell them by email, snail mail, fax, phone, every possible way that I would not be using them and exactly, in detail why I would not be using them again. Did you get any names of who helped you - I learned the hard way to get names anytime I talk to anyone in any company.
No matter how 'downsized' they have become they should NEVER treat a customer (their bread and butter) like that.
Hope you never have to go through that with any other company again.

I ordered all those chap books/booklets for under a dollar. When I got the package the invoice noted one was out of stock and discontinued so I wouldn't be getting it. I was out .69 cents because they gave me a store credit, but it had a deadline, which I think has passed already.

I'm not streaming, but I feel as a business they aren't entitled to keep even a penny from a customer---as customers we have to pay to the penny. I'm not inclined to order from there before all this anyway but it weighs in on if I'll order ever again.

Sorry your experience wasn't what it needed to be, especially with so much competition for consumer dollars with the economy. You'd think they'd pay special attention to their customers, online, mail, in person, whatever.

I've never heard of anyone sending you a refund check if you paid by credit card. They usually debit it back to your card account. That sounds so odd for them to do business that way. I hope you get your refund. I won't order from them again either since I always use my debit card.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with them. I have ordered from them several times and never had a problem.

tlrnhi,

I'm trying to remember from your other posts... are you overseas? (Not in the US?) If you're not... then I apologize, 'cause my answer won't really apply. If you're on a US military base, then my answer also won't apply.

But if you are (non-military) overseas, that's probably why they told you it could take 6-8 weeks.

I have bought from Clotilde a few times in the past - not recently, though - and it was always my impression that they were a reputable business. To be sure, Clotilde should have been able to tell you WHEN your package was shipped! I totally agree with you on that point.

I have found that there's a lot of confusion about international shipping, as a whole. So in the interest of anyone reading this forum who is overseas, I'm hoping that what I'm about to write here is truly helpful and of some use.

We ship internationally (and have done so for about five years), and I'll share with you what our experiences have been. While most of the time everything goes smoothly, I would guess that about 5% of the time, packages are delayed. It usually takes 2-3 weeks for packages to get delivered (except for France and Italy, where 6-8 weeks is the norm). But sometimes it takes much longer. Less than 1% of international packages do truly get lost, in our experience. We don't give up and consider a package "lost" until 45 days after it was shipped. (That's about six weeks.)

What any international buyer should be aware of is that in general, international packages are sent from the US are sent by USPS Priority Mail International (PMI). This is the budget-priced shipping method (costs about $13 for a flat-rate envelope), and it is definitely a no-frills service. When you ship an international package by this method, you give it to the Post Office... and then sit back, wait, and hope for the best. You can't track it. You can't hurry it up. You can't get any additional information about it, at all. The only thing that you can do is wait. It's frustrating... both for the shopper AND the seller!

So when Clotilde's customer service department told you there was nothing to do but wait, they weren't giving you a runaround, they were merely stating the reality of the situation. International shipping is not very customer-friendly. It's not seller-friendly, though, either!

At this point, you may be wondering, "Isn't there a better way to ship?" Yes, there IS a better way. It's called Express Mail International (EMI), and though the US Post Office picks up the packages, delivery is actually handled by FedEx. However, it costs more than twice as much. You can actually track packages sent by EMI, and it's a very good service, and it's a little faster than PMI, but it's expensive.

But... on to what you might be able to DO at this point. Did you pay by credit card? If so, you have solid protection available to you. If you don't receive your goods, or they arrive damaged, you can dispute the charges. (You probably should do this within 3 months of when you were charged.) When you file a dispute, you get your money back right away. If you paid by credit card, in the case of Clotilde, they actually SHOULD be doing the refund by credit card, too, not by a company check. (Actually, now that I think of it, if you're international you probably do NOT want a company check, because your bank might charge you a fee to cash it.)

I know a lot of people don't like to buy on the internet, using a credit card, but IMHO it's actually a smart move, because of the protection that you get. I would, though, suggest that it's smarter still to have one credit card that's ONLY used for internet purchases. That way, should it ever be compromised, you'll still have another card available for buying groceries, gas, chocolate, and other essentials. :wink:

Hi,

About two years ago I placed an order with them and it took forever. I also called and got attitude from them.

I told them that they charge too much for shipping if they are sending it Pony Express, they didn't care. I did finally get my order.

I also told them to remove my name from their mailing list and I have never ordered from them since. There are other great companies to do business with that take pride in providing GOOD customer service. I am sure anything they sell can be bought elsewhere.

So sorry you had this exprience. I can see that after two years they have not improved.

Have a Happy Day,
Denise

PS I am in SW Ohio

No, I'm not international. I live on Guam. It's a US Territory. We receive US MAIL! I have a zip code, a US ZIP CODE!! I cannot tell you how many times I have had to explain to companies to get them to change their shipping rates for here. I would say that 95% of them have changed them when they have been informed of this and have never had a problem with them. I order tons of things from online companies and have NEVER been told that they could not tell me when the package has shipped or what has shipped in the package. I have NEVER been treated as rudely as I was with Clotilde. Like I said before...calling and trying to talk to them seemed as if I was bothering them from something more important that they had to do.
I did send an e-mail to the company. Doubt I'll hear anything back or even get my refund. Glad it's only for $5, but for some people, that's the price of meals for a day.

tlrnhi,

You're right, shipping to Guam or Puerto Rico or any other US territories is handled fully by USPS. So it would cost the same to ship to you, as it would to any of the 50 states.

I'd be interested to know how long it usually takes for you to receive a parcel from the US mainland.

It takes about 10 days at the most to get a package from anywhere in the Continental US. I've had some take longer, just the mail system, but have never waited more than 15 days. Heck, I order from Joann's all the time and they deliver within 7 days.

Clotilde may not realize it, but that company has annoyed a BIG group of quilters! It may not care, but WE do! I haven't ordered from Clotilde in a long time, but after hearing how badly they treated you on the phone, Terri, I won't order from Clotilde again.

The advice about contacting your Credit Card company is good - because Clotilde SHOULD have credited your card instead of sending you a check. I know you're tired of dealing with this, but if you haven't received AND cashed that check when the 3 month time limit is about to come due (from the date of your order), you should probably contact the CC company.

I've ordered a lot from Clotilde over the years and have always had good service. I've received refunds in a timely manner. But I think from now on, I will begin trashing the catalog as soon as it arrives. It seems she has hired employees that are not a positive representaion of her company.

I called and asked why I am getting a refund via check instead of back on my credit card. The girl I talked to said that is there policy. She then asked for my purchase order number, gave it to her and she said I wasn't getting a refund. I told her, yes, I am to get a refund of $5.69 due to a pattern not available anymore. She then says...oh, yes, I see it now. I again asked...why is the money NOT being put back on my credit card. She says, oh, that's our policy now. We issue refunds with a check and you should see it within 6-8 weeks. I asked her if it was being set by carrier pigeon to my house. She says that that is how long it takes for letters to get to me. HUH???????
I am SOOO done with them!

I ordered from them and got the same thing. I could never get anyone who could tell me what was going on and my order came almost 6 weeks to the day. I'm not going to order from them again.
Pam

:cry: I am so sorry it happens to you....
I believe they don't have problems sending to the US....
I evoid myself frustration by ordering only digital projects...and when i really need something badly: using the address of some relative in the US....
I believe you will still get it (one day, when you will really be very old and won't use it anymore).....
Hugs from Mexico