April 17th

Normally this isn’t something I would post about here but OH MY GOD I have been dealing with the biggest load of nonsense over on etsy for the past week and I have to get it out. It’s really long, I’m sorry 🙁

I know etsy; I like etsy (USUALLY). I sell a lot on etsy and I’d like to thinkI do a good job of it- if you look at my 300+ reviews, 99% of them are 5 stars. I also buy a lot on etsy and while I’ve had some kind of lame experiences in the past, for the most part it’s been great.

Until I tried to order from a shop called Indie Nook (i’m not going to link them but feel free to google them if you want).

I can’t even remember how I found it- I think I was just searching for like “bunny t-shirt” or something because I was looking for Easter gifts for the girls. I realized after I placed the order that I’d actually seen the shop mentioned a while ago on a couple blogs- one promoting it, aaaaand one was GOMI. I guess the shop USED to be called “Indian Nook,” which is of course whack as hell, so they must have changed it? The account is still under the original name though.

ANYWAYS. Bunny shirts. This shop had tank tops available in both toddler and youth sizes with a super adorable bunny printed on the front, and the toddler size also had little shorts printed with matching bunnies. SO CUTE! I really liked the of them and the shop had a 4-star rating so even though it was a little pricey ($74 including shipping) I decided to go ahead and order.

This was when I had the first sign that something was a bit off, because the listings were a confusing mess. The shirt by itself was available in six different sizes and three different colours, but the seller wasn’t using variations for the listing. If you aren’t familiar, variations are when a seller has an item available with different options, they can list them all in a drop-down menu that the customer then chooses from when placing the order. For example on my “Feminist Killjoy” banner listing, I have variations for “Letter Colour” and “Heart Colour,” and people can choose which ones they want without having to message me and wait for my response/for me to put up a special listing. Since there were no variations, I had to include the size (12) and colour (brown) in the “notes to seller” box.

The listing for the two-piece outfit was even more screwed up. Again, the tops were available in three different colours, and in tees AND tanks, with different sizes for each. Now, this listing DID use variations so I was able to select the size and colour I wanted (2T tank in brown, to match the shirt for Sym), however there was also some weirdness where the description and several of the pictures were of leggings, NOT shorts, so I also had to put in the “notes to seller’ that I would like confirmation that I would be receiving shorts, NOT leggings. Additionally I asked for confirmation that I would be able to receive the clothes before Easter- the seller lists a 2-4 (OR LONGER) production time, but seeing as I was placing my order seven weeks in advance I was fairly confident I would get my order in time.

The seller replied to me very quickly and there was a little confusion about the shirt sizes- I think she thought I wanted a 12 MONTH shirt rather than a 12 YEAR shirt, but we got it sorted out. In spite of the confusion, at that point I was very happy with the seller’s communication, and confident with my purchase.

On April 1st (an entire month later) I received a message from her, saying that American Apparel hadn’t included the size 12 tank in her order from them, but she was placing a new, rush order for it and as the other items were ready to go she would be sending them out that day. I thanked her for the update, and a week and a half later I got the package in the mail. It was postmarked April 2nd, so not the day I was told they would ship, and when I opened it up I found that I’d been sent the wrong colour shirt! Instead of the brown, I had been sent neon pink.

At this point I was still hopeful (perhaps unreasonably so) that I would receive the shirt for Sym, but the whole point was for them to be matching. Plus, while the brown shirt was pictured with the bunny printed on the front, for the pink shirt the bunny was printed on an off-white patch that was sewn to the shirt, which is not a look I liked.

This was last Friday, April 11th, and I knew the only way the problem would be resolved in time for Easter would be if it was taken care of straight away. I immediately messaged the seller on etsy, but the shop was on vacation mode and I didn’t know if they were checking messages in a timely fashion. It was at this point I thought to take a look at the actual reviews instead of just the overall rating, and so it was also at this point that I realized I’D MADE A HUGE MISTAKE.

That overall 4-star review rating is actually the result of a mix of 5-star reviews with 1-star reviews. Super pissed off 1-star reviews. 1-star reviews from people who didn’t receive their orders for over two months and had to file a claim with paypal to get their money back. Also, I don’t think some of the 5-star reviews should count as I literally saw one that said “I haven’t received it!!! But I bet it’s amazing:)” WHAT THE HELL, THAT’S NOT HOW REVIEWS WORK. There were a lot of complaints about how the seller didn’t reply to messages and the only way people were able to get a response was to comment on their instagram, so that’s what I did, and it worked; I immediately got a reply saying to message her on etsy with my username & order number and she’d sort it out straight away.

Even though I already messaged her on etsy, I messaged her again and then I waited… and waited… and waited! Apparently “straight away” means something different to me than to this seller because other than a hasty instagram comment on Friday night saying that she hadn’t forgotten about me I received no response ALL WEEKEND. On Monday, April 14th I sent yet another message asking if I could please just get a refund as it was clear I wouldn’t have the order by Easter. Once again, I received no response, so on Tuesday the 15th I posted on their Instagram account again, in an admittedly pissed off way, calling her out for ignoring my etsy messages. My comment was IMMEDIATELY deleted, so I posted another comment calling her out for deleting my previous comment but still not replying on etsy. FINALLY this worked and I got a reply from her on etsy, or rather, from a different person because I guess there are two people involved with the shop. The message read “We are refunding you, I did email you back, sorry for the troubles. Best wishes.” Now, idk if you know how etsy messages work, but all the communication between two people is is together in one long conversation, like facebook messages, and other than the vacation mode auto-reply I’d received no messages at all from them since April 1st. We could both obviously see that so I don’t understand why they would lie about it.

Before I could even reply to that message, I received a SECOND MESSAGE, this one saying “Can we send you a 2t tri blend rabbit tank, but not the 12, can we refund you for that tank? We can priority ship it to you. Theres no clear skies anytime soon for the tri blend coffee tank unfortunately.” Then, before I could reply to that they sent a THIRD message: “we literally just found a tri coffee bunny tee in a 12 and can ship it to you now if you want it!”

So this shirt that they told me WEEKS ago they didn’t have, now they suddenly have it ready to ship? So either I was lied to when I was told it wasn’t available, which would be INSANE, or their workspace is just as chaotic and disorganized as their shop & communication. I’m inclined to believe the latter, since this shop is clearly an out-of-control mess. I replied, saying “If you can guarantee that they’ll get here (Vancouver, BC, Canada) by Thursday- I need them for an Easter gift so there’s no point unless I can get them before the weekend, and Friday is a holiday so there’s no mail that day, or on Saturdays. If I can get them in time, or if you refund me I will be happy to change my review to reflect that.” I think that message is pretty unambiguous; it says SEND THEM ONLY IF YOU CAN GUARANTEE I WILL GET THEM IN TWO DAYS (remember this messaging was taking place on Tuesday), OTHERWISE JUST REFUND ME.

I didn’t hear anything back after that, but I woke up Wednesday feeling relieved our long national nightmare of this etsy mess was finally over. They would have to know that even with priority shipping it would be impossible to get the shirts to me on time- I looked it up on the USPS site and international priority shipping takes 3-5 business days. I sent what I thought would be my absolute final etsy message yesterday morning saying that since there was quite obviously no way I would get the shirts when I needed them to please just refund me now. I also included a comprehensive 5-point plan for how they could fix every single thing that is going wrong with their shop, streamline their ordering process, reduce complaints and keep their customers happy. I’M JUST THAT NICE.

A few hours later I sat down to work on some of my own etsy orders (which I always ship in a timely fashion, cough cough) and watch some Keeping Up With the Kardashians, when I got an email notification on my phone. “Another package for your order is on the way!” WAIT. WHAT. This can’t be right, but no, yes, they shipped the shirts when I specifically asked them not to unless they could guarantee delivery by Thursday. I sent YET ANOTHER message, expressing my displeasure that they completely ignored my request, but knowing I’d get no response I AGAIN was reduced to leaving comments on their instagram.

I admit it; I blew up. I put my capslock on to ask WHAT IS GOING ON OVER THERE, WHY DID YOU SEND THIS PACKAGE, I TOLD YOU NOT TO SEND THIS PACKAGE. I may have used the word “incompetence”. The seller told me to “calm down” and said that she spent $33 to priority ship it, and it would only take 3 business days! To be perfectly honest I’m not entirely sure that this person knows what a business day even is.

I told her I was sorry she wasted that $33 because I was going to refuse delivery when the package arrives, which will inevitably be after Easter. The absurdity was TOO MUCH, so I said “Is this a joke? It has to be a joke. JUST REFUND ME.” At this point the seller decided to take her toys and go home and blocked me on instagram. I think this is the first time I’ve been blocked on instagram! Truly a proud moment for myself. A few minutes later I got an email that my etsy order had been cancelled, and a little while after that I got a refund for one of the items (the shirt meant for Sym, which I never received), with a note that they’ll refund me for the others once I’ve returned them. I’ll also have to refuse delivery on the other shirts, which is funny because the seller will be charged for the return shipping. HA HA.

So I guess I won? But GOOD LORD WHAT A MESS. The really stupid part is that size 12 shirt that was apparently just hangin’ around their disorganized workspace this whole time. If they had their shit together and realized they had that shirt back on April 1st, they could have just put it in with the other items and sent them all together. And MAYBE something would have sparked in their brains and they would have remembered the 2 shirts were supposed to match and swapped out the neon pink for the brown tank I originally wanted. Then everything would have arrived together, in plenty of time for Easter, neither of us would have had to waste our time on this stupid fight and our money on sending these things back and forth, and I would have left them a good review! And honestly, if their other recent reviews are anything to go on, they could have used it.

At the time I was dealing with this, in their last three pages of reviews there were fifteen 4- and 5-star reviews (fourteen if you discount the person who left 5 stars before even receiving their order, wth) and THIRTEEN 1-star reviews. If I was getting those kind of reviews I would be ashamed. I sincerely hope they read over the suggestions I sent and take them to heart, because if not their business is going to be crushed under it’s own weight.

I decided to make this post because of my order being cancelled- etsy cancellations take a few days to process but I think once it’s finished processing my reviews will be erased, and I wanted to share what an absolute pain this shop was to deal with, as a warning to other potential customers. WARNING: INDIE NOOK IS THE LITERAL WORST, DO NOT DEAL WITH INDIE NOOK UNLESS YOU HAVE UNLIMITED PATIENCE AND CAN PLACE YOUR ORDER A THOUSAND YEARS BEFORE THE ITEMS ARE NEEDED. I also want a public record in case they try to screw with me by not refunding the rest of my money. I’ll just finish by saying: I HAVE SCREENCAPS OF EVERYTHING.

UPDATE: I was finally able to get a full refund from these shady grifters, you can read about it here.

31 Replies to “April 17th”

    1. I am also a docile laid back human, like I HATE confrontation and fights. What’s really funny is the items she priority-shipped when I specifically told her not to still haven’t arrived yet.

  1. I wish I saw this before I placed my regrettable order with Indie Nook EIGHT WEEKS AGO!!!! They also claimed they never got my email inquiring about my order. They only way I have gotten a single response is posting on their Instagram (they also delete my comments). I dont think they shirts will even still fit my daughter by the time they arrive… IF THEY ARRIVE:-( Maybe if they used all the time they spend posting on Instagram fulfilling orders, they wouldnt have such a problem???
    THE WORST COMPANY EVER!!!!!

    1. ohhh noooooo 🙁 They truly are the worst, and it seems that when they moved off etsy to their own e-commerce site nothing changed- except now they have EVEN LESS accountability because people can’t post reviews right on their site! My advice is to keep emailing them, open a paypal dispute if you paid with paypal/dispute the charges with your credit card company if you used a credit card, threaten to report them to the Better Business Bureau and MOST OF ALL SCREENCAP EVERYTHING. Screencap any comments you post on their instagram, screencap your paypal/credit card statement where it shows payments to or refunds from them, tweet and instagram @ them, and just generally MAKE A FUSS. idk if you saw my update to this saga (http://www.unicornpara.de/2014/05/09/may-9th/) but I was eventually able to get a full refund (including shipping charges) from these shady grifters.

  2. Oh my god I had the same problem with them! They take no accountability for their company and when you point out that they are wrong they talk down to you. I have had my comments deleted on their instagram page and it pisses me off that there is no where on their site to leave a review so people know what to expect. Worst customer service I have ever experience. It is so frustrating that more people can’t get the word out about this company. I had place a order with them on May 14th and never heard anything from them So i emailed on the 5th week and asked about a order update. They told me it takes 4-6 weeks which isnt mentioned on their website. all their website says is 4 weeks. I emailed at 7 weeks asking again and was told they send their shipping information out on monday. Never heard anything back fromt hem.

    1. Ugh they are the worst, it’s awful. They are just constantly full of excuses like “wahh wahh there’s only 2 of us and we have to do everything!” like either HIRE SOMEONE or TAKE LESS ORDERS. Like one order. Maybe then they could actually get shit out in a reasonable timeframe. Or better yet, ZERO orders. Just stop taking orders, stop selling anything, go out of business.

  3. I’ve been debating ordering the BFF shirts from them…. This just made my decision for me! Thank you for posting!

  4. THEY ARE CRAZY!!! I’ve been waiting 5 months. I finally LOST it. Then was only told that they do NOT do refunds or exchanges. They also said it was NOT their fault and that they do not take accountability for lost or stolen merchandise during shipping. They NEVER sent me a tracking number with my order and then said this nonsense…THEN SAID they were doing ME a favour by sending “another” shipment. They are mental. I am going crazy on them and I’m done. They will honestly feel my wrath if they do not send me my shirts. They are FRAUDS!

    1. Oh they are just the worst! Keep getting at them, messaging them & commenting at them (until they block you, lol), it’s the only way to get ANYWAY with this shifty grifters.

  5. OH MY GOSH, I’m so happy to know I’m not alone! They have really screwed me over and they are awful people! I ordered a tank from them along with my red balloons for ryan shirt and I got the shirt in a timely fashion, but I STILL have not received the tank, the shirt I asked for in replacement off their new website and now a refund. They’ve come back to me with different stories every time, usually indicating that it’s my fault. I spammed their Instagram account in August to get them to respond to me because several weeks turned into months that lapsed without any communication. I had to beg for an apology. I was promised they would send the new shirt I picked out because I obviously didn’t want a tank top anymore – this was September and I live in the midwest! THen I waited nearly 3 weeks sent another email and just got a reply that “I (meaning me) don’t understand how this works” and that they “have a minimum order with the screenprinter” and blah blah. All excuses, mostly lies and they want me to feel bad for them. I’m so frustrated!!!

    1. That’s awful! I think maybe they are the ones who “don’t know how this works” ie WHEN PEOPLE BUY STUFF FROM YOU, YOU HAVE TO DELIVER. I don’t know why they haven’t rethought their business plan because obviously what they are doing ISN’T working, since I made this post in April I’ve gotten tons of emails from people telling me their Indie Nook horror stories.

  6. I wish I woul have read your story sooner. I placed an order with them 3 weeks ago when it was promising 1-3 weeks for delivery, however reviewing my confirmation email it now says 4-6 weeks. When I emailed about this they conveniently let me know there were no refunds or exchanges. I am ordering this for 2 month old babies. May need to upgrade it to 6-12 months to make sure it fits them for at least a little while.

  7. Yep. They’re nuts. Still. I ordered something before Christmas, still waiting. No tracking. No communication. They’ve gotten pretty popular lately, which I think has made things worse. Good grief.

  8. Indie Nook is unprofessional, and as an ex-employee, I highly recommend no one ever purchase from them.

    I am writing my own blog post, exposing the TRUTH of what going on behind the corrupt doors of that company. I will be back here, when I’m done, to post in depth!!!

  9. I ordered from Indie Nook twice, stupidly. First time I received my order in a normal amount of time… but it wasn’t my order. It was wrong. So I let them know, and they sent me a tank version of the tee I ordered, WITH THE TAG CUT OUT!!!!!!

    So not only did I NOT receive my correct item, but I also received the wrong size, and they were arrogant enough to treat me like I’m dumb. Like I wouldn’t realize the size was wrong, just because they cut the tag out. Really low class.

    My second order took 4 months, and was ALSO WRONG! It’s unbelievable how awful these people are. Do not order from them! You will regret it!!

    A friend of mine ordered a red baloon for ryan cruz tee, and it took over 8 months.

    A second friend ordered multiple times and ALL her orders were incorrect. She received two shirts with tags cut out. One shirt was wayyy too small for the child in question. It was for a kid, and had to be given to an INFANT. The second was a sweatshirt, it was way too BIG. Again, both had tags cut out so that the company could deny any wrongdoing.

    It’s a joke. Indie Nook is a joke.

  10. I have been waiting since MAY last year for an order! After emailing them multiple times I still have not received anything nor given a refund. This may be the worst company I have EVER had to deal with. How they are still in business is beyond me! If anyone is thinking of ordering from them… DONT!!!!

      1. That’s ok. I just want people to know how shady they are. I’d rather not have to deal with it anymore

  11. Do you research there’s many complaints about that company indie nook maybe they can’t handle orders or busy

  12. I myself just got royally screwed by this ridiculous “company” and it’s hilarious how similar our stories are! Ordered shirts in November for a Christmas gift. Received them in March. By that time I had sent multiple emails and Instagram messages and received no response. I asked multiple times for a refund. By the time I got the shirts, clearly it was too late to give them as a CHRISTMAS GIFT and they were for babies, so they were entirely too small by that time. So they are sitting here, collecting dust. I just left a negative comment on their Instagram to which I immediately got a response to “stop posting negative comments, you don’t know anything about our customers or their orders”. And then was blocked. Is this a joke?! They can respond instantly when I post a negative comment but ignore my emails and messages for months on end about my order? That’s when i googled and found your post. Maybe I need to file a complaint with PayPal next. I’ve never heard of such a horribly run business.

    1. Please do file a paypal dispute! Also file a complaint with the BBB. These people need to be stopped.

      Having worked for this unethical sham of a company before I knew any better, I can attest to this firsthand!!

  13. Wow. Wish I’d have seen this before August 2nd when I ordered my stuff, got my order 3 months later (one shirt short) and now no replies to my 3728292957 messages. I’m so patient….but I’m Soooo jacked!!! The only time they replied was when I posted on their wall. Bottom line: they’re still pulling their crap.

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