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I was wondering if anyone with experience purchasing stamps from Simon Says Stamps could offer me some advice.
How was your experience? How long did it take for your order to process, then ship?
Did you have any problems communicating with the company if you needed to talk to someone in customer service?
Did you have any type of communication with them at all regarding your order?
If something sold out pretty soon after you placed your order, did they wait to ship until it was back in stock? Did they let you know they were going to hold you order until that item was placed back in stock?
I've ordered from them several times and been pleased. I don't remember the details, but I know I received my items in a timely fashion with no problems.
I've never had to contact them about anything, so I can't speak to that. I know they do a pretty big volume and are well respected in the industry.
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
I've ordered from SSS many times, always received my order quickly, and when I needed CS help, they responded quickly by email. I've ordered stamps, dies, inks, pockets - I'm sure other items. I called a couple of times. They often insert a $5.00 off coupon in the package for the next order.
Last week I mistakenly checked out with two of an item instead of one, and emailed them immediately, but it was a weekend. That Monday morning I called and they said they're try to stop it. They did. If they hadn't, I could have sent it back.
I'm not sure I understand your last question. I've only placed orders for items that were in stock.When I've requested to be notified when out-of-stock items were stocked, they sent emails doing so.
I've returned only one item - a small cutting mat that wasn't completely flat, and they credited my account.
They're one of the manufacturers Jennifer McGuire is associated with and links to for items in her blog.
I appreciate your comments. Last Sunday I placed an order and it is still processing. I noticed that Monday, one of the stamp sets I ordered is now out of stock on the website, so I emailed customer service on Wednesday, and again on Thursday to see if it was on back order, if I got one of the last sets...something, and have not received a response.
I guess i've been spoiled by the other companies I order from, with only having to wait at the longest three days for an order to process and ship.
They took my full payment right away, so I am hoping I was just able to get one of the last sets before it sold out.
I will call tomorrow afternoon if I have not received some sort of message letting me know the status has changed on my order somehow.
From my experience, that's quite unusual. You're more patient than I am. I would have called on By Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.
Was that the weekend they had the big sale on SSS items? I was going to say maybe it's related to that, but I received my order from the sale yesterday. You're further away from them - fingers crossed you'll receive your order tomorrow or there's a good explanation.
for me it is usually about a week of processing ( and I am not close to them) so, another week for shipping. so, I would say that its an average 2 weeks to receive.
I have had to have one thing replaced once, the gal I talked to was totally great to work with and I had a replacement in less than a week.
I have also ordered things that were on "reserve" to ship on a certain day, they really did ship them on the days stated.
When I do order something that they are waiting to get, I don't order in stock things with it. because, if I am ordering it, I wanted sooner not later and I just make it two orders kwim?
their site seems to be set up though that if something goes out of stock you will have to remove it from your cart before you can check out so, if it lets you buy one and its not a reserve I believe they actually have one to ship to you.
eta I have also had them ship it in under a week and when I got the you have been shipped email and I clicked it to see what day to expect it, it was already in my town out for delivery. so sometimes the you've been shipped email comes later.
I have ordered many times from them. They have a great variety of products. I think their processing and shipping time is slow. I am only an hour and a half from them which in my opinion means the shipping should be fast. Compared to many other companies, like MFT or Lawn Fawn I have been disappointed in them in this aspect. I would say that most times my orders take at least 10 days to get here. And be careful because if you order something not in stock, your whole order will be held up until that item is in stock. I guess that is standard for many places. I just didn't realize it and after 2 weeks had gone by with no order, I finally called them. The girl on the phone was not very friendly but she resolved the issue by cancelling the back ordered item so my order could ship. She did not seem happy about it though.
My last order was about 6 days in the filling/ship but that was the big sale weekend. Then 3 to get to me.
Cant really blame them once they release it though. That's the PO and I have had things go on a "vacation" on me...meaning it went the opposite direction or swung crazy wide out instead of a direct line.
I have ordered from them several times without any problems. I did wonder once about the shipment of my order and called them up. They were very nice over the phone and sent me an email right away with the shipping information. Later, when I checked my junk mail, I realized that their notifications were going to the junk folder.
I recommend calling them during normal business hours and/or checking your junk folder for more information.
__________________ Elizabeth in Hoboken, proud parent of a feisty and mischievous parrot who likes to chew craft supplies
Thank you! Yes, it was from the last day they offered the sale on their line of stamps. I am going to call them this morning.
I'm glad you got your order!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bjeans
From my experience, that's quite unusual. You're more patient than I am. I would have called on By Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.
Was that the weekend they had the big sale on SSS items? I was going to say maybe it's related to that, but I received my order from the sale yesterday. You're further away from them - fingers crossed you'll receive your order tomorrow or there's a good explanation.
Thanks for all the replies! I have been stalking my email folders...and there hasn't been anything in my junk folder.
I will just call them this morning. I'm not blaming them for shipping....I know thats on the usps...but, I'm not sure I understand why it has taken a week to fill an order of 4 stamp sets. I'll get it taken care of...I just wanted to know if anyone else had issues with them being slow to process orders and then ship them.
I think i'm going to give Ellen Hutson a try, maybe they do not take as long to process. I am loving the Clearly Besotted stamps....and those are the only two places state side I have been able to find them up til now.
I called...the woman who answered the phone said that the warehouse is running behind, and my order will probably go out in the next couple of days.
She wasn't overly friendly, I am guessing she has to take a lot of calls or something.
I think I will for sure give Ellen Hutson a try, they have some stamps I would like on clearance right now too, and some new release things I'd like to try.
Thanks for your help!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bjeans
Glitches happen - maybe give them one more try after this as a test, if you like their products?
I've ordered twice from Ellen Hutson and quickly received my order. They're very nice on the phone too.
If you really want speedy, try ScrapbookPal.com Cricut Cartridges, Copic Sketch Markers & More!. Free shipping over $25. Great discounts on a few popular brands like Lawn Fawn, Avery Elle and Copic markers. The selection is no where near as extensive as Ellen Hutson or SSS, but the prices and CS are amazing.
Ellen Hutson is great. They send a nice thank you note in every package. Enjoy!
__________________ Elizabeth in Hoboken, proud parent of a feisty and mischievous parrot who likes to chew craft supplies
I've never ordered from SSS but order regularly from Ellen Hutson. Unless she has had a sale my orders have always gone out the next business day. EH is in Washington State and I'm in Ohio. Once shipped I have it in 3 business days including the day it was shipped. She does send an email notifying order has shipped with tracking number. I've called them once and emailed a couple times. The gal was polite and friendly. Emails were answered within 1 business day. I ordered a Memory Box die once and the die in the MB package was not the die it should have been. They replaced it immediately and sent a shipping label to return the incorrectly packaged die. If you order from EH in the last sixty days you will receive a coupon code monthly for 10% off.
Thanks for all the replies! I have been stalking my email folders...and there hasn't been anything in my junk folder.
I will just call them this morning. I'm not blaming them for shipping....I know thats on the usps...but, I'm not sure I understand why it has taken a week to fill an order of 4 stamp sets. I'll get it taken care of...I just wanted to know if anyone else had issues with them being slow to process orders and then ship them.
I think i'm going to give Ellen Hutson a try, maybe they do not take as long to process. I am loving the Clearly Besotted stamps....and those are the only two places state side I have been able to find them up til now.
If you use paypal, there's no reason you can't order from Clearly Besotted directly, especially when the pound is low against the dollar.
For instance, I just checked on the set "deer to me," which is 9GBP. Simon Says Stamp is charging 14.99. But on the Clearly Besotted site, 9GBP is converting to 11.77. It's also only 4.58 for CB to ship to me; Simon's flat rate is 6.99.
It takes time because it takes time. Why do people think orders are filled the second they are placed? The company is not sitting around waiting for your particular order. Stop needing instant gratification. If you seek that, go to a brick and mortar store.
It takes time because it takes time. Why do people think orders are filled the second they are placed? The company is not sitting around waiting for your particular order. Stop needing instant gratification. If you seek that, go to a brick and mortar store.
This post was not simply about it taking time to fill an order although frankly, a week is a little outside the norm for most of the larger internet companies these days.
There is the twist of one of the items she ordered showing as sold out the next day-- it wouldn't be the first time a company's inventory count failed to match its inventory on hand.
And then apparently a lack of any indication-- automated probably would have sufficed-- that her email asking about the situation actually made it to the company.
She was just trying to get a handle on what might happen if her item was indeed sold out, which I don't think is unreasonable at all, knowing that there ARE companies that will hold for backorders WITHOUT advising the customer at all.
;">Originally Posted by Paula O. It takes time because it takes time. Why do people think orders are filled the second they are placed? The company is not sitting around waiting for your particular order. Stop needing instant gratification. If you seek that, go to a brick and mortar store.
It's reasonable to want to know the status of your order/shipment and to expect your emails to be answered and to be concerned if they go unanswered. It's especially understandable that someone might be concerned when purchasing from a company for the first time.
Also, shipping is not free at SSS, so I don't expect Amazon-like delays from them.
I really like SSS, have ordered from them a few times, have always been happy and would order from them again. But they are known for being a little slow. Here are a few old threads:
While we do seem to be living in an instant gratification world -- movies on demand, instant book downloads, 2-day Prime shipping -- I don't think that waiting a week before being concerned is a display of needing instant gratification.
I'm glad that SCS is a community where people feel comfortable asking for help, advice and information : )
__________________ Elizabeth in Hoboken, proud parent of a feisty and mischievous parrot who likes to chew craft supplies
I've probably ordered 6-8 times. I just looked at my most recent history and 3 orders shipped one day after I ordered. 1 was 4 days (big sale and I ordered late on Friday night and one item wasn't expected for a couple of days). 1 was longer BUT it was a fantastic new release and there were dies not available for a couple of weeks. I was afraid they'd sell out their first order of dies and went ahead and ordered--I knew it wasn't going to ship for a couple of weeks. I could have separated the order but I'm cheap and wanted the cheapest shipping costs.) My older orders I did without creating an account so I can't see my history on those on my account history page.
Whenever I've ordered I knew when I placed the order if the item was on backorder, it was on the item page and it said that my order would be held to ship. I've put things in my cart before and not placed the order for a few days. When I've come back the cart indicated that the item was now on backorder (or some other wording but I knew it as I ordered.) Sometimes I left it in and waited, sometimes I deleted the item from my order and just saved it for another time.
I have contacted customer service by email and by phone. Once I ordered 2 of an item by accident one weekend (I'd filled my basket over a couple of days and obviously really liked it since I ordered it the first day then again just before I finished my order, LOL). I emailed them to ask if the order could be held and they called me back the next business morning. Becauses it was a sale they'd actually been packing shipments over the weekend and my order had already been packed and was shipping. The lady I talked to was very nice and offered to help with shipping it back. Since it was only a small die I decided instead it needed to be gifted to a crafting friend who loved it.
I also called another time to ask if there was a way to add items to monthly subscriptions and had a very nice, and informative discussion with the rep at the other end of the line.
If you haven't heard back I'd check my spam and or trash filters, and if nothing is there make contact again. It doesn't jive with my experiences with them.
I live in Michigan and they are in Ohio. I usually get my package within a day or two of shipping.
If you really want speedy, try scapbookpal, Free shipping over $25. Great discounts on a few popular brands like Lawn Fawn, Avery Elle and Copic markers. The selection is no where near as extensive as Ellen Hutson or SSS, but the prices and CS are amazing.
Ellen Hutson is great. They send a nice thank you note in every package. Enjoy!
they are based out of utah and i am indiana, if i place an order with them before the same day shipping cutoff which is 2 i think i get it in 2 days. they are 20% cheaper on everything they carry. which is quite a few big brands i.e. distress, lawn fawn, spellbinders, copic, and many many more. every single solitary item i have ever priced from them is always 20% less than retail. they get new releases the same day they come out most every time the best i can tell. they have free items with purchase all the time and there isn't a minimum to the order. there shipping is a flat 2.95 until you spend $25 at which time it is free.
anytime i buy a paper crafting item i always check their site first to see if they have it, because i will get it faster than amazon prime, and i might get a free item with it.
over time i have gotten a couple sentiment stamps one was dovecraft and the other i don't remember. a small set of lady bug dies, 2 different stickles, a tombow extreme tape runner, and a few things i am sure i have forgotten. so yeah the free gifts are actually worthwhile. you have to go to the category for free items and then add it to your cart if they are offering one then or else you will not get it. ok i am through, i am just a really loving customer and they have saved me so much money and allowed me to get things i otherwise might not have bought.
I can't say enough good things about Scrapbookpal Their customer service is top notch. They noticed that I had ordered 2 of an item and telephoned to see if I really wanted that many. Their free shipping at $25 is great and on 99 percent of my M-F orders they ship the same day! They don't ship with any of those cheap carriers like Smart Post, DHL or Ontrac which take forever to get to you. I ordered last Friday and the USPS delivered it on Sunday with a couple of my Amazon packages. I have been shopping with them for over 10 years. I cannot find a cheaper price - even on sale for adhesives, pens and most dies.