Preschoolians: the internet's most ridiculous company

Submitted by David Grant on Tue, 2012-01-03 09:48

We ordered a bunch of shoes online for my daughter, from various American companies. One of them was Preschoolians (I'm not going to link to their site. There is an entire blog devoted to how much Preschoolians sucks but the last post was from 2006 so I decided to give them a try anyways.

First, I tried to order an "Accufit measuring device." The order was cancelled by Preschoolians and they said the following: "We would like to inform you that the for the moment we do not ship Accufit measuring devices and unfortunately your order was automatically canceled by the system . Please accept our most sincerest apologies for any inconveniences this may have caused you."

August 20th, 2011: I went ahead an ordered some shoes. I received a standard email stating that once the item ships I will receive a tracking number.

September 9th, 2011: I inquired about the order and they replied, "We would like to inform you that we have checked with the manufacturer to know exactly when your order will be shipped. They have confirmed that the shoes were made and will be shipped in 1-2 days, with the next shipment. The shoes will be delivered to you next week, and we will also send you an email with a UPS tracking number, to know exactly the estimated delivery date."

September 13th, 2011: The refunded the shoes, but stated that the shoes will be sent anyways as a gift! "First of all, please accept our apologies for the delay. We would like to inform you that the full refund was issued, and the money will go back in your account in no more than 2-3 business days. The refund was issued in order to make up for the delay. We would also like to inform you that the order was not cancelled and that the shoes will still be delivered to you as a gift."

October 18th, 2011: I inquired again, and received this reply: "Please note that we were informed that the problems we have been facing at the factory were solved so, all overdue orders should start shipping by the end of the week. We do apologize about the delay."

November 13th, 2011: Apparently the shoes are on their way via USPS: "We would like to inform you that the order for the I'm Walking Barefoot Fly Away Dark Purple Light Purple size: 25 was just shipped to you and it is transit with USPS and should be delivered to you in Canada the following days. Please accept our most sincerest apologies for any inconveniences this may have caused you."

Now it is January 3rd, 2012. If I check the status of the order online, there is a UPS tracking number (not USPS). The order is in the "waiting for UPS" state. Apparently they created a tracking number/label but never got UPS to pick it up. The number was created August 21st, 2011, the day after I ordered the shoes.

This company is an absolute joke. Most of these emails are obvious lies, as my wife said near the beginning, after the refund was issued and they said they would still send them as a gift: "Omg, they are never coming."

BTW, if you want a recommendation on where to buy toddler shoes online, check out Pediped, See Kai Run, and Robeez. Some other companies we didn't order from include Soft Star Shoes, Vivo barefoot, Teva, Land's End, and Feelmax.

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Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

Wed, 2012-01-11 14:11

Hello, I was looking for somewhere to share my similar recent horrible experience with Preschoolians - also found the inactive "love the shoes hate the company blog". I had ordered various pairs before and had not had problems (in 2009, 2010) - shipping time was about a month and a half, so only started getting suspicious /nervous after 2 months (!!) and started enquiring about the order... very similar excuses by email and phone (problem at the factory, then solved, same line two weeks later... ) but I was never given a refund and had to go through VISA to get the money back - just in under the 3 month window.
Hope this helps anyone else not buy from them.

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 2012-02-25 11:39

Very same thing happened to me. Nobody should order from them.

Anonymous (not verified)

Thu, 2012-01-12 06:40

Hi

I had the same bad experience too and i think we are not the only one!
I ordered 3 pairs of shoes for my daughter in june 2011. I emailed them 1 month and a half later to ask them when they will send the shoes and they said in one week.
I waited more than a month and i called them. Nobody answered then we thought that the company closed and kept our money!
Finally we talked to Joana and she said they had problems with their chinese provider and that we will reeive the shoes in one week.
We waited 2 weeks and no shoes!
So we decided to call them again and ask for a refund. They refunded in 3 days and said that we will receive the shoes as a gift.
It was in october and we are still waiting...

Sam (not verified)

Wed, 2012-01-25 14:52

I am going through the EXACT same scenario regarding the shoes. In fact, today I spoke to someone AGAIN, they refunded my $$$ from an order placed November 11, 2011. I am still holding my breath for someone to call me today. Were you concerned about your personal information going anywhere other than Preschoolians?

Jsoe Antonio He... (not verified)

Mon, 2012-08-13 01:21

Hello,

I have gone through exactly the same scenario, I ordered the Preschoolians shoes in January 2012 but Preschoolians never delivered them. Originally Preschoolians used the same excuses (factory delayed production, Chinese New Year) as mentioned before then it was DHL who lost the shoes (and they promised they would refund them).

I have not seen a cent back of the money I paid and neither the shoes. I also contacted the CEO who is supposed to step in to help in issues like mine, no reply.

My credit card company refuses to refund me the cost of the shoes because apparently I missed the two month deadline I had to request the refund (I was too busy battling with Preschoolians to get the shoes).

The order was meant to be delivered to Spain. I had been a customer several times before and the service had been great before. It feels to me that Preschoolians has just become a SCAM machine specialised on ripping off previous clients.

Regards,

Jose Antonio

Maja (not verified)

Tue, 2012-09-25 00:12

My order - placed 1/24/2012 and it's still Status: PROCESSING :-D
Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 4:24 PM : will be shipped from the factories in a short while , and we will send you an email confirmation , with a DHL tracking number, once they do ship.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012 6:13 PM : the shoes have been manufactured and are almost ready. They will be shipped from the manufacturing facility in one week maximum , with the next shipment
Thursday, May 24, 2012 3:59 AM : it seems there are no updates at this point. Unfortunately we are having some issues with the factory and most of our order were put on hold. Please rest assured that you will be notified when we will have an update in regards to this situation.
Saturday, July 7, 2012 9:42 PM : Please note that we have forwarded your request for a refund to our accounts dept. It should be issued in about a week.

...still waiting for that week...

And, of course, at the bottom of each message, quote:
Remember, at Preschoolians, we trust our customers and work every day to earn and keep your trust.
Have a great day!
Sincerely,
...
The Preschoolians Company where Barefoot is Best
Winner Time Magazine's Coolest Inventions of the Year
100% Satisfaction Guarantee $5.40 per order Shipping on All Orders within the U.S.
... We Guarantee Your Satisfaction

Anonymous (not verified)

Mon, 2012-12-10 12:45

I have ordered from this company three times. I don't know why I go back except that, like others, I like the shoes. However, the shoes are NOT worth the service. My first order took 2 months to arrive. My second order arrived 3 months later; they did credit me the cost. I'm currently waiting for my third order. It's been 6 weeks. Each time I communicate with them (going on 3 now), they essentially lie and say that they're shipping it out "tomorrow", but so far nothing. How are they still in business?

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 2013-02-02 16:21

Seriously! I loved the shoes from this company. The first time we ordered in 2010 they came in about a month and a half. This time I waited for over 2 months. They did actually arrive! Then within a week the buckle fell apart on the first pair. Yes fell apart - not just off. Ridiculous. The second pair the velcro also fell off. For how much these shoes are and how long you wait it is so wrong. I couldn't believe how much the quality went down hill!

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