Store Review: ShopRapunzels

When a lovely TPFer posted about this new Juicy source, I so wanted them to be my IT store. They looked like a perfect replacement for SDR/SBB - not so big that they'd sell out within minutes and not so small that they would never have anything good. They even had free shipping and a discount code so I would be able to make the transition from SDR/SBB easily.

As it turns out, my optimism was short lived. Placing an order and getting the discount was easy enough. But shortly after my order confirmation e-mail arrived a second, rather unpleasant one followed: because I live in Hawaii I was not eligible for free shipping and would have to pay an extra $20, despite the fact that the checkout system didn't charge me for shipping. $20???!!! Are you nuts?! That pretty much canceled out the discount I had received and quite frankly, if I'm going to pay full price for a charm, I'm going to go straight to the Juicy boutique to get it. So I had a moment and fired off an e-mail back to them with a short shipping tangent inside and told them that I wasn't paying $20 for shipping and if they couldn't figure out a way to send it for free as promised then I didn't want it. I even tipped them off that the 3 charms I had ordered could fit snugly inside of a small flat rate USPS Priority box, which mails for less than $5.

A short time later I received another e-mail, offering to "look into" shipping the items via USPS, but that they did not have the best tracking methods. To add insult to injury they threw in the tidbit that international packages had gone missing before with USPS. It could be that the person writing the e-mail had no idea that Hawaii is, in fact, part of the United States and does not require international shipping. But I have to reassure you all right now that we do make up 1 of 50 states and you can come here without a passport. I informed them of these things and figured I wasn't going to be getting my charms.

I suppose luck was on my side that day. The very sweet Web Manager named Juliette e-mailed me back and let me know that they would be sending the charms via USPS flat rate for free, and would work on their shipping policies for Hawaii. She included that they're still a small business and work hard to please the customers they receive. I have to really give her two thumbs up for that - they could've just canceled my order and sold everything to someone else. Please refer to the Shipping & Tax information to read about how the charms actually arrived.

Selection:
It's not as extensive as you'll find with department store websites or Juicy's official website, but it's good. There are just under 20 charms listed right now, with a healthy mix of older (pave banana, frame) and new (orange slice, script pearl).

Pricing:
Regular retail pricing for Juicy merchandise.

Customer Service:
Once I got past the automated e-mails and received contact from an actual person everything was smooth sailing.

Returns:
Their return policy is here. After the hassle I went through to get my 3 charms there was no way I was returning them, so I can't tell you how easy or difficult it will be.

Discounts:
Sign up for the e-mails! Not long after my first (and so far only) order I received a few more discount codes for an assortment of merchandise, including Juicy Couture items.

Shipping & Tax:
You've already read my disgruntled tirade about their shipping procedures. I should also include that when my charms did arrive they came in a larger sized USPS Priority flat rate box without ANY padding or packing materials. There's no doubt that those little boxes banged around and had quite a rough journey on their way over. They also removed the foam from inside the boxes. Thankfully, nothing was broken. Their entire shipping policy can be found here and should be read before placing an order if you live outside of the continental United States. ShopRapunzels does offer international shipping. Florida residents may find themselves facing tax, as the store has 3 retail locations in the Palm Beach area.

One Last Thing: My unpleasant experience with ShopRapunzels is not the only one out there. If you had a bad experience as well, please post about it in the comments. Having said that, you should know that my or anyone else's frustration with the company doesn't necessarily mean that you should avoid doing business with them. I don't want to obliterate them in this review, and I think everyone deserves a fair chance. If you had a good experience with their website please e-mail me or post about it in the comments, because I really would like to hear about it. :)