Thursday, April 1, 2010

This is why Denver Fabrics/Fashion Fabrics Club doesn't deserve your business...

I ordered 22 yards of fabric from Denver Fabrics on March 5th.  I received a notice of shipment containing only a tracking number for FedEx SmartPost.  This package was shipped March 10th.  After two very frustrating phone calls with FedEx, I discovered that the wrong delivery zip code was put on the package and it was returned to Denver Fabrics.  They just received the package back yesterday.  I called Denver Fabrics to resolve the situation.  A rude and impatient woman answered the phone.  She said I entered 6 digits for the delivery zip code and that the shipping information is automatically entered onto the shipping label.  So I politely asked if there was any system in place for resolving shipping information that was obviously wrong.  She cut me off and stated: "If you didn't catch it, why should we?"  Seriously?  That's how you speak to your customers?  My billing and shipping information is the same but they don't look at either apparently.  I tried to ask a few more questions so I could understand their process but she didn't care to let me speak.  So let me sum up my several Denver Fabrics shopping experiences for you so you know what you're getting yourself into when you order from them.
  1. Fabrics are packed into boxes or plastic mailers without a plastic bag to protect them.
  2. Customer service hours are limited (9am-4pm CST, Monday - Friday only).
  3. They don't return emails.
  4. They don't return phone messages.
  5. The customer service reps are rude.
  6. You don't receive an order confirmation (at the end of your order or in an email).  This would have been very helpful in catching the zip code error.
  7. There are no labels on the fabrics when they are delivered to you.
  8. It usually takes them at least 3 days to process your order.  Much longer if you have a large order.
  9. Apparently they don't contact you with questions regarding your order.
  10. They run out of fabrics in your order frequently.  Sometimes you get an email or phone call to alert you and sometimes you just get a note in your package.
This is all very disappointing because they have a large selection of affordable fabrics and I like all the information they provide on their fabrics (care, fiber content, close-up swatches that are pretty accurate, suggested uses, etc.).

I liked Denver Fabrics because their selection of silks, wools and jerseys was better than Fabric.com but I don't get any attitude from Fabric.com.  They are super fast, super affordable, and super helpful.  Oh, well.  Lesson learned.  If you have any great sources for silks, wools and jerseys, please let me know.

11 comments:

  1. I too have had problems with Denver Fabrics, primarily because the fabrics listed are not as advertised. This last batch, 3 out of 5 were wrong. A gray wool was brown (and not very good quality), a 100% cotton knit was 100% polyester, and a "gray t-shirt knit" was a blue featherweight--way too thin for "t-shirt." All except for the wool was a good deal, but Denver Fabrics does not do free return shipping, nor refund shipping on their own mistakes. I don't plan to order from them again, and I would tend to not recommend this online store.

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  2. Ordered fabrics from Denver Fabrics/Fashion Fabrics Club and fabrics did not always match descriptions. One 100% cotton fabric came with obvious synthetic cotents and was totally unusable for me. Since I cannot trust their descriptions, I would not order from this business again. Also, good fabric businesses usually tell you the weight of the fabric either by ounces/yard or at least a rough scale by weight. Great prices but not always such a bargain.

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  3. I haven't received any fabrics that were listed incorrectly but the slow shipping is annoying, high shipping costs, and the rude customer service was the last straw. It has been almost 14 months since I last ordered from them and I don't miss it. I've found everything I needed for better prices and quality somewhere else. So long Denver Fabrics.

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  4. i havnt had problems with them yet. my first order came through fine. i'm yet to make a second one.

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  5. My credit card was charged and a full two weeks later had received nothing from fasion club fabrics so I wrote to customer service. I got an incredibly rude response that made it clear they hadn't even bothered to look into the problem. It's been another two weeks and I have yet to receive my $200+ order.

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  6. I just had a bad encounter with them -- shipped a week after card was charged, very rude response when I asked about shipping. I just wrote them and demanded a refund. They have a FB page and I will definitely post there with my results, positive or negative. If they don't give me a refund, I will dispute the charges on PayPal.

    Because of their lateness, their shipment of fabric is arriving DECEMBER 24. That makes it useless. Even if I stayed up all night sewing, I would not have my Christmas presents done.

    I noticed that they have received more poor reviews than good ones, and I wish I would have done my research before ordering from them. My warning to all is: DO NOT use Fashion Fabrics Club or Denver Fabrics -- it's not worth your time. They are unreliable and unprofessional (and rather shady, too.)

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  7. Boy, I wish I'd seen this article before buying from FFC. I am in Canada, and the way they do business here is to take your order, cut the fabric and THEN tell you what they want to charge you for shipping. Huh!?! So they charged me $32 shipping for 5 yards of lightweight fabric. Would I have ordered from them if they'd informed me of the shipping charge FIRST, as I requested? I would not. Even worse, the brown "ponte knit" turned out to be cheap, sleazy polyester (not even a blend, which I at least could have used). NOT worth the money and the aggro... customer service was unhelpful. The only thing accurate were the colours. But when the fabric isn't what you ordered, I'd say don't bother. It's way too expensive and they are unethical businesspeople.

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  8. Fashion Fabrics club sent me a 10 yard bolt of stained rosette fabric. When I took the vacuum sealed plastic off it smelled the entire room with the stench of urine, sex, and musk! It is disgusting and vile. How dare they make me keep this horrendous product? They are clearly running some kind of scam selling used soiled fabric at high prices! The owner Tom will not take my phone calls and their salespeople keep hanging up on me. Avoid! Abort! Run! I have photos at yelp.

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  9. Ditto all these others. The colours being misrepresented on the site I could tolerate, since of course one always ought to get samples first (I usually only buy their stuff when it's on sale, which means no time for samples); but the time they take to ship is utterly unacceptable in today's world. I've never known another company of any genre that would take between one and three weeks to ship. I work at a small business and if we don't get our internet orders shipped within two days they automatically get cancelled.

    And if you *dare* to politely inquire about when you can expect your order to be shipped, you are in for rude responses, two days after you send your email.

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  10. I wrote a review to the horrible customer service I experienced here :
    http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Fashionfabricsclubcom/St-Louis-Missouri-63132/Fashionfabricsclubcom-Denverfabricscom-Horrible-customer-service-Rude-Flippant-and-10-1128485

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Just my opinion....

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