Does anyone know if they vend at any faires/fests this time of year?
I ordered something from them last monday, and paid second day air for delivery. I have not heard one word or any replies to my emails regarding my order.
While I am disappointed that I didn't receive my order in time for Twig, the logical part of me thinks perhaps they are at a faire/festival selling their wares.
Does anyone have a phone number I can call? (There is only a "gmail" address on their site.)
Thanks!
Phonebook results for sandra bradley
Sandra bradley
Mobile, AL 36695
Sandra Bradley
(251) 607-0745
9535 Colonial Hills Ct,
Mobile, AL 36695
Thanks Wild,
I already paid her via paypal.
I am thinking they are probably at a fest selling or something to that effect.
OK,
Absolutely no reply from my three emails, one of which to see if she is still doing business. I was polite, but direct.
Tomorrow, I will send the "please-refund-my-money-NOW" email.
Along with that, I will send a letter registered mail.
I am hesistent to call her as she would have put her phone number on the website had she wanted to be contacted that way.
I am so bummed out. No new outfit for faire this weekend. And it makes me reluctant to order anything online again. This isn't the first time I have been disappointed with an online transaction.
:'(
Aw, that's a bummer. IMO, get in contact with Paypal and register a complaint with them. You may also want to call your credit card company and have them put a block/reversal on the payment.
All the places I've ordered from have been really good; sorry you got hit with a few bum sites.
There have been a few threads concerning this particular eBay vendor regarding not following thru on orders, emails, etc. Not good business prtactices when a customer has to take action like this. Nor does it say positive things about the business itself.
I did try to call her today, and surprise, the number is disconnected.
I will be filing a complaint with Paypal to see if there is any recourse I can take.
Thanks everyone.
kate, whatever you do please make sure you file with paypal before the time limit expires, it does no harm in filing and then let them do the work, paypal is excellent to deal with when item aren't right
Thanks Wild,
I filed the claim earlier this evening. Even if I don't get my money back, at least I posted a little bit on here, so I can warn others to be leary of buying from this person and saved them the trouble.
I have seen ads for this vendor in RENAISSANCE magazine as well. Big ones!!!
Discontinued number, not returning concerning emails, not good.
Good luck, Kiss-Me-Kate and keep us posted.
Kate I'm so sorry your garb has fallen thru. It seems there are many businesses out there that think it's OK to do business like this! We are running into lots of "back order", "out of our hands", "we don't know" kinds of comments with our home project. How do businesses stay IN businesses when they do this?!?
Unforunately, these folk give the others a bad name. There are lots of good quality vendors online that are losing customers because people fear this exact situation. To all the reputable dealers out there, I'm truly sorry these idiots are screwing it up for you. *sigh*
I concur MG. If it were me, I would have taken my site down or put a note on there-"no more order...etc."
At least it wasn't a lot of money. Only 100 bucks plus shipping, so not much, but still enough to be mad.
I just procrastinated too long to whip myself up something AND I want to lose more weight, so I didn't want to spend a lot on what I am making or in this case, purchasing.
Perhaps I will save some rainy day money and order something from Moresca or verymerryseamstress, or Lady Kathleen etc. we shall see.
But hey, two and a half more days and it is Fest time. this matter will be totally out of my mind!!
You are not the only one who has been scammed by this fraudulent webshop.
I placed an order, made payment by Paypal, and never received any word from them. When after awhile, I contacted them again, they told me they don't ship overseas; even though their website does not make any notice of that anywhere. They never refunded the money, and ignored any emails I sent henceforth.
Please do file a complaint against this shop at Paypal, even if you are too late for a refund. Because if they receive several complaints, they will close down the shop's Paypal account and stop the fraud from continuing.
i did find other contact information on this website:
http://www.aboutus.org/TheMedievalMarket.com
I don't know if it's correct, I will try it later today (as I'm in Europe and the US is sleeping right now) and let you know if that got me anywhere.
In my opinion, this webshop should be exposed as the fraud it is, and closed down immediately. So please help me with alerting people of this scam, and post your review about themedievalmarket.com at these sites: (I know, it means creating an account for some of those, but it's worth it when saving other people from being scammed)
http://www.xomreviews.com/themedievalmarket.com
http://www.thethingsiwant.com/site/themedievalmarket.com/
http://www.startaid.com/review/4304153/The-Medieval-Market.html (requires no registration of an account)
http://www.einet.net/review/19698-12248/The_Medieval_Market_Renaissance_Medieval_Garments.htm (registration not needed either)
http://www.italiamedievale.org/europamedievale.html (Italian site, but you can post "commenti" without an account)
If you find any other places like this that I haven't listed... please let me know. Thanks!
It's also worth a try to file a complaint with the domain/webspace provider of that website, so that perhaps they will take the website offline. I found the following domain whois information:
http://www.who.is/whois-com/ip-address/themedievalmarket.com/
You know its funny I had ordered my chemise from them back when I got my first set of garb(early 07) and had no problems with them, so to me it seems odd. But maybe inbetween then and now something happened, change of management perhaps? Weird.
I don't know what happened there... I never ordered at that store before, and it's safe to say I will never order there again.
Thing is, I placed an order to be shipped to Europe. I searched everywhere on their website for a notice that says "no overseas shipping", but no such notice. When you fill out your details for shipment, you can even specify European countries and everything! Everything indicates that international shipping is not a problem.
So when they received my order, they must have seen that it's an international one. They should, at that point, have contacted me about it and refunded me. But they plain simply weren't planning on contacting me ever, but keep the money for themselves. After all, what can someone overseas do to them, really? They will regret underestamating me, though.
Learning from the posts in this topic, I'm surprised that I even got a response at all, when I asked about my order and they replied saying they don't ship overseas. They said they would "look into whether or not I was already refunded" - why couldn't they do that in the first place? Any emails I sent to them since, have been completely ignored.
I'm going to try and call them in a little bit. See what they have to say - if that phone number still exists. I also found this:
http://www.themedievalmarket.com/boat.html
That webpage apparently contains the phone number of the father of the shop owner. If the direct number doesn't work, maybe we can try that way.
Meanwhile I have contacted the abuse department of theplanet.com (the webspace provider), and they assured me that they will look into the issue. An email to the company maintaining the domain name themedievalmarket.com is also sent. If I don't receive a satisfactory answer on the phone and don't have my refund by tomorrow, I will file further claims through Paypal. I will also contact authorities here in Belgium.
In all this, the least I'm worried about is getting my own money back. What I want to do is protect other people from making the same mistake as I did. The internet needs to be cleaned from these scams that give the rest a bad name.
Update...
I have tried calling the number that I found on the one link I gave in my first post. That number is apparently also not in service.
But these are definitely not isolated incidents, look here:
http://mobile.bbb.org/commonreport.html?compID=145149642#CustExp
That page tells that there are 3 unsolved cases, in where the merchant never reacted. They also list a phone number - the same one as listed in one of the posts here, so it was definitely correct - so there is no number I can call.
I have also tried the number of this Tom Toombs, supposedly the father of the webshop owner. That number rings - so at least it exists, to whomever it may belong, but I got no response. I will try again later.
I have also received a response from the domain registrar... Unfortunately they can't take action in this case, but at least they are aware of it now.
They provided me with this information about themedievalmarket.com:
Domain: themedievalmarket.com
Registration provider: ItsYourDomain.com
Registrant
Sandra Bradley
wsbradley@adelphia.net
602 Okisko Rd
Elizabeth City, NC 27909 US
+1.2958252264
(FAX)
Administrative
Sandra Bradley
Sandra J Bradley
wsbradley@adelphia.net
602 Okisko Rd
Elizabeth City, NC 27909 US
+1.2522642958
(FAX)
Billing
Sandra Bradley
Sandra J Bradley
wsbradley@adelphia.net
602 Okisko Rd
Elizabeth City, NC 27909 US
+1.2522642958
(FAX)
Technical
Sandra Bradley
Sandra J Bradley
wsbradley@adelphia.net
602 Okisko Rd
Elizabeth City, NC 27909 US
+1.2522642958
(FAX)
Record created on December 16, 2001
Record last updated on March 29, 2007
Record expires on December 16, 2007
New update.
In the information provided by the domain registrar (see previous post), there's yet another phone number. I tried calling that one - and it rang. Someone answered, sounded confused, and said I have the wrong number. I am going to report this to the domain registrar.
I have also filed a claim through Ecops here in Belgium, and filing a claim through the Better Business Bureau is my next step. There is no doubt now that this person is a fraud.
I have also tried calling the phone number of Tom Toombs, but though it does ring over each time, I never get an answer. Whoever Sandra Bradley is - if that is even her real name - she does not want to be contacted, for obvious reasons.
In addition, I discovered that The Medieval Market also seems to have existed as an eBay store at one point, even though it now appears to be totally gone, with vendor account and all. See for yourself:
http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:gG_IS7Jd9gsJ:stores.ebay.ca/The-Medieval-Market+the-medieval-market&hl=nl&ct=clnk&cd=11&gl=be
The banner (which can still be seen at the above URL) is the same, and when looking further in Google cached pages, I find that same store listed with the exact same description as you will find on most listings of themedievalmarket.com (see review links I posted before). So most likely, Ebay already removed this shop due to fraud.
I have filed the case with the Better Business Bureau today, and also contacted my credit card company; the latter have asked me to fax all documents related to the issue to them, and to give them 2 weeks to investigate further.
In the hopes that someone actually still reads this, lol, I will keep you updated! :)
am payin attention here!
Thanks! ;D
yeah, we're still listening. this is actually a really good way of documenting what you're doing, so that if someone has a problem with another vendor, they can follow your steps.
Glad to hear that, and yes hopefully it will be of help to other similar cases as well!
But my thanks also goes to verymerryseamstress, who has contacted me after reading this topic, and gave me some useful hints. She suggested to contact my credit card company directly, rather than Paypal (because by contacting both at the same time, there may be further delays while both run investigations), but it was already too late because I had already contacted Paypal.
I will definitely keep you updated here! :)
It only takes one rotten apple to spoil the entire bushel.
Which is why vendors like VMS, myself, and others work with clients to assure quality work and followthrough on orders. Our word is our guarantee that what is ordered will be delivered.
Good luck in reporting this rotten apple.
The main reason I'm doing all this now, is to expose themedievalmarket.com as a scam, so that this rotten apple may be removed indeed, rather than to get my own money back (which would of course be a nice bonus at this point lol). I am afraid, though, that after this webshop has been taken off the internet, that person will resurface with a new webshop elsewhere under a different name.
Anyway, I have to wait 30 days for a response from Paypal and the BBB. Two weeks to hear from my credit card company. So right now I've done what I could, and it's a matter of time and allowing instances to hopefully do their work. As soon as I hear something, I will let you all know!
Meanwhile, I would recommend that if anyone here also has had problems with themedievalmarket.com, to please take the same steps for reporting this fraud.
I hope against hope that you get your money back.
But at least you may have saved a fellow Forum Member some heartache.
IIRC someone mentioned they have an ad in Renaissance Magazine? Perchance they would be interested in this info? While they have no connection other than accepting money to print whatever they are sent, they may not want a bad vendor advertising in their magazine, lest they be tarred with the same brush.
Dayna
That was me who mentioned the ad in RENAISSANCE magazine
there's a listing on the renaissance magazine links page (http://www.renaissancemagazine.com/links.html) for the medieval market. I can only find a few email addresses on the site - EditorTom@RenaissanceMagazine.com and LadyJanet@RenaissanceMagazine.com seem the most relevant.
Wow, I hadn't checked this area for a while.
I am so sorry you lost your money too.
I filed a claim with Paypal as well, and "won" my claim. Like I will ever see any money back.
I will also try the BBB. I had thought of doing that, but never got around to it.
I think we, the "victims" should also all email the staff at Renaissance Magazine.
I would hate to see someone lose their money.
The sad thing is, that I would still want the garb, if I can't have my money back. It was only 100 bucks, glad it wasn't more.
In the meantime,I did find an inexpensive bodice. It is basic and not the greatest, but it was affordable and it fits well.
Once I finish losing weight I am definitely saving up for something from VMS or Lady Kathleen.
Thank you for that information about Renaissance Magazine. I am definitely going to email them about this, so that at least they are aware - and hopefully revoke the ad publishing in any further editions. The more people who send an email to them, the more serious it will be taken.
Kiss-me-Kate:
Definitely do file a claim with the BBB! Even if nothing comes from it at this time, at least it will be registered there too.
But don't stop there, don't just leave it at that. I know you are glad it wasn't more than a 100 $, but that is in fact alot of money when you never get anything in return. So please consider taking the following steps as well:
* Contact your own credit card company, and ask your money back through them.
* Contact theplanet.com at abuse@theplanet.com and tell them you've been scammed by themedievalmarket.com.
Only when enough people do this, the problem will be taken serious and be dealt with by the proper instances. And you still might end up getting your money back in the end! :)
I have just emailed the two email addy's of the Renaissance Magazine that you posted here... The email I sent them is the following. Please email them in your own words too, so that they understand this is serious.
QuoteDear sir/madam,
I am writing you concerning the advertisement in the Renaissance Magazine, of the webshop "The Medieval Market" (themedievalmarket.com), also listed on your website's link page.
I felt that it may be important for you to know, that The Medieval Market is in fact a mere scam, where several people have already lost their money at. I myself am one of the victims of this fraud, as I have never received the item I ordered, nor did I receive a refund; all emails are ignored, and there is no way of contacting the shop's owner Sandra Bradley by phone (I found 3 phone numbers, who are either wrong or disconnected). It appears that Sandra Bradley does not want to be contacted, and has been providing false contact information to business registrations; including the domain name registrar that handles themedievalmarket.com.
When I learned that not only me, but in fact several people, had experienced the same problems with The Medieval Market, I began to suspect a scam and decided to investigate further.
At the URL below, you can see that the problem is already known by the Better Business Bureau, where I have recently filed a claim as well:
http://mobile.bbb.org/commonreport.html?compID=145149642#CustExp
As you can see, three issues were handled since april this year (with mine and at least one other not yet included), with as result "company did not respond" - exactly as it is the case with me. Their rating is "unsatisfactory".
I also discovered that The Medieval Market had a webshop on eBay at one point, which has suddenly disappeared entirely, with vendor account and all. I suspect that this account was removed by eBay when fraud was reported too frequently.
Meanwhile I have also contacted my credit card company, as well as Paypal, to investigate this case. In addition, the webspace provider of themedievalmarket.com is also looking into the issue and may possibly be removing the website as a result. I have also begun legal action against The Medieval Market directly; not with as only intent to receive the refund for my order, but also to prevent other people from losing their money to this scam.
I hope that this information may be useful for you, as it might damage the good reputation of the Renaissance Magazine when it will become more publicly known that The Medieval Market is a scam. Assuming that you do not wish to be connected to cases of fraud, I recommend that you remove their link from your webpage, and stop publishing any other advertisements of The Medieval Market.
I hope that with this email, I may have been of help to you.
Thank you,
David Dom
Brilliant! Clear, Concise, Calm, Polite, you told them what had happened, provided evidence for independent verification, told them what you'd like them to do and told them what's in it for them if they do vs if they do nothing.
I'm Impressed, and I write things like this Often in my side-line as an advocate for the disabled.
Dayna
I am so sorry you all have had this trouble! I hope some restitution will be made from this.
This also let other people know about them too. I appreciate the heads up on this.
Thank you, unilady. :) I do my best, though I'm no professional at this or anything lol.
So far I haven't received any response from the Renaissance Magazine though :( and the link is still on their website... So much for trying to warn people that way eh lol.
Anyway, I'll keep you all updated once I have more news! Meanwhile, please do continue to spread the word about this!
Dafydd, hi
I'm not sure if you're aware of it, but Renaissance Magazine only posts links and runs ads that have been paid for by the advertiser. I'm sure they probably have a contractual obligation to run the ads and list the link on their website if the company has already paid for it. That's probably why they haven't removed the listings.
I ordered from this vendor before I found this forum, so I've been anxiously waiting (hoping that everything would turn out ok). Amazingly enough, it did! My package arrived yesterday, but since it was shipped express mail someone had to sign for it, so my dear spouse (not sure how he puts up with me) ran over to the Post Office this morning to pick it up. Based on earlier posts in this thread, it sounds like they may have moved across country, but I do have a working phone number (not entirely comfortable posting it in a public forum...Is it ok to post a phone number?).
I think it may be best to send a PM to Kate and Daffyd with the info.
Good idea, thank you!
Sorry it took me awhile to reply here, I've been away on vacation. :)
On August 13, I received the following brief reply from the Rennaissance Magazine:
QuoteDear David,
Thank you very much for your comments.
Sincerely,
Tom Hauck
Editor
The link to the Medieval Market has not been removed from their site though. I would think that if you discover that one of your advertisers is in fact a scam, any legal contract you have with them no longer should bind you. If the webspace provider of themedievalmarket.com determines that they are indeed a scam, then no doubt they too will terminate the account regardless of previously agreed contracts, even if they did pay their webspace fees.
White Trillium: I got your pm with the phone number and replied, thanks :) I will keep that phone number as extra option for now, and meanwhile await response from my credit card provider to see what they intend to do first. If that is unsatisfactory, I will contact The Medieval Market on that phone number directly and take further steps.
It is of no concern to me - or any other customers - really where they moved off to, even if it's to the moon or to Mars. It is no excuse for ignoring all emails and providing no refund. Maybe they didn't dare ignoring your order because you've been in more frequent contact with them. Assuming that you live in the US (as they don't ship overseas), I suppose that The Medieval Market didn't want to risk being sued by you, while they apparently think that someone who lives overseas can't touch them. That may be a serious underestamation from their side though.
Regardless, I would recommend that you don't place any more orders with them. If not for ethical reasons, then at least to prevent falling victim to the scam after all - because now that they have won your trust, you may place an order for a larger amount of money that you may then in turn get nothing back for. Scammers work in sneaky ways.
TheMedievalMarket.com
2960 Huffman Rd
Valley, WA 99181
509-690-8452
She claimed my package would be sent Monday
By the way I trusted the link because I saw the add I am a Hurricane IKE person who was
having a dress made powers still out in some of our area so I order a dress email her she told me
it would be sent out Monday. What I plan on doing is filling with my Attorney General wish I had seen this first
I would of bought else where and I will hold the Mag at fault for allowing false adds in it.
It is even worse to know a IKE victim was scammed. I have just enough money to get there.
I'm sorry to hear you have fallen victim to the scam as well... and it's horrible how they even dare to falsely play victim of a hurricane :(
I did as much as I possibly could to warn people who possibly may come across a link to The Medieval Market, and let them know it's a scam. But an ad in a magazine is something I can't stop... I have already informed Renaissance Magazine about this, but they seem not interested in stopping this scam.
Please do me a favour - and more particularly, a favour to all other people that are possibly victims of this scam by seeing the ad - and contact Renaissance Magazine. Tell them you've been scammed, and that they are printing advertisements of a false business which will ultimately also damage their magazine's name.
It seems that through this magazine, The Medieval Market obtains most of its victimized customers... so it's important that we try and change that.
Please keep us updated here. :) Good luck!
Greetings all,
My hubby last spoke with Sandra at Gulf Wars, where she was downsizing. She indicated plans to attend Acadiana before moving up Seattle way because her hubby is in the military. She always seemed like such a nice and honest person who may be dealing with some big life changes.
Having said that, business is business and the customer is always right.
Regards,
Sweet T
Hello,
Succesfull scammers can usually ascribe their success to their ability to "act". These people will seem the nicest and most honest people in the world, and when you're not looking they rob you clean. This Sandra person is clearly one of those people, and no excuse is valid for not returning money or sending the order as requested, without any word of explanation and ignoring customers completely.
The Better Business Bureau has also informed me that they received no answer from The Medieval Market - they too were being ignored. There should thus be no doubt that this Sandra is a first class scammer.
Sorry Sweet T,
There are so many people that use the "military" BS. It's a perfect excuse for scammers. People feel sorry for you having to "do it all alone", nobody can really check out your alibi, it brings in clients who want to "help you out", etc.
If she really does have a husband in the military (my DH is retired Air Force, 24 years so I know the deal) and she really is going thru a lot of crap, why is she still advertising in the magazine and taking new orders when she isn't fulfilling her current or previous obligations? Why not put up a public apology on her web site stating that she is overwhelmed and unable to provide product? Why doesn't she respond to enquiries?
She's a scammer. Period.
*sorry to be so adamant about this but I just hate when people use the military as an excuse to cheat/lie/steal. Leave that to the gov't, and let the honest soldiers, airmen, and sailors do their jobs.* >:( Soapbox, anyone?
>:(You want believe this I got my gown. I figured out the number I had
was a cell phone started txting her first she said it was being sent Friday I
ask for a tracking number she said I would have it as soon as she got back
to the office Monday came I txted her again this time she was on the way to
the office I received a tracking number later that evening it said it was scanned but not
sent around 2 pm it left around 6 last night and was here this evening by 4 pm.
So for now I am going to figure out how to put some of it together but I will never
use her again
Congratulations, persistence did pay off in the end. So sorry you had to go through this much effort, hope the resulting garments were worth it.
Dayna
So what about you all? Dame was able to get the person via text message on her cell phone. So if she could do that? Why not send her messages as well? Asking where the heck is all of your things?
As to the Renaissance Magazine, they are not going to take the link nor advertisement down as it is paid for and that completes their contract with the people. That is business, although if several people also report the nefarious scheming of this lady perhaps he will get that having this lady's advertising is a liability to his business and take it down.
But I would like to know? If those of you who began this thread have tried the number for Washington and see if you can get your money/merchandise.
Good Luck,
Cilean
[/size]
It would seem that persistence is the key. Not that it should be necessary, of course.
Last week I decided to send another email to Sandra Bradley, letting her know I'll take further legal steps if she does not refund me soon. Guess what - I got a reply! She wrote that I already received my refund from Paypal, according to the log files of Paypal on her end.
So I double checked my Paypal account to make sure... I double checked my credit card statements. But no refund to be found anywhere. So I responded again, asking that she emails me the required proof that Paypal supposedly did refund me, so I can take it up with Paypal from there. No more response then.
So this week I emailed her again with one last reminder, and she responded the same day again with the email that she got from Paypal. For what I can understand, Paypal did indeed withdraw the money from her account:
QuoteDear Sandra Bradley,
It is PayPal's standard practice to attempt to dispute wrongful
chargebacks. After careful consideration of the information provided by you
and the buyer regarding the transaction detailed below, we have determined
that we will be unable to successfully dispute this chargeback with the
buyer's credit card issuer.
Since the credit card issuer granted the chargeback to the buyer, we have
debited from your PayPal account in order to reimburse the buyer. This is
in accordance with the terms of the PayPal User Agreement.
Also, PayPal was charged a settlement fee. As a result we debited your
PayPal account to pay for this fee. This action was taken in accordance
with the terms of the PayPal User Agreement.
So I have contacted Paypal today and asked them why I haven't received anything yet. I'm awaiting response now.
Even so - she was not planning to refund me until she was forced to by Paypal. I'm surprised they haven't closed down her account yet.
The neat thing about PayPal is that you can check transactions on a daily basis or what has been done during a month. Also!! PayPal emails you when a transaction has been done either by you to transfer funds into your Bank Checking account , when you have purchased something from eBay, or when someone has paid you. When someone has paid you, their name and email address are noted on that transaction. If no email has been recieved from PayPal to you, then no transaction has taken place.
I do that because that is how I am paid by clients when they order custom made garb from me. PayPal is on the up and up.
Keep persistent. PayPal should know what is going on. I would place my trust in PayPal than this vendor.
I tried to order a bodice from them back in late july and they didn't respond until september.
Hey all,
I have finally some good news to report!
As I said before, Sandra Bradley claimed that Paypal had refunded me... and I went to contact Paypal on the matter.
A few days later, Paypal responded by confirming that they had indeed issued a refund to my credit card, and they suggested that I should contact my credit card company on the matter. I had double checked all my credit card statements to make sure I hadn't overlooked the refund, but it was nowhere there between March and now lol.
So my credit card company asked that I fax all the documents with a letter explaining the situation, which I did and guess what... On the 23rd, last week, the exact amount was refunded to my credit card at last! So Paypal had really done the refund, but they wouldn't have passed on the money until I asked about it apparently lol.
All this doesn't let The Medieval Market off the hook though. If I had not started a claim against her through Paypal in the first place, then she would never have bothered refunding me. In this case Paypal simply TOOK the money back from her, leaving her no choice in the matter.
So the bottom line is:
If you became a victim of the scam, you should really TRY to get your money back. Even if Paypal says that it's too late to still file a claim - as it was in my case technically - you can at least try to get your money back. And secondly, you should still not trust The Medieval Market for your purchases - because if I hadn't pushed the matter for so long I would never have gotten my money back!
huzzah! glad you got your money back. nice to see that paypal stood up for you, too.
To add new info to this post (which of course I found AFTER I had placed 2 orders with Medievalmarket.com, then saw these comments and started worrying)
I placed 2 orders with this company. One on March 14th and the other on March 21.
I never heard anything from the vendor but the money was taken from my card. I started to really worry after I read the reviews on here. I emailed her this past Friday, asking about my orders. She wrote back "One of your orders has shipped and the other is going out on Monday - couldn't make the cut off on Friday. Thank you for your patience in this busy season. I hope this has not inconvenienced you in any way."
Yesterday one of the orders arrived, weirdly enough it was the 2nd order I placed. The items are what I expected for the money, more than good enough for back up garb for me or garb for my kids.. (what came yesterday was for my teenager who only comes with occasionally, not going to sink much money into garb for her unless she really starts to get into faire again.) I could probably make them myself but have no time to mess with that right now.
waiting to see when the 2nd order arrives. I do plan to suggest to the owner that she do a little more in terms of customer service contact. I really feel like a personal email after the order is accepted (even a few days later) saying that she did recieve the order and giving at least an estimate on when the order will be complete and shipped would be a nice touch and keep customers calm and informed.
But I did want to at least let people know that my orders at least seem to have happend ok. I will post when the 2nd package arrives.
Just to add some info here: sometimes people have "shopping cart" software on their websites to take your payments (PayPal or otherwise). Sometimes, if it's not set up right, the shopkeeper will tell it to give you a refund via PayPal, and the software says it has done so, but PayPal never gets the message.
I had this happen with a merchant who didn't know how their checkout/shopping cart software worked, and it was a nightmare. She got angry with me because her site told her the refund was posted, and I kept asking her to log into PayPal and check it, and she wouldn't. After a week of this, I had to file a claim so she would get the email and have to click the link inside it to the Paypal refund section.
Also, the fact that the merchant doesn't understand the software (if that is the case) doesn't let the him or her off the hook - if someone keeps telling you you've been refunded via Paypal, but the refund never shows up there, go ahead and file a claim for a refund. That is probably the only way you will get your money.
Really, it sounds like this particular online merchant isn't stable enough to run a good business right now, for whatever reason. I was surprised there was only one person behind this website. She seems to carry the same kind of stuff that Chivalry Sports (renstore.com) and a couple other places carry. It is a shame that she didn't bother to inform any potential customers, but I wish everyone who has ordered and not yet received everything luck and also hope that the warning here reaches anyone who could benefit by it.
i also ordered from the medieval market before seeing this post :(
I placed my order on April 11th and haven't heard anything since i got my receipt no shipment date no implications that they are working on it no communication what so ever...... I also emailed the seller 3 times politely asking about my order. i got the website out of renaissance magazine and this is the first time i have ever ordered garb
so i am very disappointed...... I hope my order arrives and i can get this issue resolved.. just thought id share my angst with others who understand
I ordered a simple pair of bracers from these people and it took 3 months, 8 days and a dozen phone calls to finally get it from them. And when they arrived not only did they not looked the way they were advertised but they fit so badly that I simply threw them out in the trash. Fortunately for me the items did not cost me too much (about $35.00) but the experience I had left such a nasty taste in my mouth that I tell everyone I know to stay away from them as far as possible.
after reading all of this i decided to escalate my paypal claim and hopefully they can resolve it for me
i also had a very small order only 50$ but that's still money that could be spent on services actually rendered
After reading some of these horror stories above, it sounds like a situation I went through a couple of months ago except it was with a company called Armstreet LLC. I ended up getting eBay involved and apparently PayPal froze their account until they verified refunding both of my payments. To make matters worse, they insisted before I was to even get a refund that I would have to withdraw my negative feedback. I couldn't believe the audacity of them demanding that I give them a excellent feedback or else they would never refund my payments (actually 2 payments, they upped the price after the auction was over). So I only changed it to a neutral feedback and copied in their message sent to me through eBay (that way future buyers could see why it was changed)....
"Please remove your feedback. I will refund w/o waiting for results of investigation immediately. Thank you"
So after waiting all that dealing with invalid tracking numbers, their staff telling me that I'd have to wait until they felt they would send a replacement (because most buyers don't realize that after so many months eBay and PayPal won't help you after 45 days.....and it's in the Seller's advantage to string you along).
To make a long story short (and I have copies of all the emails to prove how "professional" their company treated me....and that's not a short story), I won't be garbed this year because I was fooled by their feedback given on eBay. I have sworn off buying any type of item dealing with garb but I still get a few good deals on accessories. When some of the women at the Castle of Muskogee heard what happened, they volunteered to create some friar's togs for me but I declined. Lady Kathleen of Olmsted will be passing through in a couple of weeks on the way to Scarby and I'll have her take my measurements to create something during her off season.
Friar Rohn
I feel so bad that so many of you got scammed !!!
I just looked up both the Medieval Market and Armstreet LLC websites and noticed that they carry many of the exact same items ???. They kind of make out as if they are the ones hand making the garments & other items but they must be getting them from a supplier. Hopefully not a sweatshop type supplier !
I've never bought from either shop so I don't know the quality of the items. The prices seem rather steep to me though - mostly the Armstreet items. I'm glad to be warned about these businesses !
They didn't scam me. I got every dime back because I was able to prove to eBay and PayPal (which I believe are the same company now) from emails and screenshots of what was going on. Initially, they sent only a tracing number. A tracing number and a tracking number are two entirely different things. All a tracing number is....well, anyone can get a tracing number off of the USPS website. It's just a simple request to pick up a package. It doesn't state who it's going to, it's just a "come and get something" number according to my local post office. They kept on insisting that was a valid tracking number, which probably can still be entered to the USPS website and still shows "no movement". At first they tried the "no refunds", but they knew that wasn't going anywhere.
They had made me so disgusted, if they even overnighted a replacement (I don't believe the first was ever shipped) I had planned to have it taken to a embroidery place locally and have printed on the backside of the cowl....
"I PURCHASED THIS PIECE OF #%@& FROM ARMSTREET"
"DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE!"
I would have wore that all this month at the Castle of Muskogee, up at the Kansas City faire and down at Scarby and I would have made sure that I would have someone follow me with one of my spare cameras. I would have posted hundreds of those photos online and then have a 6'X8' poster shipped to them of the best "crowd shot". They should consider that in this economy, they shouldn't treat customers they way they did me. The suit was only a few hundred bucks and I spent 5 times that amount on a child's antique tankard last year. It wasn't the money, it was their conduct towards me as the customer. So having the statement above placed on the backside of the suit would have given me $200+ of satisfaction.
Maybe it was a good thing they never shipped it, I'll have a suit designed by Lady Kathleen and I know how professional she is. A good example is the hat she made my nephew's Spanish doublet and slops and it was slightly too small, so we shipped it back with a baseball hat he sized correctly (it wasn't her fault, he has thick brown hair from his mother's side of the family) and she shipped a new one immediately.
I've learned from two deals to purchase not off of eBay when dealing specifically with garb.
Friar Rohn
PS - I had planned to purchase a Damascus steel dagger for around $300+ from Medieval Market, but this thread warned me off early. Thanks to all of the posters for their comments.
Thank God for pay pal! :) i got my refund today
This is interesting, and a little disconcerting to me. I placed an order with them, as did several friends and family members back in '07, for my brother's wedding party. Not only did we receive our orders in a timely manner, but one of the items came too large and needed replacement. We only had a couple weeks to go before the wedding and they not only resolved the problem, but did so very quickly, insuring us that we'd have the item in plenty of time for the wedding.
Last year, just before Halloween, a friend, who was in the wedding party, ordered several items for his wife. They received them just in time for Halloween, but a couple of the items were, again, too large. He contacted them and they said they'd fix them....that was LAST Halloween and he still hasn't received the items back. He's been very casual about this, saying he's got plenty of time before faire season starts this year. However, after reading this, I'm going to have to make sure that he follows through sooner, rather than later. If something has happened to the company, he needs to see if he can get his items back.
I'm sorry all of you are having so many problems with them. I don't understand how companies can repeatedly treat their costumers like this and still remain in business. We really liked the items received from them, so I wish all of you the best of luck in contacting them and/or having your issues resolved.
I also have been ripped off by Ms bradley, when I googled her I found out its a fraud, others also did not recieve goods
9 Oct 2009
Today my Medieval Market order, placed 10 Sept 2009, did arrive!
I had not read this thread prior to placing the orders and needless to say, it was a relief to get the packages. After finding this thread, I tried numerous times to call MM and all I got was 'mail box full, leave call back number' ...which I did and never received a call back. Emails went unanswered for about 2 weeks and it wasn't until I started texting the phone number that I received any response.
Dame of the Realm posted here that she had no response until she realized that 509-690-8452 was a cell phone and started texting. Many thanks to her for that tip!! I hope that anyone else having problems tries this.
The order was correct and everything appears to be well made. For my first ren clothes, they will be very satisfactory. The snood with attached headband covered with trim and pearls to match the dress is really cute.
Now, is it spring yet??
Verdant1
13 October, 2009:
Scammed as well as best I can tell. Order placed Sept 28, confirmed order # received, but no product & no answer to e-mail. Will begin reporting process. Wish I'd known ahead of time. >:(
It appears that the website themedievalmarket.com no longer exists; the domain name has expired.
Let us hope that this scam company has finally been taken down, as it should have been long ago, so that this will be the end of their scamming for once and for all!
It also appears that RENAISSANCE magazine no longer carries the ads for the Nedieval Market..