Anyone else been watching the Dollfair\Narin situation?

[Mary Kathryn]

You can read the horror stories starting about halfway down this page.
Long story short, Dollfair has been taking orders and money from people since before Christmas of last year. No dolls. The artist sued the company that produces his work to take back control but in the midst of all of that essentially no dolls have been produced and people have been waiting, some in excess of nine months. It seems as if the money has dissapeared into the ether with Dollfair having sent it to the production company\artist and the artist claming that he has recieved some but not all of the money owed to him. Dollfair is slowly refunding money to those who have requested it but the whole thing seems drawn out and sad.
Considering this isn't the first time this has happened (Charles Creature Cabinet?) I'm curious if this affects any of your interest in making pre-orders for dolls. I've only ever ordered directly from a company a few times - in the case of my MNF ShuShu, my Mini Gem Sosle, and my tan Resinsoul Mei. I'm too much into instant gratification to wait for a long time for a product I"ve paid for. I know it's the nature of the hobby but Emory has spoiled me. Luckily for me the companies that I ordered from maintained very clear, open channels of communication and were true to their production estimates.
So, does this kind of situation make you hesitant to turn over you hard earned money to a third party broker who doesn't have the doll in hand?

[Greyhaunt]

usually I try not to drop big money on a doll from a place I've never ordered from before - well, that and I'm cheap LOL. I'm also like you - too fond of instant gratification (and spoiled by emory) to do pre-orders. Layaway on a second hand doll is torment enough!

[Kirahfaye]

Seriously, even pre-ordering my Qian form AOD through Emory took about a month longer than expected (and I still won't have her until Friday). The only time I have ordered directly from the company is when I bought event dolls through CustomHouse - and we all know how CustomHouse works. Yes - Emory has spoiled us!

[arrowchild]

Oh...wow...I hadn't even been aware of the dollfair/narin situation and...just wow! I was actually friends with the owner of Dollfair, Catrina for a long while-I don't say that as though we're on bad terms, only that we've slowly lost contact with each other over the past year or so. She only lives about 30 minutes away from me and we used to get together for lunch and I would hang about at Dollfair, both when she had a small brick and mortar store and when she started her casting/production company, (I actually helped with the assembly of some dolls there last year). She's a good person and, actualy, really helped enable me to get my first resin boy, Emile.
And it sucks to see that things are going SO badly!!

Anywhoo...
I've ordered directly from companies several times. The wait doesn't usually bother me too much as long as there are projected dates etc. I'm a pretty patient person. And I've never been shafted by a company or company rep so it doesn't deter me from ordering directly if it's the only way to get the doll I'd like to buy. But, yes, I'll admit, it's really, REALLY nice to be able to order from Junkyspot when I can. Instant gratification can be a wonderful thing.

[Stormlight]

Wow, that's the first I've heard of it. Then again, I don't keep up with the news and such on DOA (if that's where it's been announced).

As for whether I'd pre-order a doll, well, I guess that depends on the company. I've pre-ordered dolls from Luts and Fairyland plenty of times, and they've all arrived with no issues (although, yeah, the wait is a bugger, but I've learned to be patient. lol). I can trust those companies to deliver, due to good past experiences.

Now, Dollfair/Narin, on the other hand, I've never ordered from before, and if I ever decide to buy a Narae or something, I'd probably look for one secondhand off the marketplace before ordering direct from the company. At least until the whole mess gets sorted out, and their reputation gets better again. That goes for any company that's had issues like this in the past.

[haruredjen]

Yes. Jess & I both pre-ordered a Neferti head. and I'm still holding out hope. I might have to sell her, though, if she does show up... for financial reasons and because I think I might have fallen out of love after all this time. I might have some negative feelings towards her. Plus, I'd have to find a body to match. I'll have to see.

[Patrice]

Yes, I've been following it and it looks like now people are starting to receive refunds and the Neferti heads will be produced soon. I've ordered a couple of dolls from Catrina in the past without a problem. She's always been reputable but unfortunately, she does not communicate well with her customers once an order has been placed.

I hope things all get sorted out. Bimong is a wonderful artist but I wouldn't order any from him until it clear he will be able to produce his dolls. Judging by the "he said, she said" back and forth that I've read, I don't think he'll continue to use Dollfair to sell his dolls. It seems as though he wants to sell them directly now off his website.

[Elebuu]

Har har har been watching from the start. >__> This WOULD happen when I decide to spoil myself on something wouldn't it. I hated the drama that was in that thread though. Good god I STILL want to throw some of those people out a window. *twitch* I feel terrible for Catrina. Even after this is over, now that it's in the artist's hands, I'm going to be waiting a long while before I'm sure the FUBAR has faded.

...except I'm still a little excited to see my girl. Resale isn't out of the question, it's largely contingent on finding something that matches her. She's supposed to ship this week. Of course NOW when there's potentially a week or two left till she gets here, do I feel impatient. After four months. <<;;

[Mary Kathryn]

I might have some negative feelings towards her.

See, I would probably have trouble looking at the doll without associating all the drama with it.

Still, she's a pretty girl. Most of the Bimong sculpts are. I do think it's kind of crappy that he's offering what was supposed to be a limited head now for regular sale at a cheaper price on his own sale site. Not that I really think too many people will be rushing in to do business with him until they see how all of this shakes out.

[Kirahfaye]

I do hope you don't have negative feelings for her, but would understand if you do. I couldn't get past the drama surrounding my BBB Mei to bond with her. At least I found her a good home.