This Online Pet Store Has Rabies
On the surface, Hands-N-Paws caters to owners-n-their-dogs, but the company's real stock in trade is being hilariously rude to its customers. When someone asked them to cancel an order immediately, they wrote back, "No..not immediately, when we can get round to it." When another person threatened to report them to the Better Business Bureau, they wrote back, "File it. Blackmail gets you nowhere, honey." They even have a "Hall of Shame" on their website where they list the email addresses of customers they hate most of all. This is why we make all of our cats' clothing out of old newspaper.
This story from the thread seems to encapsulate the type of experience shoppers have with handsnpaws:
I ordered over $60 worth of items from this site in March......their site clearly states that your "order status" will change within a week from your order...and if not, to email their customer service. So, when mine didn't change, I sent an email....not response, sent another, no response.....it was now the middle of April and I still hadn't heard from them, my order status was never changed and I read a lot of BAD reviews on them, so I got worried.
Here is an email I sent them (the only one they ever answered to):
This is my third attempt to contact you regarding the status of my orderd, placed on March 1st. I would like to know when to expect it to be shipped, if item are backordered, etc. I am a little concerned about my order and am afraid if I do not receive a response about my order OR receive my order soon, I will have to file a dispute for my PayPal payment.
Thank you!
Jenn
AND here is their response back:
Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:12:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: "HandsNpaws"
Subject: Re: FEEDBACK: Order
File it. We're still closed for PASSOVER and the processing time is still 1 to 4 weeks as you were advised. We'll say the same thing elsewhere, because that's the first thing they'll ask. What are our terms. And we'll show them what we showed you...more than once. Blackmail gets you nowhere honey, but we do get a kick out of letting you make a fool of yourself. And of course, you won't get the items any quicker. We'll let the paypal time run its course. That will be even more fun sitting back and making you wait while you get yourself all worked up. It pays to be nice, honey. When you're nasty, this is one store where we won't go one inch out of our way. Don't have to.
I had filed w/ PayPal before I got the email back from them, because, of course, it took them awhile to respond. But once I got this email, I forwarded it to PayPal, my dispute was moved to a claim (within a few days of my filing my dispute) and I got my money refunded (THANK GOODNESS)!!!
Here is their response in the PayPal refund:
Sophistication Alley Ltd. (Mail@HandsNpaws.com) has issued you a full or partial refund for your payment.
Message from merchant:
Hope you enjoyed the long wait. That's what you get for being rude and impatient.
Even the lone customer on the thread who stands up for the company has faint praise:
I've been ordering from that website for the last two years with ZERO issues! I wonder what happened. I haven't ordered anything within the last few months, but the last shipment I got was prompt and correct. I must admit thought, I don't ever get a shipment confirmation or anything from them.
Ripoffreport has another stunning example of the madness behind Handsnpaws, where they refuse to answer a customer's questions, then tell her they aren't going to talk to her anymore.
A Ripoffreport commenter also point out that there's another company, Hands AND Paws, that is totally unrelated to this story, owned by a different person, and has no complaints against it. Here are the Sophistication Alley businesses we could find:
- Sophistication Alley Ltd.
- www.handsnpaws.com
- www.sundaycolors.com
- www.pawstogo.com
Handsnpaws, please read this post and send us a hateful email! Unlike customers, we actually enjoy hearing back from people like you. It makes our jobs that much easier.
(Thanks to Dan!)
(Photo: kansas_city_royalty)
This is a test contextual ad for the SHOPPING category. It should appear on all SHOPPING entries, unless the subcategory has its own ad.
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Comments:
Talk about having a lax job. Hopefully someone steps up and puts them out of business.
Someone will do a DoS attack on their server in 3, 2, 1...
I hope they get their due and have to close up shop, or change their url to hoofnmouth.com. Either way, it's a win-win.
Wow, that's amazing. I don't know if I'd be amused or angered at a reply like that. It's almost enough to make me want to order from there just to see..
How these companies can stay in business is beyond me.
No chance this is a hoax?
Are you accepting nominations for douchebag hall of fame?
As a huge pet lover, I've always thought that those that love and work with animals (or kids or the handicapped or the elderly) were always compassionate and caring people. In fact when dating, getting along with the pets is a prerequisite. I'm frankly shocked to read about what an arrogant bunch of jerks runs this company.
Dear Mr. Walters.
I dare you to write a followup story on your snooty fancypants website featuring this letter! Then those people will see how stupid and greedy your website is!
DARE! DOUBLE DOG DARE! NO TAKEY BACKSEYS!
We don't care. In fact, we'll only care if you don't post it. Then we'll care.
Sincerely,
HandsNPaws.
Pretty hilarious, honey.
@SkokieGuy: I've met plenty of people who, while they get along great with pets, seem to have difficulty empathizing with actual humans. That may be the case here.
Personally, I've always found the idea of dressing pets up in clothing to be rather repulsive.
Those stock e-mails from Sony are looking pretty good right now.
Order...March 1st.
Passover...April 20th.
That's 7 business weeks.
"Sophistication" apparently does not imply basic math or grammar skills (check out the language in the ripoffreport claim).
Oh dear. I wonder if they're prepared to put all of Consumerist in their hall of shame!
After reading that, I'm just disgusted. Assuming this is real, I wish they'd lose all the customers they obviously don't deserve.
Company name is "Sophistication Alley ltd." I am assuming sophisticated is a relative term...
This sort of thing is why I no longer will use Paypal. With a real credit card, you can get the money jerked out of their account by force when the merchants are assholes and fail to help you. Then they get to enjoy a nice fat chargeback fee.
Thankfully, the one time a merchant scammed me via paypal (also the last time I've ever used paypal) I'd paid via credit card and got my money back even when Paypal told me to fuck off despite being a victim of fraud.
I smell a Nomination for next-years worst company...
You know what they say.... Negative attention, is STILL attention. I'm sure there are a bunch of people visiting their dander ridden site right now, after reading this story.
The odd thing is, the company wrote back "It pays to be nice, honey. When you're nasty, this is one store where we won't go one inch out of our way"....
Is it just me? Because I found her email to be quite nice, considering the situation. Who wouldn't be concerned where their order or money went?
P.S.- To "Jenn" - If you read a bunch of bad reviews.... why did you order from them?
From their privacy policy:
"This site uses an order form for customers to request information, products, and services, it also collects visitor's contact information (like their email address), in some circumstances their unique identifiers (like their pets name, or mothers maiden name), and financial information (like their account or credit card numbers)."
Ha ha ha ha, I love that. OMG, where can I sign up to work for them? Are they hiring CS reps?
OMG.. their terms of service is pretty hardcore!
"We expressly disclaim all uses of any items sold on this site. Product descriptions are for general information only."
"If an incorrect item is shipped, upon receipt of your return item (please request an RMA), we will reship the appropriate item for no charge and issue you store credit for the return shipping"
I could go on and on, but its hilarious [www.handsnpaws.com]
"Non Returnable Items
There are no returns for sales items, items purchased with a discount coupon, exchange items from a return, Mutt Hutts, Hatchbag cargo area liners, pet beds, Pet furniture (ottomans, Louis Dog), toys, pet pillows, dog or cat treats and other consumables, pet jewelry (including charms, pearl, crystal or rhinestone necklaces), harnesses, toys, harnesses, collars or leads made with crystal or rhinestone, or any products made with Swarovksi Austrian Crystal (E.g. Those product numbers beginning with LCW or CBCOLL), designer pet carriers (any pet carrier over $100), discount/coupon purchases, personalized items e.g. with initials, monogrammed items, pet throws, seasonal items (halloween or other pet costumes, xmas themed gifts, any Christmas or Hanukah items, St.Valentines, St. Patrick's Day), spa or grooming items (shampoos, conditioners, skin treatments etc), health products (including pet meds whether opened or unopened). We do not provide exceptions to our return policy. Please read carefully."
Holy cow! Wouldn't it have been easier to just state what they DO accept for returns?
If only the name were Monster Hands-N-Paws then we could have a real cage match.
Two words:
Chargeback magnet
I like the last question in their FAQ. The response to if there is a minimum order requirement is "There is no minimum order requirement in our store, however, in order to maintain our low prices, there is a $5 processing fee for orders under $50."
So... to get low prices, you charge a fee. Okay...
OMFG. From [www.handsnpaws.com]
...I get 10 vacation days a year. This chick gets SEVENTY FIVE. (plus some, because she didn't specify how many she's taking off for Chanukah...I love how she's ALSO taking off for Christmas)
What Makes Us Special?
We admit to being quirky. We have scoured the globe to find the fun stuff that will allow you to interact with your pet at home or in the fresh outdoors. We also love to interact with our regular customers and make them feel at home here. We spend just as much time on our community efforts as we do running the store. This is why we are not a 24 hour turnaround store.
Someone blame the customer.
Pretty please?
Prices
Please note that cached pages on the internet may not reflect accurate pricing. Where sale items are indicated, they may not reflect the larger sizes of many items which customarily higher for many items of clothing and some pet carriers. Prices shown reflect the price for the smaller size if more than one size or variant is indicated.
So, basically, you'll get it when you get it, and you'll pay what we charge you.
This is fantastic! Having worked in CS roles, many times I dreamt of responding like this company, but never had the balls to do it!
I mean, it's horrible for the customer, but it's funny as hell!
is RuPaul head of customer service?... so many honeys
Hilarious -- these guys are the Fawlty Towers of online pet shops! BASIL!!!
You know, in a partial way, its refreshing to see a business like this.
I don't put up with anybody's crap in mine either.
However, provided there wasn't any nastiness in the original 2 emails, they didn't have the right to go off like that.
If they did it in the first, I'll cancel their order and issue a refund. But this company was just plain dumb.
What concerned me was them publishing the email addresses of those with whom they disagreed. In clear text. A clear violation of thier canned privacy policy. And just plain nasty behavior. I would be contacting the NY and Arizona states attorneys general on that one
@alyssariffic: Hmmm...about that $5 fee for transactions under a certain limit...I wonder if that's against the agreement that vendors agree to with the credit card companies. I know they can't refuse to accept a card as payment for anything below a minimum amount according to their agreement, so I wonder if MC/Visa/Amex allows a fee in those cases. Does anyone know for sure?
@kathyl: While the agreements on credit card issuer websites are generic ones and might not apply to all companies specifically, in those I believe you aren't allowed to impose a minimum transaction limit, and you cannot have a surcharge for credit card payments.
But we don't know the specific rules that apply to this company.
I really couldn't believe any business would be this rude and obnoxious--until I visited their website! They **really do** have a Hall of Shame. And I have never seen such a lengthy (ridiculous) and unfriendly terms and conditions. It's amazing they sell any products whatsoever.
Good God, how do they expect to make money this way?
I feel so sorry for those poor people who've had their personal info posted simply because the company owners felt like being asshats. I hope they don't get pummeled with spam after this.
From the site: "Please note, for phone orders, we do need your email address to process the order. Rest assured, we NEVER sell or rent these addresses."
No, they won't rent or sell them. They'll just post them for free online for any spambot to pick up if you do anything to piss them off. And they accuse the CUSTOMERS of blackmail?
They are using Authorize.Net to process their credit card transactions. They also do not have any sort of intelligent card validation system. As such, if you go in and try to place a test order with totally bogus information and a card number which passes LUHN-10 (such as 4111111111111111), they'll get a transaction decline.
They pay for each one of those declines. Both to Authorize.Net and their merchant service provider.
My guess is they'd be open to a brute force/validation attack also, as they likely have no fraud detection suite enabled and do not limit the number of orders per IP or user account. Very poorly built site, extremely insecure too.
/Former Authorize.Net employee from many years ago
//Former developer that did Authorize.Net integrations for merchants
///Security specialist too
This story is hilarious! These people are beggin to get crank called!!! Does anyone have numbers for the owners/handelers? it goes without saying that no one should ever order anything from them, unfortunately, it's obvious they don't give a damn whether you like them or not. or whether people badmouth them or not. They're going to change name and continue doing business. The best way to get to them is to report them to anyone you can report them to, give them as much trouble as possible, look to get them into trouble on anything related to products, shipping, charging.
As a Jew, I think I can say:
Way to perpetuate stereotypes, lady.
@akede2001:
"if you go in and try to place a test order with totally bogus information and a card number which passes LUHN-10 (such as 4111111111111111), they'll get a transaction decline.
They pay for each one of those declines. Both to Authorize.Net and their merchant service provider."
Interesting...
Ripoff report shows that they are located in Clifton, NJ - conveniently located less then 5 miles from my house. After reading the article, my first thought was - they have to be from Jersey. And they are.
Don't know if the comment beast ate the last one, but I hope this isn't a double post...
This is why I love the internet:
Looking at the handsnpaws.com privacy statement leads us to this contact information:
By Mail: HandsNpaws
3219 East Camelback Road, #824
Phoenix, AZ. 07012
By Phone: 602-522-8300
or Email: email@handsnpaws.com
A reverse lookup of that phone # via anywho.com (which almost never works) turns up this:
Peter Greenfeld
4500 N 32 St
Phoenix, AZ 85018
a WHOIS of handsnpaws.com via networksolutions.com (grrrr) lists this for the administrative contact:
Wolf, Peter mail@handsnpaws.com
1360 Clifton Avenue; #322
Clifton, NJ 07012
US
Notice that the NJ zip code is the one included in the contact information under their privacy policy. I personally wonder if Peter Wolf and Peter Greenfeld are different persons, but that is just conjecture.
The best part though was finding this little gem at the bottom of their Privacy Policy under the heading "Customer Information Obtained and How It is Used":
"We may also use information obtained in order to protect our customers, employees or property or if you have published our information or communication to you on the Internet. [Bold added -VM] Such protection may include investigation complaints or fraud, harassment or types of unlawful activities. Such information may also be given to a government entity or a third party provided such demand is lawful."
So at least they are hinting up telling you what kind of experience they expect you to recieve.
Damn! Just plain Damn!