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.
• http://www.handsnpaws.com
• http://www.sundaycolors.com
• http://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)

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