This is pretty much the only place I can do something about it, so I’ll do whatever I can.
I’ll put the TL;DR right on top.
TL;DR
Placed an order with shirtpunch in April, order was half fulfilled in a month, repeated communication, no refund, no fulfillment of second half of order, still waiting. February of the following year, finally get my refund. That’s a 10 month fulfillment time.
/TL;DR
So, a few months ago (April 25th, 2012), I ordered six shirts from shirtpunch.com. It was an awesome Nathan Fillion shirt, showing him wearing his full Mal gear, pulling open his shirt to reveal his Captain Hammer tee underneath. Pretty sweet! Well, the original order took about a month to fulfill, and I only got three shirts. What gives, right? So I contacted them (May 25th, 2012), and asked hey, where’s my other three shirts? Two days later, I got a response apologizing, and asking for some info so they could look into it. At this point I’m a little sad, but nowhere near mad. I know what it’s like to all of a sudden have to fulfill a thousand orders, and I’m patient.
May 29th after a quick back and forth, they said they’d send out the missing shirts. June 19th 2012 rolls around and I e-mail them again saying “hey, what happened?” They apologized for the delay and said it was on its way…..At this point, the shirts are lost to me, the point is moot, I can’t give the shirts out to my friends like I wanted, I just want to not feel royally taken advantage of.
July 30th, I’m now no longer sad, just mad. I e-mail them again more along the lines of “Hey, what gives??” At which point I’m responded with a “sorry, We’ll refund you AND send you the t shirts.” Okay, I can see they’re attempting reparation. They’ve lost me as a customer, but maybe I won’t feel so damaged from the transaction.
August 24th, I e-mail them saying “So, should I just assume that you’ve stolen my money and call it quits?”
And he asks for my paypal info to refund me, to which I am still waiting. So yeah, don’t buy from shirtpunch.com ever.
I filed a report with the BBB, and they’re current standing with them is an F. That should give you an idea that I’m not an isolated incident.
I’ve given the two shirts I got away, never got the other three, and never got my money back (for at least half the order, I expected this to have happened LONG ago…). I regret buying this via paypal, because there’s pretty much nothing I can do. Paypal refuses to dispute it.
It’s worth mentioning that even though it took nearly a year, they did end up refunding my purchase, in full. Normally, I’d consider the previous exchange almost redemption worthy, however another e-dweller has found my review after being screwed by ShirtPunch recently, and wanted to contribute to my article with his story. Not only was he screwed, but he was upset by the quality. Look for an update soon, hopefully.
Click read more to see the full e-mail transcripts:
E-mail transcripts
From me, May 8th 2012
Is there a place to see order status?
Order #1981.
Sincerely,
Avinash Arora
Site: AvinashArora.com
From shirtpunch.com, May 9th 2012
Hey Avinash,
Thanks for your email, as well as your patience. We ship via Canada Post’s standard service to help keep shipping costs reasonable for our customers, which should explain some of the delay you’re experiencing. Unfortunately, Canada Post does not provide us with a tracking number, so I’m unable to tell you exactly when your order will arrive. I can assure you, however, that it has been printed and shipped and should arrive any day now.
That said, however, I must apologize. Normally it takes us 3-7 days to get the shirts back from our printers and then an additional day to get them into the mail. Unfortunately, ShirtPunch has picked up a lot of media attention, which in turn has increased demand dramatically. It’s not the worst problem to have, but a problem none the less.
Due to this overwhelming demand we’re running at about 8-12 days to have the shirts printed. We’ve literally gone through two different print companies and are now partnered with one of Canada’s largest printers who are turning out the shirts and getting caught up very quickly. We just didn’t expect this type of media exposure with various celebrities and we went from selling hundreds to thousands overnight.
All that being said, the last thing I want to do is provide anyone a shirt that arrived really quickly, with sub-par quality. Above anything and everything else, quality is our number one priority.
I completely understand how frustrating this is on your end. Our competition have been in the market for a few years now and they’ve got all their kinks worked out, but they’ve also set a pretty steep standard. We’ll get there very soon, we just need to work out a few kinks on our end.
The good news is that your shirt is well on its way to you! Canada Post is slower then the average mail system, but your shirt will arrive. Furthermore, we’re in the business of retaining customers, not just having one time purchases. If you’re unhappy with your order or with the delay just let us know and we’ll fix this problem right away!
Again, I really apologize for the delay. Please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at [email protected] should you need anything.
Thanks Avinash,
Russ
From me, May 9th 2012
Thanks for the info! I look forward to my shirt. Reddit is like wildfire for good products.
From me, May 25th 2012
Russ.
I’ve just received my package. There are three shirts in it, and I ordered six. Please help me figure out what went wrong here.
Sincerely,
Avinash Arora
From shirtpunch.com, May 27th 2012
Hi Avinash,
Oh no, I’m so sorry! Most likely we split the shipments into two packages, but I’ll definitely check on it for you. Can you confirm the date of your order, as well as your shipping address please?
Thanks very much,
Gillian
From me, May 27th 2012
Date was April 25th 2012
my order number was 1981, but that was the same order number given to me on my second order….which is kind of odd I suppose.
the shipping address was:
[REDACTED]
From shirtpunch.com, May 28th 2012
Hi Avinash,
I did take a look at your order, and I think they definitely should have arrived together. I’m so sorry. We’re taking a trip to our supplier on Wednesday and will check to see if there are any extras for you. Can you confirm which sizes you need please?
I’m really, really sorry for the trouble, but we’ll do our best to get everything figured out.
Thanks very much,
Gillian
From me, May 28th 2012
I don’t remember what sizes I ordered, but I have received 1 Small, 1 Medium, and 1 Large so far. I think I ordered an an additional XXL, S, and XS? I don’t remember, it was a group buy for friends. Do you have my order anywhere stored? If not, I’ll ask my friends and get a recount.
From shirtpunch.com, May 29th 2012
Hi Avinash,
I checked your order. You should have received:
1 Men’s Small
1 Men’s Medium
1 Men’s Large
1 Men’s XXL
and 2 Women’s Smalls.
Please confirm what’s missing and I’ll let Russ know. He’s heading to our print shop tomorrow afternoon and will check on them for you.
Thanks,
Gillian
From me, May 29th 2012
I got 1 small, 1 medium, 1 large. All men’s.
So the two women’s shirts and one XXL are left. Thanks for taking care of this.
From me, June 19th 2012
Any status update on the missing shirts?
Avinash Arora
GeekGlassware, Founder and CEO
AvinashArora.com
GeekGlassware.com
From shirtpunch.com, June 21st 2012
Hey Avinash,
Thanks for your email. As you’ve noticed, your order arrived incomplete. The good news is there’s no need to worry! The deal we’ve structured with Canada Post has reduced our shipping time from 2 – 6 weeks, to 5 – 6 business days. The only stipulation with this deal is that we need to meet the guidelines for their Small Business Packet, which requires us to ensure every package is under 2cm in height. This means we need to ship orders separately to ensure that they take advantage of this new method.
Now, on the off chance that the rest of your order doesn’t show up within a few days of receiving the first shirt, please contact us right away so we can get to the bottom of things.
Thanks very much,
Gillian
From me, July 30th 2012
Russ,Gillian, whoever.
I am STILL waiting for these shirts. I expect some sort of tracking number by the end of the week or I will be filing a complaint with the BBB, and disputing this charge with my credit company. Numerous attempts to correct this situation have all failed, and I am extremely frustrated.
Avinash Arora
GeekGlassware, Founder and CEO
AvinashArora.com
GeekGlassware.com
From shirtpunch.com, July 30th 2012
Hey Avinash,
My apologies that this is still outstanding. I can’t forward you a tracking number as one doesn’t exist.
I can, however, have re-prints sent out in addition to offering you a refund on the three shirts that were not delivered.
Would that be acceptable?
Russ
From me, July 30th 2012
Yes, I suppose that will be acceptable.
Avinash Arora
GeekGlassware, Founder and CEO
AvinashArora.com
GeekGlassware.com
From me, August 10th 2012
You mentioned previously shipping is around 2-5 days, it’s been ten business days since our last exchange. I honestly can’t understand how I’m being ignored so severely.
Avinash Arora
GeekGlassware, Founder and CEO
AvinashArora.com
GeekGlassware.com
From shirtpunch.com, August 11th 2012
Hey Avinash,
It takes upwards of 3-7 days just to make the re-prints and then they need to be shipped. We’re not ignoring you, it’s just that there isn’t a lot we can do while we re-process this order and have it sent out. My apologies on the delay.
From me, August 24th 2012
Is it safe to assume that you have totally screwed me yet?
From shirtpunch.com, August 24th 2012
Hey Avinash,
Please forward your paypal and we’ll refund this order. Our apologies on the mix-up.
Russ
From me, August 24th 2012
[REDACTED] is my paypal address
and I’m still waiting. I’ll update this if they ever refund me.
Update!!!
From Shirtpunch, February 10th, 2013
Hi Avinash,
I have recently taken over the Customer Service area for ShirtPunch and have been going over past orders and issues in regards to uncompleted orders due to items being lost in transit.
I noticed that you had ordered 6 shirts on April 25 (The Captain) that totaled $88.27 and that to date you have received 3 of this order- the remaining 3 were lost in transit. Our apologies for this.
I would like very much to be able to replace but we print to order and do not carry overstock.
What we can do is refund your pay pal $44.13 to cover the cost of the missing shirts (this includes the shipping as well).
Would this be acceptable to you?
Again our apologies and thank you for your patience.
From me, February 10th, 2013
Wow. Never thought I’d hear from you guys again.
That would be much appreciated.
From ShirtPunch, February 10th, 2013
Thank you for getting back to me so quickly.
May I have your pay pal email and we will process asap.
From me, February 10th, 2013
[REDACTED]
Thanks!
that sucks royally. They’re REALLY cool, though.
– Joe
Screwing customers however is very un cool.
Hi,
I just wanted to say that I found your review on ResellerRatings and I’m having the same run around for a shirt I ordered in July. I wish I had found your experience before I placed my order, otherwise I would have never bothered.
The first time I asked fro a refund after three weeks and no shirt, Russ actually emailed me back and told me that I didn’t understand how made-to-order t-shirt operations work. After I emailed him back and ensured him that I did, having no problems from sites like TeeFury and Shirt.Woot, he offered me a refund in the same manner that he has done you.
I highly expect to be ignored. I hope more people find out that this company is a scam and a half. The next time I see a shirt posted on reddit, I’ll be sure to save copies of my communication with them and post it in the thread. I hope you’ll do the same so more people will realize what’s up. I feel as though you’re lucky to have even gotten half the order you paid for.
I did get a refund in the end… For half of what it should have been. I guess it’s better than nothing, and it’s not a huge amount of money in the long run but I’m still peeved that they got anything from me.
thanks, I was about to order from them, saved me some trouble
Hey, I also bought few t-shirts of ShirtPunch in different periods during this year and I came to same conclusion – never again. I waited 2 months for 1st shipment (it usually takes 2 weeks US -> Europe) and 2nd was lost in transit so I know what a bad customer support they have. After a few e-mails I suspected that one is lost (no replacement, no refund), but it finally arrived yesterday, after 2 months. It’s sad, because they can roll out really neat designs.
Also, I should mention that best experience and fastest shipping was with Qwertee, along with best quality of print…
Qwertee, eh? I’ve heard a lot about them, your comment might be just the push I need to believe in websites like this again. Shirtpunch left such a bad taste in my mouth, I’d been hesitant to do business with any similar companies.
I’ve bought tee’s from probably 2/3 of the daily tee websites (list here: dayoftheshirt.com) and had problems only with ShirtPunch and DesignByHumans (shipping issues, DBH reshipped immediately and wanted to refund). Everyone else was fair but Teefury and Qwertee are the ones I’m sticking with.
Also, DBH uses the best t-shirt material, I couldn’t believe how soft and comfortable their t-shirts are. Too bad I dislike 99% of their designs :
You might want to reconsider TeeFury. I have been ordering from them for a while, but have had my first problem. Perhaps they have grown too quickly. Regardless, not only is their customer service abysmal, but their automated systems are befuddling. If you check other, more recent reviews, I think you will see that I am not alone.
Agreed. I think I’ve come to the conclusion all the T shirt websites suck at customer service, it’s a crap shoot with every purchase.
why did you go through paypal? they suck as well.
My wardrobe is all from ShirtPunch. Sometimes it’s taken a while, but I’ve never had any other problems until just recently. They changed up the layout on their site and while pricing a funko figurine (they sell those now), I accidentally clicked confirm order. Sure, it may be 99% my problem (why did I bother to put in my credit card?), but when I tried to cancel the order, no response. Four days, three emails, two tweets later, still nothing. Their site says they can only process a cancellation day of, so I’m screwed out of that money I desperately needed (as a stay at home dad, I don’t actually have an income). really disappointed with the lack of customer service from a website I’ve done years of business with (upwards of 30 shirts). I know this post is old, but I thought I’d share my story as well.
It’s a shame that my post seems to only be found by other folks who have already suffered a similar fate as I did, but I hope it’s some solace knowing that you’re at least not alone, and after seeing this some folks will do a quick google of “site-name sucks” and see what pops up before buying from a website they haven’t used in the past.
I think most of these T-shirt mills are pretty much the same, and I can say without a doubt that the few shirts I did get from shirtpunch were about the quality I have grown to expect from discount prices.
Best of luck to you Matt!