If you Google "Dot & Bo reviews," you will see Houzz and Etsy forums of reviewers complaining about the strange and rather unethical practices of Dot & Bo the company. I had not done my research prior to purchasing items in early May that I still haven't received (it is now June 23rd), and they refuse to offer me a refund or store credit. I must wait for the items although no exact shipping date nor tracking number for any of my items was offered to me.
My card was charged in full for the 5 items I purchased on Dot & Bo's website on May 11, 2014. It is now June 23, 2014 and the items are well past due their arrival times (these times were were stated in the order confirmation the day I purchased the items on their online website). My card was charged in full at the time of purchase. For instance, I ordered a clock for $39.99 that was due 3-4 weeks from May 11; a FULL six weeks after May 11 is June 8. Today is June 23rd, and they still haven't provided me with a shipping confirmation or a tracking number. Dot & Bo informed me it may arrive in mid-July (mid-July? That's TEN WEEKS after I ordered the item, and it's a small clock for my nightstand. And that would be 6 weeks after their stated ship time in the order confirmation e-mail). I'm not sure why this is acceptable to them without the offer of a refund. Who wants to wait 10 weeks for a tiny nightstand clock? I also purchased a framed print for $59.99, and the shipping time stated on the order confirmation e-mail was 4-6 weeks from May 11. A FULL six weeks after May 11 would be June 22.
Today is June 23rd and I still not only haven't received the item, but was not even supplied an approximate shipping date. Will it come in latter July? In August? It is quite unfair and strange to expect me to wait for these items well AFTER the ship time period stated on the order confirmation, when my card was charged card in full at time of purchase. Most, if not all, home decor companies like this (ie. Joss & Main, One Kings Lane, Kohl's) only charge AFTER each items has shipped. I kindly asked Dot & Bo for a refund of the non-shipped items that were well past their dude date of arrival, and was told that the items "cant be canceled." When I explained that I'd needed the items back in May/June when I was having a housewarming party, no apology on their part was provided. Very strange, indeed.
Stay away from this company. If you place an order, they will charge your credit card immediately and deliver the merchandise many weeks later if at all.
I've had two terrible experiences with them. Most recently I ordered two chairs with a delivery promise of 4-6 weeks. I got no shipping notification, then one chair arrived after 6 weeks. 10 days later the other has not shipped and the company can't seem to come up with any estimate of whether/when it might. They promise to get back to me and don't. No response to email. And now when I call their customer service line it simply disconnects after promising to transfer me to a person.
I am initiating a charge dispute through my credit card company, which is a major nuisance.
I will never order from Dot & Bo again and I'd recommend them to nobody.
Dot and Bo takes orders, ships months later, refuses to refund when inferior merchandise received. The will tell you it is a final sale and give you a "store credit". Most of the items Dot and Bo advertises comes from other retailers or artists on etsy. You will see that Dot and Bo marks the product price up significantly. You cannot reach them by phone, a recorded message tells you to "press 1 to speak to a customer service rep and press 2 to leave a voice mail" either one defaults to voice mail. Occassionally, if you keep dialing, you will get music when pressing 1 and then the voice mail. One time I reached a rep, who then told me "oh you didn't notice that the sale was final but we can give you a one time only store credit".. I said, "oh and you know the product sells for $7 in the store but you charged me $39.99?" She says "So..." WTH??? I read the reports on this outfit AFTER I ordered. It is typical of them, this kind of response. People wait months for their items, they come broken, late, inferior quality etc, and they don't refund. I still have an item ordered and paid for that hasn't arrived and it's been 1 month, they now tell me it will be here in another month. I don't want it any longer.
WHATEVER you do, stay away from this company. They are the worst. And don't SELL to this company. If you look on ETSY you will see all the sellers complaining that the company is using pictures of their merchandise without the seller's authorization. Then Dot and Bo orders from the sellers and resells it to the consumer. Do your homework, and buy directly from the seller. It's better for them and it's better for you. Dot and Bo is a nightmare.
Bought a sofa from Dot & Bo and had a problem with shipping as I was not going to be home to receive shipment. Their customer service was amazing and rerouted my order until I was home.
Just received the item and it's simply perfect!
Will do business with them again and highly recommend.
I received the Calcutta arm chair in last week of May ‘14. With shipping, the chair was just over $1,000. Although the chair was not very comfortable, it was beautiful and fit well in the room. I was happy to keep the chair. I went on vacation in early June for two weeks. In mid-July I noticed the fabric on the chair was torn in several places and the stitching where the saris are sewn together was coming undone in several places. I wrote an email to the company July 20. No response in three days so I called. The customer rep I spoke with was very nice and assured me the company would look into the issue. Over a week later I received an email apologizing for the delayed response (my email was lost). The email stated Dot & Bo would offer a $50 credit if I provided pictures of the damage. Fifty dollars is .05% the cost of the chair. I asked to speak with a manager. Two weeks went by without contact. I called and again, the representative I spoke with apologized saying she left a message on my phone and was unsure why I never received it. My contention is this: One THOUSAND dollars is a lot of money to pay for a chair. Yes, I called about the damage after the two week return policy (I had at this point owned the chair for about a month and a half). Considering the price of the chair I felt Dot&BO should do one of three things: 1. Replace the chair, 2. Provide a store credit, 3.Provide a refund. The representative said they had no way of knowing if myself (small children, animals, wild and crazy parties…had caused damage to the chair). She also said this chair was among their best-sellers and no one else has called to complain. Again, implying that the cause of damage was due to excessive use during its two month stay in my home: “We try to be clear about our returns policy, and when a product uses sensitive or reclaimed materials so you can be as informed as possible upon purchase what to expect from your item and how much use it can likely withstand… I am sorry if the material was not able to sustain, but there is no way for us to determine the cause at this point.” I have no animals in my house. I do have small children. However, I also have a house full of furniture ranging from 6-over a hundred years old—three couches, several chairs, even a four year old all white sectional and none of the upholstery is in as bad of shape as this two month old chair. If other customers are not experiencing similar problems, perhaps my chair was somehow defective as the material is recycled sari fabric. My experiences and concerns as a customer should be valued and considered as individual and unique.
The rep asked me to send her pictures and promised she would look into the issue. Two weeks went by with no word. I sent an email inquiring about the status of my request and again, the company offered a fifty dollar credit stating this compensation was “very fair” since my complaint was “well outside” the return window.
Consumers! Learn from my experience. If you are going to spend a large chunk of your hard-earned change on a piece of furniture—buy from a company that stands behind the quality of the products they sell.
Although every time I actually spoke with a representative from Dot & Bo, they were polite and professional, the customer service was very poor in returning emails and phone calls in a timely manner. I will not shop at Dot & Bo again, not even to use the fifty dollar credit. You are almost sure to get better quality furniture and better customer service at your local used furniture store than Dot& BO. Every time I look at my chair I see my wasted money. Oxfam, the local high poverty school I work at….all the things I could have done with this $1k…if only I had known. Dot & Bo: such cute products. Such potential. Such a disappointment.
Dot & Bo, Inc. Reviews
If you Google "Dot & Bo reviews," you will see Houzz and Etsy forums of reviewers complaining about the strange and rather unethical practices of Dot & Bo the company. I had not done my research prior to purchasing items in early May that I still haven't received (it is now June 23rd), and they refuse to offer me a refund or store credit. I must wait for the items although no exact shipping date nor tracking number for any of my items was offered to me.
My card was charged in full for the 5 items I purchased on Dot & Bo's website on May 11, 2014. It is now June 23, 2014 and the items are well past due their arrival times (these times were were stated in the order confirmation the day I purchased the items on their online website). My card was charged in full at the time of purchase. For instance, I ordered a clock for $39.99 that was due 3-4 weeks from May 11; a FULL six weeks after May 11 is June 8. Today is June 23rd, and they still haven't provided me with a shipping confirmation or a tracking number. Dot & Bo informed me it may arrive in mid-July (mid-July? That's TEN WEEKS after I ordered the item, and it's a small clock for my nightstand. And that would be 6 weeks after their stated ship time in the order confirmation e-mail). I'm not sure why this is acceptable to them without the offer of a refund. Who wants to wait 10 weeks for a tiny nightstand clock? I also purchased a framed print for $59.99, and the shipping time stated on the order confirmation e-mail was 4-6 weeks from May 11. A FULL six weeks after May 11 would be June 22.
Today is June 23rd and I still not only haven't received the item, but was not even supplied an approximate shipping date. Will it come in latter July? In August? It is quite unfair and strange to expect me to wait for these items well AFTER the ship time period stated on the order confirmation, when my card was charged card in full at time of purchase. Most, if not all, home decor companies like this (ie. Joss & Main, One Kings Lane, Kohl's) only charge AFTER each items has shipped. I kindly asked Dot & Bo for a refund of the non-shipped items that were well past their dude date of arrival, and was told that the items "cant be canceled." When I explained that I'd needed the items back in May/June when I was having a housewarming party, no apology on their part was provided. Very strange, indeed.
Stay away from this company. If you place an order, they will charge your credit card immediately and deliver the merchandise many weeks later if at all.
I've had two terrible experiences with them. Most recently I ordered two chairs with a delivery promise of 4-6 weeks. I got no shipping notification, then one chair arrived after 6 weeks. 10 days later the other has not shipped and the company can't seem to come up with any estimate of whether/when it might. They promise to get back to me and don't. No response to email. And now when I call their customer service line it simply disconnects after promising to transfer me to a person.
I am initiating a charge dispute through my credit card company, which is a major nuisance.
I will never order from Dot & Bo again and I'd recommend them to nobody.
Dot and Bo takes orders, ships months later, refuses to refund when inferior merchandise received. The will tell you it is a final sale and give you a "store credit". Most of the items Dot and Bo advertises comes from other retailers or artists on etsy. You will see that Dot and Bo marks the product price up significantly. You cannot reach them by phone, a recorded message tells you to "press 1 to speak to a customer service rep and press 2 to leave a voice mail" either one defaults to voice mail. Occassionally, if you keep dialing, you will get music when pressing 1 and then the voice mail. One time I reached a rep, who then told me "oh you didn't notice that the sale was final but we can give you a one time only store credit".. I said, "oh and you know the product sells for $7 in the store but you charged me $39.99?" She says "So..." WTH??? I read the reports on this outfit AFTER I ordered. It is typical of them, this kind of response. People wait months for their items, they come broken, late, inferior quality etc, and they don't refund. I still have an item ordered and paid for that hasn't arrived and it's been 1 month, they now tell me it will be here in another month. I don't want it any longer.
WHATEVER you do, stay away from this company. They are the worst. And don't SELL to this company. If you look on ETSY you will see all the sellers complaining that the company is using pictures of their merchandise without the seller's authorization. Then Dot and Bo orders from the sellers and resells it to the consumer. Do your homework, and buy directly from the seller. It's better for them and it's better for you. Dot and Bo is a nightmare.
Good Shopping Experience
Bought a sofa from Dot & Bo and had a problem with shipping as I was not going to be home to receive shipment. Their customer service was amazing and rerouted my order until I was home.
Just received the item and it's simply perfect!
Will do business with them again and highly recommend.
Carefully consider buying expensive items—especially furniture!
I received the Calcutta arm chair in last week of May ‘14. With shipping, the chair was just over $1,000. Although the chair was not very comfortable, it was beautiful and fit well in the room. I was happy to keep the chair. I went on vacation in early June for two weeks. In mid-July I noticed the fabric on the chair was torn in several places and the stitching where the saris are sewn together was coming undone in several places. I wrote an email to the company July 20. No response in three days so I called. The customer rep I spoke with was very nice and assured me the company would look into the issue. Over a week later I received an email apologizing for the delayed response (my email was lost). The email stated Dot & Bo would offer a $50 credit if I provided pictures of the damage. Fifty dollars is .05% the cost of the chair. I asked to speak with a manager. Two weeks went by without contact. I called and again, the representative I spoke with apologized saying she left a message on my phone and was unsure why I never received it. My contention is this: One THOUSAND dollars is a lot of money to pay for a chair. Yes, I called about the damage after the two week return policy (I had at this point owned the chair for about a month and a half). Considering the price of the chair I felt Dot&BO should do one of three things: 1. Replace the chair, 2. Provide a store credit, 3.Provide a refund. The representative said they had no way of knowing if myself (small children, animals, wild and crazy parties…had caused damage to the chair). She also said this chair was among their best-sellers and no one else has called to complain. Again, implying that the cause of damage was due to excessive use during its two month stay in my home: “We try to be clear about our returns policy, and when a product uses sensitive or reclaimed materials so you can be as informed as possible upon purchase what to expect from your item and how much use it can likely withstand… I am sorry if the material was not able to sustain, but there is no way for us to determine the cause at this point.” I have no animals in my house. I do have small children. However, I also have a house full of furniture ranging from 6-over a hundred years old—three couches, several chairs, even a four year old all white sectional and none of the upholstery is in as bad of shape as this two month old chair. If other customers are not experiencing similar problems, perhaps my chair was somehow defective as the material is recycled sari fabric. My experiences and concerns as a customer should be valued and considered as individual and unique.
The rep asked me to send her pictures and promised she would look into the issue. Two weeks went by with no word. I sent an email inquiring about the status of my request and again, the company offered a fifty dollar credit stating this compensation was “very fair” since my complaint was “well outside” the return window.
Consumers! Learn from my experience. If you are going to spend a large chunk of your hard-earned change on a piece of furniture—buy from a company that stands behind the quality of the products they sell.
Although every time I actually spoke with a representative from Dot & Bo, they were polite and professional, the customer service was very poor in returning emails and phone calls in a timely manner. I will not shop at Dot & Bo again, not even to use the fifty dollar credit. You are almost sure to get better quality furniture and better customer service at your local used furniture store than Dot& BO. Every time I look at my chair I see my wasted money. Oxfam, the local high poverty school I work at….all the things I could have done with this $1k…if only I had known. Dot & Bo: such cute products. Such potential. Such a disappointment.