.jpg) |
| This fake LeBron James Ken was passed off as a Mattel product by a Walmart.com independent seller. |
.jpg) |
| Look at the misspelling of Barbie on the box and the uneven font. |
.jpg) |
| And to add insult to injury, the body is spray-painted!!!! |
Good grief!
All photos and text are copyrighted and cannot be used elsewhere unless permission is granted by the author.
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.
If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.
Check out what I am selling here.
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
*New*Visit/Follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!
Why does a reputable store like Walmart not do a better job of vetting third party sellers? I actually purchased a LeBron from Walmart, based on the photo of the actual doll. The price was $49.99 which is below the Mattel retail cost. I was elated to finally be able to find this doll so reasonably priced. Everything looked legit. The sale went through, and I paid with my PayPal account. The purchase was made in April, and the delivery date was given as May 3. It was listed as a preorder, so I wasn't worried. As the delivery date approached, I kept up with the tracking info. Finally, I received word the shipment was delayed so I emailed the seller which turned out to be an LLC located in China. I then emailed the Walmart help site and they contacted the seller for an updated status. Outcome: Walmart sent me a refund as per my request to no longer wait on this item. This experience has taught me that even a company like Walmart can have bad sellers doing business on their platform. I am now going to continue doing less business with Walmart, due in part to their diversity push-back, and because of their lack of vetting oversight.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry that happened to you, Bev, but I'm glad you were able to get a refund. I don't know why these sites allow third-party sellers to sell without fully vetting them, particularly sites that are outside the US.
DeleteEverything is so app driven these days without people to ensure that operations are honest and run smoothly. It's all about getting as much corporate money as possible and whatever slips through the cracks is considered nominal when compared to corporate proceeds. Long gone are the days when we could shop with confidence and be assured that what we order is what we will receive.
I had a similar experience on eBay. Someone offered a "LeBron James Ken" on that site. I took a chance and made an offer that came with free shipping (yes, I know--if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is). Well, it didn't take me long to figure out that I had been scammed. The seller listed the item as shipped (but handed off to a third party shipper somewhere in California). After three days, the shipping status did not change. The package had not yet reached the U. S. Postal Service. I tried to contact the seller through eBay to get an answer but was informed that the seller was no longer a registered eBay user! Red flags flew! I went through several avenues to contact eBay, but again, everything is app driven and you can no longer speak to a person about pertinent matters like this. After attempting to cancel the order, which I could not do because it has "already shipped," and trying to contact the seller, which I could not do because the seller had flown the coup, I used eBay's "request a return" link. In the comments section at the link I explained the dilemma (the package had not reached the PO and the seller was no longer a registered eBay user). Within maybe 10 minutes, the request to cancel the order was granted and my payment method refunded. All is well that ends well, but we-should-not-have-to-go-through-this because, in your words, "their lack of vetting oversight."
Glad it ended well for you. So far, Ebay has been helpful in resolving issues between sellers and buyers. Ebay has been my go-to for buying and selling, over other platforms.
DeleteThank you. I remember when you could speak to a person to resolve eBay issues. It was less frustrating than relying on automated systems that don't always have the built-in feature that fits your exact problem. I had to fish around eBay to finally figure out the proper link to use.
Delete