Follow-up review on Baroque's Pearl Drops on the Dry Flower

In August, I wrote a neutral on review for the brand Baroque and their series of "Pearl Drops on Dry Flower." The old review can be found here (opens in new window).

Since then, I have finally received an exchange for my dress. The process took roughly 2.5 months, and it certainly took a lot of activity on my part. The following is the timeline, and the dates bolded in red are the dates I had to prompt some action on the owner's part:

• August 16, 2012
: Sent an email to Baroque to request a dress exchange. Mana (the owner) agreed to give me an exchange dress. Requested an update every 4 days with regards to the status of the exchange AND pictures of the dress that I can receive in exchange (front and back, with any note of flaws). She allowed me to keep the flawed dress before the new one was sent.


• August 26, 2012
: After not hearing anything from Mana, I sent her another email to inquire about what was going on with the exchange dress.


• August 27, 2012
: Mana responded by saying that she has ordered the fabric, and that it'll be there within 7-10 days.


• September 13, 2012
: There was no news from Baroque, so I contacted her again to get an update on my exchange. She responded soon after saying that the new fabric has arrived this week, and she'll be remaking my dress. She said that she thinks she can get my dress made by the month.


• September 30, 2012
: After not hearing anything back from Mana, I contacted her yet again to see what was happening on her end.


• October 1, 2012
: She informs me that my dress will be coming to her on the 9th of October, and she will send it as soon as she gets it.


• October 16, 2012
: Still no dress, still no tracking number. Sent Mana another email inquiring about my dress. She informs me my dress is still in factory and that it would finish by the end of that week.


• October 22, 2012
: No dress, no email or updates. I sent Mana yet another email, since it was a week after she said the dress will be done.


• October 23, 2012
: I received a reply back from Mana saying that she will visit the factory the next day. She was informed by the factory to wait for 2 days, and that it'll finish 25th. She offered a refund if I couldn't wait any longer. After 2 months of waiting, what's two more days? So I agreed to wait and requested to be refunded if I didn't receive anything by the end of October.


• October 26, 2012
: Mana sends me an email saying that she received the dress from the factory and will be sending it out the next day. I replied asking for pictures before she sent it out.


• October 30, 2012
: No pictures attached to her email, Mana gave me a tracking number for my package (this is 3 days after she quoted me on a shipping date).


• November 3, 2012
: The package arrived at my house, and the pictures are presented below. I sent an email to Mana asking what I should do with the first dress and am waiting for a response.


• November 4, 2012
: Received a response from Mana about the first dress and she also inquired about the quality of the dress I received.

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REVIEW
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The package the items came in. Compared to my previous box, this was not as beat up, and I am thankful.


The dress. I inspected the front and back, tried on the bib. The bib is sturdier than the one I had received previously. No significant flaws. There is no longer a tag on the dress specifying the size and the brand name.


Slight misalignments still apparent on the waist section.


The additional items given: petticoat, 2 postcards, and a hand towel.

Type of Feedback: Negative
Communication: 1/5
Accuracy of item description: 5/5
Was the item shipped when agreed upon?: 1/5
Packaging: 5/5
Overall experience: 2/5

Let me clarify why I decided to give my review a downgrade from my previous review. The exchange process has been nothing short of a nightmare for me, and I've grown tired by the end of October from waiting and trying to keep in contact with the owner. I have shuffled between giving the review a negative and a neutral, as I did finally receive a better quality product along with additional items. While I am grateful for the effort in putting the extra items on her part, the shipment of bad quality product, spotty communication, and long delay shouldn't have happened in the first place.

It took a lot of effort in communication on my part to keep in touch with Mana, and a significant amount of waiting time to finally receive a product that is worth what I have spent on it. None of my requests in the email for updates or pictures were fulfilled. This isn't acceptable business conduct to me, and my whole experience with the brand has left me very disappointed. While I know that others have had better luck than me, I would not take another chance on this brand. It is unlikely that I will order from Baroque again.

** Side notes **
Not related to the review, but related to the product. An observation on washing the dress. I saw my water turn black when I tried to wash my JSK in cold water with a mild detergent. While I did not see the print run on my dress, I would just like to note this in case you decide to wash the dress with other colors.