So I’m looking for some advice on an absurd situation that I have blundered myself into. Here’s the backstory: I was looking for some kind of fun giveaway related to the book.  I had the profound insight that maybe the giveaway should relate to stickiness.  So I Googled all manner of variations on “sticky,” which yielded some interesting findings that shall not be repeated here, but ultimately I found something that sounded cool: handmade candy from Sticky, an Australian company. Not only is their name “Sticky,” they can actually create custom orange “lollies” with the words “Made To Stick” on them! Are you kidding me? So this seemed a no-brainer solution.
Cue up mistake #1.  Moderation has never been my strong point, so I ordered $619 of custom candy. The candy would be divided up into neat little glass jars. 4-6 weeks later, the box arrives! And it is filled with many neat little glass jars — that have been shattered to smithereens, along with the candy inside! The box was packed with all the care that your teenage grocery store clerk uses to bag your groceries. So imagine if your groceries had to cross an ocean.  The net effect was more shrapnel-rific than sticky. See photo below.
I emailed the company, along with a couple of choice photos, and a very nice woman apologized for the situation and agreed that a refund was in order. That was on May 10. Since then, this nice women has gone AWOL.
Any advice? Is there a Better Business Bureau equivalent of Australia? Etc. And I hope the moral of this story is clear for the children: Always opt for custom duct-tape over custom Australian candy…
See what happens when you offshore/outsource/globalize.
Lou Dobbs is on the phone…”Broken lollipops, broken U.S. economy”
heh. yes, buy american! at least that way you can take them to small claims court…
Dan,
Here’s a couple of links I dug up that might help.
http://www.consumersonline.gov.au/Content/InformationAndComplaints/Complaint.asp
http://www.consumer.gov.au/html/faqs.htm#consumers
Yours is a tragic story about the dangers of globalization… I think I’ll post about it on my blog!
Dan,
Here’s a couple of links I dug up, maybe this will hepl:
http://www.consumer.gov.au/html/faqs.htm#consumers
http://www.consumersonline.gov.au/Content/InformationAndComplaints/Complaint.asp
Yours is truly a tragic tale of the dangers of globalization! I think I’ll post about your story on my blog.
thanks travis! i like the idea that i’m a symbol of the harms of globalization, rather than someone who idiotically spent $619 on candy…
Dan … that is handled at a state level … email me with the name of the shop and I will try and point you in the right direction.
Dan,
Do you have a larger picture of the carnage you could send me?
Dan,
Did you get anywhere with this? Me being in Sydney, my workplace is only a suburb away from Sticky’s head office and I’d hate to see Aussie business in general get a bad rap. Send me more details of your transaction and I’ll have a chat with them …
Regards,
Andrew
I sent out a more formal-ish letter to them, so we’ll see if anything happens. You are nice to offer to help — if they don’t respond to my letter, I might well take you up on it. These people seemed nice enough up front that I can’t help but think there may still be a reasonable explanation for the inaction — i.e., the wrong person left in the middle of the communications and dropped the ball. We’ll see.
If Sticky wants to stay in business, they’ll do the right thing and re-do the order for you - free of any additional charge.
Their business is based on hand-crafted quality. Their “about us” page closes… “If quality matters, sticky has no substitute.”
If that’s truly their philosophy, I’m betting this will all be okay in the end.
This has nothing to do with globalization or not buying US or the Aussies. This could just as well have happened with a local vendor. My guess is that Sticky is filled more with skilled candy artists than business owners… This is part of Sticky’s growing pain.
Hopefully Sticky is learning a lesson too on how to package properly.
So Dan - do you think the fragile sticker didn’t stick?
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