Purim Mishloach Manot "scams" & rip-offs

amother

Sat, Mar 22 2008, 11:49 pm

I want to vent!!

My sister, living in London, "sent" us Mishloach Manot. She found an ad somewhere, called to a Boro Park Tzedaka organization & paid A LOT to send us something really nice.

well guess what? It was never delivered.

I was really upset with her for 2 reasons. #1, I am VERY certain that whatever she ordered it wouldn't have been anywhere near the value of her donation. Yes, I know, she was giving Tzedaka, but she knows how to do that & she chooses where to give. She wanted to send us a really fancy package.

#2. These places never work! We paid for a cute Chanukah gift for DS in Israel..it was supposed to be a backpack with maps, water bottles etc. Imagine his embarrassment to get a tiny, pathetic heart shaped box of chocs embarrassed

It was NOT valentine's Day! And no, it was a business, NOT a Tzedaka place.

So, seeing as they didn't fix it (as promised) DH called & requested a Mishloach Manot. DH called again this week to confirm everything was in place So far, DS got zippo, but I'll allow them to deliver by Shushan Purim (Sunday)

So, ladies, this is what I'm going to do.

I'm going to OUT these 2 places. If DS did NOT get his package I'm going to announce the name of the business here on imamother that's been sitting on our $$ since before Chanukah.

And as for the Tzedaka org...if they commit to doing something in the name of Tzedaka, they should do it. The woman who dealt with my sister, Chanie B, did not return my call. So they'll get outed too.

My sis cancelled the Visa charge after Shabbos.

I hate getting ripped off. We all work hard for our money & are entitled to value for money & honesty. And if our names are now on this org's mailing list.... Twisted Evil

STAY TUNED!!!

BeershevaBubby

Sat, Mar 22 2008, 11:57 pm

My mother did that one year for us. She sent money to some organization or other here in Israel for us to get Mishloach Manot.

Have you ever had stale jelly beans? The lollypop was crushed and the chocolate tasted like wax.

I called my mother to thank her and to request that in the future, she send us a care package from the US. I told her that I could get Israeli candy any time I wanted, but it was the American stuff I was missing.

So every year she sends me a box of American chocolates (this year it was a mixed box from Hershey's, last year it was several 100Grands) and I often send Israeli nosh to my nephews (and often a box of European chocolates for the adults).

Tefila

Sun, Mar 23 2008, 12:10 am

Sorry for your bad experiance but with us we have only had success storys and we have been doing this for almost five years now we send all over the u.s. to relatives and it gets delivered even a day before Purim. True the donation is more then what they recieve in shlach manos value, but hey thats what tzedakah is all about.
Dan Lkaf zechus them Maybe they'll have a good answer as to why it never arrived.
Disclaimer no I do not work or have any relatives associated with shlach manos shipping or delivery outside of yehupetzville Twisted Evil

louche

Mon, Mar 24 2008, 9:00 pm

I, too, have had only success. I deal only with orgs and not with private enterprise, b/c if I'm going to overpay, which inevitably I will, I prefer the overpayment go into a tzedaka and not into a private person's pocket. And when you send MM to ppl in EY, you know it'll be delivered on time. If you send things on your own from overseas it can end up arriving erev pesach--or you can send it air freight and spend ten times its value on shipping costs, and STILL not be guaranteed on-time arrival.

amother

Mon, Mar 24 2008, 10:31 pm

UPDATE!!

Well, my sister's was dumped by UPS @ a neighbor who sat on it till Sun night. we were home, the UPS guy was too lazy to climb 1 flight up. So that turned out OK, although I know what she paid....still, it was for Tzedaka & we were both pleased that was resolved ok.

As for the Israeli one...I spoke to the "head" of the American branch who to her credit, didn't make any excuses. Well, she couldn't, could she?

I asked her if she'd heard of imamother. She said no, so I enlightened her & "promised" that if I didn't get a refund check in a timely fashion (our 1st order was Dec.5!!) I'd "out" her for you all to see! Twisted Evil

Hopefully, that'll work LOL

Meanwhile, I felt so bad that I hadn't sent DS any MM. He was fine, though, judging from the pics he posted on our blog! Rolling Eyes

Hope everyone's MM reached the appropriate destination!