Disappointed...shoddy merchandise

[MamaJessie]

I agree that it is too bad they let so much shoddy merchandise get through, but they are great about replacing things! And it isn't all garbage either. My 2 older kids bought 2 hats and 2 toys when we went in 2006 and all four items are still great. Shocking really when I think of all the abuse they have endured It's hit or miss with any plastic junk, disney or not. At least they are good about returns.

 

[jewjubean]

There are lots of the products that I wouldnt buy, working in merchandise we saw how quickly things get damaged. The polly pocket things mentioned earlier are HORRIBLE! if you have the Polly's that are sold in the regular stores(Walmart ect.) the dresses are good,but the dolls themselves break really easily. Alot of the travel mugs are NOT dish washer/microwave safe. So make sure your careful when you buy the mugs. The only things I buy anymore are keychains and pens.

 

[Mollie Mooster]

I had the same problem with a baby gift I brought recently at World of Disney. Baby Minnie with the musical pacifier. Gave it to a 2 month old baby and the parents tried it twice and it broke. I called the number on the top of my receipt and they gave me a replacement number to fax with the receipt. I faxed it Monday and will give it two weeks. If a replacement doesn't come in, I'll call to make sure the fax was received. The lady was very helpful.

 

[daisyduck123]

I had the same problem with a baby gift I brought recently at World of Disney. Baby Minnie with the musical pacifier. Gave it to a 2 month old baby and the parents tried it twice and it broke.

Oh no! I gave the exact same item to a friend/co-worker as a baby shower gift last year!! I wonder if it is still working. I will ask her. I will feel horrible if she says it has broken already.

 

[cdrn1]

OP here...thanks for all the suggestions. I tossed the receipts. It would be too much trouble to keep them for no more than the stuff cost. I should have known better than to buy it anyway; when I think about it, I remember stuff from last trip that was junky (light-up toothbrush that didn't, hairbrush that lost its bristles) and I guess I will just email customer relations just to let them know of my disappointment and to let them know my thoughts on buying junky stuff. Maybe if we all did that, they would monitor the quality better...or maybe not.
Again, thanks for listening and it sounds like I have a lot of company.

 

[nunzia]

I sadly agree with all this..Disney's quality has gone way down and yet they charge more for the same poorly made crap. Frankly, most items you purchase now are made poorly and just a couple steps away from purchase to garbage. Our society has allowed this and now we get what we want. It really bothers me that things that are so highly priced (not just as Disney but everywhere) even designer stuff, is made the same crappy way, yet we seem willing to shell out huge bucks for it.

 

[mousebymarriage]

I have had a problem with a couple of items bought on our 2 most recent Disney trips. The first was a pair of earrings bought on our 2008 trip. they are the mickey head style they were silver with pink stones that made up the head and ears part, unfortunatley the stone fell out of one of the ears on one earring. the stone fell out about a month after we got home and DD had only worn the earring a couple of times, we never found the stone. The earring were not expensive but, DD loved them. The second was a keychain bought this past Feb(2010), another mickey head design and the keychain snapped right off the ring part, no way to put it back. We were only home a couple of weeks when I noticed the mickey head part was gone, never found it.

I was really disappointed that these items broke, even though they weren't expensive I still expected them to last more than a month. However, we did buy a couple of items on our last trip(Feb. 2010) that have really held up well. Both DD and I bought sweatshirts, mine is a gray zip up with embroidered "Walt Disney World, The originial, 1971" with a full body mickey on it (small embroidery on the front upper left chest area,, full embroidery on the back). DD's sweatshirt is a hoodie(no zip) pink tye-dye ish design with "walt Disney World" and mickey on the front, iron on I think. We have worn these sweatshirts a lot and they still look great, but I wash them in cold water and never put them in the dryer. My sweatshirt was about $65 and DD's was about $50.
I really think the merchandise sold is hit or miss but, more and more of it is junk.

 

[Tiger926]

OP here...thanks for all the suggestions. I tossed the receipts. It would be too much trouble to keep them for no more than the stuff cost. I should have known better than to buy it anyway; when I think about it, I remember stuff from last trip that was junky (light-up toothbrush that didn't, hairbrush that lost its bristles) and I guess I will just email customer relations just to let them know of my disappointment and to let them know my thoughts on buying junky stuff. Maybe if we all did that, they would monitor the quality better...or maybe not.
Again, thanks for listening and it sounds like I have a lot of company.

I would email the merchandise email that was given above. Sometimes they work stuff out without receipts. It's much better to email the Merchandise Dept and let them handle it. If you email any other department, they are going to tell you to email Merchandise Dept. directly, or, they will just forward the email to them. Disney really wants correspondence to go the proper departments, as they can assist customers much more quickly this way. The Merchandise Dept. always gets back to guests very promptly as well.

Good luck, Tiger

 

[Mom_Rides]

We were disappointed with some of the merchandise that we purchased as well. When we were there in June, it super hot the day we were at DHS, so we bought DD one of the clip on Mickey fans for her stroller. It lasted all of 1 day. I was so angry because it was NOT cheap, at least not price wise! We also bought her one of those spinning Tinkerbelle light up things and she was playing with and shook it hard and Tinkerbelle flew off inside of the globe and the whole thing stopped working.

So glad that my DSS's are beyond toys and junk like that and were into pin trading. At least those are shoddy. We all decided not to buy t-shirts or sweatshirts because we didn't want to be disappointed if we washed and they shunk.

 

[Tiger926]

We were disappointed with some of the merchandise that we purchased as well. When we were there in June, it super hot the day we were at DHS, so we bought DD one of the clip on Mickey fans for her stroller. It lasted all of 1 day. I was so angry because it was NOT cheap, at least not price wise! We also bought her one of those spinning Tinkerbelle light up things and she was playing with and shook it hard and Tinkerbelle flew off inside of the globe and the whole thing stopped working.

So glad that my DSS's are beyond toys and junk like that and were into pin trading. At least those are shoddy. We all decided not to buy t-shirts or sweatshirts because we didn't want to be disappointed if we washed and they shunk.

Did you exchange the fan or light up toy? We have 2 fans, and one has worked for years, yet the other stopped working after a few days, so exchangted. Remember, they get left on all day, so sometimes they just need new batteries. Also, light up toy could have been taken back as well - have done that too.

It is important to attempt to return/exchange Disney's junk while you are on vacation (and even after if you have proper receipts). If you just throw it away, you have put more money in Disney's pockets. Items need to be returned or exchanged!

Tiger

 

[disney*mom*82]

On our Sept 2009 trip I bought a shirt, the only one I REALLY liked and was going to wear it the day we were leaving. As I put it on, I noticed a hole on it, I just bought it the day before, I didnt cause the hole. We were packing and leaving, I changed shirts and on accident DH packed the shirt and we didnt realise it until it was burried in the car. We went to tell them at the resort gift shop and they said it will be no problem to contact them once home.

Once home, I emailed and let them know. I still had reciept and tags. They did nothing. Im sure had I pressed the issue they would have. They were basically expecting me to wait until I went to WDW again. I live in Illinois, not like I could go again soon. I didnt mess with it, still wear it.

For suveniers we usually just buy shirts. DD2 will be wanting toys next time Im sure. Ill know to be careful and check everything before packing and leaving.

 

[Tiger926]

On our Sept 2009 trip I bought a shirt, the only one I REALLY liked and was going to wear it the day we were leaving. As I put it on, I noticed a hole on it, I just bought it the day before, I didnt cause the hole. We were packing and leaving, I changed shirts and on accident DH packed the shirt and we didnt realise it until it was burried in the car. We went to tell them at the resort gift shop and they said it will be no problem to contact them once home.

Once home, I emailed and let them know. I still had reciept and tags. They did nothing. Im sure had I pressed the issue they would have. They were basically expecting me to wait until I went to WDW again. I live in Illinois, not like I could go again soon. I didnt mess with it, still wear it.

For suveniers we usually just buy shirts. DD2 will be wanting toys next time Im sure. Ill know to be careful and check everything before packing and leaving.

I'm sorry to hear that, as this is contrary to all of my experiences over the years. I have contacted Disney Merchandise many times. Did you contact them by email?

I am very surprised by this - I just got a new shirt last month, again in March, and after our last trip. It happens each and every time, but kids always seem to want a shirt or two, so we keep giving them a try. T-shirts are the worst, as they are paper thin, so despite washing them better than the instructions on the shirt (low spin, HE machine, delicate, cold and hung to dry), they still break. Sometimes, we don't even get to wash them, and they show holes while on vacation, and back they go!

I can't stress enough to everyone, that they need to contact Disney Merchandising directly, and press the issue, as they in my experience, have refunded or exchanged 100% of my defective items over the years.

I am known as an amateur consumer advocate, as I have contacted hundreds of companies, so this topic is of great interest to me. It saddens me that people haven't received the same treatment from Disney customer service that I have over the years.

Tiger

 

[TandLMommy28]

On the last day of our trip, my kids went to DTD to each pick out a toy to bring home... we had a 19 hour drive ahead of us, so this was more a trick to save my sanity than anything else!!!

My daughter filled a My Little Pony box. LOVE it. She is thrilled to bits with it.

My son, on the other hand, chose the Mickey Mouse playhouse micro set. It's basically a small dollhouse that looks like Mickey's Toon Town house. It came with furniture and 4 dolls--Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy. Most of the pieces broke taking them out of the package. I was disappointed and my son was heartbroken.

I wrote to Disney as soon as we got home and they promised to send him a new set ASAP. We haven't received it yet, but we've only been home a week. Hopefully the new set is better... but whatever the issue, voice your concerns to Disney. They do seem to listen.

 

[Debbie7452]

Here's a bright note...I decided on my last trip I wanted a big WDW plastic tumbler/cup. I looked all over and finally stumbled onto the perfect cup. It turned out to be a Tervis Tumbler with a WDW Mickey inside. I didn't know anything about the company, but they are made in FL and have a lifetime guarantee. I have been really impressed with the cup and I can buy replacement lids and straws at Bed Bath & Beyond.

Sooo, keep an eye out for US made stuff. There's not much, but there's a little!

 

[rynosmom]

My DS just mentioned to me the other night that a Tee Shirt we purchased in DTD has a large hole under the neck. This Tee was not cheap in price at $30 but DS loved it as it's Mickey as a DJ spinning on a turn table. Of course I don't have the receipt anymore and will just try to sew it. Same trip I purchased DN a pack on tink pony holders and they horrible. They don't hold your hair at all. On the positive side I bought a Tee almost 3 years ago at Sports store in DTD and wear that thing to death and it still looks good.

 

[pixiewings71]

I find this sad....I have quite a few t-shirts that I bought for myself at DLR. I've had most of them for well over 1 year and have no issues with them at all, they aren't overly thin (but I like thinner clothing as I like to layer and it gets hot here) and don't develop holes too quickly. I love wearing them too, they make me happy. Most of our souvenirs are pins tho, we are traders and we tend to spend our souvenir $$ on pins over other things. The girls have a few souvenirs they purchased tho, hats, clothing, toys, they've mostly weathered well and are still with us.

OP I would absolutely contact Disney merchandising, there's no reason that 4 of your purchases should have been defective.

 

[loveysbydesign]

Here's a bright note...I decided on my last trip I wanted a big WDW plastic tumbler/cup. I looked all over and finally stumbled onto the perfect cup. It turned out to be a Tervis Tumbler with a WDW Mickey inside. I didn't know anything about the company, but they are made in FL and have a lifetime guarantee. I have been really impressed with the cup and I can buy replacement lids and straws at Bed Bath & Beyond.

Sooo, keep an eye out for US made stuff. There's not much, but there's a little!

Tervis tumblers are great! Where did you find them, I'd like to pick some up fro my in-laws for Christmas gifts!

 

[jessica52877]

I didn't realize tervis had disney designs. I just looked online at tervis.com and they had several different designs, just look under disney.

 

[dolfinjuls]

I was upset two years ago because several of the things I bought broke without even using them! I e-mailed them and they also asked for me to scan the receipt which I unfortunately did not have any longer. I was very upset that my little Disney memories were no longer! But now I know to save those receipts just in case!

 

[Debbie7452]

I found it at DTD World of Disney store. Now, I did happen to find mine located out of place...someone had left it sitting on a display in the princess kiddie section. Even though I had looked in all of the obvious "cup" sections, I never found where in the store it had come from. You know how that store is...it was packed and complete chaos. I just considered it pixie dust and bought it!

They do sell some cute Disney designs on the web site...but this one actually says "Walt Disney World" under the Mickey image.