Magic Candle Company Mini-Review (It's a Mixed Bag)

[cobright]

I ordered a pair of 8 oz candles for my wife, intending them to be X-mas presents. I ordered a little close to the wire so I was prepared for them to be a last minute arrival or even a Boxing Day* delivery.

The good news is that they eventually did arrive and smell great. Some reviews have been critical of some scents, but I went with Rome is Burning and Flying Over Orange Groves (or something like that), and I'm thrilled with both. Rome is Burning is just a tad too 'mesquite' right off the bat so it smells like smoking meat but the scent evens out after 15 or 20 minutes. 9/10 would buy again. The orange scent candle does what few candles seem to do, fill the area with a light 'bright' scent. Neither faint nor cloying 10/10.

My one complaint is a bit of a doozy for me and I will look hard for other options before I buy from this company again. Their order fulfillment time took 2 weeks. Yes, I know we can't all have Amazon Prime get us everything we want delivered next day/same day and for free, I'm not asking for magic delivery of my magic candles.

When I ordered, there was a notice that candles are made to order and that because of high demand "order fulfillment time is 3 to 5 business days (Monday - Friday)". Okay, no sweat. I'm ordering it on Monday the 16th so it should get here Monday the 23rd or on X-mas eve at the latest. Nope. MCC uses a different definition for 'Order Fulfillment' than the rest of the world. At MCC, Order Fulfillment means getting the product made and ready to ship.

Okay, so ... fine ... my order went in Monday morning, it should ship Friday... Monday at the latest... right? And it's being shipped FedEx, so... Maybe it get's here the 26th or 27th. Not great but we're entertaining a couple times leading in to the New Year so the candles will make a nice impression

Nope again... They don't hand my order to a FedEx guy until 3:30PM Dec. 26 and it doesn't arrive until the afternoon of Dec 30th.

TL;DR Version: MCC's "Order Fulfillment" estimate of 3-5 business days means a two solid week wait for your order.

I'm not going to wail and cry over a scented candle order. This didn't ruin my holiday, and the candles, once arrived, were very nice. But I expected (reasonably I think) a faster turn around on this order.

*- Boxing Day note... We're not British and we don't celebrate Boxing Day, but I love calling it that instead of "The day after Christmas" for no other reason than faux pretension.

 

[easyas123]

I had a very similar experience with them & shipping, for what it is worth. I guess about a year ago-

 

[Flowers12]

Ordered one once. My husband said it smelled like tide. Haven’t ordered again.

 

[disneyseniors]

I have ordered from them once, and was very happy with the candles (Orleans for French Quarter lobby smell). I was also happy with the delivery. I don't remember how long it took so I must have been okay. I hope your experience, OP, was because it was so close to the Holidays. I imagine they had a lot more than usual number of orders at that time. The post office is also overwhelmed at that time too. I won't hesitate to order from them again in the future. No complaints.

 

[belle032]

I've ordered fragrance oils from them twice and they were just OK. Not super great, not horrible. Except for one which I actually threw away. I use them in a diffuser in my office and I'll definitely go through them but probably not order them again. I've heard good things about their candles but all I have to go on is my experience with the oils so I'm hesitant to buy anything else. I actually have another company who's candles I really like so I prefer to spend my money there.

I will say their shipping has always been fine for me so I'd probably blame it on the holidays.

 

[Frwinkley]

My DD and I had a girls' only trip to the Polynesian this summer. It was a celebration of sorts--she and her husband of 4 years decided to move back home (to Pittsburgh) after spending time in the Boston area while she attended dental school.

For Christmas, I bought her the Poly candle (and she bought the exact same candle for me). It is wonderful! More woodsy smelling than floral and takes me right back to the lobby of the Polynesian.

I had no trouble with shipping, etc. I ordered on Cyber Monday, so I had plenty of time.

 

[cobright]

The post office is also overwhelmed at that time too

As is FedEx I'm sure, but once the product was put in FedEx hands it took less than 3 days to get to me.

And sure, holiday times mean a huge run of orders coming in. One might even plan on it and make up some holiday stock ahead of time. Whatever.

I find it shady that the expected turn around time shown on the FAQ is different than the one on they Terms & Conditions page. Both say "Due to extremely high order volume, our current fulfillment time is..." but then give different time frames. The one on the T&C page give a longer 14 day time.

It's also a little dicey that they check the box for reading and agreeing to the T&C for you. Pull up their page in an incognito browser tab and put something in a cart to check out and you'll see that terms of sale box is already selected for you. That way they can pull up their order information and "prove" that you agreed to the terms and conditions page even if you never opened the page. Even if you never noticed the checkbox or saw it in passing on the way to hit that G-Pay or Paypal button, maybe assuming it's relating to a newsletter or sending you marketing emails.

These are not cheap candles. Nearly $50 for 2 small candles means I should expect better than average service.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

These are not cheap candles. Nearly $50 for 2 small candles means I should expect better than average service.

Lots of homemade products have pricing that may be higher than what you can get commercially made; their profit margins are typically way different than mass produced candles (though let's be real Yankee Candle charges out the nose for their mass produced candles lol). And smaller production style companies often have slower shipping times. Cut 'em some slack there.

 

[Searc]

I have ordered from them once, and was very happy with the candles (Orleans for French Quarter lobby smell). I was also happy with the delivery. I don't remember how long it took so I must have been okay. I hope your experience, OP, was because it was so close to the Holidays. I imagine they had a lot more than usual number of orders at that time. The post office is also overwhelmed at that time too. I won't hesitate to order from them again in the future. No complaints.

They may have had more orders, but that is why a smart business stocks up in preparation for lots of orders. It isn't like candles are perishable.

 

[Searc]

Lots of homemade products have pricing that may be higher than what you can get commercially made; their profit margins are typically way different than mass produced candles (though let's be real Yankee Candle charges out the nose for their mass produced candles lol). And smaller production style companies often have slower shipping times. Cut 'em some slack there.

It isn't like Christmas is a surprise. If it becomes a familiar refrain, their failure to prepare will be their downfall.

 

[sonnyjane]

I just wanted to say that I used to work for a mail order business and I would have assumed “fulfilled in 3-5 business days” to mean that it will ship in 3-5 days, not arrive. Something to keep in mind for the future. If they mean it will get to you in 3-5 days it will say “arrives in 3-5 days”.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

They may have had more orders, but that is why a smart business stocks up in preparation for lots of orders. It isn't like candles are perishable.

It isn't like Christmas is a surprise. If it becomes a familiar refrain, their failure to prepare will be their downfall.

According to the OP though every order is made to order. Lots of people like that aspect. I don't personally think it's that a Holiday snuck up on them but that their business model is more mom and pop style (which lots of people like) and thus with more orders the time to get out individual orders increases.

My aunt runs a small-ish business too and one of the things that is considered both a pro and a con is partnering up with Amazon. Pro because it helps increase their business visibility con because sometimes with certain times of the year getting the items out with Prime and whatnot puts a strain on it. She said if she could help it she'd rather not deal with Amazon not because they don't know how to ship and package efficiently but that because they are on a smaller scale they like a tad bit more wiggle room to get items out for shipping.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I just wanted to say that I used to work for a mail order business and I would have assumed “fulfilled in 3-5 business days” to mean that it will ship in 3-5 days, not arrive. Something to keep in mind for the future. If they mean it will get to you in 3-5 days it will say “arrives in 3-5 days”.

Yeah when looking at their FAQs the question is phrased

WHEN WILL MY ORDER SHIP?

All of our products are custom made to order. Due to extremely high order volume, our current fulfillment time is 3 to 5 business days (Monday - Friday) and we will email you as soon as your order ships.

----------------------------------------------------------------

It's not phrased as "when will my order arrive". Confusing for sure but if I read that I would agree with your comment and think that's the time frame it takes for my order to get looked at, selected items put together and out for shipping not that it will be at my door within 3-5business days excluding Saturday and Sunday.

 

[jessicaknarr]

I got 4 oils . I really don’t like the Castaway Cay oil. I’ve used it once . Anyone have an oil they want to trade for my Castaway ?

 

[bananaschmitt]

I have to agree with those pointing out that making something to order and saying fulfillment time is 3-5 days means that 3-5 days is 3-5 business days production lead time to make your order after the day your order is input. If your order was placed on Monday the 16th then count out 3-5 business days after that date to the following Monday the 23rd.

They should not be quoting time in transit because that will vary depending on where you are in the country and ship methods for most small boxes are 1-5 days in the US.

This seems to be slightly late but is not outside a reasonable expectation especially when the order was up against Christmas Day which is not a day in transit for Fed Ex.