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BROKEN Gift Etiquette?

iLander

Ideal_Rock
Joined
May 23, 2010
Messages
6,731
So, DS and DIL bought me a piece of Fiesta ware from my wish list, for Christmas. I opened the shipping box, and it was in pieces. They said they were so sorry, I said no problem, take a picture to send to customer service, etc. Fast forward to today, I texted them both and asked if the Fiesta people would need the dish back. The response from DIL was "Yes, the website says they will arrange to pick it up*. It said for damaged items to call their customer service and arrange the replacement."

This is what I don't get. Does she want me to call them? I don't think I can, since I didn't order it. Should the giver or the receiver arrange to replace a broken gift?

Under the advice of DH and DD, I texted back "Ok, great :) let me know when they will pick it up." No response.

I strongly suspect that they will not call and I will never get a replacement. :rolleyes: I guess I should just buy my own? It was only $25, but it is a completer to a set I have and I kinda need it. The only other gift from them was 2 used paperback books.

Interestingly, we ordered a gift for them and a few weeks ago, it also arrived broken. We arranged a credit, and DH replaced the broken glass himself, and we gave them the gift without them even realizing it had arrived broken. Seemed like the mature, adult thing to do. Keep in mind these two are almost 30. Kinda feel like sending the picture of their broken gift (taken to get the credit) to them in week or so, if it appears that they have made no effort on their end.

*Oddly this is not at all what the website says. :confused: It says to call customer service with your order number.
 

marcy

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Feb 27, 2007
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26,278
Hi iLander I am sorry your Fiesta ware arrived broken. IMO the sender should try to get the item replaced. Since their text response wasn't very clear and then they didn't answer your followup answer I would call your DS and ask him directly the status of what they've done to get your gift replaced. If you don't feel comfortable to do that I am sure Fiesta ware would help you and hopefully you still have the box it was shipped in - they usually have an order number or something like that on it. Good luck getting a replacement.

I ordered from Mikasa and they were fabulous about replacing broken pieces.

Marcy
 

pinkjewel

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
Messages
2,362
Well, it should be their responsibility, but you may not want to count on it. :rolleyes:
We've had similar issues in the past. To me, it's just easier to handle them myself. My question is- was the fiesta ware shipped to you directly? If so, there should be a packing slip somewhere with the info on it. And, I just looked at fiesta factory direct website, and if that's where it came from - it does state that you should contact them ASAP with broken items from shipping and that they will arrange a pickup.
 

Calliecake

Ideal_Rock
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Jun 7, 2014
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9,229
ILander, I agree it will probably be easier to handle it yourself. I really don't see what the big deal is. It would literally take them five minutes to call the company and get this resolved for you. I would call the company and see what they say. Hopefully they will send a replacement to you quickly and you can tell your son you handled it. I'm sorry your son and DIL acted the way they did.
 

sonnyjane

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jul 13, 2008
Messages
2,476
Just deal with it yourself. Faster and better honestly. I just recently finished a seasonal job working in Customer Service for a mail-order company. Many times if the sender called us to say that the recipient received a damaged item, we still needed to contact the recipient to get details of how the item arrived, details of replacement delivery, and coordinate the pick-up of the damaged item. Talking to the sender just creates a middleman.
 

monarch64

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
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Aug 12, 2005
Messages
19,224
sonnyjane|1451250649|3966946 said:
Just deal with it yourself. Faster and better honestly. I just recently finished a seasonal job working in Customer Service for a mail-order company. Many times if the sender called us to say that the recipient received a damaged item, we still needed to contact the recipient to get details of how the item arrived, details of replacement delivery, and coordinate the pick-up of the damaged item. Talking to the sender just creates a middleman.

This. They had it shipped to your house, correct, iLander? They have mentally washed their hands of the gift at this point and aren't going to make any arrangements themselves. It isn't the proper way to go about the situation, but Sonnyjane is right, it's easier for all involved now for you to just make the arrangements yourself and leave DS and DIL out of it. Although, I wouldn't let this one go without a mention to both of them that this is not an appropriate thing to do--letting you deal with your own broken gift that was no fault of your own. Yeah, you'll be the bad guy, but you can't expect people to learn or have a clue unless you use these instances as teaching moments.
 

azstonie

Ideal_Rock
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Jul 1, 2014
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3,769
If your DS and DIL were doing it 'right,' you would not have to lift a finger.

If memory serves, this is the DS and DIL that things have been odd with in the past, right?

Especially as that is the case, if you want things btw the 3 of you to run as smooth as possible, I would handle this myself and not speak of it to them again. You've already texted with them and were basically waved off. I would have 0 expectations of ever receiving a lovely gift from them. Myself, I would give them a modest gift card on future events, keeping with their policy of modest gifts as well.

But no, they are not being gracious in their gift giving in this situation. It is their responsibility to handle return/replacement, not yours.
 

iLander

Ideal_Rock
Joined
May 23, 2010
Messages
6,731
To Clarify:
:wavey:
They brought the gift over, I opened it on Christmas morning, it was in the original packing box, which had not been opened. The order number was not in the box, there was a packing list on the exterior of the box, but it had been removed.

I guess I'll have to call and hope for the best. :rolleyes:

Yes, azstonie, this is them. There was a whole assortment of things this visit, but I just don't want to go into it. I only put up with them for DH (he often feels bad that his family has mostly passed, and our family is so small), even DD can't stand to be around them. Suffice is to say, they both act like 12 year old little brats. It's amazing that people can be so immature (not just this, this is minor) when they're supposed to be grown up. :knockout:
 

MollyMalone

Ideal_Rock
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Jun 2, 2013
Messages
3,413
iLander said:
So, DS and DIL bought me a piece of Fiesta ware from my wish list, for Christmas. I opened the shipping box, and it was in pieces. They said they were so sorry, I said no problem, take a picture to send to customer service, etc. Fast forward to today, I texted them both and asked if the Fiesta people would need the dish back. The response from DIL was "Yes, the website says they will arrange to pick it up*. It said for damaged items to call their customer service and arrange the replacement."

This is what I don't get. Does she want me to call them? I don't think I can, since I didn't order it. Should the giver or the receiver arrange to replace a broken gift
[/b]
Under the advice of DH and DD, I texted back "Ok, great :) let me know when they will pick it up." No response.
* * *
*Oddly this is not at all what the website says. :confused: It says to call customer service with your order number.
Psssst... there are 2 parts to the Homer Laughlin Returns web page. Were this an ordinary return, you would call them to receive a Return Nerchandise Authorization Number before shipping the item(s) back, together with the original packing materials, via UPS (at your expense.)

But In the case of merchandise that arrived broken/damaged, Homer Laughlin will indeed arrange for pick-up of the damaged item(s), together with the original packing items, at no cost to you & pay for the replacement to be shipped to you.
https://www.fiestafactorydirect.com/t-returns.aspx
 

chemgirl

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
2,345
I find it odd that they didn't check the present before wrapping it. I'm always excited to see what I giving people!

Our present to my sister was slightly damaged and there wasn't time to replace it so I asked for matching thread from the mending department at work. It was literally one stitch so I just did it myself.

Otherwise it's "proper" for the giver to handle replacements, but I think you already knew that. Your DIL sounds interesting.

Goodluck! If it were me I would call the company and see if they can do a replacement without the receipt. If they won't then I would probably just buy it myself if I really wanted it.

Some people...
 

PintoBean

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
6,589
So sorry, Islander! My SIL ordered a small thing from Amazon for us, it is in a clear box, she wrapped it, and it is clearly broken, and the piece that broke off isn't even in the package lolol. She's also not one of my favorites in r family. I showed it to DH and said, I'm not even going to bring it up. It's just not the same warm and open relationship that I have with my DH's sister and parents. It would just be too awkward and uncomfortable of a dialog. I chock it up to his brother having bad taste in women :naughty: .

I doubt DIL will be helpful, so If it were me, I'd call the hotline, explain that this was a holiday gift, there is no gift receipt and it appears that there was an invoice or packing slip that was removed from the exterior of the package. To your dismay, the item arrived broken. The person who gifted the item didn't open the package. You are happy they thought of you and your love of fiesta ware so you don't want to call the gifter up and ruin the moment and embarrass them or bother them with this, etc. :whistle: can CS help you remedy the situation without dragging the gift gover into the situation? Lolol...
 
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