We were very excited to support a local business and give our daughter a special birthday…read moreexperience, but unfortunately our experience with It's a Toy World on Main St was deeply disappointing from start to finish.
Our first visit was simply to scope out the reborn baby adoption experience after seeing it on Facebook. We were not greeted when we entered, and during the entire visit the owner said not one word to us.
Our 7 year old saved for months, including birthday money, to purchase a reborn baby. We later ordered the one she chose and booked the adoption experience for her birthday. When we arrived, she fell in love with another baby in the store that cost hundreds more. Since we had not taken possession of the original baby, and it was still untouched on the wall, we politely asked if we could switch and pay the difference. We were told no, very bluntly and without empathy, because "sales are final." We did not argue and ended up buying the second baby anyway, meaning we purchased two babies.
During checkout, we asked for split payment between cash and card, and the full amount was run on card by mistake. We did not complain and let it go.
We were also told that the baby's mouth had not been cut and we would need to make a separate 40 minute drive back from Claremore because only someone else knew how to do it.
Then came the worst part.
Today my wife coordinated through Facebook Messenger a time to come in for the mouth to be cut. We arrived at the agreed time, and while the owner was responding on the computer, she accidentally sent my wife a message clearly meant for someone else that said:
"I dislike this lady so much."
My wife calmly brought it to her attention. The explanation made no sense, and it was obvious what happened. My wife chose not to escalate it because our child was there and we are not confrontational people.
Then the "procedure" we had driven back for turned out to be someone taking an X Acto knife and simply cutting a slit in the silicone mouth. No warning was given beforehand about the risk of the silicone continuing to split. When my wife asked what prevents that from happening, we were told "that's a risk you run" and that we could buy silicone glue to help prevent it.
After spending over $600, I would expect:
* Better customer service
* Basic kindness and professionalism
* Transparency about risks before altering an expensive doll
* Some preventative care instead of "buy something else to fix it"
Also, if the process was just a quick slit with a blade, why was it made to seem so specialized that we had to make another long trip?
What bothered us most was not a mistake here or there. It was the repeated rudeness, lack of empathy, and then finding out the owner was privately insulting my wife, who has been nothing but kind through every interaction.
We supported this business in good faith and were met with poor service and disrespect. We will not return and would not recommend this store to others.
