ONE STAR TOO MANY! Disclaimer, review original from Google Reviews submitted by myself. Appalling customer service, of 3 people I spoke with I was presented with confrontational and unprofessional behaviour. After having placed an order and not being delivery within the specified timescale of 5-7 days after order completion email I decided to contact Mary Shortle. On first contact a gentleman answered. He was completely unable to assist me, he advised that he did not deal with orders or delivery's and to contact Stephanie another day. Having spoken with Stephanie the next day, she tried to explain that my order had not been fulfilled due to choice of eye colour, however I was never provided a choice of eye colour until the moment I called to complain that I had not received my order. To add to this point, there was no option to select and the product did not state I would be provided an option. This for me came across as an excuse that my order had been overlooked. A simple apology would have sufficed. Unfortunately I felt Stephanie came across confrontational, her best effort to correct the situation was by encouraging me to accept a refund after having been informed it was an intended birthday gift. I declined the refund yet made Stephanie aware of my concerns. I reiterated the item was intended to be a birthday gift and that time was of the essence. Stephanie stated that she could dispatch my order for a reborn with brown eyes or I would have to continue to wait for them to send one with blue eyes. (Again I was not presented an option, nobody called. I wouldn't have known if it was supposed to have blue or brown eyes, her point was irrelevant.) Anyhow, I agreed with Stephanie to discuss eye colour with the birthday girl and call her in 5 minutes. 5 minutes later I called back and spoke to another person to confirm that eye colour posed no issue and to dispatch the item available. She informed me that within those 5 minutes Stephanie took it upon herself to contact their office and cancel my order. My experience has been far from acceptable or professional. I still do not have a product or a solution. Thank you Stephanie, you broke a 8 year olds heart today. RESPONSE TO OWNER REPLY I appreciate your response reply on Google, it's unfortunate you weren't forthcoming with your communication skills during my order experience. ##### RESPONSE FROM OWNER#### Thank you Aaron for your review we were expecting this after the despicable behaviour from yourself, and threatening promises towards our staff and business. We do not accept any kind of threatening behaviour verbally or on emails and therefore felt it was in everybody's best interest to refund your order. Contrary to emails received from you today stating you will be placing more orders, We will not be fulfilling any orders placed by yourself or associates on our website. We would not want our beautiful handmade dolls to witness or suffer such behaviour of what you intended to do with the doll if received. Thank you ###### Despicable behaviour, please future customers, allow me to outline that what is being described as despicable. I called for an update, I outlined that they hadn't fulfilled my order within timescale, when I was presented with excuses I outlined my disappointment. There was no threatening behaviour, I can only imagine my threatening behaviour was by replying to the refund confirmation email that I intended to leave a review based on my experience. You had refunded my order prior to any email correspondence. I did state that it is my intention to make another purchase as I have an 8 year old child whose birthday is up and coming who should not have her hopes ruined by an oversight. Please outline what you believe my intentions are, that seems more of an accusation. It is to my belief, Mary Shortle is displaying discriminative behaviour. My conscious is clear. My intentions are to buy a birthday gift. Shame on you Mary Shortle read more

Mary Shortle has two shops in close proximity in Queen's Arcade...one is packed to the rafters with teddies and the other is even more chocca with all things dolly. First the teddies...upon entering the shop I was immediately struck by the height of the displays and the way the teddies seemed to loom down on me from all angles. I guess this just comes down to crafty display skills, as for a small shop there is an awful lot of teddy. There are a variety of teddies and soft toys to suit a range of tastes, from Beatrix Potter, Noddy and Paddington to scruffy vintage-style bears to an adorable zebra with soft, rounded features. They also sell a range of gifts mainly aimed at kids. The doll shop is an experience. Among so many dolls, one can't help but be drawn to the creepiest of all...the dolls whose faces are hand painted to include broken veins and dry skin and whose faces are creased into realistic expressions of laughter or grimaces. I wouldn't be surprised if they had been implanted with real human hair follicles. These are the kind of dolls that lonely American women push around in prams and buy designer outfits for. They actually do. I just don't know how to react to these dolls...so I walk away and head toward the back of the shop. A treat of tiny proportions awaits! Several large cabinets contain a huge stock of dolls house accessories, carefully displayed in life-like scenarios - with clutter on tables and ornaments on mantelpieces, tiny families of dolls sit down to dine on miniscule platters of sandwiches and cakes. I have visions of becoming a geeky dolls-house addict, painstakingly whittling individual dolly-noodles out of wood...again I have to step away. Though having a range of prices, some of the dolls are unexpectedly very expensive so be sure to check price tags before becoming attached to a particular dolly! If doll-shopping, there is probably something in here to suit every taste and young children would be in heaven! But warning: anyone who gets creeped out by dolls in the slightest - approach with caution! read more

Mary Shortle - Hobby Shops Near Me - Leeds, XWY

Never a more scary shop have I ever been in! With my painfully low threshold for horror films, combined with the fact that dolls petrify me to my very soul, I knew my visit into the Mary Shortle shop was going to be under duress. (I wish I could have hidden under duress, then I would not have seen so much.) I have often passed by this shop, walking an in arch to avoid making eye contact with the evil dolls, so as this was my pioneering voyage into my nightmare, I braced myself. Thousands of pairs of eyes bore down on me, as dolls of all shapes and sizes were displayed all the way up to the ceiling. This served the dual purpose of showing the vast array of dolls on show, but also limiting my means of escape. Trying to remain composed, I noticed that the expressions captured on the dolls faces were quite extraordinary. The skin looked particularly realistic, I was sure I could see one of their heart's beating. Either that or I was having a doll-induced panic attack. The shop also stocked a variety of ornaments and keepsakes. There were some sickeningly twee heart cushions, one of which was emblazoned with the trite phrase 'friendship doubles your joy and divides your troubles.' Not with some of the friends I have known! The teddy collection is displayed in a separate Mary Shortle shop, right next door to the aforementioned set of Child's Play. This interior was a little kinder, the eyes of a bear don't tend to have that murderous glint, I think the fur makes them seem more benevolent. There were current collectables, old bears and the politically ambivalent gollywog, alongside egg cups, money boxes and alarm clocks. Described as a list, the stock sounds like the beginning of a Dr. Zeus poem. As I may have conveyed, I am not the biggest advocate of doll collecting, especially when done by an adult. Although being fairly expensive, I am sure this shop would be some children's dream place to wile away their time and saved pocket money. read more

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If you have a fear of dolls I would not recommend that you enter this store. Chuckie would have a field day chossing his bride from the vast array of dollies crammed into this tiny, fascinating shop. With a selection of dollies and soft toys ranging from newborn babies to toddlers, you'll be sure to find what you are looking for. A lot of the dolls in this shop are very precious and collectors items only. Small children will be in awe of the dollies they can choose from and I've heard many a tantrum in the store when said child can't have a new 'baby!' Prices suit every budget and the shop is charming in itself so worth a look in at least. read more

Amazing doll shop great staff will recommend to all doll lovers my daughter was in doll heaven. Gave her the best birthday ever. THanks read more

Before I ever stepped foot in Mary Shortle, the place gave me the jeebies...walking by the window and having all those eyes staring at me, threatening to come to life and I don't know attack me in my shopping stupor just icked me out. My friend's suggestion that we go in nearly brought on a coronary. The whole pinkitude of the exterior made me cynical for some irrational reason I will not bore anyone with. Walking in doesn't ease the temperament of the uneasy doll fearer as there are dolls literally everywhere. There's very little breathing space and walking space is also minimal as the dolls and bears (Steiff I might add) are well utilised in the small space. However if you can quickly get over the fear and man up a little bit, you will see a doll collector's sanctuary. The doll connoisseur will appreciate the types of doll that inhabit the Mary Shortle store. From the porcelain realistic collectables to the cutesy Precious Moments dolls, there is a gift to be had for the person in your life that will appreciate a good quality doll. Prices run in accordance to how much you're willing to pay. Some will have a price tag of £39, whereas others, depending on the designer/maker/brand will run up towards the £400 mark. They may look the same to you or I, but that all depends on how close you get and what you know. If you're after a doll that goes beyond the toy store or supermarket quality offering, then head down to Mary Shortle, and pump the staff for information if you're buying for a collector when you're a complete novice. read more

Mary Shortle - Taken from the Mary Shortle Website - Hobby Shops Near Me - Leeds, XWY

Been in the teddy shop a few time and I'm sorry to say I find the staff unhelpful when asking price on things , never have a price on or know the price of things , my daughter been in a few times asking price on the unicorns teddies as she collects them and the price changes ever time , leaving my daughter upset when she has saved up , read more

Decided to add more stuffing to my daughters doll after its head became too floppy with a shift in stuffing. Removed the dolls head only to have a mass of sand fall out all over me. Filling dolls with sand is a big no no in reborn dolls. Such an expensive well respected shop filling dolls on the cheap. Shocking! Shame on you Mary Shortle read more

Bought 2 dolls only one came in a lovely doll box. Then after the assistant finally found the other doll ( not even the one I ordered by the way. ) Sent it out in a well used dirty old ripped , ill fitted card board box. Shoved in squashed , foot hanging out as forced in , complained at least 8 times with no response at all. Absolutely disgusting customer service read more

Oh you above reviewers, if you are scared of dolls (cannot for the life of me know why!)...then, why put yourself through said ordeal.....I particularly take offence to one of you stating that this hobby of collecting "reborns" is for lonely woman wanting a baby fix.....Have you seen or do you know any collectors personally?....This is a very silly & self opinionated remark, like putting all doll collectors in one slot, which definately isn't so....yes, you may get the odd one or two who have these dolls for a specific reason, including bereavement, loss, playing Mum and the like.....but, in the main, the majority of us are just plain collectors who appriciate the art form itself, and the talent the artists have to be able to create these life like creations. read more

Although people are scared of dolls ect this is not a shop that is scary and its insultive that people refer to it as that! all the dolls are all hand made which contains alot of time and effort if it isnt your cup of tea don't bother going in it! its not a shop for everyone but dont slate it over the internet the staff are extremely friendly and will go out of their way to help its a family run buisness and its main aims are nothing regarding profit which is rare for shops these days! we need a few more of these around i suggest a visit you will be blown away! read more

gosh... i cannot believe the previous reviews on the mary shortle shops in leeds, i've just got back from visting my daughter in leeds..who told me about these shops...so i had to vist & was pleasantly thrilled, i truely thought all the dolls & teddies were fabulous...a doll collectors dream & very much worth a vist. read more