Media Monday - Top xx Reasons NOT To Take Your Doll To AG's Doll Hospital
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| "Yes, yes, what a fantastic idea for us here at Mattel, continue to offer crap service in doll repair!" |
Now let's get onto the list, in no particular order.
Oh sweet LORD the price. For those who can't or don't want to read the pdf here, the repairs can add up. This is NOT a free service, this isn't something that Mattel/American Girl does from the kindness of their heart so you can pass on your doll from generation to generation, this isn't a quick, cheap fix for a TLC doll you got off eBay.
Your Samantha's hair has gone too wild? The dog got to Addy and ripped all her hair out? Did your child decide to draw on her look-alike doll's face? Did the child also decide to poke holes into said doll's face? You'll have to get a brand new head. Yep. Brand new head. You can't ask them just to pop new eyes in or attach a new wig. You have to get a new head for your dolls for $44.
If the dog that balded Addy also decided to have a go at Addy's limbs or cloth body, you get a nice body replacement. With the new, not very well liked zip ties because screw the cloth ties you've been using for years even though this doll is PC and Pre-Mattel. Also for $44. If the dog only chewed on the torso or the limbs, you can get them replaced for $34.
The prices as of now, according to American Girl's website, go as follows:
18 Inch Dolls
Head Replacement - $44
Torso & Limb Replacement - $44
Torso OR Limb Replacement - $34
Eye Replacement (not silver eye, they fix that for free minus shipping and handling of course) - $28
Head OR Limb Reattachment - $32
Wellness Visit (cleaning the outer surface, brushing the doll's hair which may not even help much at all according to them "Wellness Visit skin-cleaning will remove most surface dirt from your doll’s vinyl, but is not likely to remove ink or dye stains. Wellness Visit hair-brushing will improve the appearance of the doll’s hair, but will not make a well-played-with doll’s hair look brand-new.") - $28 (this comes free with any and all replacements)
You can also get the doll's ears pierced or a hearing aid for $16 and $14 respectively.
Bitty Baby/Bitty Twins
New Head - $28
New Body - $22
Eye Replacement - $18
Reattachment of Head - $16
Wellness Visit - $18
Wellie Wishers
Wellness Visit - $18
Body & Head Replacement - $44 (which is basically giving you a brand new doll since Wellie Wishers are built to not allow limbs being taken apart or reattached).
You also can't forget to add $7.95 for shipping because screw it, AG isn't going to use their Mattel money to pay for the shipping themselves. Oh, I forgot to mention it was per doll and the two-day shipping price of $15 and the one-day shipping of $20. And if you live in an unlucky state whose laws require it, you'll be paying sales tax too. But at least that will hopefully go to something useful.
So, if you have three very abused dolls of each size range and need head and limb replacements for all because of a giant hurricane or something like that you will be looking at $220.85 ($88 for the American Girl, $50 for the Bitty Baby and $44 for the Wellie Wisher plus all the fun fees they throw at you like the shipping and processing fee of $23.85 for all three dolls and that $15 for two day shipping). You might as well buy each of your girls a new doll with that money. Especially when you consider the other things on this list. It's only gonna get worse from here.
2) THEY BREAK THINGS THAT WEREN'T BROKEN
I would use a non-kid friendly word here, but I'm not going to.
The staff at the AG Doll Hospital have done some less than stellar things. Often times, if you bring in a Pleasant Company doll with certain features (like blonde instead of black eyelashes, fabric strings instead of zip ties...) when you get your doll back, they will be GONE.
And then there are the times where they ROYALLY screw up...
Living a Doll's Life sent their Kirsten doll in for a silver eye, got her home and undid her loop braids to discover... HER LEFT BRAID HAD BEEN CUT. Nowhere on the handy-dandy pdf form did she ask for them to fix her doll's hair (other than the complimentary 'wellness visit' which should only brush the doll's hair and not cut it).
AG gave her two choices, both involving sending Kirsten in for round 2: 1) get a head replacement (which would lower the value of the doll since this doll is PC and has a PC head) or 2) even out her hair. The poster opted not to send her back in (I don't blame them, I wouldn't let AG Hospital touch my dolls ever again after this) and cut the hair herself and was left with extremely uneven hair.
Supposedly, if you put 'replace with PC parts only' on the form, it's supposed to keep them from replacing PC doll parts with Mattel doll parts. I have not tried this and I doubt I ever will.
3) THEY AREN'T PROFESSIONALS
If they were professionals, then #2 would have never happened. Neither would any of the other numbers. They don't know or care about the prices of the dolls. They'll slap together a Frankendoll of PC and Mattel parts if they can get away with it. Their customer service likes to argue with people instead of help and do anything except take fault or apologize. They won't even refund you if THEY lose YOUR doll somehow. So take that as a warning before sending in your precious, $100+ dolls. (Or $60+ if you're sending in Wellie Wishers or Bitty Babies).
They are so lazy over there that often times if you ask for an eye exchange, they will just swap out the whole head because it's easier. THAT is the level we are on. Instead of changing the wigs, they will change the entire head. If you send your Josefina in, her old head will be sitting in AG's doll hospital somewhere. I understand why - to keep people from selling the parts online for exorbitant prices (which people still do anyway). It's the same reason that even though they're bald and thus cost less to make, the bald Truly Me dolls cost as much as the others. They don't want you making your OOAK dolls for cheap, they want you to do it their way.
4) WHEN THEY LOSE YOUR DOLLS, YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT THEIR CRAPPY REMAKE
Oh yeah. You read that right. A person on a Facebook group I follow had two of her dolls (both Pleasant Company - Addy and Kirsten) LOST by American Girl. They magically POOFED into thin air somehow and no one could find them. I don't even WANT to think about how that can happen - we all want to believe that American Girl has an organized, solid system for their hospitals. But nope. There is no excuse for that.
When the owner called asking about the lost dolls, she got told that she would just have to do with Mattel remakes. Cheaper wigs, solid black eyelashes, zip tie necks and all. She was less than amused and so was I. I had heard the horror stories but I never knew that they could be this incompetent. I've already made up my mind on AG's doll hospital - I'm not bothering. I'm not going to pay $44+ to send in my Samantha just to have her hair cut, zip tied neck and maybe even lost. (Samantha needs a tightening of her limbs and maybe a wig change).
Instead of offering her a refund for what the dolls are worth or anything nice like that, they flat out told her to just accept the Beforever remakes of Addy and Kirsten. Sigh.
5) YOU CAN DO IT YOURSELF FOR CHEAPER
Yes, you can. There are video tutorials on EVERYTHING nowadays, including doll restringing and wig attachments and removals. The AG wigs are glued on, so you basically have to just rip it off. Restringing kits are available on eBay and Etsy, along with wigs (some of which are heat resistant - how cool is that?! You can use all your heating tools on it (make sure you read the descriptions though)). I have a wig coming in from Etsy that is for a porcelain doll but it fits Wellie Wisher dolls and it only cost me $19.99 plus $2 shipping. AG sized wigs are $20 - 30, I believe. Compare that to $44 for a new head. You can find replacement limbs, eyes and other parts available around the web. If you have a silver eye and want a quick and cheap fix, just grab a magic marker and color it in - it supposedly works for a good while.
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In closing, AG has made it past permapanties unscathed thanks to their keen eye (*cough* people calling them out on their BS *cough*) for public PR. I'm actively avoiding buying new dolls and accessories directly from American Girl and Mattel because I just don't trust them. Nanea was a doll I HAD to have, I don't regret buying her, she's amazing. I think she is going to be my LAST AG doll bought directly from AG. I think Mattel is trying too hard to expand American Girl into other countries that aren't American (don't get me wrong, all girls should have nice dolls, but America is in the name of the doll line, guys), trying to cheapen the dolls, accessories (plastic instead of wooden beds, trunks and furniture) and services for a bigger profit margin and trying to make American Girl the rich girl's Barbie doll basically. If you agree or disagree, comments exist for a reason. Thank you for reading this semi-organized rant/jab at American Girl. I won't stop liking the dolls they make, I just don't like the company as of now.
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