Shopping at DroppedPin.net: A review + haul

I'd been on the lookout for an Indian site that sold clothes and shoes and bags that are non-designer but trendy and relatively cheaper and imagine my joy when I discovered Droppedpin.net. I was quite impressed with their inventory and it all seemed to be carefully handpicked. The prices were not that cheap but I figured the quality must match. And they had lovely bags and shoes and accessories and some clothes too. I'd been looking for a nice satchel in neutral shades and another in a bright colour (a la Cambridge satchel bag) and guess what..yup these ppl had them. Not the originals of course, but very nice copies.

So after browsing through the entire store and adding and deleting stuff from my shopping cart I finally decided to go with a beige colored satchel for Rs.2200, a pair of patent pink pumps with cute bow straps for Rs.2500 and a very pretty bumblebee ring for Rs.600. There were many many other things that I liked, stuff that you can't find in chennai and wanted to buy but first I wanted to check if they delivered and can be trusted. So I placed my order on the 4th of August and pestered the hub for his credit card and paid with that.

Patent PU pumps in blush pink with bow straps

Bumblebee Ring

Beige Satchel Bag

I received a confirmation email saying my order would be delivered in 14-21 days. And I was relaxed coz this was a chennai based company and if anything went wrong I could just go there in person and sort it out.
So I waited ...and waited.. And waited some more. 14 days up, no package. 21 days up- still no package. So I sent them an email enquiring about the stuff and they replied saying one item hadn't yet come and they were waiting for that to arrive so they could dispatch my order and that it would be done over the next couple of days. So I waited some more...

The mystery of the missing package
After another week I received an email saying my package was delivered and asking for feedback. Whaaa? I immediately sent a reply that my package was NOT delivered. I was now a little worried if i was being ripped off. But the lady who runs this site-Pooja replied saying she had sent it via DTDC and that they maintain it's been delivered. I checked with everyone at home again but no one had accepted any parcel. So I sent her an email saying I was positive it's not been delivered at my address and maybe its gone to the wrong house? And after a week of emails back and forth it was clear that the courier guys had messed up. At this point I was fairly certain I wouldn't see my money nor the stuff I'd ordered. Pooja, though trying to help was not willing to refund my money. And then a miracle happened. The DTDC guys admitted they might have delivered to the wrong address.
And it turned out they'd delivered it to a house on the wrong street itself. But how anyone can accept a package that's NOT addressed to them is beyond me! But thankfully the guys were able to get it back and drop it off at my place. I'm just glad it wasn't opened! This was after another week.

So how was the package? Was everything ok?
At first I was worried when I saw the size of the package! It was so small- about 30"x30" and about 4" deep. How could this possibly contain my shoes and a bag!? I anxiously ripped it open and out came the bag first- it was folded in half and stuffed in the least space possible. Then came the shoes- they were simply in their soft covers and the ring was inside the bag. No bubble wrapping, no box, nothing. I was a little put off but at least everything was in there. So I mailed Pooja saying the package had finally been delivered and that all items were intact. She responded saying she was glad and that it was a one-off and as a token of goodwill she'd give me 10% off on my next purchase.

The Goodies

So would you buy from them again?
No freaking way!
I know it wasn't her fault that the courier guys messed up and she was quite co-operative and sweet but to be absolutely objective what ticked me off were these:

• It's more like a middleman agency, they don't have a warehouse. They probably place orders with a drop ship wholesaler and pass it on to he customers
• The quality of the stuff is very mediocre for the price you pay. It looks like cheap Bangkok stuff. It probably is. Or Chinese. In fact, after a coupla days I discovered these Chinese sites that had the very same bag and shoes for a fraction of the cost. Oh btw these Chinese sites are great, stuff is really really cheap but they charge for shipping and also I don't know whether to trust them. But you can check out these sites- Lightinthebox.com, wholesale-dress.net
• The whole reason I prefer Indian sites are coz they deliver within a week's time and I don't have to worry about my package getting lost or getting stuck with customs. But this site defeats that purpose since it obviously comes from china or someplace!

So unless I see something I really really like and I'm certain I won't find it elsewhere and it's on sale and I'm totally fixated on it, I won't get it. It's a pity really, coz they have such gorgeous, trendy stuff. Sigh~~~ almost had it all.

Rating: ***


Edit:
Pooja from DroppedPin read this review and pointed out a couple of things that I'd like to clarify.

1. I seem to have misunderstood their delivery schedule. Its not 14-21 days. Its 20-27 days.
2. Not all stuff on their site is from China and they source from all round the world but it so happened that the items I'd ordered were from China, hence the "bangkok feel". This really tempts me to try out some more stuff from their site which I've been eyeing for sometime. Yes, I'm looking at you Mr.Cambridge satchel co bag lookalike.
3. All said and done the fact remains that despite being based in India, they source stuff from outside and hence the 27 day wait. Also, you pay a little extra as opposed to buying from Chinese sites directly since you don't have to worry about customs and whether or not your package would reach you. Fair enough. Plus you cant be travelling to Bangkok everytime you need an inexpensive pair of pumps. :)