I know you think this is a post about how it’s the little things that matter - but it’s not! It’s about a company called Tiny Details! Here’s who they are:

Tiny Details is a home assembly company that creates beautiful and realistic dollhouse miniature accessories. All of our products are assembled in the U. S. A. by people like you who work in their homes at their leisure. Our products are carried by the finest dollhouse miniature retailers.

In a nutshell here’s their pitch (notice the wording - their pitch, their spiel, their line):

You give them a $55 deposit to have them send you a kit of your choice. You assemble the products in the kit and ship them back. They send you the price for the completed products PLUS the $55 deposit PLUS a reimbursement (up to $4) for the shipping charges you incurred. You have 60 days from the postmark date to turn in your work.

Sounds extremely reasonable, right? The site (tinydetails) looks reasonable - simply made without a lot of the typical scam warning whistles. Even the testimonials, sprinkled throughout the site pages, weren’t offendingly intrusive.

Let’s say you’re impressed and you love to do crafts and you just happen to have 55 bucks burning a hole in your worn out jeans pocket. Instead of sending them any money - check ‘em out first. It took me all of five minutes to learn the following about this companies reputation…

I went to Google, typed tiny details into the search box and hit an easy jackpot of info.

The WAHM message board has an entire topic devoted to “Trouble with Tiny Details Returns” where everyone has experienced similar troubles with the company as well as another company called Christian Miniatures.

The Friends in Business message board, Scams 101, also has a thread about Tiny Details (spawned by someone who was considering the endeavor, took the leap and then regrets it). Maw Maw and her brownies have been on the Internet since - oh - not long after I started looking for work back in ‘97 or ‘98. She’s got one of the best boards around. Looking for ideas - hang out at the current Friends in Business (Scams 101) Message Board.

Then there was a personal journal chronicling the “$55 worth of valuable education” from Stephen Ward. He must have Googled too, because the same WAHM comments and FIB threads were listed in his post as well. Plus, he included a link to what he found at the Better Business Bureau’s listing for Tiny Details.

From the BBB Reliability Report:

Our file contains a pattern of complaints from consumers who report problems obtaining refunds. Customers report that they paid a $55 deposit and were sent a kit with materials to assemble dollhouse miniatures. In order to be paid consumers must complete the kit in a 60 day time period and have it accepted by the company.

Consumers report that the company would not pay for their completed work, claiming it was unsatisfactory or did not meet their time deadline.

The company responds to complaints by offering an adjustment or explanation of their position.

Oh, and guess what - it also says that this business operates under the names “Christian Miniatures” and “Tiny Details, LLC”… hmmmm. Interesting.

The best paragraph I may have ever read with regard to working at home came under “Educational/General Comments” near the bottom of the Upstate New York’s Better Business Bureau’s Reliability Report. It says:

Those who succeed by working at home have several things in common: They have training or experience in what they are doing, they work hard and efficiently, they work for a salary, or they spend time and money developing the market for their work. They have not stumbled onto a magic formula for getting rich quick. Even in this new world of telecommunications, the same old rule
applies: to be successful, you must work hard and work smart.

TRUE DAT!