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!
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{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Excellent and prudent research, Lisa. Thanks so much for contributing to the literature about Tiny Details. If we manage to educate enough people about their business practices, maybe they’ll consider becoming a legitimate business. Or maybe they’ll just go out of business. Either is fine by me.
Fine by me, too, Stephen. If folks would put half as much energy into legitimate business practices as they do into scamming folks it would be a much better world.
I contacted Christian miniatures in 2003 re: ordering their kit. I did order it, by credit card, and then for some reason I decided I needed to check things out a little further. I asked the man at their 800 number where they sold the miniatures to. He told me they sold them to “Cracker Barrel” restaurant chain. I called Cracker Barrel corporate offices and they told me that they have never done business with the company, nor do they stock such items. I called back Christian miniatures and told them I called Cracker Barrel. I could hear the guy on the other line turn to someone else in the office and exclaim in a surprised voice “She called Cracker Barrel!” I proceeded to demand a full refund (I had not received the kit yet–just ordered it, and they complied, no doubt afraid of the report I would make. I noticed after that when I went to their site, that the site had disappeared. I happened to think of this incident yesterday, googled their name, and saw they were back again. Their people are con artists, stay away from them.
Prisca – Thank you SO much for sharing the story. Good for you for having the gumption to actually call Cracker Barrel (and their bluff).
If you want to get any type of reply from Tiny Details you will have better luck emailing them at Kris@tinydetails.com. I, unfortunately, ordered 4 kits ($220.00) from them back in April. This was the biggest mistake I could ever make. I don’t want to bore everyone with my sob story, but the only way I could get anywhere with this company was to send Kris (a manager) a very, very nasty email threatening to sue them and show up on their doorstep with an attorney AND the police. He actually called me the next day with a lot of apologies and excuses. To make a long story short, here it is 3 months later and I am still waiting for money and kits and I keep getting excuses from “Kris”. Who knows if I’ll ever get anything back from them. Please, Please don’t fall for this scam of a company like I did. I found the email for Kris through another blog of complaints against this company . Anyway, if you’ve dealt with them and can’t get anywhere on the phone (since they never actually answer the phone), then email him. I am going to file a complaint with the BBB in a few weeks since right now Kris is still supposedly trying to get my money to me. Please don’t fall for this company and their false claims!
Joyce – Thank you SO much for confirming that this deal isn’t as good as it’s cracked up to be. It’s little consolation perhaps, but you may have just saved someone else the same headache!
I blogged about my experience with Tiny Details as it happened. I hope this information helps someone make a more educated decision about this ‘business opportunity’.
http://www.hellifino.com/hellifiblog/?p=30
Thank you, Banshee. That’s a nice record of the troubles you had.
Thank you so much. I was about to try this ‘wonderful opportunity’ when I came across this journal and responses. Thanks to everyone.
Wow! After my conversations (arguments) with Kris, Crystal, Dixie and Mary…to no avail, I get no money back! I’m out $55.00 + $50.00 for my MANY hours of work, which was rejected, of course. I wish I had checked them out first! But, I was afraid what they might do to me since Kris actually called me the “C” word!!! Dixie told me: “bite me Bit**” when I threatened to expose them. I would have to get in line to be stalked down, with all the complaints, so I can rest easier tonight. They actually sent the POLICE to my home for “harassing them,” after they learned I started calling other businesses on their street to tell them what bad biz practices they have. I called their PD, and a Chamber of sorts and the Board of Directors for their local association. This person was familiar with Kris (who I thought all along was a female, but in male)and knows how nasty he is! I won’t get my $110.00 PLUS S&H
but I feel better about contacting others and had a little fun doing it. My cell phone minutes expired otherwise I would have called more!
PLEASE warn anyone about this company. Oh, I also heard about “Christian Miniatures”!!! Shame on them! There were NO Christians there when I called!
Wow, Debby. What an ordeal you went through. Thank you SO much for sharing your personal experience here in hopes that it helps others avoid the same waste of time and money.
I wish I had checked out this company before I ordered a kit from them. I ordered it back in May of 2008. A month passed and I still had not recieved the kit. No one ever answered the phone or returned my messages. I had to complain to the better business bureau. I finally recieved my kit the next week. I completed it in 4 days and sent in the required sample, which passed inspection, and the kit. I had them tracked by the post office and know that they reached the company within 5 days. It then took the company another month to send the kit back saying it was unsatisfactory. I fixed the work and sent it back within 2 days. It has been another 2 months and I have received no money for my work. When I called today 09/05/2008 they told me it was being sent back to me again because of problems. I know after reading these accounts that I will never see my money. I just wish law enforcement would step in and do something about these people. They are obviously scam artists, NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH THEM!
thank you for all the info, i was almost ready to order from tiny minatures. i saw this playing around for other work at home ideas. thank you , thank you,, beth
Thanks so much for the information. I was seriously considering placing a work-at-home order for a kit or two. So glad I found out the truth about the company and their fraudulent practices!
Well it seems I fell into the same trap as so many others. I did send away for two kits to assemble from these people with a credit card transaction and my wife and I were feeling pretty good about the possibilities of the extra income we would receive. About an hour hour later I began to think that this might be to good tOo be true so I went back online to see if there were any negative statements others might have about this company and was shocked to see how many people were so blatantly deceived. Fortunately I was able to call my credit company and cancel my card before this transaction was enabled by this company. Stupid ME! Well I thank everyone out there that have made these postings and I am so sorry for the ones that have been taken by this company.
Sincerely, Gary
Hey Gary – If you or your wife likes crafting, you might think of something you could make and then sell on an etsy store. You list the item for a fee, then shoppers find your item and pay you directly (kind of like eBay).
I’ve never tried it personally, but a lot of artists and crafters I know have etsy stores these days. You can learn more about it here: http://www.etsy.com/how_selling_works.php.
Good Luck! Stop by and let us know how it’s going every now and then. And if you end up finding a craft to create and sell on Etsy, definitely let me know!!
~Lisa
Thank you Lisa, for the crafting website and all the information about Tiny Details. I am one of those you saved.
Heather – glad I could help the fellow Carolinian. If you decide to have an etsy store, let me know! I’d love to visit it.
I had emailed Christian miniatures a couple of times with questions and they responded, Tiny Details never responded to any emails. Christian miniatures response to emails was very fast and professional, so I though hey, I will go with them. So I sent my $ over the net with my check card on Dec.1st, the amount didn’t clear till the 8th. First off, the amount was suppose to be for $60, they charged my account $65, when I emailed them about this problem, guess what, no response. Then after the amount cleared my bank I waited 2 more weeks with a few more emails. Guess what? No response. I just got off the phone with my bank to get my money back. I have never done a work a home like this, and I already got bit. I probably never will again.
Are there any legitimate assembly jobs, or are they all this way?