I have never had to apologize so much in my entire life.
A number of items are out of stock. The vendors’ system allowed the orders to go through, but they do not have the items in stock and they cannot give us an ETA, so we are back to issuing refunds. We deeply apologize over this inconvenience. It is not something we can control and the vendors were unprepared for the volume of orders.
To the group of people who are posting about their merch issues in the fan group: please email the store at storeadmin@ilona-andrews.com. There is no point in posting in the fan group. They can’t help you. Please email us instead so we can help you.
If your item is defective, email us, and we will send the replacement or issue a refund.
All of this has convinced us that it is not cost effective for us to keep running the merch store. I am the one running it. Instead of working on the book right now, I am issuing refunds for the muscle Tee.
I like writing books. I don’t like apologizing and dealing with stock issues. I really don’t like doing something that upsets the BDH.
So we are finishing up. We are deeply sorry about the stock issues. We will make sure that everyone who is due for a refund is getting a refund and that all of your items have either been replaced or arrived safely. After that, we are shutting down permanently.
And now I am issuing refunds for the replacement V necks because they are out of them too. This has taken a massive emotional toll. The customers are disappointed, and I feel guilty and terrible. We are the storefront. The fault ultimately lies with us. The process just does not work for the volume of BDH orders. We are doing our best to make this right and it’s in everyone’s best interests that we stick to books in the future.
Please do not suggest alternative vendors in the comments. We are really and truly done.
Good choice. All you can do is control what you can control.
Plus 1
Plus 1.
Plus 1
+1
You don’t need the hassle.
And it might reduce the w*it for writings…
+1
+1
I’ve worked retail. Dealing with customer complaints sucks canal water.
I’ll miss some of the BDH stuff, but the notion of causing you all headaches when dealing with broken items or wrong items received, just makes my stomach ache for you… and who needs that kind if ulcer anyway?
I much prefer your books.
Thank you.
So sad! I love my lion tee shirt! I understand completely! Rather you write than become a shop keeper with all the requisite issues. (Am I first?)
Thank you so much for trying! You are absolutely right that writing is a better use of your time and energy and much better for your mental health. I’m sorry this has been so stressful for you all!
+1
+1!
I love the merchandise I bought at the first iteration of the store, but I thoroughly understand and support your decision to end the store. You and Gordon are writers, not retailers. Don’t exhaust yourselves physically and emotionally doing an uncongenial job. Write books, bring us all joy, you in the writing and us in the reading.
Anne in Virginia
+1
+1!
If at some point you could outsource it all to a capable and trusted person, then maybe you could reconsider, but it definitely isn’t worth the mental energy or time that it is requiring for you. Especially since it wasn’t designed to actually be an income stream.
Thank you so much for trying! I appreciate it!
+1
So sorry there were issues. I am very happy with the merch I got last time and this time (though kicking myself because I forgot 1 particular sticker size I wanted to order through no one’s fault but my own). I concur that it is far better for our beloved House Andrews to write than to spend their time running a merch store.
+1
concur- you working on books is more important than dealing with merch nonsense (and I do love all 3 Ts I bought the first time) and stickers
also this is good for my budget 🙂
This way people really can say they have limited edition items! ::curse my procrastinating self!::
I was just dancing around my kitchen with my new shirts and mugs because I was so happy about them.
Writing books is so much more important than dealing with rude humans and stock issues.
Thank you for trying so hard to make it work. You are truly one/two of the most amazing caring hard working people.
I second that! Thank you for everything you do.
I third this!
Makes me glad I got distracted and missed the ordering window so I didn’t add to the Chaos.
Truly appreciate all you both (and Mod R) have done to support your fandom.
Take care of yourselves!
I couldn’t agree more. I know of no other authors who would put themselves through hell just to please their fans. You are wonderful people, Ilona and Gordon. Do what you do best, and merchandise be damned.
You guys are amazing. I’d rather spend my money on your books than a Tshirt! (Altho I really like my nechist mug!!)
I totally agree.
I am in an HOA and we have an official and unofficial Facebook page. OMG do people complain. I will NEVER understand why they think complaining in the Facebook will accomplish anything. The complain about the city, the water bills, the HOA Board, and the property management company to do something and resolve something. Do any of these people actually contact the city, the board, the property management company? No. For some reason they think complaining on the Facebook page will get results. Then they complain because nothing is happening.
*snort* sometimes I think people don’t actually want the problem fixed because they enjoy complaining.
That is so awful that people are blaming you for vendor issues. Like you’re making the items & sending them from your house or something…
It’s understandable that you don’t ever want to deal with that again 🫠
No, people should be blaming us. We are the storefront. The ultimate responsibility is absolutely ours.
I am not cut out for this business. I admit defeat, issue all the refunds, and not put myself or BDH through this again.
But also you can’t control supply chain issues. I’m a corporate accountant and it happens to Every Single Business. Except most places have dedicated customer service (which it sounds like the vendor does have but people are contacting you instead). People aren’t messaging the CEO to complain about getting the wrong color when Target sends them the wrong socks.
Please don’t beat yourself up over it ♥️
You are very kind.
I know my limitations now. I am not wired for running a POD business.
A friend of mine has designed plushies and partnered with a factory in china to get plushies and we still get complained if things are late. Its like we dont control shipping issues. Lots of hugs, I love all of my merch
I love my mug but missed out on other items. that’s on me!
it’s not worth the heartache to be a store owner. the bdh just wants HA to be happy! (Well, and writing from time to time – DERR…) much love to all of HA for all the happiness you bring to us!
Please don’t best yourselves up. Good that you tried to expand out of your lane. Sad that it didn’t work. Good that you’re cutting your losses.
The important thing is that everything will be shipped or refunded depending on availability, and then we can collectively go back to focusing on the wonderful stories we all love 🥰.
FWIW, I had a GREAT experience in the store. Easy to use, fast delivery. On delivery I squealed like a 5-year-old and hugged my tote bag to my chest to the amusement of my whole family. Thanks for going the extra mile to offer the merch!
I agree. I had a great experience and love everything I bought. (I once bought a smart phone through Amazon and what I got was the display box. Not the phone. The display box.)
I’m sorry the store added to your stress levels. I hope at least some of it was fun as you guy picked designs and products. And I hope you guys got some of the goodies for yourself.
+1
I also had a great experience and have loved all my merch. I’ve been wearing my T-shirts all weekend. Just got my last piece today (yes, I drink my coffee black so you know what that means ;)). I know you’re hearing all the complaints but I think more people are happy than not. We appreciate you.
I had a good experience, too, fast and complete. Granted, I just bought a Void tee shirt and a journal as gifts plus a boatload of stickers for myself and the grandkids.
I’m sorry to hear about the store’s demise but I completely understand why. Your books are the important “product.” The merch is only ever a fun bonus.
Totally understand to no longer do the store. Your health, well-being, and writing should be what counts.
Thank you for everything for the two stores that the Horde totally demolished. We now have special edition stuff now. 😁
I don’t understand why people complain to you about the merch. Stuff happens. You told all of us at the very beginning to contact the store if something goes wrong. Plus, it’s not your fault if a vendor doesn’t honor their agreement with the store. 🤦♀️
By the way, I got all three t-shirts. Tomorrow when I go back to work, I’m wearing my Void t-shirt. I’m going to be working on validations.
I’ll be getting my mug today.
Again, thank you for the wonderful opportunity of buying. 😊
Mug came yesterday. No cracks or broken pieces. I was so happy to get it. I bought the mug with the Sanctuary background on it. The sayings on it really got to me. 🙂
Agree!
+1
Exactly so
Bummer. But I understand
Not your fault. You chose vendors in good faith and they committed. That’s not on you.
As a person that loves merch and buys, in all honestly way too much of it, I can say from my POV the House Andrews merch was one of the smoothest “fandom” merch stores. Being in customer service myself, I can understand why not having a “perfect” product can be upsetting for the buyer and it seems like the out of stock issues on the vendors end compounded it all.
I had an issue with a previous item the last time the store was open and it was handled professionally to a happy end result.
This most recent store opening, while I haven’t received all of my order, the email communication (confirmation & shipping notifications) have all been timely. The products I have received have been high quality and well done.
While I’m personally sad about the decision to close the store for good, as a CSR I completely understand the time, effort and emotional turmoil selling a product to the public takes.
In the end, imo it’s important to do what’s best for the House Andrew’s crew well being.
Thanks for all your efforts. <3
Sorry you are going through so much hassle with the store orders!
Thank you for all you do, House Andrews!
I love all the merch I got and will treasure it, but while I’m disappointed that I won’t be able to get such cute and amazing pieces in the future, I understand why you don’t want to continue. It’s just too much. Too little reward and SO much aggravation. Trying to finish Maggie AND battling COVID at the same time—I can’t even imagine how rough it’s been the past several weeks. Take care of yourselves and thanks for letting us have the merch store while it lasted.
+100!
+1
+1 Thank your effort. I love my merch and had no issues.
You do whatever you need to do! We love you guys! Just be happy writing!
+1
Well said!!!
That’s very understandable. It sounds like a lot of work and having moderately reliable business partners is even more stressful.
I just wanted to say: You were very transparent from the beginning. You explaind how stuff worked & managed expectations really well.
I received a shirt today and absolutely love it! It’s going to be my new Christmas sweather 🙂
*hug* It will be ok.
Totally understand your decision and am sad that your efforts to indulge the BDH has caused you so much trouble. I think we all knew that the store was a labor of love by you for your fan base.
Just so you hear from happy customers too… I love, love the merch that I purchased!!
Everything was great quality and packaging and shipping were A+!!
Now I wish I had splurged a bit more!!😂
Thank you again for all that you do!!
I’m sorry it wasn’t a positive experience for you. I received the items I ordered and I love them. I’m wearing my new t-shirt right now! Totally respect your decision, especially since you stated it was never about financial gain and just fan service for us. Just wanted to give a yell in satisfied customer and appreciative reader. <3
I hope that, in a few years, the excessive outpouring of retail love will become a funny story and family in-joke.
Let’s set up a store for that = never going to happen 😉
Best wishes!
I can just hear it now:
Few years down the road – why don’t do a store for all the series?
Answer – We did that a few years ago, and it was a vendor mess. No more! 😂🫣
While I’m disappointed that I won’t be getting my vneck, I totally understand.
Thank you for all your efforts. Your health and wellbeing is what matters.
You are doing the right thing. I’m just sorry to hear that it was such a hassle for you. It’s definitely not worth the headache. Thank you for the effort though. The few items I bought I really love, but I also look forward to buying more books!
Totally respect your decision and I thank you thank you thank you for the shirt and mugs that came —totally wonderful and I appreciate them. Thank you thank you thank you for all you do.
And yes, you should concentrate on getting well, and doing writing that you enjoy, and get through this awful hot summer.
Sending hugs and thanks and positive thoughts!
Just received my 2 T-shirts in good order in the Netherlands, just to give some good news about the merch.
Well, I’m now even more excited about my haul from the store, knowing it was my last shot at the goodies.
I put stickers on my favorite drinking mugs (they only get hand washed anyway) and was showing them off to everyone who even looked at me today. “Look at my new shiny!!” Good thing I’m used to everyone looking at me funny and shaking their heads.
I’m sorry that the store was such a horrid experience for you. But maybe you’ll get at least a small grin at the thought of a grown adult bouncing around like a super ball in a rubber room over a sheet of stickers.
Hang in there. That 1…2 punch is deflating. Be great authors and forget your shop keeping aspirations. We’re in it for the books after all. Hope you kicked Covid too. Too much all at once. ☹️
Though I understand why you can’t continue, that’s so sad ! Would it be possible to buy some images to order ourselves some goodies with them or too complicated ? Because now I wish I bought more ^^
There will probably be an arrangement like this happening in the future, around the holidays or the next release, but it’s a bit early to discuss details 🙂
I was just thinking this might be the way to go. Sell the image file and customer can place it on whatever article they want.
I would LOVE if it were someday an option for us to purchase permission to use existing images via a page, at our own risk and on any article using a manufacturer of our own arrangement?
Or even to potentially create and share new images via the fan pages with your permission?
I’m in New Zealand, I never ordered any merch since the store couldn’t process shipping to me, but I would absolutely get something made locally if I had permission to use the images.
that would be ideal and hopefully very low stress for you. I wish you both the very best with your health and your writing, you are both amazing
That would be outstanding! 🤞
Would love this too!
Oh yeah, and both of my experiences with the merch store (last time and this time) were totally positive, and I love everything I got. But sadly, I think we all tend not to post about things that went well, so I just wanted to post that now, so HA knows it wasn’t all negative!
That would be awesome!!!
Omg this would be the dream! I’m kicking myself for not ordering the tote with the cozy stack of books printed on it because I have too many totes.
Wall art would be ideal, but I should have just bought and framed the bag instead 😂
Thank you for focusing on the books. Merch I can get anywhere but your writing has sustained me through some truly crap scary times. That kind of sustenance is rare. For real, thank you.
Hi Ilona the one man team. Wanted to say that you and the group are the bestest! I was one of the ones who saw the drawing of the BDH and wanted a tee. Sorry. On the lighter side you sent me a refund,so THANK YOU. Other small thing. I got a bag! With the logo, so now I feel official BDH! Even though I buy all the precious Andrews things.
How I got started on my Andrews journey was the short story with the bog..that you and the team expanded!
You & the team are always awesome. This reader says “roar” to you.Cant do it the same but hopefully you get it.
Totally understand! Best wishes that the stress ends soon and you can get back to editing and writing! I love the things I’ve bought, but I prefer books!
Can I just say. Over here in the UK I got everything I ordered and it all arrived promptly. Im extremely happy with all of it .
So sorry to hear that it has been such a nightmare for you all to deal with.
Ditto from the US!!!
Well I am incredibly lucky to have bought merch this time then! I was so bummed to figure out it was open in the past and I missed it but I love all the merch I got this time. It sucks it won’t be open again in the future but I completely understand that you have to put yourself and your writing first! Your writing is what we care the most about anyway 🤣
Thanks for all that you do for your fans 💚
I ordered a tee shirt, it is perfect, it is soft, and I love the color. No issues, it arrived in a timely manner, and I love it. thank you!
Totally understandable. I don’t really think it’s your fault as you didn’t do it maliciously – shit and stock issues happen – but I would be the same feeling guilty and having it renting space in my mind that’s needed for something else.
We love you. It was a heroic effort to try and accommodate the BDH. Thank you for humoring us. 💕
🫂
Thank you for the wonderful stories you share with us. I appreciate the goodies I got, but would gladly trade them all for more stories. So sorry the store ended up being such a hassle.
Thank you for making the effort 🥰
You and your husband are authors. That’s my only expectation of you! 🙂
Books rule! You’re fabulous writers and I’d rather have a kick-ass book than merch. We love the merch, but we love the books more. And your mental health is far more important – you’re writers not vendors. We’ve got your back.
Hi
This corner of the BDH cannot express enough how much all of your efforts are deeply appreciated.
Receiving my v neck would have been nice, my received nechist sweatshirt is much better, and Hugh and Elara’s book will be the BESTEST!
After all, books rule.
I am so sorry that this has been such a nightmare to deal with! I have some great merch and am happy to have it, but it isn’t worth raising your blood pressure with all the issues it entails!
Maybe down the road you can get a third-party vendor who can directly handle things for you. I don’t think you should ever be put in the position of having to deal with order and merchandise issues directly. You’re right: your job is writing books and you are EXCELLENT at your job.
It would be like making a surgeon take time out from operating on someone to clean out the fridge in the break room.
+1
I’m sorry to hear about all the store issues and I totally understand how exhausting it was for you to fix everything. I don’t think the vendors actually realized what kind of order numbers they would receive from the BDH even though you probably tried to emphasize that information to them. I second the idea of making designs available to chosen vendors so orders could trickle in and not avalanche in. I realize you have all you can handle right now but maybe after the holidays you could think about it. On a lighter note, Drago was meowing under my window this morning at 5 a.m. I let him in, positive I let him in last night, and fed them. An hour later I hear banging and meowing again, so I’m checking the house looking for shut doors. He’s outside again! I went to check my bedroom window and the screen was pushed out at the bottom, so he could slide out but not get back in! I’ll be restricting that window to a 3 inch opening now. They both love to sit on that wide window ledge and look outside. Hope you are both recovering!
Happy comment! Happy! Everything went perfect for my order. Correct sizes, correct colors, correct images! Love they used Glidden shirts that last years! Love! Thank you as we know dealing retail while sick is horrible. Really horrible! So sorry we broke the good store with too much love. Maybe in a few years will try again, but true that we would rather have happy writers than the merch. Love from BDH!!!
I’m so sorry this is so awful for you. I completely understand that you don’t want to deal with this mess, you want to write books. This is why people sell licensing rights to vendors who do that full time so the vendor deals with it and they don’t have to. Maybe someday you would consider such a course so we could get our fix and not have to bother you.
Is there extra stock that was not sold that you will be doing a close out for? I forgot to get a large carry bag and had plans to get one of the Evil type bags next time.
The items were printed on demand, not stock in advance.
I’m so sorry this was such a nightmare for you. I’m glad I got all my lovely BDH merch and will treasure it as it will be the last of its kind. Thank you for all that you do for us and thank you for hours and days and weeks of storytelling that brings so much joy.
I am sorry the merch store was such an overwhelming and stressful project for you. You were already trying to do final edits on a book while working against a deadline and through Covid. The last thing you needed was more stress in your lives.
While I am disappointed there will be no more HA “merch”, I completely understand your decision and can only agree with it. I think most people or groups that do fan merch do it on a regular basis as a secondary income stream – and usually have some sort of minions to run that side of their business. Doing it yourself as a non-profit fan service only makes sense if you really enjoy it and can treat it like a relaxing hobby as a break from your “dayjob” of writing great books.
For the record, my loot from the Canadian storefront arrived promptly in good condition. And your order process was quick and easy with timely email updates. Very professional!
The quality of the mug, sweatshirt, tote bag and T-shirt are all excellent.
The only thing I haven’t received yet is a T-shirt I ordered from the US storefront. It was printed, has been shipped, and I am just waiting for USPS and CanPost to decide between them when they should deign to deliver it to me. I am sure it will be fine too.
So please count me as a very happy customer to balance out at least a little of the grief…
Make that two! Everything I ordered says it’s shipped, and most of the EU stuff has arrived already in good condition and as ordered.