Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/03/2024

  Type:Delivery Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On May 12th 2024 I ordered paint sets from this business. I did not receive anything till June 12th 2024, 4 weeks later. I contacted the business owner Melanie with the issues via email. The paints had spilled out all over inside packaging, making lids stick and non openable, Then on top of that very little paint inside jars due to spillage. I provided pictures for Melanie sent to her on July 1st 2024, and July 18th 2024.
  Order #**** bottles have limited paint, not even half full, then the lids were partially opened and paint dried out around tops. This was for all of them, some making lids unable to open on some paints.
  
  
  
  She assured me a new set would be mailed that day of July 18th 2024 and she stated "I am convinced one of use grabbed partially filled jars that were waiting for more paint to be added and accidentally stuck them in your kit. ??????? In addition, the lids should all have been tightly secured, which would explain that also. "
  On july 18th 2024 she stated "If you can give me the names of the paints that seem to have dried on the top, I will try to get those mixed up today and ship by tomorrow" via email
  
  Today is August 30th 2024 and i have emailed her back with pictures and sent 5 different emails along this time frame and NOTHING in response and NO replacements have arrived here to my address.
  I paid a lot for these USD $84.42 and I want a refund or the paints I ordered.
  
  Next step i will be filing a police report for fraud business. Again no response from this business owner since July 18th 2024 and No paints for what I paid for in my order.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/19/2024

  In response to the complaint filed against me, I have several issues with her statements and evidence to provide to the contrary.
  
  The customer’s first statement of complaint is regarding the amount of time that it took to receive her order. She was fully aware when she made her purchase that the products were “pre-order” items. The website stated repeatedly on the website that it would take three weeks for the paints to ship, because they are handmade. It also clearly stated that the three weeks did not account for shipping time.  
  
  When the customer contacted me the first time, her argument was the containers were “half-full”. I explained to her in detail that the jars are filled to a volume weight, but that I intentionally purchase larger containers, to avoid spilling during shipping, opening, and to allow the customer to stir the paints before use. It also allows room for the customer to add Flow Improver, if needed. She did not seem to understand this concept.
  
  I also let her know that I had a planned three week “vacation” where I would be shutting down the website to take a three-week break for personal time off, because I had a grand child due. In addition, at that time my husband and I had been diagnosed with a strep infection, which ended up taking 3 1/2 weeks to recover from due to my autoimmune disorders. I still continued to work through that illness, because I am a business of ONE, with a part-time employee of 4 hours per week, and there is no one else to cover me when I am sick. Not only did I inform her that I would not be available, but my emails were set to "vacation-mode", and I have the copies of the sent emails where she was notified of my time off again automatically by Gmail. I can provide those upon request. 
  
  I also gave her the option of having a refund or a replacement the few paints that had spilled once she provided me with photos to show me which ones were problematic, as it says on my “Order & Shipping” page at my website pertaining to exchanges or issues. She said she did wanted a replacement of all of the paints, but she only provided me with photos of only two paints, and those paints do not indicate any spilling. They simply demonstrated that the security seal worked as it should have. There is no evidence of any spilled paint residue on the label or bottle. This paint is “quick-drying”, as the enclosed instructions detail. It will dry on the lip of the bottle once it has been opened or left exposed, which is why I take the time to print thousands of tiny circle labels that say, “Stir well before use. Always keep lid on tight.”, and affix them to the bottom of each jar. The enclosed instructional brochure also describes that, as well.

  Please take a close look at the photos she sent me, because in the background is one set of the paints that she claims had spilled. They look absolutely perfect. These paints do not clean up easily, because they are opaque, so I am confused why she is expecting me to replace products that are not defective. I am also not going to refund shipping charges of $13 that it cost to send her the products based on the weight of glass jars full of paint with the box and the enclosed necessary packaging. She was also given a 20% discount on the order, so I made no profit, since the amount of time I spend to produce each paint collection by hand is extremely time-consuming.

  I did NOT tell the customer I would be shipping her paints out the next day, as I didn't even know which paints she needed replacing. If you observe the attached screenshot of my email response to her, I said I had 15 other sets to ship out by tomorrow" before I took my vacation time. I also had strep at the time, which I had explained earlier in the email.

  Since I came back from my "break", my new grandchild was born {the day I returned}; I have been bombarded with 1300 emails, innumerable social media messages; orders to fill; new paint collections to mix; and I still don't have the list of the paints she wanted replaced. Since I am not replacing paints that were not damaged, spilled or "half full", then I have no intention to do anything but what I have outlined previously. I am not going to lose money over one customer who doesn't seem to understand anything I have explained to her. 

  •••••••••••••

  
  On a final note, I think it is imperative that I explain my background and business, since you are the “Better Business Bureau”, and your purpose is to encourage “better business practices”. I have spent five years dedicating my time and limited energy striving to offer free information and to design the absolute best, handmade art supplies to offer my customers, so they can have a "frustration-free" experience when they are painting. 
  
  I am a graphic designer and web designer by trade, but my art background and the tragic loss of my son is what led me to this business. When I found my eldest son’s deceased body after he drowned in a flash flood in 2013, I immediately suffered from PTSD, and my life changed irrevocably. My health started to fail, my complex, seizure-like migraines started to re-emerge, and I began to have symptoms of autoimmune disorders. I used different forms of art to help me cope with the flashbacks, depression, anxiety and other symptoms of PTSD. I could no longer work full-time positions in management positions, because any amount of stress flared up the stroke-symptoms and partial paralysis of my migraines and the autoimmune disorder pain. 
  
  In 2019 started sharing information about hobbies, like paint-by-numbers {PBN} and diamond paintings, on a YouTube channel, so that other people could find their own kind of “zen therapy”, as I call it. I was the number one PBN content creator globally for many years. I quickly realized that the minimal advertising and affiliate commissions of $400 a month would not help my household financially. I also understood that there were no products on the market for this hobby, and so in 2021 I started to design my own supplies to help the enthusiasts end their frustration over horrible or inadequate paint brushes. I am the only person or company who has a line of custom paint by number paint brushes on the market, and I designed a total of 22 different sizes specifically to help my fellow hobbyists. I keep the pricing as low as possible, because I understand that most of the PBN enthusiasts are on fixed incomes, elderly or are just unable to spend exorbitant amounts of money on their supplies. I price them at what I can afford, and that is not much. 
  
  Over the last four years, I have designed my own set of acrylic gray paints to cover the lines and numbers; a paint brush cleaning system with hand-poured soap and a unique storage container; diamond painting waxes; a gesso application squeegee; watercolor paint by number kits; a line of “Perfect Paints”…opaque acrylic paints that will cover the lines and numbers in one layer; and most recently a line of Glimmer, Glisten, Glamour and Glitter paints with metallic and shimmer finishes for those people who want to add more pizazz to their artwork. 
  
  When I design a new product, I spend approximately six to twelve months: researching; testing materials, mediums, etc; doing quality control; finding the best containers; designing the labels, logos, branding, brochures, instructions, marketing, etc; recording videos; editing; making graphics; adding the products to the website; taking photos & editing; typing descriptions; etc. I label every container by hand, assemble each product in-house, and pour every paint or soap myself. I DO NOT HAVE A “TEAM”. I am a team OF ONE! {Although I do have a young lady who works 4 hours a week to fill orders and occasionally helps add labels and paints to jars, I do everything else myself.} I answer my own emails; YouTube questions and comments; respond to social media posts and comments; Messenger questions; etc. 
  
  All I have ever wanted to do is to cater to the needs of other people and allow them to find a “frustration-free” hobby. Well, what I have created is a problem for myself. I have a husband, 3 surviving adult children, and 4 grandchildren {one that is 5 weeks old that lives on the same driveway that I have seen for 2 hours} that I don’t have time for because I have made the mistake of prioritizing ungrateful people. I have provided my followers so much personal attention that many of them have become have unrealistic expectations and a sense of entitlement for what I am capable of as one human being. They expect me to eat, drink and sleep their needs, stop what I am doing, and deprioritize my own mental health and life. They complain in order to receive discounts or free product at my financial expense. They leave low reviews because the shipping service delivered their products late, but not because I shipped on time. They make negative comments on my FREE YouTube content. I have profit losses, so I can provide for others instead of myself and my family, because no one wants to compensate for the time it takes to create handmade products. 
  
  Everything about my paints are 100% hand-made…
  
  •I designed every paint color myself over a 9-month period of time, testing 5-6 of the highest-quality brand of pigments and a multitude of mediums from the most reputable suppliers to achieve the best overall outcome 
  •I hand-mix every paint and test-swatch it repeatedly for opacity before I will add it to my collection;
  •I designed all of the labels, logos, marketing, images, color names, collection names, etc. myself
  •Each little jar of paint has 4 labels: 
  •I print some of the labels on-sight; 
  •I hand-paint the round labels that go on the lids of every little jar to provide an accurate color swatch of the paint
  •I affix all 4 labels per bottle for each paint color by hand; 
  •I fill each bottle with 6ml of paint, weighing it to ensure there is an accurate amount of product
  •I purchased security seals separately to apply between the lid and the lip of the bottle before adding the lids to make sure the paints did not leak during transit;
  •There were 18 paints per collection, so that is 4 labels per bottle {72 labels for one set of paints that a customer orders} 
  
  I include a free bottle of “Flow Improver” with every collection a customer orders…that involves these steps…
  •I pour the flow improver into small squeeze bottles, add the droppers, and add the caps 
  •I designed the title label for the Flow Improver 
  •I typed a label with instructions for using the Flow Improver
  •I print the labels for the free Flow Improver 
  •I affix the labels to the Flow Improver bottles
  •I print labels for the name of the paint collection the customer has purchased 
  •I place the paints in color-order into a plastic storage box with the free bottle of Flow Improver
  •I add paper shreds to the container to keep everything securely in place. 
  •I design the enclosed instruction brochure; 
  •I trim and fold the instruction brochure and insert it into the container
  •I add round secure seals to the container to prevent it from opening in shipping. 
  
  The above is repeated 18 times for one of the collections this customer ordered, and she ordered two collections plus another set with 15 bottles and 5 labels on the storage container. 
  
  All of that is for one line of products, and there were 5 collections available. I also have the 100% handmade, hand-produced, hand assembled “3-in-1 Paint Brush Cleaning System”; four 3-in-1 Brush Cleaning Add-On products; “Diva Dough” in 5 different scent options; “Sassy Wax”; and the newer three paint collections with the metallics. 
  
  Why do I do all of that work? Because I wanted people to have better options and a frustration-free hobby. I didn’t have to design these products to offer everyone else just to have the best products available for myself and my hobbies…I could have made these items for myself and left it alone. I wanted to HELP people. I wanted to offer a service. That was my first mistake, because the more you help others, the more you get taken advantage of in the end. 
  
  I am attaching the evidence I have from the customer, and I now I am willing to give her a refund on $10 worth of paints that I see that don’t look “spilled” at all. Why should I take another loss when everything looks perfect? Why should I take a loss on shipping fees? I have 4-5 star reviews from my customers on these products, so obviously this isn’t a “my word against this customer’s word” situation. 
  
  I reiterate, the Better Business Bureau is about proving “better business” to customers. All I have ever done is cater to people instead of focusing on making money for myself. If you can say in good faith after reading all of this information that I have not made every attempt to do so, I will shut down my business by the end of this month. I am so exhausted from dealing with negative customers that I am already selling everything off besides my custom brushes to convert to digital products by the first of the year. Unfortunately, it only takes a few customers like this one ruin it for the thousands that have been truly supportive and amazing for the last five years. 

  Melanie Gilstrap

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/20/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. 
  
  I sent this business owner all the pictures in the email I sent to Cindy, And I have now provided a email screen shot of what the business owner has sent to me where she offered to replace all the paints the next day. This business owner is misleading in this response and has not done anything to resolve this issue. I now want a refund for the whole order. 
  July 1st 2024 she emailed me asking that i send pictures and I did. She said they accidently sent me half full bottles in her email.  
  I emailed the business owner July 1st, 11th, 17th and 18th 2024. 
  Response came on July 18th 2024 offering a replacements of all bottles damaged and half full. I sent pictures again. 
  Then never heard from her again I emailed 5 more times. I feel this is fraudulent business and only want a full refund now. 
  The last email i sent to this business owner MBs Creative Supplies ******************************* was on August 23rd 2024
  
   
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ******* ******