Gann Memorials Custom Plush Toys

I'm posting a second time, because I thought I would have an opportunity to amend my original post, prior to it's publishing. They don't allow editing here, so I'm having to post twice.

Full Disclosure: I'm a client of this company and am on my second order now. I'm one of many satisfied clients, so I encourage anyone reading this to do your homework before taking a negative review at face value. Be sure to speak with the happy customers and then make your final decision. In my opinion, asking for client references is the the most reliable way of judging a company's integrity.

The previous poster here has been slamming this company around the internet, and with the same generic complaint. I read his original post on another review site and then read Gann's response. Basically, this guy received product and utilized the services he paid for, only to try and shake this company down for money he claimed they owed him. Their return policy is clearly stated and apparently they even offered to revise the product for him, per that policy.

From what I keep reading, it seems there are quite a few people out there who abuse review sites, in order to force companies to give them what they want, in exchange for not posting and/or deleting negative posts. These extortionists are precisely why people have such a hard time trusting review websites.

I say kudos to Gann for refusing to be extorted, but of course they are paying the price with crooks like this guy, since he's posting negative comments everywhere. Unbelievable.

Working with Gann Memorials to bring The *** to life has been an absolute pleasure.

*** explained the process very clearly at the outset, and was responsive to phone calls and e-mails throughout the project.

We went through the necessary revisions to make sure the prototype matched my design and I'm very happy with the finished product.

Keeping the product affordable to my customers is important to me, and it was really cool that they were able to produce the plushes at such an accessible price point.

I highly recommend Gann Memorials to anyone looking for quality products, affordability and ease of communication!

I met *** Gann and his company at the Toy Fair in NYC. The displays he had were what convinced me to do business with his company. He proved to me that he was genuine and true to his word as he went above and beyond what I would have expected from any company to produce my stuffed animal. I am very satisfied with the final result and he really came through for me.

We hired Gann to work with us to develop a line of brand name plus dolls. They were responsive and attentive to details. We have received our first shipment and very happy with the product. We are in negotiations to issue another order.

Chris Gann and his father Gene will lie every step of the way. There are numerous comaints through Revdex.com and I just filed a new one 7 months of working with them and they never fixed any problems. BEWARE we are out almost 12k and ate in process of filing criminal and civil charges in NJ. They will take you money then have an attorney try to get you to settle for less.

I started working with Gann Memorials in December of 2014. Today, March 2017, I recieved a first-pass version of the plush I had ordered. For over a year I worked with Chris and Gene Gann on revisions to get the perfect plush. I approved it and was really excited for the day it would finally arrive! But when it came, it wasn't the plush that I had approved. Chris said the plush had been lost and that they needed to remake it, making all those months of revisions and effort a complete waist of time. The plush I recieved is unusable. Don't use this company.

Gann agreed to refund our full $5375 deposit , but had spent our money. Gann asked for weekly payments to us- they made 2 and are now ignoring us.We hired Gann Memorials for a custom plush order that totaled $10,750. Gann requried a 50% deposit up front ( with credit card fees it came to $5375).We also agreed upon a price per piece based on a certain number being ordered. Despite many concersations, many details, pictures and descriptions being sent back and forth, quality level being discussed etc, Gann came back to us and told us that due to the level of quality we were asking for, our price per piece increased from $8.60 to $12.60. I was distraught as we were on such a time crunch and didn't have time to look for another company, so we compromised and agreed to meet in the middle at $10.60. The first sample was promised within a certain time frame, as we had a strict deadline for production. Gann failed to meet the time requirement and the sample that was proposed was not to our satisfaction ( especially considering the drastic price increase)I spoke at length with [redacted] and we agreed that due to the timing issue and the price increase that gann would give us a full refund of our deposit, less a courtesy admin fee of $150 to Gann.[redacted] then brought the CEO [redacted] into the situation, as he was to handle our refund. We were informed that Gann was a small family company and that they had spent our deposit money and could not pay us back in full. I was horrified that this was considered an acceptable explanation by Gann, as our contract had not been executed and we were not even at the stage of an approved first sample, let alone approving production. Our money should not have been spent. However, we just wanted the situation to be resolved, so we agreed to 8 weekly installments of $680.63.Gann made the first payment, I had to request the second payment, which then did not clear until the 3rd week.I worte an email requesting that Gann submit the payment earlier in the week, so that it would clear in our bank account by the end of the week. Not only have my emails gone completely ignored, but they never made a payment last week and communication with [redacted], Gann's CFO has ceased. I have left several emails and a voice message and have heard nothing back.Desired SettlementWe are asking that the company hold up to the settlement we reluctantly agreed upon of $680.63 for the next 6 weeks, as two payments were already made. We ask that this payment be submitted at the beginning of the week, so that it is cleared in our account by each friday. We do not want to have to remind Gann memorials to make this payment or to feel like we are chasing them down, as our money should have been refunded in a lump sum. We consider our agreement to a payment plan a large concession, considering Gann spent our deposit when they had no right to, as our contract was not at a point where our money was theirs to keep.Business Response /[redacted]/The customer's complaint has been successfully taken care of. We have paid our refund in full and the customer agreed to drop the complaint if we satisfied the refund agreement, which we have. I have attached a file showing the screenshot of our payments totaling $5,445 which is what the customer paid us. I also attached the invoice showing the amount matching the refund. We are glad we were able to work out this concern to the client's satisfaction, and look forward to this complaint being dropped as it was successfully satisfied between Gann Memorials and the client.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.... THEY WILL TAKE YOU FOR A LONG RIDE AND WILL SPEND YOUR MONEY. THEY ROB PAUL TO PAY PETER. SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE NEVER RECEIVED PRODUCT AFTER PAYING IN FULL. THIS COMPANY IS BAD NEWS. DO NOT LET THEIR WEBSITE TELL YOU OTHERWISE. I WORKED WITH THEM FOR OVER 1 1/2 YEARS AND FINALLY RECEIVED MY PRODUCT AFTER BEATING THEM AT THE GAME THEY PLAY WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS. ABSOLUTELY THE WORST TIME OF MY LIFE EASILY. ","neg-1

Sample prototype I have paid for that initiated a year ago, still have not received, very slow communication.I have signed on with involved company a year ago to have a sample plush prototype made and hopefully get to production. It has been a constant, slow process in which most times, I wouldnt get any update email or response to my emails for weeks at a time. I paid about $1000 by credit card last Oct. This company has been working with their [redacted] contacts in making the product. I mainly am upset due to the fact of poor communication. I have to email my contact with the company several times over several weeks in order to get a response..and some times there is nothing even done with my project during that time. The owner said that his employee has gone above and beyond the scoop of her job in putting in labor hours dealing with [redacted],etc, and she may have, but really dont think it is fair to let a customer wait weeks for a response each time. I know that things take time and he has it posted on his site that there can be a delay...but a year? Recently have emailed the owner and asked please to respond when I asked for some kind of compensation. He is not in agreement to that and said I can have the final product shipped to me from [redacted]. The product is not even final since the music clip is not done yet either. Was told that the [redacted] company and this plush factory designer dont know what else to do to make my prototype better and more desirable so it can sell. I have saved most of the emails that went between me and my contact with this company.Before submitting this claim, which I really didnt want to do, I have emailed the company a few times since last Thurs or Fri to try to get a response and havent. I feel that I have no choice now to get this done and move on.Desired SettlementI would like the final prototype shipped to me with the music clip installed like promised...would like the item sent to me within the next week or so...and really think I deserve full refund, but would like at least 50% of my money back since now I have to pay someone else to start over.- More info received from the consumer 2013-11-09I would like to retract my complaint at this time as myself and the company are going to try to work this out. If things are unable to get worked out and I am still unhappy, I may open up another complaint at that time.. Thank you

Gann delivered grew quality product that allowed us to provide our customers with top quality merchandise and develop our range beyond the standard.","pos-2

We have been overcharged, strung along, and lied to by [redacted] and working with him is nearly impossible. He refuses to give a refund. Bad service.My group is looking to start a line of plush toys, and we contacted [redacted] in November 2015 with our first design because we thought he had the connections to help us make an amazing product. We sent him $575 and the process began.There have since been a few revisions with little to no major changes even though we supplied detailed artwork and instructions. On the latest version, the plush (which is supposed to be sitting) doesn't even have its back legs and feet touching the surface. (It is doing a really weird split where its legs jut up into the air.) [redacted] is very aware of the level of quality we need and no matter what we do to try to get it fixed, it just comes back looking just as bad or worse. It's very insulting. Part of [redacted]' job as a middleman is to communicate to the manufacturer what we need adjusted, and we do most the work for him by sending extensive graphic instructions. All he really has to do is pass them on in a timely manner and get back to us with the results. If the designer is incapable of doing the work, he should find a different manufacturer.Our biggest problem is the length of time we have to wait between revisions. The excuses. Lying about when we should be expecting results. Telling us on multiple occasions that we will see something in 24 hours or 2 days or by the end of the week and we end up waiting 3 additional weeks to what he said after the months of silence we already had to patiently endure. When I finally asked him what the problem was, he ended up talking to us like we were clueless and shifted the blame to the Chinese manufacturer. Now, since he has been so slow in his process, we have started working on our own with overseas companies for plush designs. And I'm not talking about just one company in the plush world - there were 9 that were courting us and we narrowed the list to 4 for making our prototypes. Every single one of our contacts is quick, courteous, hard-working, and respectful, and the language barrier is not a problem at all. They are inquisitive and polite businesspeople who treat us like we are their only client. Turn-around is amazingly fast and the quality is so much better than what [redacted] has shown us. Never mind the fact that the price is much less - the prototype prices range from $130 to 280 shipped directly to our door. [redacted] has a significant markup ($575), which would technically be ok if somehow this markup equated some sort of expertise or insight into the best companies out there. It is very hard to believe that the manufacturer [redacted] uses is the problem. As an excuse, he wrote to me:"Our factory in China (as is the case with many China factories) is working with hundreds of products, and from countless clients, at any one time. Therefore, when they complete a set of your revisions, your product is pulled out of queue until you send your next revision instructions.Depending upon a variety of factors (such as the production season... and summer is their busiest) there could be a dozen more prototypes ahead of yours, by the time it is reinserted into queue.This is typical at any factory, as no one client is given preferential treatment over another. However, if you were going China direct, your development timeframe could be twice as long, as we have spent years cultivating a generous relationship with our factory. This allows us to push and prod them to give it every opportunity to get bumped ahead by any means necessary.I will continue with my prodding tonight, and advise their update."Not once have I had to prod a manufacturer. They want our business and end up pinging me multiple times if I don't respond within a few days. I question if [redacted] wants our business - I have months and months of evidence that we have to prod HIM to get any results. He has no problems asking for more money, though.Desired SettlementWe would like a refund for the $575 we paid 10 months ago. I do not want to waste any more of my work hours trying to communicate and design revision sheets for a person that strings us along and will never give us what they promised they could do, lying to us the whole time. I would strongly warn anyone thinking about working with [redacted] at Gann Memorials that he does not care about you or your project - he just wants your money.Twice (he ignored me the first time), I very kindly and respectfully asked him to refund our payment so we could part ways with no animosity or frustration. He refuses. All he can offer us is to continue going through revisions with no definitive timelines. We could go through 100 revisions and I still doubt it would be right. So if there is no way for him to get us what he said he could make for us, we should get a refund.Business Response Contact Name and Title: [redacted] - OwnerContact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXXContact Email: [redacted]@gannmemorials.comIt is unfortunate that this client has chosen to file a complaint against my company (through the Revdex.com) in an attempt to force me to provide them with a prototype refund, especially given the fact that our prototype refund policy is clearly posted on our website FAQ, the client's own invoice terms and conditions, as well as their Basecamp.com project management page. I strongly encourage any potential customer reviewing this information to read our FAQ page for themselves, which proves that this client's complaint lacks merit.It is my opinion that this client is expecting preferential treatment, as they are asking me to break my company's prototype refund policy. My integrity, as well as my desire to treat all clients equally, is worth more to me than a good Revdex.com score.In my rebuttal to this complaint, I am also uploading documentation which clearly shows where the client was informed of our prototype refund policy in November of 2015.Our policy states the following: "In most cases, our factories can produce initial samples within 7-10 business days (spring months) possibly sooner. However, depending upon sample complexity, it is impossible to estimate how long the entire sample development process may take.""Since we must pay our factory for designer/sculpting time and materials used, once you've paid for and received your initial sample images, we cannot offer a credit or refund for that particular sample, under any circumstances. However, we will continue to fabricate unlimited revisions (excluding design replacement) until it meets your satisfaction." The client states that I have lied to them and strung them along, while in reality no client's prototype development experience is the same. Some take shorter periods of time, while others can take much longer. According to the client's project management page logs, we have revised their sample 5 times since November of 2015, while taking into account any unavoidable delayed communications during both the US and Chinese New Year holiday seasons.The client also states that they have now gone "China direct", which has resulted in faster turnaround and cheaper sample costs. We've been using the same prototype fee schedule for years, and our costs are comparable to many of our American competitors. I will provide further proof that we posted initial design images within 7-10 days from the client's reference material uploads. Therefore, my company delivered initial prototype images within our stated timeframes. China direct is always going to be a cheaper option, because you are going straight to the factory and not using a middle-man with markup. However, this decision can sometimes mean more risk, as there can be little recourse in the event of an issue. Many of our clients express a clear understanding of this fact, and are willing to pay us more for the peace of mind.In summation, this client's complaint outlines many of our prototype policy's "no refund" tenets, so I must respectively decline their request for a refund. However, I can continue to revise their sample as many times as is needed, until it meets their expectations. Otherwise, I will happily ship it "as-is" via Fed Ex delivery. Regardless of their response to my rebuttal, it will not change the fact that they were informed upfront of our prototype refund policy, and their invoice payment affirmed that they had read and accepted the attached terms and conditions.Consumer Response We are not looking for special, preferential treatment - we are looking for honest timeframes and truthful, timely overall communication from a so-called professional in the field. After a month of waiting for a new sample, saying we will see something in 24 hours and then making us wait in the dark without communication for 3 additional weeks is unacceptable customer service. This has happened multiple times with this project with Gann. Corners are already being cut between samples - until this last version, our embroidery was printed paper cut out and attached to the fur as placeholders. Getting the body shape correct before adding embellishments makes total sense, but that should save the designer considerable time and I wonder why it takes so long when the the companies I have found are so quick in their turnaround, even with embroidery.It is wrong to blame the Chinese manufacturers by saying you have to prod them to get results. We understand they have a month in January/February for Chinese new year to go spend much-deserved time with their families. That time aside, they are diligent workers who deserve respect and shouldn't be thrown under the bus. The Gann website promotes fear of getting swindled by these overseas companies, but if you do your due diligence and some research on the companies and reach out to communicate with them, asking all the questions you need, you can learn that they don't get paid in full until your product is physically put on the boat at port. There is a site you can go to to see manufacturers and their products, and if you choose companies that have been Gold Suppliers for more than 3 years, you have very little to worry about since it costs thousands of dollars per year for them to keep that status and scam companies cannot afford to do that. If a manufacturer wants repeat business (and the ones I've talked to are totally about cultivating long-term relationships,) then they are not going to just take your money without doing their part. If [redacted] has proven anything, I'd say that working with Gann definitely is a risk of losing your money.With all the choices in manufacturers that are out there, if a customer is unsatisfied with the way their project is going, Gann should be able to negotiate getting another designer who can do a better job instead of giving the customer the same inadequate plush time and again. When changes are requested by the customer, [redacted] (or someone at his company) should also do quality checking to make sure those changes were made before showing the customer...or at least give a good explanation why the changes weren't done. It is frustrating to wait so long between revisions just to see that the revisions weren't made.It feels like at this point, [redacted] just wants us to give up and take the inferior plush as-is because he knows he won't be getting our business for the full production run. One telltale sign is that embroidery is not supposed to be done until the body shape is approved, and pictures of the latest version have embroidery. We have not yet approved the body shape. I understand he had to pay the manufacturer, but for this level of design, it couldn't have been more than $200 (and that is a projected maximum). That leaves at least $375 that Gann has pocketed. I would consider conceding in this dispute by paying the manufacturer for the sample, but we should be given back the rest.As the owner of his company, [redacted] is perfectly able to issue a refund, and it is disturbing that he has to hide behind policies he has created to allow himself to mislead clients. When we paid him, he agreed to providing us a service, so we expected actual service. So far there has been no value and continuing down this path is wasting everyone's time and the manufacturer's resources. We would like to come to an acceptable agreement and respectfully move onward. Please note that I first tried to settle this with [redacted] without resorting to contacting the Revdex.com. I have never had to do this before, and it is inconvenient and uncomfortable. It is surprising that he does not care about his business rating and disheartening that he makes a profit by making customers feel trapped, frustrated, disappointed, unappreciated, and bullied. I hope he can think about what it is like from his customers' point of view and will decide to do the right thing in situations like this.Final Business Response It is my opinion that this client has filed a complaint for one reason, and they've just gone to a great deal of trouble declaring that their decision to go "China direct" was that reason. I believe the client is using this Revdex.com complaint to coerce me into breaking my company's long-held prototype refund policy, so that they may recoup money for services rendered (not once, but through five different prototype iterations). Again, I've uploaded more than adequate proof to support both of my rebuttals, including the customer's initial excitement with their early prototype. While I can appreciate their desire to come to mutually agreeable financial compromise, their offer is disconcerting to say the least, as it involves leaving what they feel is just enough money to pay my factory, but no money for for my company.When it comes to customer service, I do care about my company's Revdex.com rating, but any potential client reading this will see that I am standing firm in protecting my company's policies, rather than "hiding behind them". If a company breaks its policies for each client that complains to the Revdex.com or another similar entity, then what good are those policies in the first place? Company policies are put in place to ensure fair and equal treatment for employees and clients alike. On a side-note, I've had clients request prototype refunds in the past, only to be reminded of our prototype refund policy. All of them have chosen to respect it (one of which recently complained to the Revdex.com, only to change their mind and agree to work with us again) and work with us instead of against us. As a result, this action has allowed both myself and the client(s) to place their design with another factory designer (or even a new factory). In the end, we found a reasonable "no-refund" solution, and some affected clients even went on to place an order.Ironically, an alternate designer and/or factory solution has just been brought up by this client. Even though they never requested that we send their design elsewhere, I am happy to do so. Again, our policy states that a client's prototype payment includes unlimited revisions, and so this action would involve applying their suggestion. This is my suggestion for moving forward.

I contracted this company to manufacture a doll, and they have been avoiding me after taking my payment.I spoke with [redacted] Gann in June 2015 and he was very persistent to "earn my business." My project began on July 21st, 2015, and to this date, I have experienced delay after delay and they have been very slow to respond to any inquiries unless I ask for my money back. They have lost my project numerous times, changed project managers, etc, etc... so I started this project while my husband was still living, and he was waiting to see the finished product. He died last month, and I am still frustrated and have no end in sight. Now they have officially transferred this project to the US, but I still receive no response from them when I inquire about the progress. At this point, because it was promised to me within 7-10 business days for a sample, and finished product 35-45 days, and it's been a year, I just want my money back because I don't trust them any longer. I believe they are just 'stringing me along." I paid them 2187.50 which is half of the total order amount, before the project was supposed to begin, which was July 21st, 2015, and I would just like my money back please. Desired SettlementrefundBusiness Response Contact Name and Title: OwnerContact Phone: [redacted]Contact Email: I have been in direct communication with this customer and resolved this complaint to their satisfaction. With a new order agreement in place, they have also chosen to continue their business with my company. They will send a separate message to the Revdex.com, regarding their decision to stay and complaint retraction.MORE INFO RECEIVED FROM THE CONSUMER : Mr. Gann has contacted me and we worked out a new agreement. I hope that this will work out to be better. Thank you for your help.

A very reputable company ran by very transparent and honest people. ","pos-1