On Sept 11,2015, I purchased two costumes for the price of $142.56. Everything came as promised and I was completely satisfied. So satisfied, that I decided to put in another order for the same costumes. This time I wanted to order 10 of them on Sept 23rd.
The website was offering a special promotion for $5 flat rate shipping on all orders. Great! I put in my order and the shipping total kept coming out to $23.99. When I talked to a representative about it and told him my order, he ensured me that the shipping would come out to $5 at checkout. When I finally checked out, the total still came out to $23.99. I looked at the fine print and it said it had to be under a certain dollar amount. Fine, it stated it there, but the representative should have known that. Strike one.
The total came out to $626.17 after shipping and taxes for all 10 costumes. Money was taken out of my account, I got an email confirmation saying it would be there "guaranteed by Oct 26, and all was set. Except it wasn't. Today is Oct 27 and a package came in. Only one costume was delivered. I called and was on the line for 50 minutes before getting a representative. I asked what was going on with my order and wanted to know why I got one costume instead of 10 and was charged $91.96. He placed me on hold again while he tried to figure it out. When he returned, he asked me if I got the email on Oct 12 regarding the order change. I never checked my email from them because they were constantly sending me junk email about their specials. He then told me the email stated that the costumes would be limited to one per order. I asked him why was I notified that it was one per order THREE WEEKS after I ordered it and money was taken out of my account and after I got the confirmation email. He had no answer. I then asked if there were any orders fulfilled for the same costume after I ordered mine and he confirmed that there were. So they had the costumes I ordered, but decided not to honor my order and sent it to other people instead. I asked to talk to a manager and he put me on hold again to find one. It wasn't surprising when he returned, letting me know all the managers were busy. Of course they were busy, they're probably dealing with a million other complaints. He then had the audacity to offer me the outrageous shipping they charged for one costume and FIVE DOLLARS FOR THE INCONVENIENCE. Five dollars! For messing up my order, taking the full amount out of my account, and making me waste over an hour of my time on the phone. Thank you for everything buycostumes.com. I'll be sure to write a bad review everywhere I can and let everyone know not to ever order from you again.
On October 7th, 2015 I ordered a Supreme Edition Darth Vader costume. I thought, I should have no issue getting my costume in time for an event we had scheduled for Oct. 24th 2015 - today... As the web site stated orders received by 1pm usually ship same day. Upon ordering, I was "Guaranteed Deliveey By Oct. 13th". Well, October 13th came and went... so did the 14th, and 15th. Being a bit nervous as some of the reviews of the costume advised that modification was needed for it to fit correctly, I called customer service in the afternoon on the 15th. They apologized for the inconvenience and advised they would send it overnight - which they did. I received my costume on the 16th.
Upon receiving my package, I noted and photographed some moderate damage to the shipping box. Upon opening the shipping box, I noted and photographed heavier damage to the costume box itself. I didn't have time to fully inspect the costume itself due to prior engagements, so I set it off to the side. On Sunday, Oct. 18th, I had time to really check out the costume. I found that it actaully fit pretty well, but the helmet, the most visible and recognizable part of the costume looked like it had been used - a lot. It was scratched all over and even misshapen to the point that it even looked lopsided when worn. I called customer service who at first offered to send me a complete "Deluxe Darth Vader Costume" free - because they were "Out of the Supreme Edition". They said that I could use the mask off of the Deluxe Costume and throw away the rest if I wanted. At first, I accepted this offer until further research indicated the mask was just that, a front only mask with a string to keep it on your head - really? A $600+ costume - and you want to send my a dime store mask for it?
While talking with customer service, I was looking around their website and found the Supreme Edition Vader helmet that could be purchased by itself for $99. I pointed this out to the customer service rep who said "Oh, I completely missed that!" She advised that she would get it sent out, free of charge, and upgrade me to express shipping. She "guaranteed" me that I would have it by the 21st! I was excited! Later, I checked the status of my order online. I entered my order number only to get a "Order Not Found" response. So I called customer service again (Keep in mind, each time I called, I was on hold for at least 30 minutes). After speaking with them again, they apologized and said the helmet didn't get sent out, but promised me they were going to get it out first thing in the morning, and upgrade my shipping to overnight and I'd have it by the end of the day on Friday, the 23rd - just in time for my event on Saturday the 24th. WELL, upon checking my order status on Friday afternoon, I was once again presented with an "Order Not Found" response. So once again, I called Customer Service - and waited the standard issue 30 minutes just to hear another apology and another promise that the helmet would be sent TODAY with overnight shipping! They assured me I would have the helmet by 2pm on Saturday (today - it's now 12:15am on Saturday the 24th - the day of my event). My event starts at 3pm, so I would JUST make it if the helmet comes in by 2pm. They assured me I would be able to check my order status shortly, and that I would soon recieve a confirmation email with my tracking number to confirm it has shipped. Well, as of 12:15am on Saturday morning, I still have not received any confirmation and no tracking number. I tried logging on thier website to check the status of my order only to be met with the same old "Order Not Found" response... So, clearly it did not get sent - again. With that, I will miss my planned event, and upset a lot of kids AND adults who were looking forward to meeting Darth Vader... Now all that will be there is a couple Stormtroopers and a few Jedi. We do these events often, but especially around Halloween. But with this sad experience with BuyCostumes.com, I will NEVER spend another red cent with this horrible company, and neither will any of my crew.
Everything BuyCostumes.com has said about the replacement helmet has been a bold faced lie. They lie to you so you'll hang up happy and wait - for nothing. They lie to you so they don't have to listen to your complaints about being ripped off, or receiving damaged goods. They've gotten so good at lying, they do it quite convincingly, making you feel like you actually got somewhere after you hang up! - But, they have ZERO intention on following through with any promise they make, and they DO NOT care if they hurt you, any kids, or an entire show you were supposed to be the star of! Thier guarantees are worthless, thier promises to upgrade your shipping are pathetic hollow lies. They don't even put your replacement item order in the system! They provide you with a bogus order number that doesn't work, but you don't know that till you log on to check the status of your order and get the "Order Not Found" response. I will be reporting them to the Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission. I have all my emails and screen shots of my communication with them as well as recorded phone conversations with them.
They must be based overseas to be able to continue their lies and remain in business.
I'd give them negative stars if I could!
Do yourself a favor, save yourself the hassle and lies! Order elsewhere! Anywhere but here!
I will be posting this review ALL OVER THE NET - in hopes I can save a few people's sanity, time and money. And I will re list this review starting in September of next year - and every year after that till I feel vindicated.