A really bad experience from Van Yulay customer service

It depends on the artisan/ vendor. Everyone has its marketing policy. For example, I received a soap a few months ago from a Greek vendor, it was the LPL Cedre Patchouli. It was in refill form. I opened the soap, it had no scent in it. I decided to shave with it, with the hope that the scent will emerge. Unfortunately, it didn't. So, I sent an email to Cyril, he explained himself, he made a mistake with the labels probably and offered to send me a new one, even though I didn't buy it directly from him. After a few weeks, I received the soap and it was twice the quantity of the soap I paid for. The refill weighed 100gr and I received another 200gr. It was very generous of Cyril and after that time I bought almost every soap he released just because I was a very happy customer. Of course, I love how LPL soaps perform. That's how some artisans keep happy their customers.

Having used a couple of Van Yulay soaps in the past, I wouldn't describe them even as soft soaps, or croaps. In to the woods scent was more like a thick cream than any soap. Heat, without question, will affect these "soaps" very easily. I ordered mine when temperature was cool, and as such, had no issues.

My own view on this is that there should be some form of statement made on the website of the constituency of these products, and the potential for heat to liquify them. I was surprised just how soft these soaps are and no first time buyer is going to realise this. At least something in writing would give a buyer the opportunity to make a decision whether to buy, or not to buy, in higher temperatures. The vendor may not have any control over shipping conditions, but all the more reason for making information available.
Personally, I would request a refund in this instance. If the temperatures in the relevant US states are on going, any replacement is likely to arrive in similar condition.

I guess my post above wasn't worth writing. Here I am, living in one of the hottest cities in the world, and the several soaps I've received the last couple weeks which includes 2 yesterday, have all arrived fine. Pure20 was sitting on my porch when I got home at 4:30, and probably arrived around 1:00, yet the soft soap looked like new.

I look at it like this. If the seller doesn't want to guarantee delivery of their product in new condition then I would not buy from that merchant because there are plenty of others that do. It's as easy as that. Also, they can claim the insurance most likely unless they didn't have it insured.

This is a very valid point, but it begs the question...would it be possible to know if a "standard" artisan croap had melted and re-congealed?

What I mean is, Van Yulay has a very unique method for filling the tubs with soap. Using a cake decorator, by appearances, provides a very unique surface upon first sight.

No other artisan that I know of does this. The problem is that these expected floral patterns are not present. This is why it is known to have suffered "heat damage".

I received a Stirling soap in the beginning of June where the soap inside was heavily weighted to one side of the tub, but was otherwise aesthetically fine. Is this a mishap during curing? A problem with heat in the mailbox? The result of off-balance pouring?  Who knows?

I received a soap from Italian Barber in January with the same situation...weighted heavily on one side of the tub.  What causes this? Who knows?

For the record, both perform spectacularly, so I am not and was not concerned...

The point is, if a "standard" soap partially melts, and re-congeals in a level position, one would never know, as it would look the same as it did when this happened during manufacturing. It is only known to have suffered from the heat because of the pattern...

I see your point. My thinking was that it would take a long time in some extreme heat for the soap to look like that, especially when considering the other 3 he received did not have that issue.

Having used a couple of Van Yulay soaps in the past,    I wouldn't describe them even as soft soaps, or croaps. In to the woods scent was more like a thick cream than any soap. Heat, without question, will affect these "soaps" very easily. I ordered mine when temperature was cool, and as such, had no issues.

My own view on this is that there should be some form of statement made on the website of the constituency of these products, and the potential for heat to liquify them. I was surprised just how soft these soaps are and no first time buyer is going to realise this. At least something in writing would give a buyer the opportunity to make a decision whether to buy, or not to buy, in higher temperatures. The vendor may not have any control over shipping conditions, but all the more reason for making information available.
Personally, I would request a refund in this instance. If the temperatures in the relevant US states are on going, any replacement is likely to arrive in similar condition.

Thank you for describing the consistency. I can now mark Van Yulay off my list. I would not have guessed they are thick creams.

I'm with BadDad on this. I mean, what are they supposed to do? Send soaps in refrigerated boxes? What I don't understand though is how 2 of the 3 soaps were fine and the other was not. If it happened to me, I think I would just stick it in the fridge for a while and roll with it. I'm sure the scent and performance were not affected. I don't really care what the top layer of the soap looks like (who would?). It gets erased within a few lathers anyway. I'd rather just use it, not have to deal with the hassle and say lesson learned.

No, I disagree wyze0ne - if an artisan markets their product so that it looks a particular way like some do - Meisner Tremonia, Tallow and Steel and Van Yulay to name a few, then they should ensure that it is able to arrive at its destination looking that way. To blame the customer for ordering the product in warm weather is just wrong and IMO poor business practice. Imagine going to a fancy restaurant and the food comes on your plate all mixed in to a pile of glop - it'll taste the same and it'll end up in the same place so whats the problem? The problem is presentation is important and those artisans that take extra trouble to present their product in a particular way have set themselves a slightly higher bar. I think a customer is entitled to get what they expect, what the artisan promised. No more, no less. No exception.
Mark

Such a heated argument over ... soap.

Really, this is something to get all upset over. Guys --- its soap. It's not Life and Death.

OP, write a LETTER, a real paper and pen letter. Send it certified or however its done formally in your part of the world. State your case/complaint. Go to mail box. Mail it.

Done. You will have then formally complained. The vendor will do whatever they do. But complaining about it here won't do a bit a good unless the company who owns it reads it.

I understand your sentiment Marko, but for me, I couldn't give a crap less what the top of the soap looks like. As long as it performs and smells as it should.

This is the way I look at it: she just lost this guy as a great customer who was ordering a lot of soaps from her and she lost him over a stoopid $20 soap. She also lost Hobbyist as a potential customer because this airing of the issue here alerted him to aspects of her soap he did not know about before that caused him to scratch her off his to-buy list. She has lost me as a potential customer for at least quite some time because, while I am intrigued by her soaps, I live in Texas and it is hotter than hell now and will remain so for a good long while. Who knows who else she has lost as an actual or prospective customer? Can anyone seriously say that as a result of the airing of this issue they wanna order a bunch of her soaps right now?

Think about it: Slava might have posted about what great customer service he got from Van Yulay, if she had done just a little something for him in response - just thrown him a little bone just this one time while also educating him about heat effect on her soaps. Instead of a net loss in customers, she would likely have gotten a net gain as Slava went about disseminating her good will here on DFS; but not to be. A win-win opportunity missed for being, as Ben Franklin put it "penny wise and pound foolish." Doing what is necessary to retain customers and generate business goodwill that drives more customers in your door cannot always be reduced to logic or theories or algorithms or the shifting weather. I can think of any number of well known, highly successful soapers on here who we all know would have taken the high road and handled this differently, at least this one time.

Her soap scents are apparently pretty good; her business sense? As they say in my line of work: the jury remains out.

her business sense? As they say in my line of work: the jury remains out.

And in the end, the market will sort itself out. So she loses some customers or gains some. Her choice. It was her choice in the immediate response. Maybe she has all the business she can handle and dont care if she loses some sales. We don't know.

We don't know her business plan, sales volume, profits, production capacity, etc. Only she knows. ...