Description

I was lured into their Instagram Ad offering deep discounts for coastal inspired clothing seemingly from a retailer in Charleston SC. In fact what I suspected after submitting my credit card information is that Mae & Willow-Charleston is a front for a knock-off warehouse in China. They claim on their landing page/website that they have been in business 20 years -yet the domain was registered just a few months prior and the registrant is hidden. My questions to them via their only contact (email) regarding the exact fabric content of the blouses I ordered were answered in a very vague and uninformed way. I then saw another Ad pop up on Instagram under a suspiciously similar name/ Ad format with the exact same printed blouse I had ordered from Mae & Willow -Charleston. I attempted to cancel my order (no phone # to call, just an email for customer support) 24 hrs later and it was refused, said the items had already shipped. I immediately put in a dispute of the charges with my credit card company. Mae & Willow -Charleston gave a false statement as I could see later on their shipping platform that the items shipped 6 days later. What I found then, after interacting with the Instagram algorithm, was at least 17 other retailer pseudonyms including: Ivy & Rose-Charleston, Sarah & David-Charleston, Henry & Rose-New York, Ella & Harper-Boston, Clara & Celeste-Boston, Jessica & Jennifer-New York, Alder & Voss -New York, Griffin & Cole-Chicago, Madison Mode, Wright & Mason... and many more all leading me to a very similar landing page to place an order. Mae & Willow -charleston drops off Instagram and a pseudonym retailer appears. I eventually received my order 2 weeks later -the clothing was, of course, a very poor quality and construction - definitely not what the photos advertised. They advertise "hassle-free" returns although expect the customer to pay $30+ in shipping charges back to China and state they may or may not refund your money based on the condition of the items upon arrival back to China! SCAM SCAM SCAM