Menu
Login
We recently purchased a Dog Carrier bag through Tranquility Alley. This store is located in Elmhurst, IL and has a physical store and online store. We placed our order as it appeared the item was on hand and ready to ship based on the website. Our card was immediately charged the $300+ and then nothing. We got an email showing the order was taken and we were charged. After weeks without any word we started inquiring about the purchase. Although we were never emailed or phoned they told us they had tried several times to contact us. This never happened but turns out to be a stall tactic. Sometimes we'd get our own email forwarded back to us, sometimes nothing at all. Messages left on their answering machine, as they don't answer the phone, have never been returned. Their online "help" was then finally turned back on through their website. Unfortunately they were no help as they fed us more and more stall tactics. We've heard the woes of their moving stores, etc. Two weeks ago we were finally told the item was back ordered and we could cancel the order and receive a refund. I replied to cancel the order and credit back my card. Now two weeks later they say they just got the product in and shipped it. They can't seem to come up with a tracking number or ship date though. The item is also last years model according to the company that makes them and now is not available. How can they now be getting it in on special order if it's not a knock off and they didn't have it in stock. Emails to sales, info, the owner, etc. have not been returned or taken serious. We have gone to the BBB now. Wish we would have done this first as this company has a very very poor rating and has been sent warnings from the BBB for lack of service, failure to ship products, failure to disclose back orders, using stall tactics to avoid refunds, etc. The list goes on and on. I suggest that anyone who planned to use this company think twice and read the BBB first. Don't waste your time and money on this horrible company. Just read their 46 complaints listed at the BBB.
Same story, bit of an extra scam. We ordered a bead curtain from them late at night online. The next morning I got an email saying the credit card had not gone through and asking if we could pay through PayPal or by check, even offering to waive the shipping fee (which was very high--over $25). I agreed, but before the mail went out with my check I got a confirmation of the payment in my email, together with a request from PayPal to pay it. So I tore up the check. My credit card shows the amount. After three contacts in confusion, "Olivia Langeland" withdrew the PayPal request. A month later and the item has still not arrived. I have sent at least three emails asking about it and had no reply. I was planning on calling today but am now more wary based on the other comments here.
Add my name to the long, long list of people who have been deceived and ripped off by Tranquility Alley. My purchase online goes back to the fall of 2008. They charged my credit card and sent me an email saying that my item would ship. That was the last I have heard despite numerous attempts from me to contact them via email and phone. I have filed a complaint with the BBB and with a website called /link removed/ I don't understand how they can continue to operate a website and steal from people in the manner that they do!
OMG! they've ripped me off too!
SCAMMERS. If at all possible we should try to SUE THEM. There are enough complaints out there. I filed a complaint on the BBB and have asked my credit card company to do a charge back to get my money back. If they cannot provide shipping details to me then I will recieve my money back. DO NOT BUY FROM THEM! They have several addresses listed on the BBB the one I ordered from is T.A. 2233 south highland ave lombard, IL 60148 United States [protected]
Same terrible experience here. Purchased an item for $70.03, they charged my card $790.03. Still batteling for a credit. This company should be PUT OUT OF BUSINESS! DO NOT SHOP WITH THEM, IT IS A SCAM.
Amazing that this owner, Anita Bolsoni not only cheats customers but also craftsman and her own employees.
I'm telling you, I was there. She looked me right in the eye and told me lies as if it came oh, so naturally to her.
I've read that they've moved to Elmhurst and are hoping to change their name to an Italian name. A previous poster was prescient. Yes... change the name in order to escape crediters and a deceitful reputation. I hope justice will be served. 80 complaints within 3 years is shameful.
wow. thanks for saving my ###. i was soooo excited at their wide selection, i was ready to tell my other dog owning friends about the site. you saved us all a lot of stress. bless all of your hearts. and good luck to you all.
You have all just eased my conscience. My complaint is not as a customer but as a jewelry artist. I've actually felt guilty about filing a complaint about this owner, wondering if I could have misjudged her, but apparently not.
Three years ago, I browsed Tranquility Alley and the owner admired the ring I was wearing. I'd made it and she let me know that she'd very much wanted to carry rings of this style. She was thrilled in fact. She urged me to return after lunch to talk over details. Funny thing, tho. When I returned, she couldn't speak to me. She'd received a traumatic phone call. Something in my gut told me things were amiss. She urged me to call her. I respectfully waited a week and did so. Left a message. Left several messages over the next couple of months. Nada. Then a friend excitedly told me an acquaintance had purchased several of my rings. I didn't even have to ask where. Tranquility Alley. My guess is that the owner had one of her own people make my rings for her. She just copied my design. I had a police officer come in with me to tell her to cease and desist carrying knock offs of my ring. She seemed so innocent... that I've felt badly about filing a complaint with the village of Naperville. Thank you for posting your comments. The Naperville store was lovely, but apparently my instincts were correct and I was being deceived.
I have also had the same horrible experience with Tranquility Alley. I placed an order in Oct. 2007. After numerous unanswered emails and phone calls, I contacted the BBB because I had not rec'd my product or a refund. I filed two separate complaints with the BBB and the company didn't respond to either of them. As of today, May 7, I have still not rec'd a refund or product from this company. DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM.
I too, have been cheated by Tranquility Alley. Please reference my Complaint ID#: [protected] with the Better Business Bureau. Please reference for my details. I was never able to talk to a live person about my problem, nor did their online chat work. No call was ever returned by them. Yet, when I would be able to get someone to finally email me, they would outright lie to me, and say the check was being sent. After 8 months of hassle, I finally filed with the BBB.
Any unsuspecting person looking at their website, would think that this is a loving caring company. I would never do business with them again, nor would I donate money to any of their charitable causes. If they can lie to me about solving my problems--outright lies and promises, they cannot be trusted to forward monies to charitable issues. It is just sad, that Anita can use pictures of her son and ill friends to lure you into her business. How can such a "caring" individual, knowing CHEAT her customers, and not try to rectify the problem. If she can sleep at night knowing she has lined her pocket by cheating customers, she is truly unscrupulous.
Alas I too had the same issue. Here is the data from the Illinois BBB.
Name: Tranquility Alley
Phone: [protected]
Fax: [protected]
Address: 231 S. Washington Street
Naperville, IL 60540
Website: www.tranquilityalley.com
Principal: Anita L. Bolsoni
Customer Contact: Anita L. Bolsoni
Email Address: tranquilityalley@sbcglobal.net
File Open Date: January 2005
TOB Classification: Collectibles
BBB Accreditation: This organization is not a BBB Accredited business.
The BBB has requested basic information from this company. The BBB has not received a response. Without this information, the BBB may not have current information concerning such things as the company's management or its nature of business.
Customer Experience
Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record BBB Definition:
unsatisfactory record - A company has an "unsatisfactory business performance record" with the BBB is based on the experiences reflected in BBB files. This file condition results when the company has failed to resolve or respond to complaints, repeatedly failed to respond or resolve issues in a timely manner, failed to resolve the underlying issues for a pattern BBB Definition:
pattern - More than 2 complaints involving the same allegations usually within 12 months that are significant in relation to the company's size and volume of business.
of complaints, failed to honor their commitment to mediate or arbitrate disputes or honor mediated agreements or arbitrated decisions, failed to substantiate, modify or discontinue false advertising claims that are challenged by the BBB, or failed to discontinue unauthorized use of the BBB name and logo, a Federally protected trademark.
with the BBB due to failure to respond to one or more complaints and or two or more otherwise unresolved BBB Definition:
unresolved - The company failed to resolve the complaint issues.
complaints. However the business has resolved BBB Definition:
resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues.
most complaints presented to the bureau.
The majority of consumer complaints allege that the company fails to ship and/or deliver their merchandise in a timely fashion and is unresponsive to consumers. Consumers allege that if contact is established, the company allegedly makes repeated excuses for failure to ship the purchased item. Furthermore, consumer complaints allege that the company does not offer refunds, but allegedly has no evident mechanism in place to inform consumers, either before or after purchase, that their desired merchandise is not available at time of purchase. Many items are reported to be backordered and/or waitlisted for weeks and/or months at a time.
On April 5, 2007 the Better Business Bureau has sent Tranquility Alley a letter advising the company of the consumer allegations within Bureau records. The Bureau requested a written response as well as a plan of action to obviate the current pattern BBB Definition:
pattern - More than 2 complaints involving the same allegations usually within 12 months that are significant in relation to the company's size and volume of business.
of complaints. The company has responded to the Bureau by advising us that its physical facilities are to undergo expansion.
With regards to the consumer allegations, Tranquility Alley has responded that if any changes, delays, or backorders are to occur with regards to an order, consumers will be notified. If an existing order has been processed or shipped, consumers may return the merchandise for an exchange or in store credit. The company has not provided any plan of action to the Bureau as requested.
When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.
The BBB processed a total of 87 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period.Of the total of 87 complaints closed in 36 months, 60 were closed in the last year.
Unfortunately, i am ashamed to say i worked at this store for a year and half. not knowing what i was getting into. from the very first day, the exraordinary lies started. payroll checks started bouncing. i did not want to answer the phones anymore, because the more i apologized to the customers the more irate they became. finally, anita, took over "answering" the phones. only to find out later, that she really wasn't. and then when she would answer, she never gave her name as anita, it was lisa or jennifer or always someone else so she couldn't get blamed for talking to them. i am really not sure how this store is staying in business based on its reputation with the over 80 complaints on the better business bureau site alone.
This store's reputation and the owner's is based on deception, deceitfulness, and lies. this is no way to run a business. if you order anything from this store, i wish you luck because nine times out of ten you will not receive your merchandise and never see your money refunded or returned.
By the way, the main vendor for this store is ebay. so if i were you, go to that site and pay at least 70% less than what you would have.
To think I was thinking of buying something from these ###! You guys have saved me weeks of frustration not to mention xmas presents that never came!
I thank you profusely! TRANQUILITY ALLEY should be SHUT DOWN and the owners LOCKED UP!
Patti
Tranquility Alley are evil ### scammers. They need to die.
They took my last 200 dollars and never sent me my items.
they gave me the run around over and over... They are true horrible people. NEVER BUY FROM THEM>THEY STEAL YOUR MONEY.
I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureu. They said they are doing an investigation. Hopefully these people land in jail for a long time! The only positive feedback here has been written by the scammer leaders. I only wish I had found out that they were scammers BEFORE they stole my money. They are true ### of the earth people there. I am praying they get theirs. Karma is a ###. Tranquility Alley are bad vibes, bad people, and ### [censored]s. NEVER BUY FROM THEM.
Same same same same! This company is run by f'n ###. They shipped me 1 of 5 pieces and tried the other nonsense right after.After I threatened to call my credit card fraud department, they promised the refund yet the next day sent another shipping confirmation. Yet still nothing. Thankfully I keep all of my emails. I am reporting this company not only to the BBB but also using my connections within the IRS. I can not wait until the company owners are audited. I highly recommend that EVERYONE who has been screwed by this piece of s$*t company use every possible connection or resource to expose these idiots.
The positive remarks are LIES. Check out /link removed/ and Illinois Better Business Bureau and google the store's owner or the store name. The store and owner are crooks! They blame problems on an employee who stole from them.. it's a lie! They are crooks!
Don't believe any of the positive remarks. You can bet that THE POSITIVE REMARKS ARE POSTED BY THE OWNER of Tranquility Alley as an attempt to salvage her crooked reputation. My guess is that most items are bought off of ebay and not imported. No one answers the phones and the item will never ever arrive. Just google "Tranquility Alley" and the horror story begins. They did move from Naperville, Il to Elmhurst, Il, but probably to run away and hide from creditors and customers.
71 COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS COMPANY IN THE LAST 36 MONTHS. (Better Business Bureau)
Website says, Anita Bolsoni, owner.
They will probably change their store name. Watch out for owner.
I, too, am glad I came across this, although, for a different reason. Tranquility Alley was a place I was looking at buying from; however, after reading this I checked the BBB. In three years, this company has had SIXTY-EIGHT complaints - 15 of those TA haven't resolved AND four of those unresolved remained unresolved even after a settlement had been made.
All this makes for an unreliable company and I'm relieved that I won't have to be one of the unfortunates to go through dealing with them!
Actually, I have purchased many items from their company online and have been extremely happy. I completely disagree as they specialize in unique and hard time find items... Every time I have wanted a particular handbag or item that I could never find... I would ask for their help. They would find it, and I never had a problem waiting for it. If it's something you want you will wait for it. I am just happy to know there are companies out there who offer such a high level of service. I guess a few of you out there did not read their order/shipping policy and if there is a special or order or backorder. If you read it you could have canceled and received a refund. Anyway, I love Tranquility Alley and will continue recommending them. They must be doing something right as they have have expanded and continue to grow :) Take care!
My wife ordered a bag through Tranquility Alley and had the same horrible experience it has been over a month since she ordered the bag and has not received anything after dealing with all the same stall tactics you mentioned. Working with this company has been a horrible experience! Kris, if what you say is true, I am really glad that you were able to work with them successfully because right now I am leaning toward believing the whole thing is a planned out scam.
Your experience with Tranquility Alley is EXACTLY the same as mine! I ordered a handbag from them in early March 07, paid immediately via credit card... And waited. 3 weeks later, I contacted them & they said that they had been trying to get a hold of me because my bag was on backorder... What! This bag has been out of production for approx 3 years. The whole transaction seamed of fake handbag! I was also offered a refund, accepted & received nothing. Finally, I had to dispute the charge with my credit card company & got the refund a month & a half after I placed the order.
What a horrible company to deal with!
I am glad I saw this as Tranquility Alley is on of my favorite places to shop and have for 5 years now. I have not experienced any problems with them... and love their boutique, and online store. Tranquility Alley does specialize in many custom orders, specialty items that are rare and hard to find. Sometimes I had to wait longer for something I really wanted so I did not mind... they set my expectations. Maybe you should have confirmed this. Also I checked the BBB complaints too... and all were resolved except for 3 due to damaged orders which were refunded. I know you seem to want to advise readers of them but I want to advise readers too that they are a wonderful company and people. The collections they carry are wide and vast... so unique and beautiful. So in my opinion I disagree... so please go shop at Tranquility Alley ! I will... especially since they donate to a charity of mine... They are such giving people :) Hope this helps!
What Is A Chargeback?
A chargeback is when the credit card company withdraws the money for a transaction from a merchant's account and deposited in a consumer's following a dispute.
Basically, you do a chargeback when you feel like you're not getting what you paid for, in terms of the quality or type of good or service.
To start a chargeback, contact your credit card company and ask. A dispute process begins and the merchant will have to provide proof they rendered service properly. If the merchant can't provide sufficient evidence, the credit card company debits the transaction amount from the merchant's account and credits it to your account.
Additionally, the credit card company charges the merchant a chargeback fee.
We urge consumers to only use chargebacks as a last resort and never before making several attempts to resolve an issue directly with a merchant. The last step before doing a chargeback is to threaten to use one. Sometimes that's enough to change a vendor's mind and let them know you're serious.
Have you ever used a chargeback? How did it work out? — BEN POPKEN
Good Luck.
Jocasta