The Hourglass Connection

I ordered a hourglass on 6/8/2020. Called end of August and David said he was working on it. Called again on 9/8/2020 and told he was having trouble getting the hourglass and expected getting the glass in 2 weeks but said the frame was done.On 11/28 David told me "You will have it next week". I replied when would I have IT and he said "I'm waiting on the glass part but the frame is done". SAME STORY I GOT ON 9/8/2020. I escalated the problem to PayPal on 12/17/2020 and got a refund the next day.

9/15/15 I ordered an hourglass from the site, 10/16/15 I called to see if there was a problem with the order as I hadn't heard anything; I was informed that it was difficult to get the raw materials for the hourglass, and that it would be shipped as soon as able.

11/21/15 I called to inquire on the order status, and was informed that the glass for the hourglasses was going though customs and expected in 2 weeks. Since the hourglasses are a specialty item and not a mass produced trinket from China, it sounded reasonable. I could imagine the craftsman in his shop making them...

By January 2016 I realized that my bank wouldn't be able to "charge back" the transaction as they have a 60day limit to dispute transactions, and PayPal wasn't interested either due to the time lapse. So now it has become a household joke as to when the hourglass will arrive. $150 gone, but at least I learned about Sitejabber to prevent future episodes. Slightly more expensive than an average mugging, but not nearly as riveting as a story.

In May I ordered an hourglass kit from the Hourglass Connection website. Since my daughter's wedding is in November, I figured I had plenty of time to receive the order. I paid with Paypal and other than the email confirmation from Paypal, I had no other record of my order. After 3 weeks, I emailed the owner and he responded promptly asking me to call him and included his phone number. I called him and he said that he was having trouble getting the size hourglass I wanted. (Apparently, they are made from incandescent light bulb blanks and the new light bulb regulations are making some sizes hard to find.) He said if he couldn't get the size I ordered that he would give me the next bigger size for the same price. I felt good about this communication with him. On Aug. 3, I emailed him to check the progress of my order and heard nothing for 2 weeks. Then I found the 2 very negative and almost identical reviews here. That got me VERY worried since it seemed that I was having the same experience. So I called him and left a voicemail. Later the same day I went to Paypal and began the process of dispute resolution. I probably should have given him more time to answer my voicemail, but I panicked thinking that my $110 was gone and worse, my daughter wouldn't have the hourglass she wanted for her wedding. Later that day he called me back. I explained that I really needed to get the hourglass as soon as possible. He said that he would mail it the next day. He did mail it to me as he said he would and I received it in less than a week. I'm not sure if contacting Paypal helped light a fire under him or if he would have responded just as quickly if I had not started the dispute process. However, We did receive the hourglass we ordered and I am glad about that.