Puzzle Buyers Beware

[Tee it Up]

A little warning for those of you who purchase a jigsaw puzzle from Disney.

In April we visited HHI and bought a Mickey head jigsaw puzzle from the store on property. In July I finally finished the puzzle only to discover that there are 3 missing pieces and 2 other pieces that don't fit anywhere. Needless to say the puzzle is worthless.

I contacted Merchandise services about the problem and was directed to send an email with a description of the problem a picture of the puzzle along with my contact info.

The response was that returns must be made in 30 days to the point of purchase, to which I told them I live 900 miles away from HHI and it took over 2 months to complete the puzzle and find the problem. They then asked for more pictures of the puzzle, the box with bar code and receipts for the purchase. Back and forth we went for over 3 weeks until I got this response.

Hello David, Thank you for your email. Our Disney Parks and Resorts are not directly affiliated with the Shop Disney Parks or shopDisney app/website nor with Disney Stores located around the country, including the Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort. While we are under the same parent umbrella, we operate as separate business entities. We are unable to assist with merchandise from their locations and they cannot assist with merchandise purchased at our Walt Disney World or Disneyland Parks and Resorts. For assistance with your merchandise, please contact one of the following areas: Disney's Hilton Head Resort (843) 341-4100 My apologies we are unable to assist you and thank you for your understanding. Have a Magical day! Magical Wishes, Kristen Merchandise Guest Services I have finally given up. If they were going to stonewall me, I wish they had done it right away and saved me a lot of time and energy. A word of warning if you buy one. Assemble quickly and don't go too far from the point of purchase because Disney clearly doesn't stand behind their products.

 

[Disneylover99]

Cool looking puzzle. Looks great! I can’t even tell where the 3 pieces are missing.

 

[Disneefun]

Unfortunately, these parks puzzles are kind of notorious for quality problems (and no customer service). I hang out on a reddit forum dedicated to jigsaw puzzles and the parks puzzles get posted often, usually with some pieces missing. Either that or the cut is messed up, the image is blurry, or the pieces are peeling. I've been burned on a Haunted Mansion one. As cute as they are, I stay away now, especially since, unlike the major puzzle manufacturers (Buffalo, Ravensburger, etc.), there is no customer service remedy if the puzzle is flawed. Sorry you got burned.

 

[ZellyB]

That really stinks. We've bought a couple of puzzles at the parks and been lucky so far with them but there is little more frustrating then getting to the end of a puzzle and finding these problems. It's really too bad because it's a really neat puzzle.

 

[prairie_girl]

Cool looking puzzle. Looks great! I can’t even tell where the 3 pieces are missing.

Same here! I zoomed in as much as possible and couldn’t see where the missing pieces would go.

 

[BeBopaSaurus]

Ok, I am a puzzle nerd, and I have this puzzle. I remember getting frustrated because pieces would fit multiple places. It looks like MAYBE the piece I circled in yellow could be moved to a missing piece spot? I’m not sure about the others…?

 

[JimMIA]

Have you disputed the purchase with your credit card company?

The decision is purely the discretion of the merchant, but maybe somebody at Disney is smart enough to realize this is not a battle to fight with a good customer.

 

[Donaldswife]

That stinks!! When I have had issues in the past with different Disney parks merchandise they replaced them for me when I sent a picture of the defect.

Thanks for the warning, I will make sure I don't buy any puzzles from Disney.

 

[mmouse37]

I have made a few of the Disney puzzles that they sold on ShopDisney with good results. Sorry you had such trouble. That really is a cool puzzle.

We did have an issue once with macadamia nut chocolates that we bought at the Poly gift shop. We bought six boxes to give out as gifts to family. When we got home to NY and about to hand them out I noticed all the boxes had expiration dates that passed about 2 months before. I am sure the chocolates were fine but I certainly did not want to give gifts that had expired. I contacted Disney Merchandise and took pics of the dates and my receipt and they did credit me the amount I spent. Can't remember if I had to send the boxes back or not.

MJ

 

[slo]

I love doing puzzles and I would be bummed out if this would happen.
We‘re you planning on gluing it and hanging it?
I glue all of mine and I would put a piece of navy card stock behind each empty area to help it blend in a little. Or you could get white and color it yourself with markers to help it blend in.
In no way do I think the puzzle is a lost cause - it looks great!

 

[_19disnA]

I have finally given up. If they were going to stonewall me, I wish they had done it right away and saved me a lot of time and energy.

I agree, if they never planned to give you a refund or send a different puzzle, why waste your time with 3 weeks of back and forth just for them to say..............'gee there isn't anything we can do'? Their mumbo/jumbo about different business entities is nonsense, no customer cares how the company is organized. If THEY can't assist you, they should have forwarded it to the correct department/area who could rather then telling you to contact someone else. If it is like most other customer service, you will probably get an email shortly asking you to fill out a survey about your experience....................LOL.

 

[Araminta18]

Disney puzzles are the worst for this. I bought the “Up” doublesided puzzle and it took two tries before I got one that had all the pieces. We just bought the Indiana Jones one at Disneyland and I counted the pieces before I put it together and surprise surprise, one piece is missing. So I emailed Disney (within the 3 day window) and they’re saying that I need to put the puzzle together to prove that it’s missing a piece. So frustrating. They have to know this is an issue.