Aedes de Venustas

[BillC]

Has anyone bought from them before? Recently placed my first order with them and it has been a frustrating experience so far

[rearviewmirror]

No, but their website is very nice. Which normally isn't a great sign.

[Obsessed]

I ordered from them recently and had no problem at all, except that one of the items was out of stock.

What kind of problem are you having?

[BRuhling]

I ordered a frag for SWMBO for Christmas. Had no problem and they provide 7 samples with every order. My only complaint is they are not cheap!

[daverasi]

Frustrating is right on. I won't be ordering from them again.

[StylinLA]

I had a problem with a frag ordered through them, but to be fair it wasn't them. My MPG Santal Noble bottle bought through them arrived with a leak and the cap had fallen apart from the leak.
I returned and they replaced promptly. Clearly a leaky bottle issue with MPG- not with them.

[BillC]

Nothing awful, but I placed an order and had it confirmed by email which indicated I'd get a shipping notice shortly Didn't hear anything for a week. Took two messages before I got a response which said it would ship next day and I would receive a shipping confirmation. Got neither a shipping confirmation nor a note explaing why. Just annoyed by the level of service.

[daverasi]

I had similar issues BillC. They also mistakenly shipped to my billing address instead of my work address.

[Schad]

I had a single good experience with them. No complaints.

BTW I used Barney's recently and they were fantastic w/ timeliness.
Order requested Sat night. Monday I called and they said it shipped out on Monday and gave me tracking number over the phone (before it arrived in my mail later that night). Got the package today (Thursday). That's free ground shipping too. So it was great! My pet peeve is companies that sit on your order for days before sending the package out through the mail.

Luckyscent is still my go to niche store.

[john parker]

Billc and David, what exactly have the problems been? I just recently ordered samples from Aedes, and they came through very quickly and accurately. Might order something more than samples in the future, is why I am asking about the problems.

[BillC]

John - right now more annoyances than anything. I placed an order for something that was supposed to be in stock - got a confirmation email with a notice that I would receive a shipping notice shortly. Never got a shipping notice. After a week I inquired about the order. Took two messages to get a response that it would ship the next day and that I'd be sent a shipping confirmation. Next day, no shipping confirmation, no message. I inquired about a status. No response. About to inquire again. Just not the level of service I expect from a store selling high end goods. Actually, not the service level I expect from a store selling anything.

[john parker]

John - right now more annoyances than anything. I placed an order for something that was supposed to be in stock - got a confirmation email with a notice that I would receive a shipping notice shortly. Never got a shipping notice. After a week I inquired about the order. Took two messages to get a response that it would ship the next day and that I'd be sent a shipping confirmation. Next day, no shipping confirmation, no message. I inquired about a status. No response. About to inquire again. Just not the level of service I expect from a store selling high end goods. Actually, not the service level I expect from a store selling anything.

Thanks, BillC. Will definitely keep this in mind. And I completely agree with you. The website's appearance suggests better service than you are receiving.

[daverasi]

John- My experience echoes BillC's. I had to call in my order due some issues with their (at the time) new website. I was told when I could expect to receive a confirmation and delivery. It took a few days and then I emailed again and got confirmation that the order was made but nothing else. A few days later I got mailing confirmation. All of this occurred much after I was told it would by phone.

I'll put it this way. If I could get the same product elsewhere for the same price I would. The only other online retailer I've had issues with (limited to fragrances) has been frangrancenet.com...I never received the delivery but they refunded my $ without a problem.

[BillC]

So after another message to them today my order is now in transit with a tracking number. They also said they threw in some extra samples including a "preview" of a new Kilians Amber Oud that is launching in March. Assuming all is well with the package - and there's no reason to think otherwise - I'd buy from them again but like David said, if I could get the same product at the same price somewhere else I probably would.

[willread]

They have a beautiful store. Unfortunately the owner is aloof, bordering on discourteous. He often instructs his assistant to help you, who equally unfortunately usually is misinformed and/or ignorant - but at least pleasant.

[BillC]

Wanted to be fair and follow up. My order arrived today - well packed and with several additional samples thrown in. A couple of the adds were 2ml sprays including the aforementioned By Kilians. The additional samples were well chosen based on my order and the samples I'd requested which I appreciate - they obviously didn't just grab a couple samples of whatever they had too much of. So all in all a mixed bag. Order took two weeks and several messages to arrive but they did try to make up for my inconvenience. I have to say I'll probably give them another try in the future.

[Schad]

luckyscent is the best imo. impeccable service

[BillC]

luckyscent is the best imo. impeccable service

There were a couple samples I wanted that Lucky Scent didn't have. I was ordering two Kilian's scents so I ordered one from Aedes and one from Lucky Scent. Placed the Aedes order one day, the LS order the next. The day my LS order arrived is when I started sending messages to Aedes. In the end, I received both orders and a bunch of samples so I can't complain too much. But I have to agree with you, I've made several orders from LS and never had a single issue.

[Schad]

I like when companies ship the product on the very next business day. If I order on Saturday night, I want it out of their store and in the hands of USPS/FedEx/UPS on Monday. Not on Tuesday-Thursday. On Monday. I'm impatient that way. And I've found that Luckyscent will do this consistently. I also recently purchased from Barneys NY online (MUSC RAVAGEUR BABY!) and they did the same -- sent it out FedEx Ground (free shipping!) on the next business day.

I've actually had positive experiences w/ Sephora, Nieman Marcus, Saks too -- and as I recall they shipped out fast. Perfume Shoppe in Vancouver (they also have a U.S. store) is another good online source for niche.

I give a little more leeway to private vendors but as noted in another thread the time it takes TPC is just ridiculous. On the positive end, I ordered from Archfire this weekend and he sent it out first business day! I was impressed.