Why I Will Never Buy Anything Ever Again From Zazzle

If you've never heard of Zazzle before, it is not a frozen yogurt chain. It's a company that makes customizable products in a variety of form factors. That means you can get everything from a t-shirt to a coffee mug with a design you, or another regular person uploaded to Zazzle.  Back in the old days, the master of this business model was Cafe Press. Zazzle has taken the idea a step further than mugs and t-shirts and has begin printing awesome stuff on phone cases and a variety of other devices. When I saw they had a Tardis case for sale, it fell right in with my fairly recent three year love affair with Doctor Who.

Zazzle lists the case as "Funny Police Phone Call Box Iphone" (Link)and it is indeed funny, because everywhere else it's called The Tardis. The case was STEEPLY priced at $40, but it's one of those things you fall in love with and MUST HAVE, so I bought it. When it got to my house 4 months ago, it was love at first sight. Normally I don't like cases on my phone. The iPhone 4s is a thing of beauty, and slides in and out of your pocket like it dug the burrow itself. Until now I've been averse to cases, despite having dropped or broken 3 out of the 4 iPhones I've owned. But the Tardis was SO PRETTY. I put it on and what it lost in sleekness, it made up for in geek euphoria. So it went for four months. I dropped my phone a couple of times in the past 4 months and the case performed admirably. The fabric on the back wears well and though it's gotten a little dingy, it's still a beauty. Problems set in a couple days ago.

I was in my car and dropped my phone on the carpet in the back seat. When I picked it up, the front of the case was cracked completely through and fell off in my hand.  As you can see here, the back of the case acts as a sort of cradle for the phone, and the front snaps on to hold it in place.  The front is flimsy when it's not on the phone, so it wasn't a huge surprise that it broke.  What WAS a surprise was that when I called Zazzle support, I was told that Zazzle will not sell you a replacement part.  They will only sell you an entirely new case, at $40. 

Now I've worked in retail.  You get returns all the time, and occasional defects or breaks in shipping from the manufacturer.  Add to that, their bread and butter is customization, most likely print on demand.  That means there is very likely human error in the customization process and there are almost certainly extra front face covers remaindered after a botch in the customizable part (the back).  My point here is that these parts aren't molded once and mated for life.  It's not like there aren't spare parts laying around.  It would be extraordinarily unlikely that only matched fronts and backs exist in exact ratios.  Zazzle simply doesn't want to sell you a replacement for the part.

That is their right.  It's their product and they can sell it in whatever way they choose.  It is also my right to be disappointed and complain about it.  True, it won't fix my case, but it will make me feel better, and also let you know that if you expect to be able to fix anything from Zazzle, you're out of luck.  I can't think of many other companies that sell you things that arrive disassembled that won't sell you a replacement parts.  Some companies that do are: Ikea, Apple, Dell, Nestle, Epson, HP, and most other electronics manufacturers. If I need a new slat for my bed, Ikea isn't going to make me buy a new bed.  They charge a reasonable price for the part for which I'll gladly pay.  If I lose a cable for my iPhone, I don't need to buy a new iPhone.  If my wife accidentally throws away the tray for my coffee maker, Nestle doesn't require me to buy a new coffee maker.  Why does Zazzle require me to  buy a whole new case if the least of the two parts breaks?  The only reason I can think of is that they know the case is effectively useless without the front panel, so without them, you have no case.  They won't sell me the replacement part so if I want the case I love, I have to spend another $40.  Maybe geek euphoria was worth $40, but I really can't justify $80. Even if I could, something about this sort of pretend inability really irritates me. 

Based on this experience, this case represents the first and last product that I'll be buying from Zazzle.  If you buy from them, just understand what you're getting (and more importantly, what you're not getting).  Hopefully this helps you make an informed decision.