REVIEW OF THE PURR SHOP – OR – HOW I LEARNED TO SHOP LOCALLY INSTEAD OF BEING SCAMMED

 by Mel Dawn

Review: 5 out of 10.

Finding a new umbrella to buy can be a challenge at the best of times. I received one in my FabFitFun box last spring. It was only a month before it broke. I then purchased one from Home Depot. It’s small and compact, which is great, if I can find that trigger point to get it to stay up. So, let’s say I was super-happy when I saw a purple cat umbrella online at The Purr Shop. 

Initially, I saw The Purr Shop advertised on Facebook. But since there are so many scammers out there, I proceeded with caution. I only found 2 Better Business Bureau complaints. Not bad, considering that FabFitFun has over 2000. I even discovered that they’re located in the USA (or so I thought!)

So, I went ahead and ordered my new umbrella, along with some other goodies. The other goodies were great, by the way. 

The umbrella, not so much. 

I ordered a Purple Cat Umbrella, but not only did I not receive the correct colour, I received some sort of terrible cheap knockoff umbrella. 

Please refer to the photo above from their site. The brand I received is not even right. In the photo online, the purple umbrella says "Rechap" for the brand and has a silver inside, and mauve outside. The one I received says "Like Rain". I can see a blue umbrella on the site but the one I received looks nothing like that and even the sleeve isn't tagged.

As you can see from the photo, I didn't receive the correct item at all.

Normally I'd be fine with a blue cat umbrella, but not only is this not the brand as advertised on the site, but it's some cheap knockoff. The umbrella is made from some sort of cheap garbage bag plastic that I can poke my fingers through.

Also, the plastic totally smells really really bad. I've placed it outside. I'm sure that it wouldn't pass any North American guidelines for plastics manufacturing. I've never even smelled anything this bad.

I ended up putting the umbrella outside for a week. Then I contacted The Purr Shop. No response, but not a surprise considering their BBB reviews. I discovered that both their addresses listed online are actually for UPS Stores. So, this is a company located in China that has faux USA addresses. Sad. 

I took it to Paypal to dispute the cost. After all, why should I pay for junk? They ruled 50/50. So, in order for me to get a refund, I must return it. Since it cost me about $30 CAD, and would cost me $20 CAD to send back, I decided to just keep it.

Fortunately, the plastic smell has greatly dissipated. 

Let’s hope I can get a few years’ usage out of it and hope it doesn't break.

Lesson learned – Shop local from meow on!

PS: Check out my cat care book here: getbook.at/ameowzon 

Queen Victoria's Wisdom on Writing

Happy Victoria Day! I decided to dig through my archives for a post from a couple of years ago.

Queen Victoria wrote a minimum 6000 words in her journal each day. She received her first journal in 1882 when she was a young girl of thirteen years old. It is unclear where her journals were stored as she finished each one, but a staff member of the royal household deemed them valuable enough to store away in the archive of her life.

Queen Victoria's entire journal collection can be found online at the Queen Victoria's Journals website. 

Women have extremely busy lives with work and famiy but Queen Victoria fitted a week into one day. She had the time to pen 6000 words each day, so I do believe that I can find the time to do the same, minus a zero or two!

As my vacation looms, I have promised myself to work on my steampunk writing projects at least 5 days in a row. It's been discussed whether I'll go into hiding, perhaps at a seedy hotel, or will I inhabit the local coffee shop and pretend to be JK Rowling? 

Ironically I was heading home one day when I nearly had to smack myself on top of the head! It's so true that we don't pay attention to our surroundings after the first few months. Stay tuned for my further writing adventures. I do know that the Queen did not stress about where to write, she just set pen to paper and wrote it.

If anyone here should finish reading Queen Vic's journals in their lifetime or write 6000 words a day, do come round for tea.