If you have searched the Internet looking for home assembly opportunities, you have probably come across Tiny Details, a company in Groton, NY that makes dollhouse miniature accessories. Perhaps you also looked them up on sites like RipOffReport and Better Business Bureau, like I did, and wondered whether you should risk sending $55 as a deposit that Tiny Details requires from home assemblers in order to start. Well, I chose to give it a try.
When my mother moved in with us after dad’s unexpected passing, she desperately needed something to occupy herself with to help her cope with the grief. However, she did not want to do something useless, like crafts that would end up packed away in a closet. Crafts supplies cost money, and mom is not the kind of a person who would waste money just because she needs something to do; she would much rather work and earn. Thus I embarked on a search of a legitimate work-at-home company (despite having unsuccessfully searched before and despite my husband’s verdict that they were all scams).
I came across Tiny Details, and it sounded perfect. The items they gave out to home assemblers to work on – miniature books, magazines, playing cards, tea boxes, calendars – looked very cute and fun to make. They did not require any special skills, most of the work consisted of cutting, folding, and gluing. I figured that with patience and accuracy, which both mom and I have in good supply, making these should not be a problem. The company warned that the items were very small, 1/12 of the regular size, and therefore home assemblers needed to have good eyesight. Mom had a large magnifying glass, so we thought she was well prepared.
As I have already mentioned, I did my research (read: scam-check) prior to placing an order. Yes, Tiny Details showed up on RipOffReport, and its record with Better Business Bureau was not perfect, either. There were customer complaints about not getting refunds and about the company’s quality control being impossible to pass. People were angry and called this company a scam. However, Better Business Bureau also showed that Tiny Details responded to complaints and made efforts to settle them. On RipOffReport, I saw rebuttals posted by Tiny Details where they shared their side of the story. They stated that the people who posted complaints had failed to follow the guidelines and would not correct their mistakes; some never completed the kit, never asked for a refund but complained about losing their money. There was also a post from a person who said they did assembly for Tiny Details, and although the company can be slow to pay, it does pay. So whom was I to believe? Was this a scam or not? The only way to find out was to try this company and see for myself.
So I ordered a kit of playing cards, ranked among the easiest ones to make (Tiny Details has star rankings of how difficult the assembly of particular kits is). Keeping in mind the strict quality control, I decided to start with something simple. There was no folding or gluing with this kit; the miniature cards had to be cut out, placed into plastic bags, and stapled. That sounded easy enough. I paid $55 as a deposit that would be returned to me when I submit my completed kit, plus the payment of $50 for the work – if it passes the quality inspection.
The kit took quite a long time to arrive. This is my biggest problem with this company: waiting. In my experience, they have been very, very slow. Their website promises kit orders processed within 1 to 5 business days, plus however long it takes for the mail to deliver it. All in all, it should not be much over a week. In my case, it was 18 days and a couple of phone calls.
When I opened the kit, I experienced what all those who try working for Tiny Details seem to experience at first: a bit of a shock at how small these things are. Yes, despite the warning on the website, I did not expect them to be that tiny. My husband took one look at the kit and said, “I’d send it back and ask for a refund.” I was not going to give up that easy though. As to mom, she was happy about receiving her cards and eager to get to work.
The kit contained several sheets of regular paper with the playing cards printed on them, a cutting knife, and 100 plastic bags. Instructions were also provided and a sample – a completed pack of cards. I occasionally helped mom to cut out the cards; she used the knife provided by Tiny Details, and I used scissors. I must say we both enjoyed doing it. The initial shock wore off, and cutting along the lines was not all that difficult. Packaging and stapling was a little tricky, but we’d gotten the hang of it as well.
When you first try making a particular kit, Tiny Details requires that you send a sample of your work to them before completing and mailing the whole thing. We sent one deck of cards and continued the work, pretty certain that we were doing everything right. The sample came back 13 days later, with a note saying that we should to be more careful about not leaving any of the gray lines on the cards, but except for that, everything was good. I checked the sample, and they were right: there were indeed some gray lines left. Encouraged, we completed the kit within a couple of days and mailed it to Tiny Details.
That’s when the Big Waiting began. When almost a month had passed without a word from Tiny Details, I started calling them. I think I called two or three times; the company does answer the phone, and they even call back if you leave a message on their answering machine, although not always. Basically, I was told that my kit was being inspected. Then I finally got it back – all of it. The enclosed explanation stated that the plastic bags were stapled too low. I was asked to re-package them, and 100 more bags were provided. The cards themselves were good, according to the inspector’s note.
This was frustrating, of course, and the word “scam” did come to my mind; however, I decided to stick to it and do as required. Our staples indeed were lower than on the sample provided by Tiny Details, so it looked like their request was legitimate. Mom re-packaged all the cards in one day and we mailed them back.
Do I need to tell you that more Big Waiting followed? Yes; and this time it was even worse. Remembering how long it took before, I did not even bother Tiny Details for a month. Then I had to take a three week trip overseas, so I thought that by the time I return I would have a check from them, or some kind of a note, waiting in my mailbox. I was wrong; I came back, and it took another month of calling before I finally got things moving. The receptionist was trying to be helpful, but all she could do was to tell me that my completed kit is still with the inspectors, and she does not know what takes them so long. Eventually, she had gotten the supervisor involved, and I received a phone call from him; he thanked me for my patience, apologized for the delay, and told me that my check was on the way.
I had finally received the check yesterday, over five months after receiving the kit. Yes, as I write this, I have the check from Tiny Details here in front of me, so the good news is that they do pay. The bad news though is all the trouble I had to go through. Would I call them a scam? No. They were willing to work with me as long as I was willing to work with them, despite my frustration, and I did get paid in the end. Would I say it is a good way to make some extra money? It would be, if they had a smoother running system and a quick turnaround.
