At the end of every school year, the graduating class presents a gift to the school called the “senior gift.” Last year’s class of 2014 came up with the idea to replace the old and withered cougar mascot that’s used at football games and other school events with a new and improved one.
“Each time I loaded the cougar into my washing machine, I was never quite sure what I would find at the end of the wash cycle. Although clean, there are traces of the cougar mascot still in my washing machine,” teacher Laura Hartman said
The order was placed, and a few weeks later the item arrived, but it was not the same cougar mascot that was displayed in the advertisement online.
“I was confused as to why the seniors would have wanted it,” Jodi Craddock, bookkeeper, said. “But I thought that’s what was requested, and that’s what we got.”
Some students described the mascot as “disturbing”, and made them “uncomfortable.”
The mascot was ordered from an Amazon-like website in China by the name of DH Gate. After Craddock realized that the mascot the school had received was the wrong one, she contacted the seller in order to return it.
The seller agreed to take the item back in exchange for a complete refund as well as agreeing to cover shipping and handling. The school ordered a second mascot from a different seller in China on DH Gate, and once again was disappointed in what was received.
“I was furious when the second mascot arrived, and it still wasn’t what was ordered,” Craddock said.
Craddock quickly emailed the seller in order to come up with a solution, but a language barrier made it difficult for the two to understand each other well. The following is part of the exchange.
“What is your solution? You sent me the wrong cougar mascot. This cougar is NOTHING like the one I ordered. It is too expensive for me to pay to mail it back to you. It was not my mistake. Thank you,” Craddock said in her email.
“hello, dear friend,” the seller wrote. “thanks for your message, plz don’t worry, i will help you solve this question, so would you plz send the you receive costume picture to me, then help you. Thanks for you. Have a good day, aimme.”
The seller attempted to persuade Craddock into keeping the mascot and accepting a $100 refund, but Craddock stood strong in her stance to return the mascot back to China.
Due to the time difference it would take up to an entire 24 hours for either to respond, which caused the conversation to go on for weeks.
“I am sending 2 pictures. One the cougar I ordered. One the cougar you sent. Please look at the faces. They are extremely different. The shape of the faces is not the same. The area above the eyes is not the same. Nothing is the same,” Craddock said in one of her emails.
“hi dear, how about to return and get refunded?” the seller wrote.
DH Gate’s Resolution Center contacted Craddock and strongly urged her to take the $100 refund. After extensive discussion with administration, it was decided to accept the refund and donate the mascot to Wake Forest Elementary School.
Craddock has now placed an order for a third cougar mascot.
“We are awaiting the arrival (of the mascot) from an American company,” Craddock said. “It is more expensive, but when we receive the item I ordered, I’ll be happy.”