souk + SEPIAReviews of soukandsepia.com

Response from souk + SEPIAFeb 16, 2022

Hi Jennifer, Thank you for sharing your story here and bringing this to our attention. We bow our heads in sincere apologies to you. This is never the kind of experience we want for you. We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the reason your order from December 27th still has not shipped is because our partner had ran out of stock for the Ruiru skirt and that is the reason why there is no shipping update. To tell you the truth, we've had a list of customers whose orders had ran out of stock. We send them follow-up emails to give them options for an exchange or a full refund. Of course, we also offer compensatory discounts or store credits for the trouble we've caused. We are a relatively small company compared to Shein, and they're already established themselves way before Souk + SEPIA has even been conceived. They have a bigger team and they produce their own clothing which makes it relatively faster, while we are an online marketplace for curated boutique items from around the globe. Fret not, we will send you a follow-up email where we can discuss about the proper resolution for you. As for the sunglasses you've ordered on the 3rd of February, please know that we are still within the processing stage for the items. Today marks its 8th business day in the processing stage and it may take up to 15 business days, so we're basically halfway there. I hope this information helps! Please don't hesitate to write us should you have further questions or concerns. Wishing you a lovely rest of the evening! With Gratitude, —The souk + SEPIA Customer Gratitude Team E: [email protected] W: www.soukandsepia.com IG: @soukandsepia

Response from souk + SEPIAFeb 15, 2022

Hello Tahira, Thank you for writing about your concerns here. We shall take this chance to extend our sincerest apologies for the unpleasant experience. For our customers, we only desire nothing but the best of memories each time they order from us, and this honestly saddens us. Please forgive us for taking time to resolve this issue, but it seems there is nothing to worry about as your order has already been refunded on the very same day this review was posted. Upon checking, I see it was refunded on February 6th. This means you should have your money by now as it only takes 3 to 5 business days for funds to settle back. We hope that this at least has been satisfying to you as we know we owe it to you. Should you require anything else, please do not hesitate to write us and it will be a pleasure to help! With Gratitude, —The souk + SEPIA Customer Gratitude Team E: [email protected] W: www.soukandsepia.com IG: @soukandsepia

Response from souk + SEPIAFeb 10, 2022

Hi Onaney, We're truly mortified by the troubles you've gone through throughout your experience with us here at souk + SEPIA. If we could do things differently, we'd never put you in that situation and would absolutely spare you the trouble. Having customers inconvenienced, we are aware, is a massive taint on our brand reputation as bad reviews will surely follow a bad experience, and we don't want that at all. We wish the world of online marketplaces such as souk+SEPIA is one devoid of issues on production and shipping delays but it isn't and however much we try to deviate or mitigate these issues there are just some factors that are beyond our wicked best's power to skirt. In our case, since the beginning of December, the onset of the new Covid-19 restrictions outside the US due to the new strain (Omicron) has tied a number of our partner suppliers' hands from doing the logistics and fulfilling our orders. However, we're monitoring them on a daily basis to make sure that we're available to assist them in any way we can for the orders to get to everyone. Most items in our inventory have been produced by boutiques around the globe. Some are ready-made and some are to be made upon order (such as our boots and other shoes). We really are on the beam that waiting too long really sucks which is why we absolutely understand the frustration. We're truly sorry that you've been affected by all this badly, Onaney. With regards to our Customer Gratitude team's replies, in order not to keep customers waiting too long for a reply for their concerns, we do keep a list of ready replies. However, we only use such ready answers when there is a need for urgency in responding to multiple customers and there happen to be only a few CG Reps available. We totally understand how canned replies make us all feel on the receiving end of insincerity, hence we want to guarantee you that eloquence and empathy is highly encouraged within our Customer Gratitude Team and we always emphasize the importance of writing replies that aren't trite sounding, to cliche, tone-deaf and insincere. We're awfully sorry we made you feel that way. We'll make sure each of the following personnel is reminded of this and goes through a coaching session with our Customer Experience QA Specialist followed by a 2-week performance monitoring. As for the deletion of negative reviews on any of our Social Media pages, we have no control over any of these but the Social Media platforms themselves. And even if we'd have the ability to delete bad reviews from our pages, both IG & Facebook, where we're very active, have a set of rigid restrictions on these things. One of these is that they'd automatically disable our ability to sell and advertise on their platforms should a steady stream of negative reviews of the same issue be detected and read by their bots and algorithms. The same is the case here on TrustPilot. There is no way for us to be able to delete or flag reviewers on a whim. We really hope this had clarified things. We seriously would like to work with you to resolve the issue - in this light, our Customer Love Specialist, his name is Ferdinand, will personally get in touch with you within the next 2-3 business days to offer you a resolution and process it accordingly and promptly. Massive thanks to your forthrightness on your feedback, Onaney. Believe it or not, we're immensely grateful for it because souk + SEPIA trusts that more than just understanding the level of the fashionable items needs our customers would love - understanding their hopes, fears, frustrations, needs, and desires in terms of overall brand experience is crucial to our success. It's customers with your kind of candor who'd help us get to that level of success. Thank you so muchly. With Gratitude, Kooks dL. souk + SEPIA | Customer Experience Manager www.soukandsepia.com

Response from souk + SEPIAFeb 8, 2022

Hello Quia, Regrettable is the word which best describes the situation you had endured. We apologize for the delays in the shipping. These past two months had been quite a bumpy ride for us all, yet we shall continue to pursue excellence in the name of customer satisfaction. The delay was caused by a rise in demand by about 80% of our items from November to December of 2021 causing production delays here and there. Luckily, things have toned down and are under control. This incident has been truly unfortunate, but we shall serve you justice. In fact we have good news for you. It looks like your order is bound to be delivered tomorrow as per the tracking link. A copy of which will be sent to you via email shortly after this response is posted. On top of that, we would genuinely fancy a chance to do you right this time. We will be offering you a set of compensations which you may freely choose from. We hope to hear back from you soon! Thank you for taking the time to read our reply. Have a pleasant evening! With Gratitude, —The souk + SEPIA Customer Gratitude Team E: [email protected] W: www.soukandsepia.com IG: @soukandsepia

Response from souk + SEPIAFeb 1, 2022

Hi LaTona, Thank you for reaching out and bringing your situation to our attention. We are sorry that we have upset you this way, but please know that it's not the kind of experience we want you to deal with especially with us. All your concerns are valid and we understand the root cause of your overall disappointment. Since souk + SEPIA is an online marketplace of curated boutique pieces, we do work with merchants around the globe, and China happens to be one of the countries where our partners operate. However, it's not the only place we source our items from. The list includes Tibet, Thailand, The United States, United Kingdom and Lagos, Nigeria. We get the skepticism about us being black owned. We understand it and if this helps with your investigation, you may get to know more about our founder through this website: https://www.kneela.love/ Also, today marks the 13th business day your order has been in the processing stage so it may take a couple days for a tracking to be generated. But there also have been times when movement has already started and the courier was just late in creating a tracking number. Not to worry, though. We do not wish to give you the impression that we are holding your money against you, we have decided to process a refund and cancel the order. Money does not come easy these days, and we definitely consider this fact. There is no need for you to contact your bank or an attorney. You will receive a notification email regarding the refund and it may take 3 to 5 business days for the funds to settle back to your card. This is if you have not opened a dispute with your bank yet. Hopefully, you haven't done that yet as it will complicate and slow down the refund process. I hope this response has helped. Please do not hesitate to reach out via email should you have further questions or concerns. With Gratitude, —The souk + SEPIA Customer Gratitude Team E: [email protected] W: www.soukandsepia.com IG: @soukandsepia

Response from souk + SEPIAJan 31, 2022

Hi Maia, We are grateful for how you fairly expressed your opinions about us. It was done with such politeness and we appreciate small details like this. To lose your respect and support completely would be a shame, so we vow to resolve this for you. To be honest, we have been receiving a number of suggestions to show the estimated time of arrival (ETA) of each item on our online shop, which is precisely why we have been working on redesigning it for our customers' added convenience, and transparency on our part. Although we do have our ETA in our FAQs page, we openly admit that it would be better to post it along with each item in our website. We completely understand your frustration and we understand what we must do to live up to what our customers deserve. A representative of ours will be following up with you shortly after this response is posted. Once again, we would like to apologize for this disappointing experience. Please don't hesitate to write back should you have further questions or concerns. With Gratitude, —The souk + SEPIA Customer Gratitude Team E: [email protected] W: www.soukandsepia.com IG: @soukandsepia

Response from souk + SEPIAJan 31, 2022

Hi Lily, Thank you for writing in! We are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused. Despite the things you believe about us, please know that we are a legitimate black-owned and led company based in New York City. We would like to get the chance to make our own investigation to obtain a resolution for your concerns. All you have to do is to provide us your order number and we will be able to confirm your purchase. We'll be able to pull up your tracking link with your order number, so it's going to be crucial to resolving this issue. We are looking forward to receiving your response. Please don't hesitate to write us back should you have further questions or concerns. Wishing you all the best and may your day be as lovely as can be. With Gratitude, —The souk + SEPIA Customer Gratitude Team E: [email protected] W: www.soukandsepia.com IG: @soukandsepia

Response from souk + SEPIAJan 26, 2022

Hello there! First of all, we would like to express our deepest regrets for all the trouble you've been through. We see that this has been your second review with regards to a terrible experience and we feel a great deal of shame from that. Your order number and email address would be lovely to have. It's absolutely pivotal for our investigation, so we can give you the experience you deserve. We hold credibility in high regard and respect genuineness. Our operations revolve around these values and so we have no reason to remove reviews unless it crosses our rights as a company to protect our reputation. We get how you've come to say that we are a scam company, but we assure you that we are 100% legitimate. Please give us a chance to prove our legitimacy and send us your order number and email address. With these, we'll be able to provide you the resolutions you are owed. Would be a pleasure to hear back from you soon! Wishing you a pleasant rest of the evening! With Gratitude, —The souk + SEPIA Customer Gratitude Team E: [email protected] W: www.soukandsepia.com IG: @soukandsepia