ZydecoGifts.com: One-Stop-Shopping For The Weird, Bizarre & Completely Hysterical Items You Just Can't Live Without
Written: May 24 '06
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| Full Review |
Have you ever come across a website by pure accident and completely fell in love with it? Two things led me to this site, two very unrelated things - ‘Sea Monkeys’ and ‘Buckwheat Zydeco’. While they didn’t have any Buckwheat Zydeco things for sale, they did have a lot of Sea Monkeys items. But that is just the start, they have things that will have you laughing so hard you won’t be able to see the screen clearly. Any site can have a wide variety of products or a website that is easy to navigate but do they have good customer service? Zydeco Gifts doesn’t have good customer service, they have awesome customer service. Whether you need to know more about something or want to place a bulk order - you are never rushed off the phone or sent a canned email reply. The site reminds me of Spencers Gifts before they tried to be like Hot Topic but minus the adult or questionable merchandise. Look at it this way, if you need a good laugh or are searching for that perfect gift for someone, you really need to go to this site and start looking around.
Selection
I won’t go so far as to call this a retro site because that wouldn’t exactly be an accurate description. They carry a wide variety of things from party lights to Pez refrigerator magnets, Mr. T rubber duckies to some of the strangest ‘action’ figures you will ever find. I came across the site when I was looking for some Sea Monkey items [and doing searches for Buckwheat Zydeco CD’s] and fell in love with it. If you are shopping for someone that is hard to buy for, do yourself a favor and check out this site. One thing that is always a hit is the Glowing Windup Computer Goddess. Wind her up and she will flap her wings and make your computer problems go away. If you ever went to a Catholic school you will get a kick out of the Nunzilla or Flying Nun. They have bobble head dolls for your dashboard, greeting cards, novelty items from Betty Boop, Gumby & Pokey and oh those Darwin fish. Ever see those plastic Darwin logos that people have on the back of their automobiles? Well, you can get them in a lot of different varieties, some of which are just plain genius. For $9.95 you can get designs like ‘Dead Fish’, ‘Fish ‘N Chips’, ‘Gefilte Fish’, ‘Devil Fish’ and my personal favorite, ‘Science Fish’. I have to be honest about these, most people won’t get the joke about them right away but those that do will be rolling on the floor laughing.
Shipping
The company is located in Canada but they do ship world wide. You will be billed for shipping fees separately from your order because they do not charge extra fees for packing, handling or how ever other sites cleverly word those ‘other’ charges. When they process your order you are charged the amount for the items plus any taxes that you may have to pay on it [depending on where you live], when they mail the order out they pay for the shipping fees then charge the amount to your credit card. If you are paying with a money order you will have to email them to get a ballpark figure on what shipping would be. This split billing may seem odd but it can save you a lot of money; they could easily sit there and charge you ten or twelve dollars for an order and make a couple of extra dollars on it but they don’t.
Customer Service
Zydeco Gifts
565 Johnson Street
Victoria, BC
V8W1M2
Canada
[250] 389-1877 - storefront
[250] 592-6308 - office
[250] 592-6358 - fax
Customer service is stellar. If you ever need to call them or email them they are quick to answer or reply, always pleasant and answer any and every question you may have. To me customer service is something that most stores lack; I would rather pay a little more for things and know that if there is a problem that they will be there to help. The prices are not inflated, there are descriptions of all the items they carry and if you are ever lucky enough to visit their physical store, you will be for a real treat.
Payment Options
You can pay for your order with MasterCard, Visa, American Express or Diners Club. I haven’t seen Discover as an option at the site but you may want to check and see if it has been added [I never bothered to see if Discover is accepted in Canada or not, that may be why I never saw it listed]. If these are not an option for you, you can purchase a postal money order for the total but you will have to contact them to find out what the shipping fees will be. I sort of expected them to have troubles processing my card since it is a Canadian site but the orders that I have placed have all gone smoothly. The double billing did throw me off a few times when I forgot about how they process the shipping fees but when you see one charge for about fifty dollars and another for six or seven dollars, you put two and two together.
The Bottom Line
If you are looking for a gift for someone or are into the stranger things in life then Zydeco Gifts is a site [and retail store] that you really need to check out. The website is easy to navigate and all the things that they carry have color photographs and text entries but on the off chance that you need more information about something, it is only a phone call or email away. If you are worried about things taking forever to arrive because they are located in Canada, don’t be. Most of my orders have arrived in less than ten days but if you are in a hurry you can opt to have things sent quicker but you will be paying more for it. If you need a good laugh then go do some window shopping at Zydeco Gifts, chances are you will find at least one or two things that you simply can’t live without ... the prices are more than fair, shipping is quick and the selection is top notch. Come on now, where else can you find nun slingshots [shoots miniature nuns], Edgar Allen Poe actions figures and Gefilte Fish all at the same site? I have nothing but great things to say about this site ... and I’ll even go so far as to say that I guarantee that you will get at least five hearty laughs from it when you visit and outstanding service when you place an order.
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2006 Freak369
Other awesome, bizarre, amazing or just down right weird websites ...
Sebor Absinth, Slinky Toys, Penguin Mints, Action Figure Xpress, Vampire Wine, Marshmallow Peeps, Lunchboxes Online, Fun To Collect, Pinstruck, Bricks As You Like Them, Illuminations, Discovery Store, What On Earth
Recommended:
Yes
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