Great Place For Gifts and Household Products
Written: Dec 11 '02
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My name somehow got put on a list to receive catalogs in the mail. I receive tons of them! Most of them go straight to the recycle bin, but there are a few that I actually enjoy looking through, and one of those is the Miles Kimball catalog. A few months ago I decided to order some items to give as Christmas gifts, and I used their website to place my order.
What Is MilesKimball.com?
The Miles Kimball has been a catalog-sales company since 1935. They specialize in gifts and household products, and they offer a wide variety of personalized gifts. The items are generally of good quality and are affordably priced. Their web site (at http://www.mileskimball.com) is an extension of their catalog.
In my opinion, most of their items fall into the knick-knack or nice-to-have/non-necessity variety, and are generally small and fairly inexpensive. They do offer some nice, more expensive items as well, but I'd say the majority of the items are under $20.00.
The Webpage:
MilesKimball.com is a fairly typical shopping-cart web site. There are a variety of search methods to help you find what you are looking for. It has a nice, attractive layout -- not too busy or too plain.
The product descriptions are fairly good, and include large color images. If an item has various options (such as jewelry that allows you to choose a birthstone) or personalization, drop-downs and text boxes allow you to enter your personalization information. There are plenty of opportunities throughout the checkout process where you are asked to verify (double-check) your personalization information.
How to find what you are looking for:
You can use your catalog to shop (via the "Catalog Quickshop" link), and can get to items by entering their item numbers.
You can also use their search feature (at the top of each page), where you can enter a keyword or the item number.
You can also browse by the item categories. The main categories include:
* Kitchen
* Home
* Desktop & Office
* Gifts & Collectibles
* Apparel/Personal Care
* Outdoor
* Travel & Auto
* Leisure
* Kids Korner
* Patriotic
* Holiday
* As Seen on TV
* Best of Personalized
* Christmas Cards
* Customer Favorites
* Kimball Values
* Sale
* Kimball Klearance
* Web Exclusives
Most categories have sub-categories as well, to help you narrow the search down even further.
Payment Methods:
When ordering online, the only payment method is by credit card. The credit cards accepted are Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. Your credit card is not charged until the order is shipped (my last order was shipped in 3 separate batches, so my card was charged 3 separate times).
Shipping:
MilesKimball.com ships via the United States Postal Service (USPS) for standard delivery, and ships via FedEx for rush deliveries.
The rates are applied based on the amount of your order, as follows:
Up to $10.00 - Add $3.99
$10.01 to $15.00 - Add $4.99
$15.01 to $25.00 - Add $5.99
$25.01 to $35.00 - Add $6.99
$35.01 to $45.00 - Add $7.99
$45.01 to $55.00 - Add $8.99
$55.01 to $75.00 - Add $10.99
$75.01 to $100.00 - Add $12.99
Over $100.00 - Add $14.99
Add $3.99 for each package shipped to an additional address.
Most orders ship within 2-5 working days from when you placed your order, and should arrive within 7-10 working days.
There are two options for FedEx Rush orders.
* 3-4 Day - for an additional $8.00, non-personalized items arrive in 5-6 business days, personalized items arrive in 8-9 days.
* 1 Day Air - for an additional $32.00(!), non-personalized items arrive within 3 business days, personalized items arrive within 6 days.
An additional $4.00 charge will be added to Priority Mail orders shipped to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and U.S. territories (basically, anywhere outside the Continental US).
Confirmations/Order Tracking:
After you place an order with MilesKimball.com you will receive an e-mail confirming your order. You will receive another e-mail whenever your order (or part of your order) has been shipped.
You can also check the status of your order on the website. Upon clicking the "Order Status" tab you will get a screen listing all of your orders (whether they were placed online or over the telephone -- provided you have ordered online at least once). You can then select the order for which you wish to view the detail.
Customer Service/Returns:
I've ordered from Miles Kimball twice in the past year, and have never had a reason to contact their customer service. You can contact them via e-mail, a toll-free customer service phone number, or via snail-mail.
Orders cannot be canceled via the web site. Cancellations must be called into their 1-800 customer service number.
I have never needed to return an item, but Miles Kimball claims a "Quibble-Free Guarantee" -- meaning that all items, including personalized merchandise, can be returned without question.
Specials & Extra Details:
Sales tax is added on orders shipped to Wisconsin, Nevada, or Connecticut.
Various coupon codes are available on the web occasionally. When I placed my last order they offered a free Christmas tote bag with each purchase over $50 dollars (which I received -- it is really cute).
You can request their free catalog online. You can also sign up to receive e-mail updates on special promotions and sales (I have not signed up for this).
Our Experiences:
I have nothing but nice things to say about MilesKimball.com! Their merchandise arrives in a timely manner, is well-packaged, is in excellent condition, and is exactly what I ordered.
My Christmas order was quite large -- 8 items in total, with quite a few personalized items along with some regular (non-personalized) items. I ultimately received it in 3 separate shipments. The first shipment included all of my non-personalized merchandise along with my "free gift" and two personalized items (mailing labels and a magnet with my child's name on it). A few days later another personalized item arrived -- an adorable wooden block puzzle that spells out my son's name. The last item to arrive was a newspaper that was published on the day my Grandfather was born (which was in 1924 -- I'd wanted to get something similar for my Grandfather before, but the other stores' dated items never went back far enough -- Miles Kimball really came through for me in this case).
What I like about the Miles Kimball catalog and web site is that most of the items offered are of a decent quality -- they aren't cheap, flimsy items that you regret having wasted your money on. As I already mentioned, I get tons of catalogs -- but I haven't seen the majority of the Miles Kimball items in the plethora of other catalogs I receive, so I really enjoy browsing through their wares.
I've had no problems at MilesKimball.com, and plan to continue shopping there in the future.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
mizgnomer
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 - Top 50 |
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Location: Tennessee
Reviews written: 306
Trusted by: 202 members
About Me:
Don't meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you're crunchy and taste good with ketchup
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