Should You Consider a Monthly Craft Subscription for Your Child?

I recently tried to find a monthly mail service that would send my kids mail. They love to get mail and I thought this sounded like a great idea since personal mail has become almost non-existent. I did a Google search and found several websites set up for this purpose. You give them your child's information such as preference, gender, and age and they send them a package each month that you have subscribed to. Sounds great right? Well I decided to try two of these services out and here is what I have found.

The first service I signed up for was from Who Got Mail. I filled in the information and sent the payment for a trial month's subscription at 7.20. I made payment on July 1st and waited eagerly for the package to arrive. It was two weeks later, on July 14th, that I get an email from Paypal saying that I had a refund from Who Got Mail for the price I paid. In the comment's section was a note saying that they were going to redesign their website to say that they are no longer accepting additional clients. Then why did they let me make my order? Why did they not refund my money within a day or two rather than wait for two weeks to pass by? If you accept an order shouldn't you fullfill it? Especially since it was merely a one month trial subscription could they not send out the one package with a note stating that they are no longer accepting new clients? How about a personal e-mail from their customer service rather than an impersonal letter from Paypal? Even if they do resume service for new customers at Who Got Mail I will not try to resubscribe and I do not recommend that anyone else does either.

The next service I tried was by A Child's Work. I also paid for this subscription on July 1st and was notified by the business that they did not receive my payment for my order on the next day. I sent an e-mail to them with my reciept from Paypal attached to be responded with an e-mail stating that they did not receive the e-mail from Paypal until later on the night before. This still means that they received my payment e-mail before they sent this e-mail to me. If they had checked all of their e-mail first to see if the payment had been made then they would not have had to send the e-mail. I was then told that my package would be mailed out on July 3rd. Seemed like fast service and I was willing to forgive them. But then, as of today, I have yet to receive the package in the mail. I understand about delayed shipping times with the post office but feel that even with a delay the package should have arrived by now. I am still waiting to hear a response from the company about my inquiry. I am thankful that I have only subscribed monthly which can be cancelled at any time.

My suggestion if you want your kids to receive mail? Go with a penpal service or ask relatives to send them letters. I do not recommend that you try either one of the services I have listed above.