Anyone Used Maracas Mexico?

[JenniferH114]

Has anyone ordered goods through Maracas Mexico out of Puerto Vallarta? If so, did everything go smoothly? Basically, I'm trying to confirm that they are a legit company.

[smileitseb]

@@JenniferH114 I ordered my maracas from there for my May 3 wedding. They are delivering directly to my resort. Another DRC bride got married there in February and she really liked the maracas. However, they did not send all of the ones she ordered (I think they were missing 5 or so) but I've read other reviews and that seemed like it was an isolated incident.

[JenniferH114]

@smileitseb - So, I was originally promoting them to other brides, ha!, but we have now run into an issue, and I think we have to go with a plan b.

 

Our order was all set, and we went to make our payment through MoneyGram this morning, but MoneyGram red-flagged it. So, then we has to call MoneyGram, and they basically lectured us saying that this has fraud written all over it and they denied the payment.

 

I checked with our resort and they have received shipments from them before (but they don't guarantee anything since they aren't a preferred vendor), so I honestly don't think get the impression that it's a scam, but now I don't know how we'd pay them even if we wanted to!

How did you guys send your payment??

Edited March 30, 2015 by JenniferH114

[smileitseb]

@@JenniferH114 I sent it via MoneyGram. And they did flag it for me too and I had to call them and answer all these questions but since I had never used MoneyGram, I thought that was standard when sending money to another country. My coordinator and the other bride (I will find her @ on here in a sec) both said they were fine (other than the issue I mentioned) and my resort has had them deliver several times before, so I'm thinking it's okay. I'm hoping at least

This is @nattiegams925 review:

 

Maracas: I got the multi-color maracas from Maracas Mexico with personalization on the back. We ordered 45 but only received 40. I was pissed. I'm not a mean or confrontational person, but I sent a nasty email to the company. She blamed Claudia for not checking as she had received it 2 weeks prior. While I think Claudia should have checked, they still sent the wrong amount and at the end of the day, it was their mistake. I was going to pursue a refund for the 5, but determined $12 wasn't worth the effort. The maracas themselves were great and Claudia miraculously had extra maracas in her drawer that she wrote "Natalie and Bill Riviera Maya February 23 2015" on the back like the personalized ones. People didn't even notice.

[JenniferH114]

@smileitseb - I think they are fine, too. I never got a "scam" impression. I wasn't saying that to try and worrry you! We had to answer some questions, but once they heard that we have never met them in person and the payee is "Maria Concepcion" and we have not communicated with her, they gave us the lecture and said no-go. They also said that if it's a company, they should have an account setup through MoneyGram and they don't.

 

I am really sad because I LOVE our designs, but with this roadblock, I'm thinking we will order custom papel picado from Etsy, since it'll be easy to pack, and I'm working on getting a custom maraca quote from our resort's preferred vendor.

 

Oh, and Western Union's fees were really high, so we didn't try them.

Edited March 30, 2015 by JenniferH114

[smileitseb]

@@JenniferH114 Those are good points, I actually didn't think of that. At this point I'm going to hope for the best Hope you find the favors you like!

[acw271011]

I looked at them and I didn't like what I was hearing from them. First I found their prices higher and then when I really didn't want to ship to within Mexico they wanted like $100 or some ridiculous amount for shipping to the US. When I tried to get just tags from them, which can just go in the mail, they wanted about $2 per tag, plus about $20 to put them in the mail. It just struck me as a money grab and that made me nervous.

 

Have you looked at Amols? Their pricing is much better and I think you'll get a much better reviews here from other brides. That's just my opinion. Good luck!

[smileitseb]

The only reason I didn't do Amols is because I really wanted them personalized. I know brides have written on the Amols one themselves but I don't like my handwriting. 

 

Now I'm stressed out about these! I hope they arrive to our resort without any problems.

[JenniferH114]

@@acw271011 - Thanks for the info!

 

@@smileitseb - Blanca got back to me. We are going to try submitting the payment one more time. If it gets denied again we'll move on. I really have a heart set on what we ordered!!

[JenniferH114]

@smileitseb - I had to argue with MoneyGram, but they sent the payment. Fingers crossed now!!!