One of the things we’ve realized during our current review of BJDivas’ systems is that we need clearer professional boundaries around layaways that have been remaining open indefinitely.
Flexible layaway has always been important to us because a big part of what we want BJDivas to do is help people afford legitimate dolls they might not otherwise be able to purchase. Because of that, we’ve historically been extremely accommodating with extensions and irregular payment schedules.
However, we’ve also ended up with some layaways where payments have stopped for very long periods, customers have stopped responding altogether, or orders have remained open indefinitely. We used to think that continuing to hold those orders for as long as necessary was simply good customer service, and that doing so stayed true to our goal of helping people bring home the dolls they love.
We’re realizing now that this creates its own problems and, in some ways, actually works against that goal. Long-term unresolved layaways take up physical storage, complicate inventory and recordkeeping, and indirectly affect our ability to manage other customers’ orders efficiently.
We don’t want to become unnecessarily strict, and we still want to remain generous with customers who communicate with us and genuinely need more time. That flexibility is not going away. If you’re communicating with us and need additional time because of unexpected circumstances, please reach out. We’ll continue to consider extensions and unusual situations on a case-by-case basis.
At the same time, we do need a clear point at which, after an extended period without payment or communication, a layaway can reasonably be considered abandoned.
Going forward, our layaway policy will be:
3 months with no contact, or 6 months with no payment = defaulted layaway
Before a layaway is formally canceled for default, we will make a reasonable attempt to contact the customer using the information associated with the order and provide a final opportunity to respond.
We’ve updated our Layaway Info & Guide page to reflect these changes.
For existing layaways that already fall outside these new limits, we are not going to abruptly cancel them. We’ll be reaching out and providing a grace period so affected customers have an opportunity to contact us and establish a path forward. More specific instructions and timing will be provided directly to anyone affected.
Our goal here is not to make layaway less accessible. We still want BJDivas to offer one of the most flexible layaway services possible. The goal is to make that flexibility sustainable while establishing clearer professional boundaries and preventing indefinitely unresolved orders from affecting our ability to serve other customers.
Thank you to everyone who helped us think this through. We really appreciate the thoughtful input, and we’re glad that the option most commonly suggested was also the one we felt struck the best balance between flexibility and reasonable boundaries.