Sealed with a Kiss of Philadelphia

Doesn't Recommend

Lauren H.

Joined 8 months ago

This rating is for a special order we placed for place cards & Our wedding Invitations -- the first and almost certainly last time we'll use Sealed with a Kiss for any order. I'm sure many of those previous reviews about good services and whatnot are not sincere, but our special ordering experience was something of a nightmare and added a great deal of unnecessary stress in the last few days before our wedding. For the record, we did find the folks at SWAK to be nice -- but they were also extremely unprofessional in their work.

Here is our litany of complaints:

1. Their system of having the customer be the first (second and third) round proofreader is an extremely unprofessional one. To SWAK: Please check your own work at least once and then send it over to the customer, who can then check it a second time. The number of mistakes and the type of blatant mistakes we found were completely unacceptable for a professional Invitation Store and would be completely unacceptable for any business seeking your services.

The first round of proofs came back to us with no second name on any of the cards where there were two people listed and table numbers listed on the front, though we'd explicitly asked for table numbers to be on the back of the card.

The second set of proofs had numerous strange mistakes in them, where first and last names had been reversed or were just outright incorrect and other instances when the table number was incorrect. The name problem would've been caught by the most cursory of proofreads on their end, given that one of the more egregious mistakes was on the very first card.

2. Together, these mistakes and the fact that I had to chase down the folks at SWAK to get the place card template at all -- the employee we met with said she'd send it and never did -- cost us several valuable days. Sealed with a Kiss imposes a somewhat draconian deadline on customers to proofread their work. We were emailed proofs around 8 p.m. in the evening and told to return them by 1 p.m. the next day. But on their end, SWAK dragged their feet on returning work to us, refusing to specify when the order would be ready on a specific day -- even in such general terms as whether it'd be before or after noon. For anyone running last minute errands for a wedding, this uncertainty is not very much fun.

3. We were kept waiting for about an hour when we came in to speak with someone about the job. I'd asked someone on the phone, previously, when I should come in and whether I should make an appointment. Megan said it wasn't necessary. We came in, in the afternoon and the employee who should've been at the Store was out to lunch. We killed half an hour while waiting for her to come back by walking around the neighborhood. When we returned, Megan was with another customer, whom she focused all of her attention on. Most people in a customer service situation like this would have tried to divvy up their time between both customers and helped the other, while the first was looking at examples and vice versa.

4. Communication is terrible in general. Almost every time we called, we were put on hold for 10-15 minutes. Many times, no one picked up at all. We had to chase people down for everything and promises to email information or documents were broken repeatedly. When we tried to send in the proofs by fax as they'd requested we do, the fax didn't go through. The reason? Employee A blamed it on employee B for not sending me an up-to-date fax number in place of the one on the fax cover sheet they'd sent over as she'd supposedly told him she would.

UGH.

Never again, SEALED WITH A KISS. Never again. I honestly wouldn't wish this experience on my worst enemy. Well... maybe my very worst enemy, but not my second worst. :)

Thank god for the New Invitation store on Passyunk for correcting there MISTAKES...... They were a lifesaver!!!!

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Nikki B.

Joined 1 years ago

Stress free!. I was totally stressed out with all the things I had to get done for my wedding and I couldn't get anywhere to do things because I don't even get out of work untill 7 p.m.

I called sealed with a kiss and thank God they had appointments available in the evening. I got so much taken care of in a short period of time and now I can focus on not being so stressed :) Thank you Megan and Ian!

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Megan R.

Joined 2 years ago

Highly Recommend. I wasn't expecting to be able to get just about everything I need in one place. I got my invitations and they did my envelopes with the addresses and they had a deal on the ring pillow and flower girl basket so I got those too. I have so many last minute things that I hope they can help me with when I go back next week. I was happy with the sales people too they were helpful and knew what they were talking about they even offered me a water when I came in.

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SueJo1

Joined 2 years ago

Nice little shop!. I used to go to Details in Center City for my holiday cards but they closed a bit ago. I Googled a new place and I'm glad I stumbled across this gem in South Philly. I just got my Christmas cards in and I couldn't be happier. Oh the price was better too!

P.S. Thanks Meg and Ian see you next year!

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Sophia Ricci

Joined 2 years ago

Excellent...highly recommend Swak Philly!. My Maid of Honor and I drove from center city to swak in philly and we were so happy we did! Everyone was so nice and relaxed with no sales pitch and guided us through the entire wedding invitation ordering from start to finish! We also booked them for calligraphy. Thank you Swak, we'll see you again soon:)

PS...on the way home we stopped at a little italian bakery near swak and ohhh my it was soo good...I'm so glad my fitting isn't for a while!!

Doesn't Recommend

luisaswanson

Joined 2 years ago

Avoid. Never again.. i had a bad experience here and would definitely never ever go back. i had a placed an online order even though i liveed closeby to the location here Phil. since i had an engagement party coming up, i had a timeline and when i made a follow up phone call to the store, i was told thhey had received my order (i had ordered engagement party invitation cards) and they would arrive on time.

unfortunately they did not arrive even though my party was quickly approaching. when i called tthe person who answered was very rude to me. when my fiance called, someone else answered (tom?) and almost seemed like he wanted to fight my fiance. we were botth shocked. all we wanted were my engagement party cards.

i am still fighting to get back my money however since i was by credit card dont think ill have a problem. ill never shop here again.

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diamonite

Joined 2 years ago

Great place, easy to work with, beautiful product!. I was printing invitations for a fancy, but small party and none of the other places I called were interested in such a small number of invitations. But then I called Sealed With A Kiss - and was thrilled that I did.

I worked with Ian and he made the whole process easy. I took him the design that I had come up with on my own and he made a few suggestions based on his experience. It ended up being true to my idea, but looking better than I ever would have thought. He even went the extra mile to get a design accent that I liked that he didn't have a template for.

They turned the invitations around quickly and the final product looked incredible for a reasonable cost. The guests were blown away.

The only minor downside for me is that their location (in South Philly) is a bit of trek, but I would make it again in a heartbeat - well worth it. I definitely recommend them.

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angelina11

Joined 3 years ago

Great people, Great place!. Just a really great place, with no pressure and they really know what they are doing! I highly recommend!!

We saved time and money by getting many great wedding services here!

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Sammysinlove

Joined 4 years ago

One stop shop!. I am from an area where there is little to no options when it comes to planning a wedding. I learned about sealed with a kiss from the knot, visited the website and saw everything they offered. I can honestly say it was worth the trip!

I had several painful experiences but they had so much to offer it was painless. Its a one stop shop, I ordered my invitations, a simple calligraphy package and a seating chart, all from one place. It saved me so much time and energy. I am so happy I went to them, I must say my invitations were gorgeous! I definately recommend them to anyone wanting an easy and enjoyable experience when planning a wedding.

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Maggie Bride

Joined 4 years ago

Best Plaec for Wedding Invitations. We visited Sealed with a Kis in Philadelphia and we were soo happy that our friend recommended them to us! We saved over $500. on our Invitations and Calligraphy and they were so nice and no pressure.

We did our Calligraphy and ordered Favors too from their website.

No need to spend extra in center city when they treat you right in South Philadelphia!