Gentlemen, it is a shame that it has come to this, but I feel it necessary to warn all members of the community about doing business with Dan at Australian Private Reserve. I will preface this by stating none of this is meant as a personal attack. This is simply a detailed account of a negative experience so that others can avoid a similar fate.



Last summer, I discovered APR soaps and splashes and was immediately excited by what I had found. I spent several weeks buying backups of his seasonal releases. I joined the Paste & Cut shaving forum, where Dan does most of his posting so that I could stay up to date on releases and so forth.



At around the third week of September, Dan released a Super Limited Edition P&C only soap, splash and EDP set. This was likely the most expensive shaving set ever released, at $570AUD, which roughly translates to $410 USD, plus a good chunk of money for shipping to the USA. Sets were supposed to ship within 28 days from 9/20/2018. I bought one set. When it was made known that another buyer canceled, I ordered a second. He insisted on Paypal Friends & Family as method of payment. I then began to patiently wait.



Several weeks later, I noticed one of the sets pop up in a SOTD photo of an Australian member at P&C. I messaged him on 10/30 asking whether he had tracking and he replied that he did not. He then stated that the sets would be sent out over the next week.



On 11/18, nearly three weeks after the last communication and two months after my initial payment, I received a tracking number. On 11/28, tracking indicated that the parcel was returned to the local post office and was being held for pickup. Apparently the package was sent back due to the alcohol content. A week later, tracking updated as in transit once again. On 12/22, tracking updated as being returned to the same local post office in Australia as before.



I messaged Dan and reiterated (now several times) that I wish he had mentioned about the possibility of prolonged transit, a problem he was clearly aware of, and I was not. Three months after my purchase, I demanded an immediate refund. My message was responded to with the following “out of office” message: “I am currently interstate for Christmas, and AP Reserve is closed until 14th January 2019. Any requests will be dealt with at that time. Two subsequent messages to him went unanswered. All the while, he was posting SOTD photos and interacting with other members in threads at P&C.



On 1/13, Dan initiated a partial refund for one of the sets and no refund for the other without any explanation. A message to him on this went ignored. A subsequent pair of messages, with P&C Admin and Moderator cc'd also went ignored. I am sitting here, over $600AUD out of pocket with no explanation and no sign of a resolution.



It was never my intention to place this matter in the public sphere, but I feel that I need to warn other members of what could happen to them if they have any dealings with Dan at APR. I spent an amount of money equal to a down payment on a car on his products in the space of several weeks. I posted several laudatory threads regarding his products. One would think even a basic level of customer service would come along with that, but it would appear not.



Over the last several months, I was made aware of other members of other forums who had dealings with Dan and who were sorely disappointed by the outcomes. One of those members spoke out publicly at ATG. Dan attacked that member in his thread and the thread was removed by the moderators.



So I urge you, if you decide to purchase APR products direct from Dan, DO NOT pay using PayPal Friends and Family. If you do and there is a problem, you might not get your money back.