While visiting San Miguel de Allende, we saw a large wooden artwork piece at Exim Galeria that we really liked. We live in the US, so we were concerned about the risk of damage during shipping. We were assured by Exim that their insurance would protect against all damages, so we purchased the artwork, and paid for Exim's shipping and insurance. When the artwork arrived, there was minimal visible damage on the shipping box, but the artwork inside was broken. Our best guess was that the box had been dropped during shipping, and that the packaging and been insufficient to protect the artwork inside.
I reached out to Exim's customer service to report the problem, and followed every instruction to make a shipping damage claim. Initially they were responsive, but the process was taking a long time. After a long chain of back and forth emails, Exim claimed they could not mail me a check due to international banking complications. That sounded suspicious, but ok, I've never done anything like this before. Then they asked for my bank account number, which I told them I didn't feel comfortable giving out. Eventually they took my credit card to issue a refund. When nothing materialized for weeks, they said they couldn't do a credit card refund. So I gave them my PayPal account, which they said would be fine. Again weeks went by with no refund. Here I am 4 months after making the initial claim, and they have still not paid anything. I have contacted them via email, WhatsApp, and phone calls. Most of the time they just don't respond. My conclusion is that they never intended to honor their commitment to protect against shipping damages. They just engaged in stringing me along, waiting for me to give up. Well, it took 4+ months, but I finally gave up.
I really did like the artwork they had at Exim. But I will never buy anything from them again. They have no interest in having satisfied customers. Once they have your money, everything else is your problem. If you buy something at Exim, and it arrives intact after shipping, you will likely be happy. But if there are any damages, be prepared to be very disappointed. Their customer service appears to be designed to delay without actually covering damages. read more