Ranok Plush Updates

[October 10, 2022] Despite a few complications, we’ve now successfully finished shipping out the Ranok Plush!

Over the past month, a few minor issues stood in our way of getting the latter half of the Ranok Plush inventory sent out, but we’re glad to have finally cleared this hurdle and fulfilled everyone’s orders!

Email notifications containing tracking numbers have now been sent out, and since the Ranok Plush is sent from China, be sure to check out our newly updated China Shipping Outline page for any questions you may have. If you have not received a tracking number for your order, please reach out to us for more information.

Thank you to all of our customers for your extended patience, and we hope your orders arrive ASAP!

[September 15, 2022] UPDATE: We have now shipped about half of all orders containing the Ranok Plush and are continuing with fulfillment.

Our routing information indicates that many of the orders that are shipped are just now being delivered. We’re glad to see that the Ranok Plush is proceeding with fulfillment without issue!

We want to apologize once again for all of the delays in getting your orders out. It’s been a long process, and we’re glad to finally be able to send our customers their long-awaited Ranok Plush. 

As always, feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns!

[September 2, 2022] Shipments are continuing, but progress has been slow as of late.

Continuing with the shipment of the Ranok Plush, fulfillment has been moving slowly due to local COVID policies. We have also been informed that as of September 1, a soft lockdown has been reinstated in the area of Shenzhen, temporarily suspending our progress. Some parcels that have been fulfilled but have not yet left China may be affected by this development.

We’ll be updating this page as we receive new information as we see through to the end of this process. Thank you for your patience, and as always, our support line is open for any questions or concerns.

[August 24, 2022] Orders containing the Ranok Plush have begun to ship out!

After ensuring that the leather components of the Ranok Plush were sufficiently corrected, we have since been able to secure the means for fulfillment. We would like to thank you for your prolonged patience as we have finally reached the last stage.

In regards to the fulfillment process, all orders will be shipped from China, and parcels will be fulfilled in small batches due to limited workspace and local COVID policy adherence. As a result, customers may find that some orders will be marked as fulfilled while others are still pending. Rest assured, we will be sending the Ranok Plush to all pending orders.

Once again, we would like to express our gratitude for your patience and cooperation despite our setbacks. Should you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to our email at contact@pawprint.press.

[July 11, 2022] UPDATE: While we're still unable to operate from our Shanghai warehouse, we have secured a separate location for final assembly. We've also received word that there may potentially be another lockdown in Shanghai, so we've gone ahead and shipped out all of the components to Shenzhen, a city undisturbed by COVID-19 lockdowns.

We look forward to the final shipping process beginning very soon, and thank you for your patience!

[June 30, 2022] UPDATE: The manufacturer we sent the leather accessories back to for corrections has just finished touching up the adjustments. While our warehouse in Shanghai remains non-functional due to the lockdowns, we are working on getting the final assembly completed, commencing order fulfilment ASAP.

As we clear the last few obstacles in our way, we will also be finalising all shipping addresses. If you need to change your shipping address, please contact us immediately; this is the final call for all address changes.

We want to apologise again for all of the issues, complications, and headaches that were brought upon the production of the Ranok Plush. It has been a grueling process for us, but we are happy to have made it here in one piece. We genuinely hope everyone receiving the Ranok Plush enjoys him to the fullest!

Any future updates will continue to be updated on this page. Stay tuned!

[June 7, 2022] UPDATE: The Ranok Plush stock has been secured, no signs of damage were observed, and the accessories have been successfully delivered to the manufacturer for correction.

On June 3, we were able to finally access the Ranok Plush stock, and we were also able to confirm that the entire stock is intact. We immediately arranged for the stock to be sent back to the manufacturer to correct the buckle on the leather belt, and all leather components will be enhanced by thread instead of glue only.

As of June 6, the accessories were successfully delivered to the factory for corrections. Logistics in Shanghai have been shut down again, but we were able to make this delivery with the help of a trusted individual. Our main staff is unfortunately still unable to enter Shanghai, and there have been rumors spreading of another lockdown being put in place soon. We will continue to keep tabs on this development and update this page with new information.

[May 12, 2022] This update is for customers who have yet to receive orders containing the Ranok Plush.

Since our last update on the Ranok Plush in January, we have unfortunately made little progress towards the fulfilment of plush orders due to a variety of factors stemming from the inconsistent and harsh COVID lockdowns across China. While we wished to make more regular updates, considering our inability to change the situation, we didn’t want our words to fall on deaf ears by repeating the same statements over and over. We’d like to thank our customers for their patience and support while we’ve been dealing with this delay and preparing this statement. As such, the following is a recount of the production events leading up to today with full transparency:

As you may already know, the Ranok Plush is the most ambitious product we’ve brought to life, with nine unique components manufactured by five separate factories. While we were behind schedule for a few parts along the—mostly due to the back-and-forth directions caused by small-scale quarantines and lockdowns—our plans were essentially still on track for a slightly-delayed release and fulfilment in early 2022. We were confident that we could begin sending out the plushes beginning mid-January as many of the components had been in our hands since December. However, we were working with a time constraint as the couriers in China would stop accepting parcels 1-2 weeks before the Spring Festival, which began on January 31. If we didn’t make this deadline, it was estimated that we’d have to wait another month for logistics operations to return to normal after the weeklong national holiday.

Our plan at this time was to assemble the plush in its entirety at our original Shanghai warehouse (now out of commission indefinitely) as it would’ve been too risky to appoint factories to pack these delicate components. This would double as a good opportunity for us to perform an in-house quality check as well. On January 11, we received the final batch of parts for the Ranok Plush—the leather pieces. Much to our surprise, we discovered that the metal belt buckles weren’t fastened to the leather belt like we had agreed upon (photos here). We contacted the factory immediately in an attempt to resolve this issue, but we were told that right after shipping out our batch of goods, all of the employees left for the Spring Festival holidays. With no way to affix the buckle onto the belt, we needed to wait until the end of the holidays to send the pieces back to the factory for correction.

Knowing that we wouldn’t be able to execute our plans in a timely manner, our warehouse manager—the sole member in Shanghai—also departed for the holidays to their family on January 31. The third-party logistics provider we appointed in late 2021 would assist in sending out the majority of orders from China during this time (more details about the 3PL in our Coach Harold Plush notice).

Once the week-long national holidays were over, complications from the Spring Festival had arisen as companies began to resume operations. On February 10, our warehouse manager encountered a family emergency and had to stay in their hometown in northeastern China instead of returning to Shanghai as planned. Misfortune struck again as a mandated COVID lockdown in that area followed soon after. As information on these developments reached us, this meant that we were effectively cut off from our Shanghai warehouse.

Due to the circumstances with the family emergency, our warehouse manager was completely confined within a hospital they were staying at. Communication was scarce, and we weren’t able to have them mail out the warehouse key to another person. It wasn’t until the end of February that a different relative was able to relieve our warehouse manager from their position, and they were able to help salvage the situation by sending the Shanghai warehouse key to a trusted individual. The key was sent on March 2, but before it was even delivered, we were informed that the plan had to be postponed due to the region surrounding our warehouse being labelled as an “At Risk” area. This label marked the entire township by mandating any travellers to be placed in quarantine, and as a result, our current keyholder couldn’t enter the premises.

Despite waiting a week to see if the status would be lifted, there were no indications of any change. Neighbouring communities and townships were going down one by one, along with it the area in which our keyholder was staying in. Eventually, the entire city of Shanghai was placed under a government-mandated lockdown, much of which has been covered on world news outlets.

Even until today, the lockdowns in Shanghai persist with no end in sight. For the time being, we’ve been able to relocate much of our inventory to Los Angeles, and we’re looking into the possibility of production in other countries as the unstable situation continues in China. In short, we’ve been unable to secure the Ranok Plush stock in Shanghai, and the components subject to be remade remain untouched as well.

Another issue concerns the recent reports among Chinese netizens and global media discussing the possibility of government personnel intruding on residences for the purpose of disinfection. These incidents are a significant cause to bring to attention since our Shanghai warehouse is accommodated by an apartment located in the same region as the outbreak. We currently don’t have any way to verify whether or not our warehouse is safe, and the conflicting information being provided online only complicates matters further. All we know is that if our warehouse happens to be encroached upon, the high-pressure nozzles coupled with the dousing of chemicals would likely irreparably damage the inventory stored there.

We want to reiterate that we don’t hold any of our customers responsible for any of the current events across the globe. As mentioned in our other recent updates, customers who have ordered the Ranok Plush are still eligible for a full refund on the product, and this offer will continue to stand until fulfilment commences. We understand that many of our customers will continue to remain patient, and we thank everyone again for your acceptance. We’d like to sincerely apologise for this unavoidable situation on top of being unable to keep our past promises.

It’s not our place to judge the policies and protocols placed as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak; only time will tell of the events that unfolded. With the metropolis coming to a total standstill, a DHL business representative we used to collaborate with let us know that many areas in Shanghai were severely short on food—and yet, despite its questionable competency—heavy reliance on government-administered food relief was needed across the board. Against the dreadful turn of events, we’re just glad that all of our team members at Pawprint Press have been relatively safe from the fallout of COVID-19.

It’s truly unfortunate for us to have encountered so many uncontrollable adversities, but we’ll take these challenges as lessons moving forward. To bring the Ranok Plush into existence has been a pleasure, and if you’ve read this far, we genuinely appreciate all of your support in making this creation a reality.

Here’s to some good news once and for all.

Sincerely,

Pawprint Press