Defective Royal Copenhagen Ole Tableware bought from Royalshopping.com

Items bought:

• 4 Ole dinnerplates in porcelain from Royal Copenhagen, designed by Ole Jensen. Made in Portugal. 199 DKK/32 USD/piece. Two are with a jutting black dot and a big blob.
• 6 Ole bowls in porcelain from Royal Copenhagen, designed by Ole Jensen, 40 cl. Made in Portugal. 169 DKK/27 USD/piece. Two are seriously scratched, glazed bottom is scraped off.
• 6 Ole coffee cups, white, in porcelain from Royal Copenhagen, designed by Ole Jensen. Made in Portugal. 149 DKK/24 USD/piece. Two are chipped and cracked on the handles.
• 1 Ole serving dish in porcelain from Royal Copenhagen, designed by Ole Jensen. Made in Denmark. Length 65 cm. 1650 DKK/267 USD. Cracked.
• 1 Ole decanter size large, 14.5 cl. 339 DKK/55 USD. Bulging mouth and small bubbles.

You won't see such defects on Royal Copenhagen and Holmegaard items sold in retail stores. If you find them, the local stores usually give you at least 40% discount on the defective items. The question is why I get so many defective stuff from the online order. Is it done on purpose because it is difficult to return these items? Do you think it is proper that a 267-American-dollar serving dish has a crack?

With so many flaws in one order, there is no more quality and fine craftsmanship when customers spend a fortune to get these expensive items. We only buy style, not quality and craftsmanship anymore. But Royal Scandinavia, the owner of Royalshopping.com and Royal Copenhagen, must realize that the style is gone when the craftsmanship is lousy.

The Ole dinner plates, bowls, and coffee cups are made in Portugal. The Royalshopping.com staff wrote in her email, "Further we can inform you that the Ole tableware is produced in Portugal."

The serving dish is made in Denmark because there is "Denmark" mark. The quality of these two versions is totally different. The Denmark one has a very smooth bottom like the Stelton mug saucer and Lladro porcelain. The Portugal one has a very rough messy bottom full of scratches. The weight and color of the outsourced ones are also different. Some are yellower, some are grey, some are 50 gram heavier.

Frankly, I find that the quality of Royal Copenhagen Ole products is so dissapointing. If it is a one-dollar IKEA product, I can understand it. Even IKEA product is better. The outsourced Ole items are totally a far cry from Rosenthal perfect products.

After emailing Royalshopping.com a few times, it finally gives me 20% discount on the defective items. It is a very trivial discount because it gives 60% discount on second assortment items.

In sum, I am absolutely unsatisfied with Royalshopping.com's dubious credibility as a quality store. Never in my eight-year online shopping experience at Amazon.com, I was given bad products like this.

This experience confirms the claim by a Royal Scandinavia staff that Illums Bolighus, the owner of Royalshopping.com, sells many second-assortment items. Selling them to online buyers is a cunning way to get rid of these inferior stuff for a full price.

Moss, certainly a place to go when I am in New York.
http://www.mossonline.com/info-exec/display/about

Royalshopping.com packages in Royal Copenhagen gift wrap.

Plus:

• You know the shipping cost and insurance right away.
• Fast UPS shipping by air. Took about one week to get the items (processing + shipping).
• Good packaging, nothing is broken. Only one cup that has a little chip, but it may be product defect.

Minus:

• Limited choices. More items in the store than in the online store.
• Defects with the ordered items:

1. One of the Ole plates has a visible jutting sharp black dot that cannot be removed.
2. The other Ole plate has one big blob (about 5 cm in length) and a dent which are very visible. Other plates also have uneven surface, but I accept it as the character of the porcelain.
3. Two of the Ole bowls have very scratchy glazed bottoms. The other four are smooth.
4. The Ole serving dish has a 5-mm crack on the edge which I am afraid will be broken and leave a chip on the dish.
5. One coffee cup has a chip on the bottom of the handle.
6. The lip of the decanter is bulging and uneven.

I also notice that the made-in-Denmark 65-cm-long large serving dish has a much superior quality and craftsmanship than other Ole items. The unglazed bottom and the glazed surface are so smooth, even, and tidy. Are some of the Ole items produced outside Denmark as there is no "Denmark" mark on the back?

Since some items are fine, some are not, I wonder if first and second assortment are mixed together in one package. The craftsmanship of the items I got is pale compared to the smooth, highly refined, and even quality of Rosenthal products.

Selling second assortment stuff with the first-assortment price and throwing these defective stuff to the online order are a "brilliant" business idea because most people will have difficulty to return these stuff. It is time consuming and complicated to repack these defective things and pay expensive return shipping.

When there are so many flaws in your expensive online order, do you think that Royalshopping reflects the claimed Danish quality?

Origo cup, by Iittala, price in Norway 164 NOK/25 USD/piece. At Illums Bolighus, Denmark, 99.75 DKK/16 USD. In the US, it is 20-23 USD.

Plus:
Feels very good on your hand.
Easy to wash.
Perfect for daily use. Not too fragile.
Cheerful colors that can brighten your table. Not too much though. Just as an accent.
Oven, microwave and dishwasher proof.

Minus:
No handle. Problem when drinking hot liquid.
Production flaw: the ends of the stripes do not meet nicely creating an ugly pattern. For a 25-dollar mug, the detail should be nicer.
No information on production country.

The porcelain has an ivory white color on the inside, not white gray like Ole line. Thus, it can be awkward if you mix and match these two colors on one table. The ivory color should only match with other dinnerware with the same porcelain color.

For detailed pictures on the product, go to this excellent Japanese online store, 4senses interior scope version.R, http://www.rakuten.co.jp/scope/455650/473662/#419648.

This is the only online store I have encountered that shows excellent and comprehensive product information such as:

• Size and how the products relate to your hands, heights, or CD box, so you get a picture of how big the product is.
• Thickness of the glass, porcelain, etc.
• Installment instructions.
• Honest quality notices and flaws.
• And my, even video on how the Normann Copehagen Rocking Glass spins.
  

Browsing this store for a few minutes gives me more information than hours I spend on Google to find product information and pictures.

As usual, the price in Norway is often the most expensive. It is a bit strange that the prices in Norway is much higher than the prices in Denmark. Norway and Denmark are parts of Scandinavia and the distance between these two countries is very close. The only thing I can think of as the cause of this huge price difference is the monopoly hold by the Norwegian distributors and chain stores such as Tilbords and Byens Glassmagasinet.

Ole large cup, design by Ole Jensen, produced by Royal Copenhagen. Price 169 DKK/27 USD in Denmark. 219 NOK/33 USD in Norway, bought on sale at 119 NOK/18 USD.

To see pictures of this cup from different angles, click here.

Plus:
Match Ole thermos really well.
Handle is useful for hot drinks.

Minus:
Handle is large and not ergonomic. More function follows form.
Heavy.
The dominant shape may not suit all table settings.

The following pictures show the good made-in-Denmark Arne Jacobsen bouillon spoon, right hand, produced by Georg Jensen.




Pay attention to the "Georg Jensen Stainless Denmark" marking and the spoon's smooth perfect round form, even thickness, and refined even matte lustre.

This bouillon spoon is recently marketed as a breakfast spoon and sold in a two-piece gift set in Georg Jensen Living beige box for 319 NOK/49 USD in Norway.

This new production is made outside Denmark--in an unspecified country in the East--and has the look, feel, and quality of a very cheap spoon, a contempt that Georg Jensen the founder would be very ashamed of. The matte finish of the spoon is barely visible. The round shape is bulging, and the edge is not clear crisp straight.

So if you do not want to spend 49 USD for a rip-off version of a cheapo, ask the store to give you the one with "Georg Jensen Stainless Denmark" marking at the back.

Georg Jensen Living made in an unspecified Asian country is truly a rip-off. Lousy quality for an expensive price. Stay away from this product.













The picture shows the bad details and craftsmanship of the outsourced Georg Jensen Arne Jacobsen knife. The knife tip is uneven, choppy, and does not form a smooth curve. The top blade of this dull knife is also thicker.














This knife had the "Georg Jensen Stainless Denmark" marking. The knife tip is very pointy and has a smooth curve.













The blade top meets the blade and forms a very sharp precise point. This sharp knife shows the craftsmanship that you deserve when you pay an exorbitant price for a Georg Jensen product.

Beware of the Georg Jensen's cunning business trick. Georg Jensen does not mention where the outsourced products are made in.

If you get some items with the "Georg Jensen Stainless" marking at the back, it means that these products are outsourced and made outside Denmark. The outsourced Georg Jensen products with a rip-off price have very disappointing lousy details and cheap craftsmanship.

The good products are the ones that have "Georg Jensen Stainless Denmark" marking.

You can see samples of the good made-in-Denmark Georg Jensen Arne Jacobsen cutlery on this Japanese online store:
http://www.webo-kobe.com/items/dining/jacobsen/aj_cutlery.html

If you are given the outsourced ones, ask the store to give you the ones with the "Georg Jensen Stainless Denmark" marking.

Return or exchange the ones made in Asia or other countries with the ones made in Denmark, whose quality matches the exorbitant price you have paid.

Is it made in China or Denmark?

The photos below show the Royal Copenhagen marking on the back of my Ole plate. But strangely enough, there is no "Denmark" sign or any information on where the plate was made. Smart trick, isn't it?

Your expensive Royal Copenhagen dinnerware can be made in Thailand, China, and Bangladesh without you knowing it. Can the pursue of profit justify all means? Have the customers the right to know where the things they buy are made in?

























Hmm, no "Denmark" marking on the back of Ole plate? Made in Thailand, perhaps? If it is made in Thailand where cheap labour abound, then it should have a Thailand price as well, not the exorbitant Danish price.

The trend of not showing the production country also occurs with other companies such as Menu and Georg Jensen. Whereas companies such as IKEA, Riedel, Mikasa, Narumi, and Yoshikin are honest, brave, and ethical enough to inform the public where their products are made in.















Buy AJ cutlery with the crisp and clear "Georg Jensen Stainless Denmark" marking.














The one with the vague and sloppy "Georg Jensen Stainless" marking is the inferior version of AJ cutlery. It is a total rip off.

Some of my Georg Jensen Arne Jacobsen (AJ) cutlery have the marking "Georg Jensen Stainless Denmark". This type has impeccable details and craftsmanship. It is thick, has even tidy edge, fine matte finish, and perfect round form. The dinner spoon is heavier, 60 gram.

On the contrary, the ones with "Georg Jensen Stainless" have lousy details and craftsmanship. The edge is not straight, the thickness is uneven, the bouillon/breakfast spoon is bulging and not smooth round. The matte finish is barely matte. The dinner spoon is thinner, only 55 gram.

Even the cheap 24-piece made-in-China IKEA Fornuft cutlery set has more even edge and details. And IKEA is honest and ethical enough to inform the customers where the cutlery was made.

IKEA Fornuft, 95 NOK/15 USD/24 pieces.

Georg Jensen AJ dinner spoon, 160 NOK/25 USD/1 piece.

The company grabs a mouthwatering profit margin that makes the annual report looks good, but you pay a premium price for a mediocre quality.

Is it fair? Does it hurt the Georg Jensen's brand image as a company that delivers "superior design and quality"? (See: http://www.georgjensen.com/en/Corporate/CorporateInformation/Vision.htm) Or is the short-term profit hunt on top of the long-term profit stability? Ruining a brand image that has been built with tremendous efforts for decades can be done in a short time. Is it worth it to sacrifice superior quality at the expense of brand image?

We choose Georg Jensen products because of their superior quality, not because of their IKEA made-in-China quality. And for that, we are willing to pay premium prices for Georg Jensen products. Abusing consumers' trust is a sure way of damaging the brand image.

So as a warning for all of you who want to buy AJ cutlery and other Georg Jensen products, pay attention to the marking. Ask the store to give you the AJ cutlery with the "Georg Jensen Stainless Denmark" marking. Don't let them give you the inferior ones. When you pay exorbitant prices for "superior design and quality", you have the right to get the best.

I have sent a letter to Georg Jensen in Denmark regarding this issue with photos of those two different markings, and I have not heard from them yet.

Updates:
According to a source at Royal Scandinavia Norge A.S. in Oslo, Norway, the AJ cutlery without the Denmark marking is made in a unspecified Asian country. Ole line, fortunately, is still made in Denmark.


References:

"Some of the production has also been moved to Thailand. Reorganisation has meant the work force has been cut in half to 400. "
http://www.denmark.dk/portal/page?_pageid=374,706507&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

"Georg jensen, Holmegaard and Royal Copenhagen are members of the Royal Scandinavia Group."
http://www.danishexporters.dk/scripts/danishexporters/royalscandinavia.asp?landekode=GB

Ole plate and Arne Jacobsen cake server with the inferior "Georg Jensen Stainless" marking. Both products show no information on the production countries.