Mary Maxim Avis 

Like many people I was interested in the PHM cardigan. When I first went to the site they offered a 15% discount. How nice! Except how convenient that the PHM cardigan costs 89.99 which is the exact price you need for free shipping. Then if you use the discount code it is no longer free shipping so either way you're paying $96! A pretty scammy "welcome" if you ask me.

The customer service lady, Leslie, was not pleasant. Horrible manners. I had issues with my order and ended up figuring it out myself. Thanks for your help Leslie.
Shipping also took a couple months. Crazy!

I tried to send feedback to Mary Maxim Canada and their website that said for me to email in Canada - I tried and that came back to my e-mail saying it was not a valid contact for feedback or concerns. My concerns NOW are how RELIABLE and TRUST WORTHY is the Canadian or US version of the Mary Maxim websites? I keep getting too many ads from their Canadian site but since I have NOT received the help or contact info I've wanted - I am thinking the service from this website has gone down the drain when getting the quality customer service I'd always got previously and it was about 2 years that I had no contact but now it's hopeless. What has this 'reputable' website come to in 2026?

I placed a small order on Sunday, November 30th. The shipping charges were ridiculous - it cost me more for shipping than the cost of the item itself. The very next day, I received a promotional email announcing free shipping, no matter the order value, for Cyber Monday. Had I known about this promotion in advance, I would have obviously waited one day to place my order.

So I wrote them to ask if they would refund the shipping charges. I didn't think this was an unreasonable request, since if they could afford free shipping for everyone on Monday, there's no reason they couldn't afford this small goodwill gesture for a long-time customer.

As others have said, this seems to be the hill they want to die on. Once they have your money, they just refuse to let go. I got the following message back from them:

"Hi Liz,

Thank you for contacting us. It appears you have been corresponding with Mary Maxim in the USA, and your email has since been forwarded to Canada.
In order to take advantage of any online promotions, you would have needed to place your order during the validity of the sale online. Once an order has been placed, we cannot adjust the order as it is immediately processed. As your order has since been shipped and delivered, unfortunately, there is nothing we can do at this time.

Kind Regards,

Customer Service
Mary Maxim, Ltd."

Sorry, but I don't buy that. I'm a CPA, so I know how things work in business. They absolutely do have the ability to issue me a credit for the shipping charges that I incurred; so they should just be honest and admit that they simply don't want to. Saying "you would have needed to place your order during the validity of the sale online", is tantamount to saying "you would have needed to be psychic", since there's no way I could have known they were going to offer free shipping the very next day following my purchase.

I was nothing but polite and courteous in my messages. Their refusal to make this small concession under these circumstances leaves me with a most unfavourable impression of this company. I have been a Mary Maxim customer for at least 20 years. I've even driven all the way to Paris, Ontario from St. Catharines (over an hour's drive) on numerous occasions, to spend several hours in the store, and have spent a LOT of money with them over the years. But I won't be buying from them again, since they want to nickel-and-dime a long-time loyal customer.

I honestly never suspected that Mary Maxim was a division of Scrooge & Marley Counting House. May they be visited by three spirits this holiday season who will encourage them to ponder the way they treat their customers. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come will have a particularly sad message for them.

Bah, humbug!

someone wrote a review about they are making lots of money off Thomas Kinkade's name. In their defense, I worked for a place that had many Thomas Kinkade items. They pay for a license from the Thomas Kinkade family, to use their images so they have the right to use them.

I ordered some yarn from Mary Maxim on clearance and was able to use an online coupon since it was my first order. Shipping was very expensive but I hadn't been able to find the Bernat yarn colors anywhere else. I was prompted to add an additional charge to "move my order to the front of the line". So, my yarn was $7.99 a skein and I ordered 2 skeins, Shipping was $10.99 and the processing fee was $3.95. I did get my order in 4 days, it was as shown but I later found similar items on another site at 1/3 the price, no processing fees and a free shipping coupon. I won't order again.

For being my first order I was less then impressed and if I could give them a negative star I would. First v order close to 90 bucks and 20 of that shipping in 7 days never shipped the order. When asked it was sorry there back up. Not geez what can we do To make it right? I’m not asking for free by any means but their customer service and shipping needs a lot of help!!! I wouldn’t give them a cent now and took b them 4 days to cancel the item I’m still waiting for refund!

I recently purchased. Pattern # 1289N - Pillowcase doll. Very flawed. I am so disappointed. The picture is cute. Looks like a pillowcase doll. However, the outcpme of the crocheted pieces is far from the picture. The body is no where near the shape shown. The oddly shaped body looks like it either has boobs, a bustle or a but depending on how you turn the piece. All the pieces are made separately (except for the head and skirt), yet at no time does it mention attaching said pieces. I am an experienced crocheted of more than 20 years. I have redone this doll body 4 times now and its still very odd. What a waste of money.

I had received a Crochet kit of the Month. I had been given a different yarn bowl. It was for Tunisian Crochet. I dont yet do that. My friend also received the same thing, but she received a different yarn bowl. I called Mary Maxim and described my problem and they talked to the supervisor. In 10 minutes I received a call that they were going to send me the yarn bowl that I wanted, and also I could keep the other yarn bowl!!!! I was so impressed with that!!!! Mary Maxim has always treated me with respect and for that i will always order from them!!!!

I really love the products except....
My latest purchase was the "Let It Snow" crochet afghan kit (x2). The Best Value Yarn colors, Teal and Red are really pretty. But the yarn itself has been very dissapointing. Out of the 12 skeins that came with the two kits, I've had to take big knots out of 10 of them. I don't know if it's the winding process or what, but it's horrible! It's lousy to have to stop crocheting in order to fix the mess.
Liz C

Do Not buy from this company!!! They are making $$$ off the Thomas Kinkade name!! SHAME ON ALL OF THEM.

Unfortunately one star is more than they deserve, but it's necessary to leave a review. I'll start by saying there isn't anything on their site you can't find anywhere else for less. My fault for not searching a little more. If you want a pattern, just buy it directly from the creator and source the material from elsewhere. It's way cheaper to do this! I've never seen a seller with such a hilarious shipping policy - it goes up based on cost of order.

You are completely out of luck if you have a problem. I ordered a pattern kit from them, and when I opened the bag the musty mould smell off the yarn actually made me sneeze. A migraine followed. There was no way I could actually use it. I'll summarize what happened: I emailed them about the defective product, they said to return it and they'd refund the entire order, including shipping. Of course once they recieved it they decided there wasn't anything wrong with it and I must be lying. They offered me a small partial refund (they charged me to return it!), and a credit for when I'd like to buy some more contaminated yarn in the future. I turned the credit down. So if you have any kind of allergy or sensitivity, just be aware they will not help you, and will charge you for the pleasure of the insult.

The whole thing is just bizarre, partially because all I wanted was my $25 back, and they seem really willing to die on this hill. But I've also never had this stanky yarn problem anywhere else before (Michaels, Lovecraft, Wal-Mart, Amazon, even Dollarama!). I hope they use my money to clean up their stock room, and maybe hire some better customer service people 😂

I haven't ordered from them in years, and crochet is not my main craft (I'm a needlepointer) but I have gotten into crocheting again because it's quick and easy to pick up.
I ordered a charted baby blanket from them about 4 weeks ago when I found out we were having another grandchild. The pattern seemed easy enough to follow.
When I got the kit I found the directions confusing, the chart very small, and the colors not well defined. Plus the yarn was very heavy for a baby blanket. When I tried to use it I found it splitting. I called and they said I could send it back.
By the time I got the return info I decided maybe it was not as bad and I thought, so I gave it a try. Bad idea. The more I got into the chart the harder it go. Small graft make it hard to keep a ruler on the proper line, and it kept shifting. Even using an Ott Crafting light, it was impossible. Again the yarn was splitting and very poor quality
Finally, close to tears, I called them and said I did not expect a refund since I had marked the chart and cut some of the yarn. They issued a full refund on the spot and told me to keep the yarn. That is why they are getting 2 stars. As for ordering from them again, Never.

I ordered a knitting pattern for a boys hoodie. I have knitted for a long time, but I found this pattern hard to follow. When I got to the end and started sewing the pieces together, I found that the sleeves were too small for the sleeve opening. The yarn is nice, so I am going to undo and try a different pattern from another source.

Ordered a crochet afghan kit. Paid $17 for shipping, which was ridiculous. The instructions and yarn don’t match the pattern. Plus there was a note inside the package saying they changed the yarn, but they assured me I would have enough to finish the project. I’m returning the whole mess.

What a wonderful (Canadian!) company. I recently made an error when putting in my order and sent an email for help. I figured it was too late, but worth a try. The lady from Mary Maxim called me the following day and was very helpful and courteous. Wonderful company. I really appreciate them. I buy a lot of gifts from this site.

I ordered a crochet kit as a gift. The color shown in the example was not what I received. With $17 shipping, it came to almost $70. Being that expensive I thought it would be worth asking for the correct color to be sent to me. They first lied and said that the color I received was the color shown in the picture. I took a picture from the magazine where the color was listed (same picture but different color listed). They then tried to tell me that the catalog was old. The catalog clearly says Christmas 2023 on it and expiration of prices/offers. I ordered it when the catalog was a current catalog before the expiration. The color is sold out now so I’m not able to receive it.

2 problems:
1)They are still advertising the blanket using the same picture/colors even though the kit will come with different colors than advertised which is misleading buyers.
2) They did not offer to remedy the issue by either returning some of my money or by sending me a similar color for free due to their own error in advertising.

I purchased 2 one pound skeins of yarn from Mary Maxim. When I took the yarn out of its packaging it smelled musty. I called customer service and spoke to a supervisor. Because my purchase was out of the 6 month return policy window they refused to rectify my problem. I was accused of being a liar because no one else has complained about musty yarn. The lady told me to sprinkle baking soda on the yarn and let it air out. The customer service is horrible! I will never spend my money with them again. Mary Maxim sells musty smelling yarn!!!

I just received my first shipment from MARYMAXIM.CA
CANADA….
Absolutely 1000% overjoyed with the quantity, quality, and speed of this order…I ordered Monday and received it Wednesday 2 days for an extra $2.99 WOW 👍👍👍 but my best find was the contents absolutely NO disappointment! THANKYOU MARY MAXIM & STAFF 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

You are misleading with your kit, the Neutral Zone Afghan. You claim that the kit is machine washable and dryable on the Canadian site. This is not true. The alpaca yarn is hand washable only and to be laid flat to dry according to the ball band. Also, you do NOT state that the second yarn is 100% acrylic!!!!!!!!!!! One is led to believe that both yarns are the same when in fact they are totally not. This kit has been sold under false pretenses and everyone who bought it should be refunded because of that issue.

When you substitute one yarn for another there should be at maximum 20 yds different from them. The Best Value has 342 yards per 170 yds and is more of a dk weight while the Natural Alpaca is 262 yds per 100 grams. If we convert the Best Value yarn into 100 grams its yardage is 201 yds – a massive difference of 61 yds. They are not compatible yarns at all.

I contacted them and actually had to go through the American site to actually get a Canadian representative to answer me. Then the belligerence turned on and Lesley Boyd told me that the yarn was machine washable and dryer friendly, reading of course from their incorrect website. All she had to do was grab a skein of the yarn herself and see that the label said it had to dried flat and hand washed. But would she do it? Nope. Finally I went back to the Americans and told them all of the above.

Admitting that your company was at fault would have been a good thing.

As it stands right now, I have a bad taste in my mouth for the way Lesley on behalf of Mary Maxim handled all of this and if this is how your company operates after I have spent a lot of time with it, it is kind of telling me to look elsewhere for a company that actually listens when you say there is something wrong.