Bad Day for Shopping!

When you're shopping online, there's a level of trust that you need to build between yourself and the place you're shopping from: you trust that they will deliver the products you purchased in the condition you purchase, and they trust that your credit card doesn't get declined when you hit that "pay now" button.

It's really frustrating when that trust is broken, and even more so when you aren't the one receiving the purchases, but gift recipients are!


I've been whipping through our Christmas list and shopping at various retailers for the past while, and my gifts are starting to get shipped to the intended households. I like to picture it as Canada Post as my little delivery elves and I'm in the North Pole doling out presents. :)

Since I'm sending packages as gifts, I've been paying for the gifts to be wrapped if that's an option - saves whoever opens the package from having to do it themselves...or so I thought.

Case 1: Amazon charges $3.99 to wrap a gift and one of them arrived to its final destination barely thrown into a large sack with a haphazard and sad looking string. Not very festive. Not very worth $4! It wasn't as though it was an awkward shape; it was in a regular box! That's just lazy!

Case 2: The Bay charges $5.95 to wrap each gift and the first of a few boxes arrived at its destination today - completely unwrapped. No hint of wrap in sight, other than on the invoice which stated that gift wrap was included. I had to call them and ask what happened, and the response was "well, they probably ran out." Ummmm. I think proper customer service skills would let the buyer know that they were getting a credit for the amount they were charged for a service that didn't happen! When I asked about the other packages, I was told that I should definitely call back and let them know if those weren't wrapped either - and that my concern was going to be escalated to perhaps give me a credit for the charges. I told her she, and effectively The Bay, ruined Christmas. Grrr!

In both cases, gifts needed to be wrapped after they'd been delivered - exactly what I was hoping to avoid. It unfortunately would have worked out better if the gifts could be delivered to me first so I could check them, but I'm going to be optimistic that the rest of the packages are going to be perfect and exactly as promised!

I managed to purchase a couple of last minute items that I came across today and that should be it for Christmas 2012: Shopping Edition. I used to think that going to the mall and dealing with that whole scene was more stressful, but I don't know...this online shopping thing isn't all that stress-free either!! Oh well. At least I'm not battling for a parking spot!

-L