Online Buying Rant.

If you don't want to listen to me complain for a whole post- please move along. :)

Okay- anyone still there? Probably not. But for my own sanity and maybe your entertainment, here's my rant:

I usually have great success with online purchases. I am a master of eBay. A lot of my costumes, wigs, memorabilia, handbags, and more come from eBay. I haven't had problems there. I shop from other well known stores and sellers on the internet. DisneyStore.com - Walmart - Amazon- I've had a great history with all of them.

My problem is when I try to order something custom online. For some reason, it almost always turns into loads of stress and annoyance for me. My first encounter was when I was looking for a Sleeping Beauty dress. As some of you may know, the halloween costume ones just don't cut it. So I looked on etsy. Not being able to find one (that was in my price range), I put out a custom request- on etsy it is known as Alchemy. I posted pictures of what I wanted and how much I was willing to pay, and when I wanted it by. Many makers contacted me with what they could do, their past creations, and how much they would charge. I chose one that sounded great- she had done lots before, she had made dance/skating costumes (which I know are difficult to make), she said she could get it done in time, and her price was right. It sounded perfect. So I sent her my $100 and waited. A month goes by (the allotted time) and I hear nothing. So I email her. And it's not done. So I wait some more time. No word. I ask for pictures to see the progress. She emails me pictures and it is ALL WRONG. It wasn't even finished and I could tell it was all wrong. It was looking more like a pink Cinderella- I run a character entertainment company. I could not settle for a pink Cinderella. I emailed her back and said I did not want it. Thankfully, she refunded my entire payment.

After that- my faith had not been lost in online custom purchases. That was just one instance- surely the rest wouldn't be like that.

Now I am having the same dilemma. I ordered a pair of Fairy wings on June 9th (keep this date in mind friends). Now, these are not your ordinary buy-from-the-halloween-store-wire-covered-in-panty-hose wings. They have a metal frame and are covered in vinyl. Ever since I saw these wings, I was in love. They were gorgeous- they looked absolutely real. And the person had this well known site and company with many happy customers (or so it seemed). They were more expensive than I wanted to pay ($75) , but I splurged. I figured I would get my money's worth out of them somehow. The website said "Please allow 12 days for delivery" Okay- 12 days to make them and ship them. That's fine. They're made to order.

14 Days pass and I haven't gotten any recognition that she even received my order. So I emailed her to get a tracking number, so I could track them as they came to me. She then emails me back saying that they weren't shipped- they weren't even made. She ran out of metal. Did I have a deadline? I said No, because really, I didn't have a set deadline of when I absolutely needed them. A MONTH passes. It is now July 9th. I email her again- could I have an update please? "Turns out my metal guy ran out of the metal. But I think he'll get more in next week." WHAT?! Why didn't she email me and say "He is out of this metal. It will be at least a month until I get them for you." Never once did she inform me that it would take this long. So it is now July 24th (almost July 15th), this girl has my $75 and I still have no idea if the wings are even done. My mom keeps telling me to keep emailing the girl and really complain. And as much as I am okay with saying these things here- I hate actually confronting someone over email. I don't know why. But I may need to email her. This is ridiculous. I wanted to market my Tink character all summer, but instead Summer is almost over and all I've been able to do is say "Tinkerbell's coming!" I just feel that if you have a business, it should be your first priority to keep your customers informed of what's going on. Don't you think that's common sense?

Okay. Rant over.