A couple weeks before Thanksgiving I decided I had better get into Christmas present buying mode.  Family was coming to town for the holiday and being the fiscally retentive (aka cheap) person that I am, I wanted to send them home with Christmas presents.  I’d finish Christmas early and forgo having to pay postage to send gifts (it costs 55 cents just to mail a regular letter!).  I successfully ordered all my presents and waited for them to come in.  I even splurged a little and ordered some Christmas presents from me to me because I sure have good taste.  I’d say it was just like Christmas with all the packages but it was, in fact, Christmas.   Also about this time I overheard my co-workers complaining about Amazon packages they had ordered that came via China Post.  Their orders were delayed because of the riots in China.  I heeded my eavesdropped knowledge and tried to avoid the same pitfall.

A couple of telltale signs I noticed.  If the product had an expected delivery date a month out – it was probably coming from China.  Keep scrolling.

Also, if I used my laptop to order, I scrolled to the bottom and found a little disclaimer basically saying the product was more than likely to arrive late.  It mentioned being one of the few “lucky ducks” to get the package in a timely manner but the majority of the people wouldn’t get it until a month or so later.

So, I tried to avoid ordering those products.

Or, at least, I thought I avoided ordering those products.

For my gift for MZ, I wanted to buy a Hallmark movie watching shirt.  I thought I had navigated through the “lucky duck” options and picked one that would be delivered by Thanksgiving.  She was coming for Thanksgiving so that would work out well.

I was wrong.  It did not come that weekend.  The tracking for it said it was shipped through China Post.  “Good crud,” I complained.  “I thought I was smarter than that.”  The tracking stopped after the second day.

About a week later, long after MZ had returned home, I received an email from Amazon saying something along the lines of “Looks like your package is lost.  If you haven’t received it by such and such date you can get a refund.”

I waited until such and such date.  The tracking never changed.  As soon as I could request a refund, I did.  That’s when I heard from the seller.  They didn’t want to refund the product and said they’d refund me 50% and I’d get to keep the shirt when it came in.  Mind you, at this point, I still didn’t have the shirt and now I was scrambling for a Plan B gift.

Email #1

Email #2

We have a Hallmark store here in town but it must be Hallmark in name only.  It apparently doesn’t actually have Hallmark merchandise.  But I contacted Lyn who lives nearby a Hallmark store and told her what I wanted.  Within a couple of days she bought MZ’s gift and even gift wrapped it for me.  Now, I really didn’t want the shirt from China.  What would I do with two Hallmark shirts?

I heard again from the seller and they were willing to refund me 80% and I still would get to keep the shirt.  Keep in mind, I still didn’t have the shirt but they assured me I would have it the Wednesday before Christmas.

Email #3

If that was the best offer I was willing to do it although I was trying to think of what to do with the extra shirt.  The shirt came in the Wednesday before Christmas and I didn’t even open it.  I blacked out my address and stuck it back in the mail.    I did get a full refund on the product.  MZ got a much better Christmas present than what she was going to get from me.  It was a win all the way around.  Except for the seller.

Email #4

I guess the moral of the little adventure is to start Christmas shopping even earlier.  Like maybe now.  I bet if I ordered a Hallmark shirt now it would be here by next Christmas.  Maybe.