Happy (?) Accidents

This dress is really lovely and quite a gem in many regards, except for the fact that I didn't order it and didn't want it.  That's right, it's not at all what I ordered and I tried like crazy to stop its delivery and once that failed to return it.

It's an Etsy shop and everything is supposed to be handmade and yet this seller somehow totally got it wrong.  What bothered me most was the lack of communication and the fact that they shipped the dress even though I said I did not want it.  It felt like they were scamming me and trying to get a refund was like pulling teeth!

The shop stated that orders shipped in 3-5 weeks.  I had an event coming up in seven weeks, so I knew it might be a little close, but I figured it would be ok.  At four weeks I reached out and got an automated response that the seller was on vacation.  Normally a shop goes into vacation mode or at least has a notice saying that orders will be late.  This one had neither.  I started to worry.

I contacted them again multiple times and always got the same response that they were on vacation and would get back to me within two or three days.  I asked them to please cancel the order since it didn't look like it would make it in time.  No response.  I reached out to Etsy and they were NO help.  Finally, when my seven weeks was up, I contacted them and demanded a refund or I would file for one with PayPal.  Suddenly they contacted me and Oh!  The dress was ready but it didn't look exactly like the picture so they would wait to hear from me before shipping.

Within 24 hours I got the message, saw the dress and responded that I did not want the dress.  Ooops!  They had already shipped it and it was being sent DHL and they didn't require a signature so the only way I could refuse the package was to sit at home by my mail box and try to refuse it when DHL arrived.  I know this because I also contacted DHL and left a giant f#*king sign on my mail box that said I want to refuse ***** package.  And yet DHL delivered it anyway.

I did get my refund eventually though and offered to return the dress.  I even waited six months for the seller to send me the return info, but I eventually gave up and opened the package.  I must say that this dress is really lovely, it's just not at all what I wanted or ordered.

It fits well and is well made even if it wasn't what was advertised.  But, then again, Etsy has changed.  It's no longer the beacon of the small crafter and artisan.  It's become a hub of the same Chinese imposters as one can find all over the internet.  It's rare to find actual handmade goods on there anymore.  Beyond that, Etsy used to be very hands on in helping with customer problems, now it seems more like they have their money and they really don't care about the small businesses or the customers.  They don't care if it's full of cheap chinese goods or authentic hand crafted items.  They're not the same company anymore which is why I rarely shop there.  

So, even though I wasn't supposed to have this dress, in many ways it is a nice dress so I can't say that I would warn people away from the shop exactly, just really lower your expectations and you'll likely be fine.  And that's the end of my tale of woe even though this dress is gorgeous, it came at a higher price than I like to pay for anything.