burned.

I don't normally do the "angry ranting blogger" thing, but I'm making an exception today -- probably in part because Lorelei woke me up at 4:30am so I'm already cranky.

I'm throwing a bridal shower on Saturday for my soon-to-be sister-in-law, and I've had an unbelievably terrible experience with an online vendor. To my surprise, it's someone from Etsy -- a place where I've never had any issues before. In fact, I make an effort to always check Etsy first when I'm ordering just about anything because I find that the customer service there is unparalleled and I'm happy to pay more to support a local artisan or small business owner than to place an order from a cheaper online warehouse.

Until now.

(image -- from an Etsy seller who I'm sure is fabulous and is in no way related to the story I'm telling)

I placed an order for shower favor supplies with this seller on May 26th and sent a nice little note saying that, if she thought her standard shipping would result in a delivery after June 5th, I'd be happy to pay for an upgrade. Four days later after another attempt at contact from me, she assured me that they'd arrive in plenty of time.

Today is June 5th. I haven't heard from her. And her shop is no longer live on Etsy.

The worst part about it is that I'm not even the one assembling the favors -- I farmed out the labor to the bride's mother (she asked to be involved; I was prepared to do it myself), and she's been waiting and waiting to receive the supplies so she can get started. At this point, even if I order a second set of everything today and pay for overnight shipping, there's still a chance that one of those online warehouse stores won't get the order out in time before she needs to start driving to get here for the shower. She probably thinks I'm the most disorganized person ever.

I know that this isn't a typical Etsy transaction, but I'm feeling awfully grumpy about the whole thing. It's especially frustrating because I spend so much time checking a seller's reviews and policies before making a purchase (just like I hope customers do for me!) to make sure I'm dealing with someone trustworthy and reliable, and this shop seemed perfectly lovely. Guess I learned my lesson!

Who has a cheerful blog post up today that I can read to brighten my spirits? Send your links my way! Oh, and don't forget to leave a comment on this post if you'd like to enter our latest Baby Book Club giveaway -- the deadline is 10 tonight (CDT). Two lucky winners this time -- and one could be you!