My recent attempts at online shopping bombed!

I've been making a more concerted effort to buy quality over quantity, so I'm staying out of stores as best I can and did a little online shopping.

First, I ordered a top from Anthropologie that I've been wanting for weeks:

http://www.anthropologie.com/a.....d=20180360

It finally had a price cut and I decided to go ahead and get it. I ordered it Tuesday along with a belt that I liked but didn't want to pay shipping for on it's own, and just yesterday I got an email stating my order had been cancelled because it was no longer in stock but they'd sent the belt anyway.

Strike one.

On Monday I ordered some Franco Sarto leather boots:

http://www.shoes.com/en-US/Pro.....Patch.aspx

They arrived yesterday and seemed really large. My feet were swimming inside, and despite my large calves, I could slide them right off with no problem just standing there.

I showed them to my husband and he's the one who looked inside to see that they were actually 2 sizes bigger than what was stated on the box. I wear a 6 1/2, but the boots themselves were 8 1/2!

Strike two.

I don't order online very often, and my recent experiences are reminding me why! I was in Anthropologie yesterday and told a sales associate about the cancelled order and she just kind of shrugged and smiled.

And now I have to arrange for UPS to come pick up these boots.

Are my results typical, and if so, why would anyone keep shopping online?

14 years ago

ironkurtin

Veteran

No, I think that's really just bad luck. Sorry.

Sarah

I don't think that's typical. It's unfortunate that it happened twice in a week.

For footwear I sure do try to shop at Zappos or Piperlime (I'm sure there are other sites too) that offer free shipping both ways. I order a couple of sizes if I'm unsure and just send them back. There's a drop off mailing center slightly more than a mile from my home.

In the case of Anthropologie you might contact customer service about the shipping costs.

I hope this helps!

qfbrenda

It sounds like an awful run of bad luck. I wouldn't let it swear you off from buying online. I couldn't do that myself because my most local shopping is so-so at best. I hope your next online order works out much better!

All that said.... while having an order messed up has been rare for me.... having to return things is not. Now I think in terms of "ordering to try" rather than simply "buying". It helps my sanity.

Active Member

Sarah, yes I definitely make sure the shipping back is free too, I've spent a small fortune in the past returning shoes that didn't work. Fortunately, shoes.com has free shipping both ways and it shouldn't be too big of a deal to return.

Brenda, I'll have to remember the whole 'ordering to try' thing, or in this case, 'ordering and hoping it'll actually come'.

Jonesy

I shop online for the vast majority of my purchases; I would say this is just really bad luck. I think I've had that canceled thing happen once, and I don't think I've ever gotten the wrong shoe size (and our family of four buys our shoes almost exclusively online).

goldenpig

(website)

NK, sorry it didn't work out for you. Online ordering is also very hit or miss but I still do it because 1) I don't have a lot of time to shop in B&M stores 2) sometimes the size/item I want is only available online. I ordered a few times from Bluefly but the shipping return costs were adding up so I don't order there anymore. I try to stick to places like Nordstrom, Zappos, Endless etc. with free shipping/returns (Anthro had FS/FR last month but it's over now).

For the Anthro top, maybe you can call your local store to see if they can look up if anyone has it? I had a skirt that I wanted and they didn't have my size at the local store. I called another store with the SKU# and they didn't have any there, but the SA was very helpful and said "They have the right size at Newport Beach". So I called them and was able to order the right size and they did a "charge and send" so I got the skirt with free shipping (since they didn't have it at my local store). You might try that. I know I've seen that top when I was browsing the sale racks at my local Anthro (but it was a different color).

Thanks for the suggestions. I won't give up on online shopping just yet, but boy, I have some crazy luck!

Queen Mum

Natalie,
your bad luck notwithstanding...
Firstly, it takes a while to refine the art of buying on line. You will get into the groove of how to find things that work for you after a while.

Secondly, I do ALOT of shopping on line and probably return 90% of what I buy. I probably return 75% of what I buy in person, so I just accept the fact that my shopping experience must include trying the items at home regardless of how I buy them. I see things much more objectively in front of my own mirror for some reason.

I've come to view on-line buying as simply picking things off the rack to go try on in the dressing room. I do try to analyze, view the different angles, look at fabric content, and read the reviews, but in the end I won't know until my faithful UPS guy drops the package at my door.

Oh,and I don't have to arrange for UPS to come, I drive a block away to my nearest UPS drop off facility. That does make it more handy. (truthfully, I should walk the silly block huh?)

I'm glad to hear there are others who are also frequent 'returners'. Somehow I'm always surprised when things don't look or seem as nice when I'm trying them on at home. More and more stores must be getting skinny mirrors.

UPS frequently picks up at my husband's office, so I send my things with him, but still it's annoying.

He told me long ago he doesn't get nervous when I shop because he knows the majority ends up getting returned!

Jjsloane

I'm sorry you had some bad luck. I had that same Anthro top in my cart and it was out of stock by the time I went to check out. Not as disappointing as paying for it and purchasing another item to find out it wasn't coming, but not fun. I do most of my shopping online because of the search and filters and my time, but I do a lot of returns so they have to have free shipping and returns or a convenient store for returns. To me it's just easier than sorting through B&M stores in the minimal time I have there. Better luck on your next purchases.

DressLover

Ditto everything that QM said.

rae

Wow, I'm so sorry for your bad luck - if it helps, I have not had these problems before, except when I've ordered from China. :T I hope this doesn't put you off shopping online, because if your goal is to stay out of stores and buy better quality, shopping online can save you a lot of money.

Lisa

What rotten luck. I have not had these specific problems personally with my online shopping but I do not have a very high success rate either. Quite often my online purchases are returned because the print/fabric/color are not what I thought once I see the item in person. I tend to shop more in brick and mortar stores than online specifically because I misjudge so often. I reserve online shopping for items I am watching for price drops but have already tried on in store. It doesn't always work, sometimes the item is gone in my size by the time a price cut happens, but it helps prevent me from so many returns.

As a side note, I have had bad success shopping in stores too. I've come home more than once with security tags still on the clothes or with a receipt that shows I've been charged for two items, when I only purchased one of them. It seems purchasing items, means a second trip to the store more often that not for me. It's not my preference but I find when my shopping trips with only a few items at a time are the one's when I run into less problems in stores.

Good luck with your shopping!

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