internet shopping & reality | Pad Patter 18 June

[bellbird]

Have you ever ordered something online only to have it turn up and it's a different size or just not what you thought or remember buying?

So you know i ask because i've done this myself, right?
In this most recent case it's my own fault- i ordered a jewellery case after looking at about a dozen a few weeks back ahead of DD's birthday and i opened the box after it arrived and i was like "hmm... the box that it was shipped in is smaller than i thought it would be in", and then "where's the side flap doors that had extra storage like bracelet hangers?" and obviously now, i realise that this particular one does not have that feature as that was one of the other ones i looked at but not on the one i added to my cart etc, and i really should have looked at the measurements and got a tape measure out because it's a lot smaller than my brain estimated it to be. Oh well, it might be added to the ' potential gifts' stash.
This is why i can't buy like furniture and stuff without seeing it in real life, in case i over or underestimate it's ability to fit a space or the boot of my car etc. This has to happen to other people, right?!

 

[Cherylndesigns]

Oh yes!!! Usually, it's the wrong size. Once I find something and fits perfectly, I'll usually order the same thing in a different color. I won't order anything that's a hassle to return. I read tons of comments, too and if there are lots of negative ones, I'll move on. I use my tape measure a lot, too.

As careful as we are - our new floor lamp arrived today and it was exactly what we wanted, except, the lampshade was way too small! It sure didn't look that small. Now we have to get a new shade. Meanwhile, I have the shade from the floor lamp I was replacing on it.

 

[Iowan]

I just ordered a 7-day pill container for my husband. It is gigantic. I measured in my mind. Next time I will use a ruler.

 

[A-M]

Yes, I ordered some gem stickers for a craft activity where I volunteer in Aged Care. In the illustration the gems were all the same color and size but what I received were an assortment of colours and shapes. I was not pleased at all.

 

[StefanieS]

We don't get stuff on line - but at home I so need to move stuff around and see if things will fit rather than just knowing like hubby does. I need to see things, touch and feel before I buy - otherwise this would totally be me.

 

[bcgal00]

I order lots of small things online but never clothes or furniture, I need to see those in person. Books, food, small housewares, decor stuff and pet toys I buy all the time online. Every now and then I get something I'm not thrilled about and its a bit of a hassle to return but overall its been ok.

 

[Ferdy]

I buy online a lot, and I usually read, re-read, use a measure tape...but the last thing I bought, it wasn't possible to measure it, and from the photos it seemed way bigger than the real life. I got a wine kit with bottle opener and other stuff, it was so small...let's hope it will last a bit, it looks so tiny and fragile!!

 

[Nemla]

I try not to order to much on line, mostly because our postal service for the last many years , (since it became a private company ) is diabolical ( they once lost my new Nikon Camera, I kid you not ... I got another , but it was annoying ) also things take soooo long - a scrapbook ( printed) for my Aunt's September birthday showed up in November ( after I had had a reprint done - of course ).
Once I ordered craft punches ( large one's ), and got a paper trimmer ! And since our post situation is what it is it is a real big hassle returning stuff.
But I would love to ! If only it worked...

 

[HavaDrPepper]

If I buy clothes I only buy 1 and if it fits, I'll order more. I usually only buy dresses/tops from one retailer online since I've shopped with them for over 30 years and I know it isn't hard to return things if needed. Otherwise I stick to name brands (like for jeans) and order them from either Penney's or Amazon. I did need new sweats this winter so found a couple pair on Amazon. When they fit, I ordered more.

I have gotten a couple of furniture items but they were smaller items that I had to put together. One was a rolling cart and the other a rolling laundry basket.

I will put stuff on my wish list and think on it for awhile before ordering. Right now I have a ruggable on my wish list but refuse to order until the work on my porch is done. Too much money to spend when I don't know when I can actually use it!

If an item didn't cost much and it wasn't what I actually wanted, I just put it in the donate box instead of the hassle of returning the item.

 

[bellbird]

I try not to order to much on line, mostly because our postal service for the last many years , (since it became a private company ) is diabolical ( they once lost my new Nikon Camera, I kid you not ... I got another , but it was annoying ) also things take soooo long - a scrapbook ( printed) for my Aunt's September birthday showed up in November ( after I had had a reprint done - of course ).
Once I ordered craft punches ( large one's ), and got a paper trimmer ! And since our post situation is what it is it is a real big hassle returning stuff.
But I would love to ! If only it worked...

Wow that sounds like a truly terrible postage situation (& devastating re: new camera!) & one of the pitfalls of privatisation & I completely understand the hassle of returning things. You make our own less than good postal service sound positively fantastic!

 

[bellbird]

We don't get stuff on line - but at home I so need to move stuff around and see if things will fit rather than just knowing like hubby does.

Lol my DH is the same re: just knows. We will also be driving somewhere & he'll see a small parking spot & I'll say 'we won't fit in that! ' & after some kind of magic, he manages to make it fit where I'd have just been driving around concentric blocks searching for bigger spaces endlessly! I can only imagine it's the same skill that has so much practical value!

 

[bellbird]

I just ordered a 7-day pill container for my husband. It is gigantic. I measured in my mind. Next time I will use a ruler.

Well the bright side I guess is that if he ends up having to take more meds in the future, they'll fit?! Some multivitamin capsules seem to be the size of a battleship! I guess they try to accommodate every possible tablet

 

[littlekiwi]

I did an online order for some clothes from Australia (Autograph) a few years back (they had half a dozen stores in New Zealand at the time as well - none super close to me though). I saw a few items I wanted and the sale was finishing before I could get to a physical store so I placed an online order. Ended up with what I wanted plus about two or three other items. I rang up to say I’d received these extra items and they said take it to your local store (local was roughly two hours by public transport), they gave me a voucher for I think either $10 or $20 off full price items for the inconvenience that could only be redeemed online. I ended up not using the voucher for a couple of reasons - a) their full price stuff while nice was not really worth it b) their stuff is almost always 50-80% off at some point anyway and c) why would I risk getting more stuff from the same company distribution centre that screwed up the first time. That was also the last time I ordered online from there as well.

 

[Scrapping with Liz]

Sometimes stuff shows up and it's like I'm opening a present because I forgot what I ordered. Haha!

I've done pretty good with on-line ordering. I usually pull out tape measures to make sure I'm visualizing correctly.

One time I did an on-line grocery order and when I got home and started unpacking I came across a bag of chips and I knew something was wrong. I thought they had given me the wrong size. It was an individual bag of chips. I thought for sure I ordered a regular size....went back and looked at my order and for sure I put a snack size in my cart. I've learned my lesson to actually look at the size of the bag and not go off the picture. Oh, and sometimes I'll accidentally put just 1 banana in my cart and then I'm like why did I just get 1 banana (that'll last a whole 15 seconds in my house).

 

[bellbird]

Yes, I ordered some gem stickers for a craft activity where I volunteer in Aged Care. In the illustration the gems were all the same color and size but what I received were an assortment of colours and shapes. I was not pleased at all.

Do you have a Reject Shop or similar near you? I'm always surprised by how much (cool to me) cheap crafty stuff they have (& much like my birds or a squirrel, their sparkly sticky gems always catch my eye & I own (cough cough: hoard) probably more colours & sizes of them than a digiscrapper would admit!)

 

[A-M]

@bellbird I was able to get some gems from a Cheap Shop and some of the ones from ebay I did recolor the clear ones with my permanent sharpie pens.

 

[bestcee]

I just ordered a 7-day pill container for my husband. It is gigantic. I measured in my mind. Next time I will use a ruler.

I was looking for a small one, and oh my gosh! So many of them are ginormous! I finally ordered one, it's actually a 31 +1 day, and it's still a little larger than I expected. I'm okay with it, but it's more than I expected.

 

[bestcee]

Around here, it's the checking the measurement. Often, I find companies try to make things look bigger by using cm not in. That got me once - and now I pay extra attention!

 

[jaye]

I order clothes online quite a bit but only from one store as I know their brand and sizing. That being said there is nothing like taking a bunch of stuff in the change room and trying it on. My instant gratification needs rather than waiting 7-10 days.

My friend ordered a portable dog pool for her Pug as the picture showed a larger dog. . . . .it is the size of a water dish for my Lab, lol. I have ordered one as well, but made sure to measure the hard plastic pool she has as well as her (she was not amused). I asked my friend if the price didn't clue her in and when she showed me the ad it's in big letters to double-check the size you are clicking on, it was 11.5". We had a great laugh.

 

[bellbird]

and sometimes I'll accidentally put just 1 banana in my cart and then I'm like why did I just get 1 banana (that'll last a whole 15 seconds in my house)

lol does anyone ever just buy one banana?! there was an grocery shopping online fail' my DD told me about that was basically someone thought they were buying 8 bananas, the fresh fruit kind in their online shop, but they delivered 8 bags of banana lollies, the party mix candy kind! DD thought that was better than real bananas but the rest of us were all 'uggh!' because we don't like them at all!