Christmas gift dilemma

[MerinoFroggie]

I ordered a Christmas present a few weeks ago on etsy. My order hasnt been dispatched yet and I'm getting nervous about it not arriving on time for Christmas. Even if its posted on Monday, it means the last posting day before Christmas would have been missed.

What would you do? There is a beautiful gift shop and craft village near me. Should I pick up a gift there instead?

I'm free over the weekend and then I'm working right up until Christmas eve night.

I personally would go get another gift now as it's getting rather close

There have been extensive delays with post recently. First class parcels are taking over a week to arrive in some areas, sometimes two weeks.

So if your Etsy item hasn't been despatched yet, it's worth sending a message to the seller to cancel if you think you can buy something locally.

Contact the seller- what was the estimated delivery time when you ordered? If it was before Christmas maybe they will expedite it. Or cancel and buy locally.

Yes I would cancel the order and buy something else.

If it had been dispatched then there would be a slim chance of it arriving on time. But if the seller hasn’t even dispatched yet then you’ve literally no chance.

I wouldn’t risk waiting - too stressful.

If you can afford it I would pick something up this weekend, even if it's just a small token gift and then explain their gift is on the way, most people would be understanding, at least I hope they would.

Email the seller and ask if it can be sent special delivery if not yet dispatched

I sent a message asking when I can expect the order to be dispatched and that was on Tuesday whe I messaged him on etsy. He didn't reply but he gave me his messagner details the week before. So I contacted him again. He said it will be dispatched in a few days time. The estimate dispatch was by Saturday the 19th of December. So Its still within the timeframe.

If you've already messaged him I think you have no choice but to wait until the last posting date and hope he gets it together. If this length of dispatch wasn't stated at the point of purchase though I wouldn't be best pleased.

Honestly though I would just apologise to the recipient if it's late. As long as it isnt for a child I can't see the issue or need to spend on another gift. I'd understand perfectly if someone told me they'd ordered something.ething bespoke or handmade/small business based weeks ago and it hadn't arrived. Everyone knows things are weird this year and the post is delayed. They'll get the gift eventually. I'd probably give them a nice box of biscuits in the meantime.

Honestly, just say sorry, it's on its way - it's not the end of the world!

Get him to courier it and pay the extra

Do you live with the gift recipient?

If not, buy a new gift.

If you do, I’m sure someone in your household wouldn’t mind waiting BUT the seller doesn’t sound great here. There’s a clear lack of customer service if they initially ignored your messages and set such a long dispatch date during the run up to Christmas. Unless it’s a personalised item I would cancel the order and cut your losses.