What am I supposed to do with this

[Seagate]

I made an online order before the Christmas. I got an email to say that they are away over Christmas and it will be fulfilled in January. The shop is very unique and has some fantastic things. I can't get these any where else. They really do have a fantastic thing. I made another online order in the same shop while I was waiting for order number 1 to be fulfilled.

It was last week when order number 1 still wasn't fulfilled and at that stage I wrote an email to require about the order. I didn't get a response so I went to PayPal for a refund. I just sought a refund for order number 1. I left my second order open.

The second order hasn't been dispatched yet either. I got an email over the weekend and it was explained to me that she is a woman in her 80s and she can't move around fast any more. I did google her name and I really do think she is very much genuine. I would bet on it. She is genuine for sure.

She is 80+ years old and it's clear she's not able to fulfill these online orders. I really think she should have someone to help her to fulfil them.

I have no idea what to do. I think I will be waiting til the end of this week and if its not dispatched I will have to give up on it entirely and seek a refund altogether.

I'm actually just more disappointed. I was looking forward to my orders. One of them being a birthday gift.

That is really all you can do. Either you want the items enough to wait however long she takes to make them. Or it's not worth the wait and you contact them for a cancellation and refund. Hopefully she hasn't wasted any time or money making them before then. Custom made items will always take more time that bulk shipped Amazon things. It's up to you what you want to do.

It's not custom made items. I know custom made will often have a wait time involved with them. It's not custom made.

Sorry it was just when you said you couldn't get them anywhere else I assumed she made them. Still all you can do is wait or cancel.

I'm disappointed to learn that there is a senior managing an online shop and it's clear to me she's not able to do it anymore and I am astonished how there isn't anyone there to help her fulfill orders within some sort of a timely manner. No one should have to wait weeks and weeks. I really think she should be looking at winding it down or passing it on to someone. I will wait til the end of this week and if it's not dispatched I will seek a refund.

It's not really up to you how she manages her business though. If people stop ordering or reviews reflect the wait times then her business may well see the effects of the length of time taken and close down or take on more staff.

She said you would get your order in January. It's only the 16th. If you weren't happy to wait until January you should have said when she first emailed you.

I made contact at the end of the first week of January. So that was the 5th of January. I was told that they will be back in the office next week and I should have my order by Thursday the 9th.

I was happy to wait but there wasn't any sign of even a dispatch even last week.

It wasn't even dispatched by then.
There isn't a company on the face of this planet that will be able to operate and keep going by giving customers a vague indication of when they might get an order. There has to be some sort of a timeline involved. I was happy to wait but I

Also when I made my order in December there was nothing on their website to say that they were closed for the Christmas. It was only after my order was made at some stage was there a notice on their website to say that there was going to be no Christmas delivery from then.

That notice should have gone up before then. If I saw that I wouldn't have ordered it at that time and I wouldn't have got my hopes up for it then. I was happy to wait and it thought maybe it might be a week or two into January but even last week there was no dispatch of my first order. It really shouldn't take so long. Its not a handcrafted item. If it takes so long there should be clear policies on their website about a time line and the whole thing is operated by a senior who can't move about much.

I ordered a small item from a different maker from abroad and it was through etsy. That was last week on the Monday and the item was delivered to me this morning.

I keep thinking about to my order about this one and its not right. Its Monday and there's still not dispatch. Surely they had all weekend to prepare the order for a dispatch today or tomorrow.

I ordered a TV boxset that was on TV years ago. It was filmed and recorded by a couple in the 70s and 80s. I ordered directly from the makers. I am not able to get the boxset from any where else. Now it has me think I g if its legitimate at all. The fact that the excuse of a senior was used in an email, it does actually scream of scammer trying to gain sympathy.

My first order number from December was something like #168. Then my January order number was #175. That indicates to me that there was maybe 6 more orders made between my first order in December and my second order. Are all of those orders just hanging around as well. Surely they know they have all these orders to fulfill and yet they were able to use an excuse of being an OAP.

Agreed that it would have been helpful of them to display what dates they're closed over Christmas more prominently on the website, so you could have made a more informed decision whether to order.

Is it being sent via Royal Mail? If so, she's possibly spending a lot of time chasing up orders that were sent out before Christmas but haven't arrived due to the strikes. At the moment I spend around 50% of my day replying to people chasing up orders, which obviously takes away time from preparing new orders for dispatch.

It's surprisingly difficult to find reliable staff to help pick orders, even if you're paying a good few quid above living wage. If you're a small business you also don't have the luxury of employing additional staff to check orders before they're sent or to write off stock when the wrong item is sent out.

I'm not in England or the UK. My orders wouldn't be royal mail. I don't know about their other orders. They had 6 orders after me. Its not a lot. I presume the majority of them were European orders.

If my mother was in her 80s and running and online business I would never allow her to do that. I would chip in and help and I would never let her carry the load. One of my earlier emails did look like it was from a family member of the shop owner.
There is someone there in the background but still no order dispatched.

What do you want to happen though OP, it is what is.

I get that it's a disappointment and not desirable behaviour in a business at all, but analysing it from all angles and comparing it to other businesses or sellers or anything else isn't going to change anything. Her age and your guesswork at who is or isn't helping her at work, her level of mobility or how the business is run isn't necessary either or anyone's business but her own. You've gone from deciding she is an OAP with no help to the other end of the spectrum and deciding it's now a scam to garner sympathy but ultimately that still changes nothing.

If you're not happy with the situation, which you're well within your rights to not be, then pursue a refund. Otherwise contact her again and let her know it's not been received and ask when it will be. If that's not acceptable then continue to pursue a refund.

As an aside, I wouldn't have expected any small business to be open over the entirety of xmas and the new year and don't know of any that were. If you contacted them on the week of the 5th and were told they were back to work the next week then I'd doubt they'd have even got around to your order by the 9th if business hours are mon-fri or (as is common) even less.

If it's stressing you out maybe you should ask her to cancel your order and refund. If you've paid via Paypal it's highly likely you'll get a refund from them should the seller refuse.

Whether or not you think someone in the 80s should be running a business is irrelevant really. I know people of a similar age who choose to work part time to keep them busy. It seems unlikely this is her main source of income and more of a hobby to her given she is selling items that you can only buy from her. Some people are happy to wait for items. I'm still waiting for items I ordered before Christmas. I'll give it a month, then chase it up with a polite e-mail. Life happens, people get sick, strikes, etc.

I had a name change.

My issue with this order was that there has been very little communication from this place. I got no email confirmation upon my order.
I eventually got an email to say that they will aim to get it out tomorrow in the mail.
That was last week on Wednesday and Thursday.
Its now Tuesday and it's still not dispatched.

If its only just a part time hobby shop where they take their time to fulfill an order and it takes them a few weeks, that should be indicated in a policy on their website.
Their site has a policy stating that orders are sent within a few days. I discovered last week that, that was not the case.
They were back in the office according to an email on the 9th of January and still by last week there was no dispatch of my original order.

I'm now left in limbo about my second order I made. I don't know if it's been dispatched yet or not. I don't think it has been.
I think I will leave it til later in the week before getting in touch with them.

How come other companies and shops can fulfil orders and get them out without you waiting weeks?

I was told in an email the first week of January that I would get the order by the the end of last week. By January the 12th. There was no order and when I made contact, it wasn't even dispatched at all. All I got were excuses for my original order.