Don't talk to me about online shopping!!!!

I do very little online shopping. I prefer to see what I am buying. But I spent ages trying to find some things for a friend who has had a baby. We went to quite a few shops and couldn’t find what I wanted, so in the end ordered online. The results are frustrating to say the least.

I wanted to buy a buzzy bee. Any kiwi knows what this is…..a little wooden toy that you pull along. They are solid, made of wood, brightly coloured and make a clacking sounds with the wings when you pull it along. Probably every New Zealand child has had one. I wanted to buy one for my friend, who lives overseas.  I think I have seen them somewhere in a NZ shop, but in the end, decided to buy it online. I  bought it from a website called ‘bubsngrubs’. I 

 

 ordered it on the 20^th March, and it was on my doorstep the next day. That is fantastic service. It looks like it came from Brisbane, so not far to come.

Another thing I bought from Fishpond.com.au….supposedly the biggest online toy store in Australia. I looked in big baby shops, Kmart etc for this and couldn’t find any.  It is called a soothe and glow seahorse, and plays quiet classical music and has lovely soothing water noises in the background, while the tummy is a light. You press the tummy for five minutes of music.  I saw this first when my daughter in law was given one a couple of months ago.  There were several places online, but I bought from what I assumed is an Australian site.

 

 

The  ‘soothe and glow’ came today. It took them 23 days to get it from Sydney to me on the Gold Coast. According to the packing it was packed for delivery on the 7^th, and it arrived this morning on the 11^th. A few days ago I emailed them to find out how much longer it would take, and they allow about a month for delivery. I reckon that is the most awful service. I will not buy from them again. The lady who delivered it to me this morning said she ordered something and it took three months to finally get it. Blow that!  Anyway, I now have it. 

But I am still waiting for the third order to be delivered. Again on the 20^th March I ordered online through Booktopia. Again this has a .com.au address, so I took it to be an Aussie site. Well, you would think that a country this size would have a few books on hand wouldn’t you?

I wanted to buy some Golden Books, again books from a bygone era. But they were good books, good pictures, good stories easy to read and all our children grew up on them. It seems to be impossible to buy them in shops now. I went to lots of shops, but no one stocks them…hence again I was forced to go online.

Again, on the 20^th I ordered these books, valued at around $4 each. In desperation,  I emailed them a few days ago. This was their reply.

“3 books from your order have arrived in our warehouse and will be shipped out Friday or Monday.

3 books are coming from the US and with the Easter weekend having just passed it has still only been 5 business days since you made your order and we usually allow 7-10 business days for the books to ship for books coming from overseas.

1 other book is coming from an Australian supplier and should arrive in the next few days.

Booktopia Team”

I calculate that it has been nine business days since I ordered, allowing for three weekends including Easter, and and anyway does all the post stop during weekends? I don't think so! So it should be on a truck or train or something over those weekend days.

Little books, like the Golden books are coming from USA and England to be sent to me here on the Gold Coast, and then I will send all this stuff back to China where it was made in the first place. I think the only people making money on this are the courier companies. But at least 4 weeks to get some books that have been ordered online?

How crazy is that?