I placed the order on the 11th. It shipped on the 14th. The earliest date I was told I could expect it is on the 21st. That would be TEN days from my original order date. I was told all this SEVEN days after I placed my order when I called customer service because I never got a shipping confirmation email or a tracking number. I talked to someone very nice, competent and helpful, but I didn't like the information she gave me. Because she was so cool on the phone, I decided not to complain... at least to her.
I paid a special "handling fee" and it took them three days to get my package "handled" before it even shipped? What is that nonsense? And then it takes (at least) an additional 7 days for it to get to me? Stuff I ordered from half way across the world, days AFTER placing my FMG order, are already arriving sooner than that.
Now, the last time I ordered from them, quite a while back now, before they started using FedEx, they did send me a shipping confirmation email with a tracking number. So, I tracked. My package sat in the Portland, OR post office for days. Just sat there. I compared notes with other shop owners who order from FMG and they said the same thing about the Portland PO. Based on this information I gleaned two things. A) The Portland Post Office is either grossly under-staffed, or just suffers from pacific-northwest-itis (an ailment I discovered when I lived in Seattle, WA) and is dead slow.
B) FMG's sluggish shipping times therefore are likely a result of the crummy post office their packages are routed through. Not their fault.
But now they are using FedEx. If I recall correctly, that shipment that caused such a headache for me as it crawled its way through the USPS, arrived about 7 days after I placed the order. This one, through FedEx, is expected to take a total of ten days or more. Is FedEx transporting things by stage coach to save money on gas? In this day and age, you can ship a bloody car across country faster than that. What's the hold-up?!
Ok, so getting my crap isn't exactly a matter of life and death for my business right now. I can wait it out if I have to, but it really baffles me as to why it should take so long to get my order from them. Why did it take so long for them to ship it? Why will it take at least seven days to get it from there to here, especially when I paid a pretty penny for shipping?
Another reason it throws my nose out of joint is because I have components coming in from all over the world, from many different sources, and in order for me to plan my projects and keep the various components organized, I need to know when everything is arriving. It also is super frustrating when you have everything you need to start your project except what is in a tardy package that for some mysterious reason is arriving way later than the rest. You have all this stuff and you can't put it to use because you're missing some crucial component. It's so annoying. And while you wait, you might misplace something or lose your interest in it. it just messes the whole thing up.
I'm actually already suffering from that scenario in my sewing department, but its my fault. I was so excited about a new pattern I bought that I dove right in, thinking that I could just substitute a normal snap for the 14mm magnetic snap specified by the designer. Then I decided I'd better stick to the pattern or risk massively screwing it up, so I have had to put my fabric and templates and partly completed project in a ziplock bag while I wait for those damned snaps to arrive from Assbackistan. And wow, they sure are expensive. Speaking of which...
I need to make some money. I'm getting butterflies in my stomach every time I have to pay for something, but I'm too nervous to look at my account balance. I'm supposed to go over to my Grandparents' house and do... something... today, I don't know what... but I'm hoping it is a paying gig. The funny thing is, well, actually, come to think of it, it isn't funny at all. The sad thing is, if/when I make any money from my shop (hardly ever) I just spend it all on more supplies and stuff for my shop. Sadder still, pretty much the only time I am able to sell something, except at Christmas, is when I sell at a loss, so i just dig myself into a deeper and deeper hole of anti-profit. But I didn't start my business thinking I was going to get rich, I did it because I ran out of places to put all the stuff I make. I sure as hell can't wear 50 pairs of earrings, especially since I don't have pierced ears. And what am I going to do with 100 pieces of my own handmade jewelry and other objects d'art? I can't use them all myself. So I figured I would sell them. But guess what...
We're in a depression. I don't care what anyone says. It's not just a recession. Selling online is a lot harder than selling in person, and at a time like this, people aren't shopping for non-essential goodies as much, and they generally don't want to pay extra for the time and skill it takes to hand-craft an item. Especially when they can buy a similar item from China for like... a penny. When I first started, back in March of 2010, I was really amped up and motivated to make my business a big success. I studied and did workshops and advertised locally and on Facebook and on the web. I poured lots of money into promoting my shop. None of it has done any good. It just ate all my money.
Not only that, but because everyone is looking for a little extra income, I get more hits to my items from people searching for "how to make a..." than are looking to buy such an item. The craft market is flooded, and it seems like everyone and their mom is trying to start a home-business these days. The only people making money are the host websites and the advertising media we use. It is completely demoralizing.
In conclusion, running my business is hard enough without having to wait an inordinate amount of time for my crap to arrive. Thank you.
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