When Online Shopping Doesn't Work

.. Generally, I'm amped for the holidays. I believe in the adage that it's better to give than to receive, so I'm excited to give presents to my family and some close friends.

Attempting to avoid some of the chaos that ensues in stores and the mall at this time of year, I hopped online and did a good amount of digital shopping. Now I love online shopping, 'cause it's beautiful when it works. The thing is, you gotta be careful or you'll get burned.

Which leads me to my ultimate point - I'ma complain real quick about two online purchases I made this year that I regret. First, I grabbed a "Barack Star" T-shirt over at BarackStar08.com for a friend - I thought the design was cool and that she'd love it.

Here's the thing - I placed my order on November 17 and these sons-of-bitches STILL haven't shipped it yet. I e-mailed and called for the past couple weeks, but this bootleg operation doesn't even have the decency to hit me back.

So you know what I did? I put in a dispute on PayPal. And if they don't get in touch within the next week, I'm escalating that ish to a claim and you better be damn sure I'm getting my money back. I mean, it's only a T-shirt - not like it'll break the bank or anything, but this is about more than the money, it's about principle.

The other complaint I got is about a site I featured on my blog, the Imaginary Foundation. That is definitely the perfect name for this "company" because I'm not sure if it actually exists. I placed a small order and it was supposed to ship yesterday, I followed the tracking number and everything.

And you know what happened? USPS said they couldn't deliver it because it was "undeliverable to address." You gotta be SHITTIN' ME! I checked if I made a mistake on the shipping address, and of course I didn't. I'm a perfectionist especially when my money's involved. So I e-mail and call and again, no response. Aight, they pissed me off. So I filed another dispute, this time with my bank, and you better be certain I'll fight 'til the end to get my order or my money back.

Sorry for the long rant, I just know some of y'all have been burned before so you feel my pain. Now even if both packages show up at my doorstep tomorrow, I'll still never order from these half-ass, amatuer operations. If they want to burn me for a couple bucks, they better know I'm gonna air them out AND never give them my business or refer my homies to them. That's some low-life ish, and if they really are trying to take my money, they'll win this round but I GUARANTEE THEY WILL LOSE THE WAR.

'Nuff of that, I'm out to go to a real spot and cop Iron Man and Dark Knight on DVD so I'll have somethin to watch when I'm setting up my new BlackBerry.

Hope your holiday shopping experience was better than mine, I'm ghost.