Debenhams online shopping? No thank you.

I love online shopping, really i do. Who really wants to trek around the shops with more than one child?  It's a nightmare and you always end up spending more than you should because well little people have puppy dog eyes and me being a complete sucker always falls for it, then you have the fact that online shopping is much easier when it comes to Christmas present buying as you don't need to juggle your bags to make sure nothing can be seen through them and try and get little people to look elsewhere while explaining in a hushed yet stressed voice to the shop cashier that you need to keep the item hidden. 

Anyway i suppose i better start getting to the point soon.

To avoid "proper" shopping, on the 10th i purchased three items using a gift card. One was a present for my youngest. A sylvanian celebration family. It was in stock when i ordered. Within a short amount (less than a day) of time i had an email that said "unable to fulfil"

Fair enough i suppose. It happens. I looked on the website. and it was still showing as in stock. I emailed,  and phoned to see what was going on. I was told on the phone by them that they had sold out and there would be no more. I explained that they should probably stop advertising something on their website when they didn't have it. The person i spoke to didn't seem all that bothered.

Next step would be me ordering something else for youngest or trying to. I picked something, tried putting it through but oh dear i only have £1.17 on my giftcard. There was no refund for the item that they charged me for but didn't have.

Again i contact Debenhams via phone call and email. This time i was told that it takes longer to credit a giftcard than it does a bank card?! but it should be back on the giftcard by Tuesday (22nd) at the latest.

Guess what? Yes still no money on my giftcard..I phoned, was transferred to head office. On hold 9 minutes to be cut off. Getting more and more frustrated by this time and so i complained on Debenhams facebook wall. (i did this before but they weren't very helpful and just passed the buck by giving me an email address that they don't seem very quick to reply to)

I phoned again and was transferred to head office, on hold for approx 10 minutes before a gentleman answered and after explaining everything said that it should be back on my card in 48 hours.To make matters worse he said they actually now have five of the sylvanian families in!  This was after someone told me they wouldn't be getting anymore in.
Now i admit this man was the most helpful out of everyone i spoke to but i still had no apology and what if the next thing i order they are unable to fulfil? Will i have to go through this mess again. Argh.

I love Debenhams products, really i do but after this experience i will never ever shop online with them again. I found them rude, unhelpful the majority of the time and they still have my money and i originally placed the order on the 10th. If the money is still missing in 48 hours i plan to take this up with trading standards as i find this shocking behaviour for such a big named company.

Christmas Shopping - Bah Humbug.

Another one pops in my email inbox. Taunting me yet again as if to say "You still won't be ready when the time comes"  Yes..Christmas emails.  Get 20% off if you purchase tonight, it would make a great Christmas gift. Yeah right...or "Buy now while stocks last, It's just what your loved one will want this Christmas.

Let's just ignore the fact that we all know that by December 23rd everything gift wise will be half the price it is now.

Now vouchers..Such an easy option that always seem fairly appreciated and it means your loved ones can buy what they want after Christmas when everything is on sale, but with that comes a lack of thought, nothing to really hold and admire on christmas day and the knowledge of whoever gets the vouchers will have to deal with hoards of *sweaty & over stuffed on turkey* boxing day people who are desperately trying to grab that last cr*ppy tube of fake snow and those much wanted reindeer socks that are only really suitable for the Christmas week. Maybe they are too drunk from Christmas booze to realize that it doesn't make much sense or even worse they are just one of those awful people who happen to have Christmas for the next year all sorted by the end of January. These are totally awful people who make me look completely useless. Grrrr

Yes you have guessed it i really hate Christmas..well no that's a lie. I actually love Christmas. I just hate the hours of shopping for the perfect gift. The expense of it all. The ramming Christmas down my throat in September. The unrealistic expectations of children who still like to hold on to the idea of "Santa" yet old enough to know that the jolly fat man gets rather a  lot of help from tired parents who haven't yet managed to win the lottery.

BAH HUMBUG.