Alright, let me tell you about my recent Neiman Marcus shipping adventure. It was… something. So, I saw this killer handbag online, right? Had to have it. Clicked “add to cart” faster than you can say “retail therapy.”
First, I went through the checkout process. Pretty standard stuff. Put in my address, chose my shipping option. Now, this is where things get interesting. They had a couple of options, nothing crazy. I opted for the slightly faster one, thinking, “Hey, it’s Neiman Marcus, they’re fancy, shipping should be quick!” Famous last words, I tell ya.
I placed the order on a Tuesday afternoon. Got a confirmation email almost immediately. So far, so good. The email said to expect a shipping notification within 24-48 hours. Cool, I can wait. But, Wednesday came and went. No email. Thursday morning? Nada. I started getting antsy.
Thursday afternoon rolls around, and I’m like, “Okay, something’s up.” I hop onto their website, find the “track your order” section, punch in my order number. The status? “Order Received.” That’s it. No movement. No progress. Just…received. I was starting to get that sinking feeling.
So, I do what any sane person would do: I call customer service. Waited on hold for a good 20 minutes, listening to elevator music that was slowly driving me insane. Finally, someone picks up. I explain my situation, the “Order Received” status, the lack of shipping notification. She puts me on hold again to “investigate.”
Comes back a few minutes later and tells me that the order is “processing” and should ship out “soon.” “Soon”?! What does that even mean? I pressed her for a more specific timeframe. She said, “Probably within the next 24-48 hours.” Ugh. Back to square one.
Fast forward to Friday. Still nothing. I was fuming. Another call to customer service. This time, I’m a little less polite. I explain, again, the situation. This rep was a bit more helpful, thankfully. She actually looked into the why behind the delay. Turns out, the handbag was coming from a store location and they were having “inventory issues.” Apparently, they couldn’t find the exact bag they were supposed to ship me.
She apologized profusely and offered to expedite the shipping once it finally went out. Okay, fine. Progress, I guess. She said it should ship out by Saturday at the latest. I was skeptical, but what choice did I have?
Saturday morning, I checked the order status. Still “Order Received.” I almost lost it. But then, around 4 PM, I got the magical email: “Your order has shipped!” Hallelujah! They used UPS, and thankfully, it arrived on Monday morning. So, from order placement to delivery, it took a full six days.
The Breakdown:
- Ordered: Tuesday afternoon
- Shipped: Saturday afternoon
- Delivered: Monday morning
- Total time: 6 days
The Lesson: Don’t always assume fancy means fast. Neiman Marcus might have high-end products, but their shipping isn’t always top-tier. And be prepared to call customer service multiple times. Persistence pays off, sometimes.
Would I order from them again? Maybe. But I’d definitely factor in the potential for shipping delays and set my expectations accordingly. And maybe choose the slowest, cheapest shipping option next time. Might end up being just as fast, and save me a few bucks! You never know.
