Yay for the weekend!

It's been a loooong week. I've just felt so crappy lately...so it makes every day feel very long. 

We've been getting ready for Thanksgiving. I've already ordered all the food except for the strawberries, rolls, etc. that need to be ordered closer to the day. My mom is making the ham and mashed potatoes, and my sister is making deviled eggs and some deserts. I'm making all my usual stuff plus crockpot mac n cheese, banana bread, pumpkin bread, and ginger molasses cookies. We'll also have some chips and French onion dip to munch on while dinner is cooking. Johnny also wants some veggies and ranch dip, but we'll see. 

When we were talking about everything we need to do, Johnny mentioned that we don't have a Thanksgiving tablecloth or centerpiece. We do actually have some centerpieces that we're going to use...they're fall flower arrangements in small terracotta pots that I made more than 20 years ago. They've been up in the closet in the office. But I did go ahead and get a new tablecloth for Thanksgiving. Since we're planning to put the leaves in the table, we needed an oval tablecloth instead of our round one anyway. It also reminded me that I've been wanting to get some new seat cushions for the dining room chairs, so I got a set of seat cushions with washable covers. These are for everyday, not just Thanksgiving...so we ordered a dark grey set that match the couch pretty well. 

Oh! And we finally found a new tv stand that we like! We had a lot of things on our list as far as what we were looking for. We knew that we wanted a black one to match our new coffee table. Most of the black ones were high gloss...and we didn't want that. Johnny also didn't want it to look too "farmhouse" style. Our coffee table has the "X" decor on the edges, so he decided that he didn't mind if the doors of the tv stand have it as well...he just definitely wanted it to have doors. We have so much dog hair and stuff...it's better than having to clean everything on the tv stand so frequently. There's also only one real logical spot to put the tv, which is in front of the half-wall by the stairs. So we didn't want one that was super tall (I could just imagine the tv getting bumped and falling down the stairs), but we also wanted it to fill the 72" inch wide space as much as possible. Johnny really wanted one with a fireplace heater with different heat, brightness, and color settings and preferred there to be color-changing LED lights. I FINALLY found one that's nearly perfect. I'm not a huge fan of the woodgrain texture look (our new coffee table is smooth), but I like it better than the high gloss. Other than that it seems pretty perfect. It's 70" long and a little less than 27" tall (a lot of the other ones were almost 3 feet tall or more), has fireplace heater (and the look is with logs, =not the "crystals" that a lot of the other ones had), doors with adjustable shelves that have doors, LED lights...hopefully it will work out great. We were really hoping it would arrive before Thanksgiving (estimated delivery window was Tuesday-Saturday when we ordered it), but tracking so far has it arriving on Friday. :P 

I/we did some other Black Friday shopping already. Our old cat tree was ruined when the cat room flooded, and the cats need something to scratch on (somewhere that is NOT the new couch). We don't have a very logical place to put it in the living room...so we decided to find one that we could put on the landing of the stairs. It's a pretty big landing, so we had a bit of room to work with. Plus now that the girls have moved out, I'm pretty much the only one going downstairs and that's mainly just to do the laundry and tend to the cats. 

I found a corner cat tree that has a 17" base and it fits perfectly. We picked the 66" version in dark grey color which matches pretty well with the couch. And with the Black Friday sale, it was 30% off. It was easy to put together...I got it all done in about half an hour. Then after Johnny got off work on Friday, he helped me put it on the stairs and attached it to the wall so it doesn't tip. Milo was a bit cautious at first, but Leo absolutely loved it right away. He was rolling around and having fun before we even put it on the landing. Angel really seems to enjoy it, too. She's a big reason why we decided to put the cat tree on the stairs. She doesn't like to come upstairs with the dogs, so we were thinking that she might feel like she's part of what's going on being able to sit up higher and see what everyone is doing. 

I also got a 40x12 cork scratching mat to put on the half wall which was 42% off for Black Friday. The cats have been having a harder time jumping up there (they'll be 10 years old next year, so I suppose it's not out of the ordinary), so I thought it might give them a bit of traction...plus provide another outlet for scratching. I cut a portion of it to fit on the wood trim and then I hung the rest on the wall. It has some really strong adhesive and seems to be working well so far. 

So...the cats' Christmas is all taken care of. ;) 

Then I also got a new video camera for the cat room and one for the living room. I got a regular indoor cam for the cat room for 50% off and a pan/tilt indoor cam for upstairs that was 33% off. I'd gotten a cheap camera for the cat room when I set up the litter robot to see if/when the cats used it...but despite having an sd card, you can't really save recordings to it or see anything in between motion alerts (and the motion alerts aren't very good at all) without a subscription plan. We already have a Ring subscription for our outdoor cameras which is for unlimited devices...so it makes a lot more sense to have Ring indoor camera instead. And Johnny really likes that they have privacy covers. 

I really like being able to check on things with the cats (like if the litterbox is full or if they've run out of food in their gravity feeder) without having to actually go downstairs. And when we went to my sister's house a few months ago, I moved the cat room camera upstairs to watch the dogs while we were gone and it was really nice to be able to check in on them...so we decided to get a camera for upstairs, too. I thought the pan/tilt camera would be better so we can see all areas upstairs. I added the cameras to our Ring app and Johnny helped me put up the pan/tilt camera up in the dining room after he got off work. I have to move some things around in the cat room before I set the camera up in there so we have an unobstructed view of everything.  

The only other thing I'd really like to get for the house is a new ceiling fan for the living room...but we may wait on that until after the new year. 

Well...I'm going to get some more things done before I go to bed. :) 

 

*post contains Amazon affiliate links

November Update

I can't believe it's November already! I'm glad though. The sooner the next 3 years go by the better, as far as I'm concerned. :P 

We spent several hours at my mom's house on Saturday. She needed a new garbage disposal and faucet for her kitchen sink...so Johnny replaced those for her. He's always been such a wonderful help for our family. :) And then after Johnny was done with that, he chatted with my dad while I set up my old printer for mom and connected her additional monitor to her laptop. So it was a nice, productive evening. Although...Nova wasn't very happy that her dinner was 2 hours late. ;) 

Oh! And thank goodness for Walmart delivery being available in the small town...because the faucet didn't come with the hoses to connect to the water lines and we were able to have them delivered within an hour. But the funniest thing is that when I went to make a Walmart order on Monday, I'd forgotten to change the address back to ours so our groceries were delivered to my mom's house. :P Oops! 

I spent most of Sunday working. I had 15 orders to print, cut, and package that went out in the mail today. I also finished the last new sticker sheet listing in my CandiMakerPlanners shop. I added seven new Christmas gift label sticker sheets. I was hoping to get them done earlier, but at least they're done now. I also set up my Black Friday sales...they'll run from November 24 at 12am until December 3 at 12am. I always have a buy-more-save-more sale for Black Friday. So...if anyone is looking to make a big purchase, that will be a perfect time. :) 

Let's see...what else has been happening? 

We went to Village Inn for my birthday last month. It's our new favorite place for family dinners with my grandparents because it's generally quiet. There's also a really funny waitress there...but my birthday was the first time in the last couple years that she wasn't there. She's always teasing and joking around which makes us laugh...and it's always nice to laugh! Then after dinner we went over to my grandparents' house to play Hand & Foot...and I won! I've won some rounds before, but I think it's the first time I've actually won the game. 

We took the dogs to the groomer last month, too. They look and smell soooo good after the groomer! I did notice this time, Nova got quite a few hot spots and Boz has been itching, too. Since it's also affecting Boz, I'm thinking the groomer probably gave them treats with chicken in them (MANY treats do) rather than it being environmental or the shampoo or something. Nova has seasonal/environmental allergies, but they're both allergic to chicken. So I think next time, I'll take some of our treats for at the groomer just in case. I really love our groomer and she takes the most adorable pictures of the puppies. 

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We are hosting Thanksgiving for my side of the family again this year. I think we've just done it twice before...in 2014 and in 2021. I make Thanksgiving dinner every year...but most of the time in recent years, it's just for me and Johnny or sometimes it's us and the kids if they don't have other plans. I love Thanksgiving dinner, but hosting isn't always my favorite because it feels more stressful and hectic...especially making sure everything is done on time. But this is my sister's first Thanksgiving without her girls (she recently filed for divorce), so I thought it'd be nice for us to host. And it'll just be my mom, sister, and possibly my grandma...and the understanding is that dinner is done when it's done. ;) That way it'll hopefully feel less chaotic. And then a few weeks later, we'll have Christmas at my sister's house. We always have our celebration with my sister, our parents, and my mom's mom before Christmas (or sometimes after, depending on scheduling). It spaces things out so it isn't such a big deal trying to cram everything with multiple sides of multiple families in just a couple days. With marriage and divorce...there are more things to schedule around so it just makes things a little easier. It's been that way since I was little. Then we would celebrate Christmas Eve with my dad's mom and stepdad (when Grandma was still alive) and then we would celebrate Christmas Day at my mom's dad's house. 

In completely unrelated news...I have some angry nerve issues. I'd been having problems for a few months with the nerves in my left shoulder making my shoulder ache and tingling/numbness in my fingers. Since it's not exactly painful, it hasn't seemed as big of a deal. Sometimes my shoulder hurts, but it's more of an ache. Now I have a burning pain in my right elbow and wrist...with numbness and tingling in my fingers on my right hand...and it's keeping me awake at night. I spent a lot of time trying to move around and put my arm in different positions trying to find relief. None of my medicine has really been doing much to relieve the pain. And that's just the newest issue. I've been having a lot of problems with neck pain and that causing headaches and migraines. I've tried different sleeping positions, different pillows...it just always hurts. My back hurts if I stand for very long (like...5 minutes). It feels like my back muscles are doing all the work when I'm standing and they don't like it. And to compound my issues...I've also been experiencing exercise-induced migraines (I think it's related to my blood pressure) and getting overheated which triggers my neuropathy and trigeminal neuralgia. It's all just a mess...and exhausting. When you deal with chronic pain for decades...it's just draining. You start thinking about how many years it's been and how many you still have left...and it starts to feel like forever. It's physically and mentally exhausting. 

But...I should probably get back to work. :) 

First (Unexpected) Furniture Purchase!

We've been pretty busy at home lately. We didn't necessarily plan to be this busy, though. Long story short...we had an incident with one of the cats, and we ended up just getting a new couch. :P 

The couch we'd had is the one that I got from my brother-in-law back in August 2007...and it was already about 10 years old when I got it. Here are a couple pictures of it in my last apartment (not the greatest pictures):

It had two recliners, a hide-a-bed, a corner shelf with storage, fold down table, and a drawer for storage in the seat below the table. It'd held up pretty well for the last 20 years with only a couple minor issues after we moved it into our living room here in 2016 (and moved Johnny's couch downstairs). There was a worn spot in one of the seat cushions, a 6" tear from the dogs on another seat cushion that was repaired a couple times, and the cable to pull for one of the recliners had broken off...other than just showing its age in general.    

So...we finally decided to get a new couch. After being together for 13 years...it's our first furniture purchase together. :) We've purchased all new appliances (except for the stove) and little things for my office, but this was our first actual furniture purchase. We didn't want to spend a lot of money since we still have cats and dogs...and we spent hours looking online and trying to decide if we wanted another sectional or something else. 

We eventually found a modular sectional (purchased on Wayfair) that we liked. While I personally like the cream color better, the dark grey color is more practical for our zoo situation. It does have a very "blue" tint to it which I was worried would clash with our sage green, maroon, gold-ish, and brown color scheme that we have going on...but since it's dark it's more complimentary than clashing, The bad reviews that it got--the ones that weren't about the dark gray color being more like a navy blue--were about the couch being firm and uncomfortable. I mean...compared to our previous couch, it's a whole lot more firm. But it's not firm in an uncomfortable way. And Johnny said it's nice not sinking into the couch, which makes it easier to get up from. 

I contacted our trash company to get a price for bulk items. Our town has a contract with them which offers 2 free bulk item pick ups per year (which I think we've only used once in the last decade). Each separate piece of the sectional is considered a separate item...so we only had to pay $30 for one item to have the trash company pick up the sectional. So that was definitely a huge weight lifted...since we don't have a truck or anything anymore to take it anywhere. 

Johnny and I took the hide-a-bed side of the couch and the corner piece out ourselves on Saturday and put them in front of the garage. Then on Monday after Aubry got off work, she stopped by to help us take out the larger side of the sectional and move all three pieces to the curb. The hardest part of moving it was getting it through the door. We had to take the front door off to get it to fit...but after that we could just tip it off the porch. Since we didn't have to worry about breaking it or messing it up...it was a lot easier. 

We spent the weekend of the 10th cleaning up the living room (and dining room while we were at it). We found two of the dogs' bones hiding in the couch...so Nova was excited. ;) The largest piece of the couch hadn't been moved since we moved it in here because it's so heavy...so there was a ton of dog hair and stuff under there. We cleaned the floors and got everything ready for the new couch...which arrived in 8 different boxes (varying from 15lbs-55lbs) on Tuesday, the 15th. 

I put the couch together while Johnny was working. It was super easy and I really like how we could arrange it the way we want. We have a glass end table that has been in the corner of the living room (which is where we moved the air purifier to since it had been sitting on the corner shelf of the old sectional) and with three seats, the console, and the corner piece along that wall, it fits perfectly. Then we have the remaining two seats that kinda separate the living room and dining room. And this sectional has more seating than our previous one, since the corner piece is an actual seat instead of storage (and the dogs really like laying on that piece). At first I had the console in between two regular seats on the longest side (which was where the fold-down table was on the old couch), but we ended up moving it to be between a regular seat and the corner piece (still along the wall)...and I really like it better. It provides more leg room if someone decides to sit in the corner and makes the cup holders more accessible to both sides of the couch. Honestly, I think the only thing that I don't love about the new sectional is that the ottoman doesn't lift up to have storage inside...but that's just a minor thing.  

Here's a picture of our new couch: 

We found some waterproof couch covers on Amazon just to help protect the couch more from pets. We bought the sage green color, but against the dark gray/navy they look more like a light blue color. I expected them to be a little deeper/darker. I actually would've preferred the beige, but we figured they'd probably show dirt more easily...since we have dogs on the couch all the time. And...Johnny pointed out that the color ties in the wall hangings above the couch and a painting that we got from my aunt. The "sage green" still isn't my favorite...but it'll do for now. I really like that they cover each seat individually. That way if one gets dirty, we just have to wash that one and not the whole thing. I didn't order the set with the console cover, because it would basically make the console pointless without being able to access the cupholders and storage. There are also covers for the arm rests on the end and they even have pockets in them (although I don't know of anything we'd ever put in them). I also got some waterproof pet blankets to cover the couch at night (since that's when we've been having problems with the cat) or when the dogs are messier (like when it snows or rains). So far everything has been working out really well! I've even had to wash one of the arm covers already (a different cat threw up...ugh) and it held up great and still looks new.  

And last (for now)...we got a new coffee table. We've been wanting a new one...well Johnny has wanted a new one since before I moved in, actually. But we decided since we were getting a new couch, it would be a perfect time to get a new coffee table. Since Johnny and I eat dinner sitting on the couch, we'd been looking at lift-top coffee tables. I found this one and it fits our needs perfectly. It's one of the few that we liked which lifted up on two perpendicular sides. And with this one, we could attach the larger part lift to either the front or the back. I'm able to lift the larger side toward me to put my laptop on or use as a table when we're eating...and Johnny can also lift the smaller side when we're having dinner. We decided to go with black because I don't like having a lot of different woodgrain colors mixed together. 

The last thing we still want to get is a new tv stand. Johnny wants the kind with a fireplace heater...and we'll get a black one as well so it matches the coffee table. Sometime Johnny wants to get new rugs as well...but that can wait a little while longer. 

I also picked up my glasses this weekend. They fit really well...I like not having to constantly push them back up on my nose. I was right and they were the plum rosewood frames. I think they're really cute. 

Johnny got a lot of stuff done in the yard this weekend. He mowed (probably for the last time this year) and got all the weed-eating done except for the backyard (battery died). He liked using the leaf blower we got from my parents to get all the grass off the sidewalk. :) I'll probably get him an edger for Christmas...he's been wanting one. He also cut down some stray trees and sunflowers that were growing by the house. 

Today I've been busy getting orders done from the weekend. While my production days are listed as Monday-Friday, most Sundays I still work to get out the orders I got over the weekend. But...when we do have things going on over the weekend, I like not feeling pressured to work. And it's not like customers are going to complain about getting their orders earlier than expected. 

On that note...I need to get back to work so I can have everything print and cut before dinner so I just have to package orders before I go to bed. :) 


*post contains Amazon affiliate links

Getting some new glasses!

I finally got around to going to the eye doctor yesterday. When they asked the date of my last appointment, I couldn't remember exactly when it was. I knew it was between 2020 and 2023, but that's it. So I went back and looked at my old blog posts to see if I'd mentioned it...yep! My last appointment was in April 2023. That's when I got my current pair of glasses. 

I think I mentioned before that the eye doctor I'd been seeing retired. He's the only part of that office that I really liked. Their optical department just felt really chaotic. They didn't seem to understand what my insurance does and doesn't cover...to the point that I wondered if I even paid the correct amount. First they said everything about my lenses was covered, then something wasn't, then they had to check, then they weren't sure if my copay applied and how much it was...it was just a mess. And it could have just been the particular people I dealt with that day...who knows. 

And that was actually the second place I was going to in town. The first place I went to after I moved in with Johnny was basically right down the street from our house. But that guy just up and left. Like...we couldn't even get our records or anything. It was just open one day and he was gone the next with no way for patients to contact anyone. I was trying to get my warranty replacement for my frames that they'd ordered (or said they did) but the voicemail was full and never became un-full again. I do remember at some point his office was seized for not paying taxes...then it opened back up briefly and was gone again a short time later. 

But since I was going to have to switch doctors again anyway, I decided to try somewhere else in town. I think there are 6 eye doctor's offices here plus the one in Walmart (which the girls and I went to many years ago and it was alright). I asked if anyone had recommendations in the local Ehlers-Danlos group on FB...since hEDS can affect our eyes. 

So...I decided to check out the recommendation I got there. It's only about a mile further (in the opposite direction) than my last eye doctor. The office has some interesting decor and kind of a weird layout. My only real complaints were that the wait seemed quite a bit longer than it should have been with the number of patients that were there, and that it was pretty warm. Of course, part of my issue is perimenopause making me hot all the time anyway...but mom said it was pretty warm in there, too. :P

The guy who did all the initial parts of the exam, helped with picking out the glasses, and then handled checkout was really nice and seemed knowledgeable. He told me the exact price with my insurance of every single thing...the Optomap pictures, frames, and all the extras for my lenses. He also told me about Trivex lenses, which the last office I went to either didn't have or didn't offer (they just said I needed the high index lenses which are the most expensive option). I decided to go with the Trivex lenses since I got half-rim frames this time. One thing I wanted but didn't get (and didn't ask for) was a copy of the order form that shows the breakdown of everything. The emailed receipt just shows the payment but no breakdown. 

Anyway...I liked the doctor. He was very personable and thorough. Everything looks good from the Optomap photos. So that's good...because I'd been worried with the increase in floaters the last year or so. My vision is getting worse, especially in my right eye (which has always been my bad eye). He can't quite get it completely corrected, but hopefully the new glasses will be better than the ones I have now. He did say that I'll probably have to switch to bifocals next year because of how much my near-sightedness has to be corrected. The only issue I have with seeing close-up is that it's just taking longer for my eyes to adjust now (thanks to getting older). 

I ended up going with another new brand of frames. When I first moved here, I got these black and blue Bebe frames that I thought were super cute. Then I got these black and grey Bebe frames, but I didn't like how they fit. They were a little bigger and the lenses touched the top of my cheek. So they were my least favorite pair. The pair I have right now are these black DKNY frames, which are super lightweight and comfortable. One thing I don't like is that the end of the arms are square-ish and they can be pointy sometimes if you hit them a certain way. The eye doctor recommended Kliix brand because they have some small, lightweight options. I *think* I got these plum rosewood frames...if I remember right. We'll find out for sure in a couple weeks when they get here. ;) 

They didn't have to dilate my eyes at this appointment, but all the lights in my eyes and trying to focus through different lenses definitely gave me a migraine. Thankfully it wasn't a hemiplegic migraine, but I definitely didn't do much after my appointment. We ordered Cinnamon's Deli for dinner (which I haven't had in forever and it was so yummy!) and I tried to play my new Sims games a little bit, but I ended up just going to bed early. 

Today I plan to get all my orders caught up and ready to ship tomorrow...then I plan to take the weekend off of work and just play Sims and get some stuff done around the house. So I better get to work! 

Ugggghhhhh. Allergies.

In addition to a persistent headache, I've been having issues with my allergies since Thursday. Yesterday was the worst. I was taking 2 Benadryl at a time AND Sudafed and still didn't get much relief. I even ended up taking a nap as soon as Johnny got off work...a combination of feeling like crap and the Benadryl making me tired. I'm feeling slightly better today...but having a hard time concentrating with my head being all foggy. 

The earliest due date for my current orders is September 30th...so they're not overdue, yet. I was hoping to get the orders finished and out today, but I just couldn't get it all done before the last pick-up at the post office at 3pm. Every time I stood up, there was intense pressure in my head and then my nose would get stopped up again in addition to my arms and legs getting tired super easily...so it all really slowed me down. I got the sticker sheet and sticker orders cut tonight...but I still have the magnets to finish tomorrow. So while I'd hoped to get them out earlier, at least they'll go out on Monday.

I had my first experience of review extortion from a customer. She placed the order on September 8th and I shipped it via First Class Mail (regular letter mail) the following day. The tracing history for her order had a delivery update on September 15th. She sent me a message saying that she was home all day and they looked all around but nothing was delivered and she needed it for a birthday party that weekend. I sent her my "quick reply" because I get messages like this all the time. It explains that the order was sent in an envelope with her regular mail, so it isn't scanned delivered at her address like a package. The delivery update is only an estimate and it can take several days after to actually arrive. So far, I've never had one marked delivered that did not show up. So she said that she would wait until the weekend to see if it shows up. 

She sent another message on Saturday the 20th saying that she wanted a refund because she was on her way to the party and claims that it still hadn't arrived. My policies state that I do not provide refunds for lost, delayed, or damaged orders...I only provide replacements (it reduces the occurrence of people trying to scam for free stuff). However, Etsy has a Purchase Protection Program (PPP) that will provide a full refund to customers if their orders are lost or delayed. Since her order was for the party she said she was getting ready to go to and she'd already requested a refund, I sent her the instructions for getting a refund from Etsy's PPP. 

When she responded, she threatened to leave a negative review if I didn't just provide the refund myself...because she didn't feel like she should have to "go through hoops" and that sellers in the past have "always issued the refund." What I hear...is that she has a history of "not received" orders and getting refunds. Not to mention the "hoops" is nothing more than basically sending a message...which clearly wasn't difficult for her since she was messaging me. 

But I responded to explain that my policy clearly states that I only provide replacements and that the entire purpose of Etsy's PPP is to refund customers in this situation. I also told her that I would be reporting her messages for extortion and provided Etsy's link that explains what extortion is. 

She left a 1-star review saying that she didn't receive it and that I wouldn't issue a refund...after she'd already gotten her refund from Etsy. I responded to the review to explain the situation...including that she had already received her refund from Etsy's PPP. I'm not worried about her review considering it's only the second 1-star review I've received out of almost 800 reviews. But the following day she decided to message me again to say, "I never tried forcing you to do anything. I made a suggestion." Yeah...suggesting that she'll leave a negative review if I don't give her a refund is exactly what extortion is. 

I let her know that once Etsy provided her refund, our transaction was complete...that and she is no longer my customer, so she needed to stop contacting me. She responded to say, "No worries. I've found a replacement and no intentions of doing business with you." But wait...I thought she needed it for the party that she was on her way out the door to the day before? Now suddenly a replacement is acceptable? Hmmm. 

I have excellent customer service...but I'm not going to be bullied into giving someone a refund against my posted policies...especially when there is already an option to get a refund through Etsy's PPP. Any decent customer with a legitimate problem with their order isn't going to care who provides their refund, as long as they get a refund. There are so many sellers out there who will immediately give refunds just because they're hoping to avoid a bad review...even though that still doesn't mean that the customer won't leave a bad review. 

I also make it very clear that orders with free standard shipping are sent via letter mail. It's in a listing photo, in the description, in my FAQ, and is reiterated in the email that the customer automatically receives after they make their purchase. I also make it clear that they do not have USPS tracking, but that I offer upgraded shipping options if they want tracking. 

I've been really lucky, though. I've only had one other problem customer...and that was last month. That customer placed an order for 10 stickers on August 20th and they were shipped out August 21st (Thursday)...via First Class Mail which can take 1-5 business days in transit. She sent me a message on August 28th saying that she wanted a refund because she needed them by the 25th (Monday). So, again, I sent her the "quick reply" that has the information about how to file a case with the Etsy PPP (and my message is very polite and professional, because that's my customer service). 

Her response, however, was to say that she can't open a case until the 30th, "so what good does that do me"? Um...well if you want a refund, that's the "good" it does you. I didn't say that, of course, but that's what I was thinking. Her message went on to say that it didn't arrive "in the delivery window" and "its location hasn't moved or been updated since August 22. It's obviously lost." So I politely responded to explain that the "tracking" is not actual USPS tracking...it's based on information decoded by Pitney Bowes from automatic sort machines and it's not always reliable...and mentioned that I do offer upgraded shipping with actual tracking. Then I went on to tell her that I don't provide refunds for lost or delayed orders, I only provide replacements...and that if she wanted a refund, she'd have to use Etsy's PPP. I also stated that I don't have a way to speed up Etsy's requirements for the PPP...that their instructions state that the case can be filed 48 hours after the help request is sent. 

She responded--in all caps--that she needed them by the 25th and "they said they would arrive by then so I didn't feel the need to upgrade the shipping option." Oh boy. Here's how estimated delivery dates work: it's a range based on production time plus transit time. So the estimated delivery date range when she ordered was between August 25th-September 1st (1-3 business days in production and 1-5 business days in transit). My due date to send her order was August 25th (3 business days), but I sent it on the 22nd...the day after she ordered. So considering I didn't even have to mail the order until the day she claims to have needed them...yeah, she would've needed to spend $30 for Priority Mail Express which comes with a guaranteed delivery date of the 25th...AND send me a message to let me know about the urgency so I didn't wait until the 25th to send it. 

Considering the absurdity of thinking that an order that doesn't even have to be sent until the 25th would arrive by the 25th AND her "outrage" at having to wait 2 more days to get a refund (when it was already 3 days after she claims to have needed it AND she actually waited 3 days to file for the refund)...I assume this was another scammer. I think she saw that the "tracking" wasn't updated (as it often is not, since it's not actual tracking) and saw it as an opportunity to get her $47 order for free. OH! And when she filed the case on September 1st, she said (in all caps) they were gifts to ask guys to be in her wedding and that, "her shipping said it would be here by the 25th and I asked the guys on the 28th." So she "needed" them by the 25th but she didn't need them until the 28th? Again...hmmm. 

Those are the only two problem customers I've had...and I made a private note in their orders not to do business with them anymore at all. I've had a couple customers get snippy with me before, but it wasn't too bad and it was fleeting. I totally understand that people can get frustrated...I mean, I get that way myself at times. So that's no big deal to me and I don't take it personally. I'm just thankful for the hundreds of customers I've had who have been so wonderful. :) They really make it worth it. 

Aside from my unusually busy July and August, my September revenue is already higher than each of the first six months of the year. And as of the end of today, I have 3140 sales in my CandiMakerStickers shop. As long as I get an average of 120 sales each month, I should hit my goal of 3500 sales in that shop by the end of the year. :) 

I'm still working on my website. I've had to resize all my listing photos because my Etsy photos are too large for GoImagine. Luckily I am able to create a batch process in Paintshop Pro to automatically adjust the photos (since I have several hundred listing photos!). I'm definitely not going to be finished by the end of September...but hopefully by the end of October. :)