RedEnvelope

Full review
This may very well be the best and worst shopping experience ever. I ordered several items for the Holidays in late November: one engraved item and several regularly stocked items. After each step in the order fulfillment process I received and email with numerous signatures and text links unrelated to the email. One after the order was placed, one to confirm all items were in stock, one after the monogram pendant was shipped, and one final one to say all other items were shipped.
The engraved pendant was drop shipped as soon as the monogram was finished and I received it the first week of December. As I had done the bulk of my holiday shopping on-line I hadn't realized that 2nd package wasn't received until the middle of December. I sorted through the myriad of emails from Redenvelope.com to find the one saying my regular items had shipped, found the tracking number and discovered it said only that "shipment request (was) received." Concerned, I called redenvelope at their customer service number to find out what that meant. I was about to find out exactly what quality of customer service was available to their customers.
The line was busy. Tried again; still busy. Several minutes later after holding (the third time I got into the queue), I was beginning to be really frustrated. I found another link on-line that said live chat. After clicking and waiting for my space in that queue (I was still holding on the phone) my live chat box on-line said that I was #1 in the queue and expanded to allow for text messaging so I hung up the phone. The live chat box then had an automated message that "all representatives were busy and I would need to try again later!" I waited in the live chat queue twice more before I resolved to simply email my problem and hope to get a timely response. As most large companies respond to emails, they sent me the "we'll try to respond within 24 hours." The next day passed and still nothing. I went on-line and the tracking status hadn't changed. I had to talk w/someone!
I tried live chat again and reached a customer service person! She told me the delivery company must have lost my merchandise. What? The tracking says it was never picked up. Didn't you realize you never received delivery confirmation? The representative checked and made sure everything was in stock and vowed to overnight the remaining items to me so I'd have them the Tuesday before Christmas. Ok, at least I'll still have them in time. Two days later, on Saturday evening, I receive another two emails saying that my order has been shipped and that one item is back-ordered until the end of January! At this point I can't even believe what I'm seeing.
I was ready to cancel the order as it was when they told me it shipped December 5th and they didn't ship it, then I'm told everything is in stock and will ship on Monday, and I'm now informed only a part of my order will ship! I can't believe it. I click on live chat again. Sorry, sorry, sorry. I'll refund the backorder. REFUND THE BACKORDER? REFUND THE WHOLE THING! We can't because it's already been shipped. I clicked the tracking link and it says it won't be shipped until Monday (this is Saturday). You've had my money since December 5th, I have no merchandise, give it back now! OK. Sorry, sorry, sorry. They even charged me shipping for the 3 week late parcel that I cancelled!
Having to replace gifts at what I consider to be the last minute because of a shipping debacle was infuriating but I found the merchandise in local stores for less money, in less time, and with less stress. It's too bad that I had this traumatic experience because I've been the recipient of several lovely gifts from this company and I truly treasure the pendant they delivered. Unfortunately, I don't see myself shopping there in the future as they didn't seem to care that they ruined my shopping season and could do nothing but apologize. To top it all off, I received another email today (I'll let you see for yourself what sort of service you'll be dealing with):
"Dear RedEnvelope Customer,

Due to unforeseen technical difficulties, we may have lost your email that you recently sent to us. As soon as we became aware of the problem, we wanted to advise you of the situation. We sincerely apologize for any delay.

If your question or concern has not yet been addressed, please call us at 1-877-733-3683. Our phone lines are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding, and hope we can be of service to you in the future."

Enough said.