I've had the worst lucky recently with just about everything I've ordered online.
I decided to order a few oXbox games from eBay. All very cheap, around $10 each (total including shipping). Just to preface, I tend to look for things in at least decent condition and for disc based games I usually try and get the manual with it.
First I get Metal of Honor Frontline in the mail. I open it up and I'm scratching my head because there's plenty of stickers on the front and back of the case, including one huge EB used games sticker on the front. I think I would have remembered those stickers in the eBay pics. I open the case and there's a sticker on the front cover of the manual, which would be a pain to remove cleanly (if not impossible) so that I think I would have remembered. And then I notice the game disc is Medal of Honor Rising Sun LOL. So I message the seller on eBay right away and they responded super quick. They explained that they shipped the wrong copy of the game from their inventory. They shipped out the correct one straight away and instructed me to keep the one that I got (it doesn't make sense to pay for return shipping for such a low value item). So no big deal, and I guess I got a free game out of it. Although it's not a great game and it doesn't match the case LOL.
Next I get in Call of Duty Finest Hour. When I open it, I notice it's the greatest hits version. I try my hardest to avoid greatest hits versions! So I recheck the listing, and yep, second in a row that shipped me the wrong item. So I message the seller, this one was a Good Will, and explain the item I received doesn't match the pics. They message me back really fast with an apology, issued a refund and told me to keep the item. So I got this game for free, so it's not all bad. But now I'm stuck with a greatest hits version that I specifically didn't want. Oh well, not really that big a deal.
Then the next game, COD Big Red One, I didn't even get! I get the automated email from eBay that it was delivered. But I was home at the time the mail came that day, and I definitely didn't get it. I've had this happen at least once in the past, that tracking said something was delivered but it arrived a day or two later. So I figure, whatever, I'll wait a day or so to see if it comes. That was Friday, and now it's Tuesday and I still don't have it. I messaged the seller on eBay and they instructed me to go down to my local Post Office with the tracking number because they have the GPS location of where it was scanned as delivered. I didn't know they did that! So I went to the PO, and it was indeed delivered to the wrong address. Which kinda pisses me off. I've had mail misdelivered to my house many many times over the years. You either stick it in your mailbox, maybe with a note that says "delivered to wrong address" or something. If not, take it down to the Post Office. But someone was holding on to my package. And this is besides the point that someone had to scan it and the address is right about the barcode. I know couriers are always in a hurry, but c'mon! Long story short, the Post Office retrieved my package from someone's house and delivered it to my mailbox. It was unopened, thankfully. But it just kinda irks me that someone in my neighborhood might get my mail. Like, what if I ordered something embarrassing? Or what if my new debit card is mailed to me, or any number of things.
I heard this song on the radio, My Doorbell by The White Stripes, and it was stuck in my head for days. And because I'm such an old school nutball, I decided to order the CD Album that this song is on. I guess that album is out of print because it doesn't seem to be in stock from the usual places. Normally I would just grab a used copy from eBay, but I noticed that a third party seller on Amazon had it with Prime shipping. Supposedly brand new. So I figure let me get that one since I'll get it faster. The CD is delivered, and when I examine it, it's shrink wrapped but the plastic looks odd. The plastic seems like a different type than what I am use to seeing on factory sealed CDs. But whatever. Then I open it, and there's Brian Setzer's Christmas album inside LOL! I'm glad I find it so funny, because otherwise I would just be so mad. Explain to me how a Christmas CD is put inside the jacket of a White Stripes album and gets shrink wrapped that way.
So then I ordered some other small item off eBay, a small set of impact nut drivers. It's again delivered to the wrong house. I had to again go down to the Post Office and get them to retrieve my package. Two USPS packages in a row now were delivered to the wrong house. Can I expect this going forward? They didn't seem to care too much at the Post Office. But if this happens a third time, I will raise the biggest stink about it.
So then I decided to pull the trigger on an oXbox from eBay. The seller had two shipping options, UPS and USPS. I specifically chose UPS, even though they're kinda notorious for being rough with packages. But I guess my faith is kinda shaken right now with USPS. Like, a small package goes to the wrong house and it's whatever. But a larger, heavy package (because the oXbox is heavy) might make someone curious enough to open it, and maybe wanna keep it if it's something that interests them. Even if the USPS has the GPS location of where it was delivered, I'm sure all that person has to do is say, "Nope, I don't have it," and that'll be the end of it. I mean, what are they gonna really do, send the police there? Anyway, I digress, this is why I specifically chose UPS when checking out. Then I get the tracking number emailed to me, and I noticed straight away that it's a USPS tracking number! And when I checked the tracking, it looks like the label was created but the package wasn't in the hands of USPS yet. So I message the seller right away and ask if it's not to late if he can switch it to UPS. He messages me right back and apologizes, and explains that USPS was more convenient for him, offers a $5 refund, and asks if there was some specific reason I wanted UPS. So I message him back and say, yeah, as a matter of fact there is a reason! LOL. I explain to him the troubles I've had recently, but I also left it up to him whether to switch it or not (I mean, UPS has a good potential of breaking that Xbox). But I did ask for a partial refund because the UPS option was $2 more than the USPS option. Which is another thing, I paid $2 more for a shiping service, but then you chose whichever one is more convenient for you? If you're gonna do that, why bother giving the options? LOL.
Ugh, so that's where I'm at right now. My Xbox is in transit, and I'm just crossing my fingers that it was be lost, damaged or stolen. Because that's the luck I've been having lately. I was thinking, I do have a PO box that I could ship things to. But it would be kind of a pain in the ass most days. And it would really suck to have to go out of my way to do a pain in the ass thing just because I can't trust a service that should be doing the right thing.