UNITED STATES─Porch pirates, we have all heard about it, but have you ever been a victim of it? Well, you can add me to the list because a package that I ordered online earlier in the week, one that I had been waiting days for because I wanted to ensure it was delivered in time for Mother’s Day apparently arrived on that big day, but the package was nowhere to be found.

If you talk to anyone who knows me, there is a reason I don’t purchase things online: you always have to worry about that fear of the item not being delivered or worse: someone taking it. It is crazy that in 2020 the fact that someone would have the galls to come up to your property and steal a package that you paid your hard money for and be on their way as if nothing ever happened. However, these are the times that we live in people.

I think I’m more upset because I was specifically told the package was to be delivered on Saturday, May 9 and waited around the house all day for nothing to come. No updates nothing on the situation. I then get a text at like 2 p.m. on Sunday noting that the package was being delivered on Mother’s Day. My mind was slightly baffled because I CANNOT recall ever when packages were delivered on a Sunday, like seriously. Thankfully, I was home, but never heard a knock on the door, never heard the doorbell and I get an alert out of the blue saying my package was delivered. I got to the door, nothing is there, look around the front I see nothing.

My text I received from FedEx (yeah, I’m not protecting companies people), noted the item was left at the front door. So now I’m peeved, I paid my hard earned money for several items and I have nothing to show for it. I go look at the security cameras and there is nothing. No delivery truck at a specific time, no one even appearing on the property during the 30 minute window between the claim of when the package was received and when I received my alert.

So I’m livid at this point: where is my package and what the hell happened to it? Could it have been delivered to the wrong house? Perhaps, but I checked with neighbors, none of them received anything or even witnessed a package being delivered. That is what baffled me to: I didn’t even see a FedEx truck during the time frame on my security footage claiming when the package was dropped off. So was this a big lie, a big ruse?

Heck, I would have rather the shipping company waited until Monday, a business day to deliver the package than on a Sunday, when they know plenty of people are not always at home, not to consider having no update in advance that a package was set for delivery people. This is the primary reason I don’t shop online and this has heightened my decision to NEVER again order anything online that has to be delivered to my home. Simply put, if I cannot purchase the item in a store or purchase it online and pick it up in a store, I won’t have the item.

Sorry it’s frustrating as hell having to wait for an item, more frustrating is the fact that you have to wait several business days for the return to be placed back on your credit card for an order that you never received. The company had no problem charging your card with immediacy when you placed the order, why the hell does it take so long for you to receive your refund on something you did not receive.

Yeah, I get that people lie and deceive, but I have an order number, I’ve contacted you multiple times about issues pertaining to various delivery dates to never receive the item(s) that I was promised to come in the mail. The level of unprofessionalism being delivered during this pandemic is just so frustrating. So many Americans are holding on tight to the funds that they have, yet you have people, who do have some money and are spending those funds with the hopes of keeping the economy going and helping businesses who are seriously struggling right now.

I’ve never been a fan of online shopping and this experience has just reassured me as to why I’m not. Not only is it the fact that you cannot touch, feel or actually see the item that you’re purchasing, but you have to wait for it, then schedule your availability for the package to arrive and always be on the lookout. The stress of online ordering is just not worth it. One and done America, I’ll do what we all should be doing: going to the brick and mortar stores and have actual interaction with people. Let’s stop being lazy. Yes, the quarantine has prevented us from doing in person shopping, but as soon as we have the opportunity to do it again, we should be back to in-person shopping.

Written By Zoe Mitchell