I'm a pretty organized person; I don't like to procrastinate and I hate being late, so I try to stay on top of things but when it comes to Halloween, I always feel like something will fall into place and work out just in time. I don't plan months in advance what I'm going to want to be but after this past Halloween, I think I'm going to make sure I'm ready to go in the first week of October so I don't have another Halloween Costume Fiasco.
My idea this year for the Saturday Halloween Party was to be Silk Spectre from 'Watchmen' and figured I'd be able to pick up the costume at any of the Costume stores that I'd find a coupon or discount for and be good to go. I already knew what I was going to be for Halloween Karaoke, and had picked up the one item I needed at a thrift store and cut it up so it was perfect for my character! (But I also couldnt' wear that for Saturday because I wanted to keep it a surprise till the unveiling on Halloween.) Well, it was about a week and a half before my Saturday Halloween party and the month had gotten away from me so I went to try on the Costume at Aah's in Santa Monica and the Small Silk Spectre Costume was HUGE on me, not just a little big, not baggy, so huge that I could have practically fit another person in the Costume with me. They tried to find the Costume in an XS at another store but that was proving difficult and I had to make a decision on what I would want to be. So the next day I went to a few different places to get some ideas, and came back with Gypsies, Pirates, and Fairy Princesses, but I also wanted to find the best deal.
As I made my way home, I thought about the cute Coin Skirt (for a Gypsy) that I had found and that I could easily put together a Gypsy Costume of my own, but after talking to Mr. Halloween himself, he was right, I would feel more excited about something that was brand new and that I didn't pull pieces from my closet. So I decided to start over and I looked through pictures of costumes and figured that this weekend we would go shopping and buy my Costume after price checking. I had found this website called Costume Discounters that gave an awesome first price and then gave an additional 25% off, so most of the Costumes ranged from $30 to $50 which was awesome because they were all the Costumes that any lovely lady would want to wear on Halloween.
That Sunday as we were out Halloween Shopping, I tried on more Costumes, and also found a Jonah Hex Costume (that was Megan Fox's character) and I thought that could be fun. The store I tried it on in did not allow you to try the Costumes on in a dressing room, you had to put them on over your clothes, so out of sheer purpose, I wasn't going to buy it there, not to mention it was $75 and I could get it on-line for $44. At least I was able to figure out a size and have an idea. We actually did find the Silk Spectre Costume at another store in an XS but it was still big, even over my clothes, so that just wasn't going to work. I started to get overwhelmed with all these ideas and just not knowing what to do so I decided on the Jonah Hex Costume and I would order it on Monday.
The Costume was ordered on Monday night and I paid $10 extra for 3-Day Shipping to ensure that it would be here by Friday, so I would be able to figure out hair and make-up options, and that way even if it didn't come till Saturday, I still was set for the party that night. As I watched the tracking info, I noticed it wasn't really getting anywhere as the first two days went by and next thing I know, it's Thursday night after I get home from work and the Costume is in Illinois, the office at Costume Discounters is closed, and I have to call first thing on Friday. When I called on Friday, they blamed UPS saying that they had missed the package, to which I on-line chatted with UPS who blamed Costume Discounters, saying that they didn't drop the package off. I didn't care whose fault it was, I just wanted the Costume. As I spoke with a higher-up person, she said they would send the Costume out today and over-night it for me, for Free, so that I would have it for the party. She said they would e-mail me with the Shipping Information and Tracking Number, and I asked her to call me with the information as well, no matter the time. She thanked me for my patience and at this point it was a waiting game.
When I got home from work on Friday night at 3 am, I saw I still hadn't received an e-mail with the Tracking Info, so I went to bed and made sure when I got up on Saturday morning to call again and see what was going on. The first woman I spoke to said that my Costume hadn't shipped and they couldn't call because it was too late. I couldn't believe that I would be without a Costume for my Party tonight, and not that they would care, but that they weren't trying to fix the problem was driving me nuts! As I spoke with a Manager, and then her Supervisor, the best they could offer me was that when the Costume arrived on Monday, they would give me an additional 20% off of it. I said that wasn't good enough because my Party was Saturday, which is why I got 3-Day Shipping, which would have gotten it there by Friday, with an extra day, just in case, and the fact that they never Over-Nighted the Costume, I had no chance for any Costume at this point.
*Side Note: Unfortunately, with Hurricane Sandy I have been unable to reach Costume Discounters and am pretty much out the $44 for the Costume. I will update this if Costume Discounters decides to put Customer Service and Satisfaction first, but at this point, I am extremely disappointed with their ability to fix the problem.
After that I tried not to feel defeated and started pulling out any Costume ideas I had, and actually came up with something I could be really proud of and that I've always wanted to wear as a Costume because I couldn't ever wear it outside of my job. I was excited about it, there would be a Costume change, and it didn't cost me a dime! I also know that I'm getting ahead of the game next year and buying a Costume early so I can prep everything and not have to worry about any mishaps.
Stay tuned for my next blog to see my Saturday Night Party Costume as well as my Halloween Karaoke Costume!
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