Thursday, May 19, 2011
could you go to the store and get me an ice cream sandwich preeze?
like one of those oreo cookie ones, or the resees pb cup variety - oh my.
The Arctic Girl's Shopping Sanctuary
As much as I like to keep my spending dollars local, the selection can be scarce, and getting mail is like Christmas. If I could order kitty litter online and avoid the co-op (basically $40 for gravel in bag) I would. Thank goodness for sealift.
Now Canada Post is completely locked out, holding 3 of my packages hostage; and several of my co-workers paychecks, I shall digress now before I get myself into trouble. In lieu of making my daily trip to check in on the post mistress, I've created a handy, make shift shopping guide for you to enjoy. I'll try to keep it updated as I try new stores along the way, but as you can tell my blog has been getting the shaft lately (not my fault, I'm reading a riveting book on real estate investing). so here we go:
Well.ca - awesome
These guys get alot of my money. I've placed 13 orders with them in the 14 or so weeks we have been here. The selection is pretty decent and expedited shipping is free! This is a huge deal. I get most orders within 5-7 business days (when Canada post is not in strike mode). You get hand written thank you's and smiley faces with your invoice ,and the customer service is always great (says a lot coming from the queen of CS).
Amazon.ca - thumbs way up
I've placed one order with Amazon when we first arrived to Pond. It was for 4 books, and it was placed on a weekend. Amazon had my order out the door on a Sunday and it arrived on Thursday. Free shipping if you $25 or more order from amazon - other suppliers count but the shipping is reasonable.
I placed another order on Amazon but from an independent seller - that one took a bit longer but the price was reasonable (about 6 bucks)
Sears.ca - thumbs down
5 week delivery, poor poor customer service (after several calls, speaking with several people, the manager I spoke with talked over me, raised his voice when I had objections and then hung up on me). unaceptable. I did hear from someone on the executive team so if you have issues with there CS - I have the hook up. He gave me a partial refund, but the experience was too rotten, I won't be ordering from them again.
Horseloverz.com - thumbs up
Don't let the name fool you, Horseloverz.com also sells items for cats, dogs, birds, ferrets and fish. I stumbled upon these guys on ebay while shopping for kitty supplies. The shipping is based by how much your order cost, shipping starts $16 for fedex (who uses first air from dorval, not canada post for deliveries)
They recently had free shipping on orders over $150, so I gave them another try. You won't find this from petonly.ca who wanted to charge me an additional 90 to ship a litterbox and cat fountain (from ontario). Horseloverz only charged me 25 (from Pennsylvania). Customer service was great to work with, they went out of their way to make sure my order got here, even though they did not have a physical address to give to fed ex. It arrived within 2 weeks. Some cons are an order processing fee and they do charge duty up front rather than leaving it up to customs.
Gap - Thumbs Up
You can also shop at sister sites Old Navy and Banana Republic with one check out and free shipping on a $50 order. Returns are free as well! My order came in less than 2 weeks, the invoice came with a prepaid return label. I just packed up the clothes that I wasn't smitten with & within 2 weeks I had a refund.
drugstore.com decent!
I took advantage of a flat rate shipping promo of $12.99. I was able to get a few items that are hard to find on Canadian sites and are unavailable in the north like Buf-Puf Body Sponges, Dryel and StayPut Elastics. DHL ships to Ottawa and passes the package on to Canadian North.
sephora.com -
Free shipping over $120, items ship through the borderfree service from the US. Tracking is available and the customer service has always been good. My order arrived in less than 10 days. If your reading this from the north or plan on moving here, you have to check this out. PLUS they always give you a choice of at least 3 free samples (guys and girls) and there are tones of promos and codes for extra goodies!
Tiger Direct.ca - meah
M placed and order and had a hard time with getting info from customer service, the order kept getting held for "address verification discrepancies". I think it took a week to get the order out the door but it got here.
Futureshop.ca
Ordered a PSP for M and it got here in about a week - free shipping too!
There are a few other sites I have read or heard about that I will add below, but am not sure how dated the info is so if you have any input please leave a comment :)
Now Canada Post is completely locked out, holding 3 of my packages hostage; and several of my co-workers paychecks, I shall digress now before I get myself into trouble. In lieu of making my daily trip to check in on the post mistress, I've created a handy, make shift shopping guide for you to enjoy. I'll try to keep it updated as I try new stores along the way, but as you can tell my blog has been getting the shaft lately (not my fault, I'm reading a riveting book on real estate investing). so here we go:
Well.ca - awesome
These guys get alot of my money. I've placed 13 orders with them in the 14 or so weeks we have been here. The selection is pretty decent and expedited shipping is free! This is a huge deal. I get most orders within 5-7 business days (when Canada post is not in strike mode). You get hand written thank you's and smiley faces with your invoice ,and the customer service is always great (says a lot coming from the queen of CS).
Amazon.ca - thumbs way up
I've placed one order with Amazon when we first arrived to Pond. It was for 4 books, and it was placed on a weekend. Amazon had my order out the door on a Sunday and it arrived on Thursday. Free shipping if you $25 or more order from amazon - other suppliers count but the shipping is reasonable.
I placed another order on Amazon but from an independent seller - that one took a bit longer but the price was reasonable (about 6 bucks)
Sears.ca - thumbs down
5 week delivery, poor poor customer service (after several calls, speaking with several people, the manager I spoke with talked over me, raised his voice when I had objections and then hung up on me). unaceptable. I did hear from someone on the executive team so if you have issues with there CS - I have the hook up. He gave me a partial refund, but the experience was too rotten, I won't be ordering from them again.
Horseloverz.com - thumbs up
Don't let the name fool you, Horseloverz.com also sells items for cats, dogs, birds, ferrets and fish. I stumbled upon these guys on ebay while shopping for kitty supplies. The shipping is based by how much your order cost, shipping starts $16 for fedex (who uses first air from dorval, not canada post for deliveries)
They recently had free shipping on orders over $150, so I gave them another try. You won't find this from petonly.ca who wanted to charge me an additional 90 to ship a litterbox and cat fountain (from ontario). Horseloverz only charged me 25 (from Pennsylvania). Customer service was great to work with, they went out of their way to make sure my order got here, even though they did not have a physical address to give to fed ex. It arrived within 2 weeks. Some cons are an order processing fee and they do charge duty up front rather than leaving it up to customs.
Gap - Thumbs Up
You can also shop at sister sites Old Navy and Banana Republic with one check out and free shipping on a $50 order. Returns are free as well! My order came in less than 2 weeks, the invoice came with a prepaid return label. I just packed up the clothes that I wasn't smitten with & within 2 weeks I had a refund.
drugstore.com decent!
I took advantage of a flat rate shipping promo of $12.99. I was able to get a few items that are hard to find on Canadian sites and are unavailable in the north like Buf-Puf Body Sponges, Dryel and StayPut Elastics. DHL ships to Ottawa and passes the package on to Canadian North.
sephora.com -
Free shipping over $120, items ship through the borderfree service from the US. Tracking is available and the customer service has always been good. My order arrived in less than 10 days. If your reading this from the north or plan on moving here, you have to check this out. PLUS they always give you a choice of at least 3 free samples (guys and girls) and there are tones of promos and codes for extra goodies!
Tiger Direct.ca - meah
M placed and order and had a hard time with getting info from customer service, the order kept getting held for "address verification discrepancies". I think it took a week to get the order out the door but it got here.
Futureshop.ca
Ordered a PSP for M and it got here in about a week - free shipping too!
There are a few other sites I have read or heard about that I will add below, but am not sure how dated the info is so if you have any input please leave a comment :)
costco.ca
londondrugs.com
thebodyshop.ca
yvesrocher.ca
lush.ca
bathandbodyworks.com
victoriassecret.com
lasenza.ca