30 Awkward Times Ordering Online Didn't Go As Expected

Buying things online has somehow gotten both better and worse as time went on. It's easier to find anything you might want or need online now, but the chance of being scammed is always present.

Sometimes, though, things just end up kind of strange. The people in this list experience that firsthand, sharing the awkward times their online orders didn't go as planned.

"Turns out I’m not very good at online shopping."

"Your online shopping experience can be greatly improved by using this one simple hack: learning how to read!"

That's a little harsh, but really, please read the measurements on things. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is!

"Ordered some reclining camping chairs online..."

This one feels evil. Not only is it so far removed from the promotional pics, but they're not even big enough to be regular stools! Foot stools, maybe, if you put one individual foot on each one, but not regular stools.

"Ordered a custom family photo ornament. Received one with a random Asian family and photoshopped added penguins. Not even mad."

Funnily enough, one of the people in this pic saw the original post and contacted the poster!

"We got ours 2 days ago but I have no idea how you ended up with one. I think it's only fair now that you give us one of your ornaments in exchange," he wrote, and an ornament swap did happen between the two!

"My experience at online shopping."

Aren't beanies just to help protect the tips of your ears anyway? Cut out the middle man, keep your hair from being trapped, and just get these little ear beanies instead. All the same warmth with twice as much cuteness.

"Bought new shoes online...... nice!"

I'm sorry to tell you that you've been diagnosed with two left feet. Your family never knew how to tell you, so they employed this show company to break it to you gently via a package.

Please, refrain from busting any moves in the future.

"These shark earrings I bought for a friend for christmas."

Oh, wow, these are a little bit off, huh? Or a lot a bit. They're actually kind of scary, despite just being little clay earrings. They look more like horrifically warped manta rays with gigantic teeth, which would be objectively scarier than sharks!

"This candle cup ordered online..."

Well, at least this one looks more... hand-crafted? Yeah, go with that angle. Hand punched by a vendor in your community.

It's lopsided on purpose to appear more rustic and charming, and you definitely paid an appropriate amount and weren't ripped off even a little.

"An online listing vs. what was actually delivered."

The only thing you could teach someone with this engine model is to not buy teaching engine models from random online stores. I don't know where else you could go, but certainly not here. You'd be safer just getting a whole engine.

"Nightmare."

The original is creepy enough, but if that's what you're into, then it's great. What you actually get, on the other hand, just isn't worth it. It just goes to show that you can't even buy creepy toys online without the risk of being scammed.

"£7.00 Christmas tree decoration from John Lewis."

Well, at least it wasn't that expensive. And it looks... kind of nice? If you squint your eyes a little bit, then the bottom picture looks a lot more like the top. That may be wishful thinking, but let's just take what we can get.

"BF didn't read the clamp size carefully before ordering online."

Outside of certain trade work I can't even imagine what the large one would be used for. Too big to be repurposed as a bag clip or something similar, yet not big enough to be of any comedic value. What are you meant to do?

"My wife ordered 360 pencils for her classroom from Amazon. I think she was sent some poor warehouse worker's secret stash."

About 15 loose pencils and five containers of tobacco is probably the funniest package Amazon has ever sent, and it wasn't even intentional! She certainly can't find a classroom use for this. Well, she could, but she shouldn't.

"Some people shouldn't own a Circuit 2.0 (Facebook group)."

Imagine paying somebody else money in order to make a blanket, and they make it look like that. This is pretty awful. As much as I think it's a good idea to support small businesses and creators, they should also be expected to do their jobs properly.

"Don’t worry, the tree is three feet like it had said online."

Well, they technically didn't lie about the size. Still, you'd think the tree would be a little bit fuller. But hey, if you really want a small Christmas tree, then you're not going to be too far off here.

"I may have underestimated the size of my cat."

Aw, don't take a picture of him right now! He's in the midst of being insecure that the sweater doesn't fit him. Look at his face, he's so embarrassed. Either that, or he's brimming with rage that you tried to put a onesie on him.

"I ordered a felt fox online."

I'm going to take a guess and say the one on the left originally went for over $100 considering it looks to be high-quality needle-felt. It was probably a custom-made craft.

I have a feeling the listing this uploader found was not for that much. Not even close.

"This was 2 years ago, friendly reminder not to purchase from 1800flowers. $110 btw."

To be honest, if there was no reference for what the bouquet is supposed to look like (and if it didn't cost over a hundred bucks), then it wouldn't be that bad. But next to what it's supposed to look like? It's a bit insulting, really.

"I liked the fact that the logo was relatively small, so I placed the order."

Sure, when you look at a product online and it comes out slightly different, it's not a huge deal. But this is a pretty noticeable difference. Did they send the wrong shirt? Did they never have the one with the smaller logo in the first place? We'll never know.

"This $40 doll that my mother got online."

Oh no. The one on the right does kind of look like the one on the left, if the one on the left was run over by a truck and started balding. At least she's still cute? Worse rip-offs have happened.

"Ordering a silicone mask online. What could go wrong?"

Like this one. This is a far worse rip-off. The one on the left does look professionally sculpted by an SFX artist, but the one on the right didn't even try! Is there no honor in grifts these days? So heartless.

"Guess it’s a Charlie Brown Christmas."

Just like that tiny tree that was technically 3 feet tall, this one is a bit of a let down. I guess when you go to buy small trees online, you're taking your life into your own hands.

"Classic Stuff from John Lewis."

It's actually really hard to believe that those two deer are supposed to be the same product. And yet, here we are, staring at them. To be honest, both of them are giving off some slightly unsettling energy, but the second one's even worse.

"Friend accidentally bought these folding chairs online for his NYE party. Only 5 for $8!"

Your friend didn't once stop to think that maybe, just maybe, five whole human-sized chairs for only eight dollars was far too good of a deal? We've all been blinded by the prospect of saving money, but this is an extreme case.

"What I expected on the left, a cute light up Christmas duck, vs what I got..."

Oh yeah, that totally looks like a 3D light-up Christmas duck. Not like a 2 dimensional metallic cutout that doesn't light up. Not at all.

It's hard to get over the fact that people sell this kind of stuff online.

"Ya got me, China! (Turns out ‘HeyDudesShoeUSA’ is NOT the official HeyDudes site)."

The biggest takeaway from this is to always make sure you're shopping on legitimate websites. It's pretty easy for scammers to use fake websites to sell you subpar items for the same price. The internet can be quite the jungle.

"Ordered a pot/pan set off Amazon after recently moving. Beware super low prices on kitchenware."

Why? That looks to be the perfect size for frying up one egg, or making a delightfully sized pancake. It's not a bad pan, just change what you cook for yourself, it's all about perspective and never making anything above a single portion size!

"My new bath mat finally arrived."

It's not that mangled, but it still took me a while to figure out what it was supposed to say, which is 'get ya clothes off'. How they managed to get the L completely upside down is beyond me.

"This was ordered for my sister as a gift vs what she received. She loves it even more now."

This one might be my favorite on the list. It was so bad it circled right back around to being good again. I don't even like football and I'd want this on my lawn during all seasons, it's just too funny!

"Dad bought toy toaster and kettle online thinking they were real. He said 'it was such a [good] deal'."

Jokes on you, he did buy these on purpose and only pretended it was an accident. He keeps them in his office and plays with them sometimes to make himself feel like a giant. It's surprisingly therapeutic.

"I can’t believe it."

The uploader said in the original comments that they absolutely checked the measurements before they purchased, which just goes to show that even the most careful people can get totally scammed. It's like a human rite of passage, it's inevitable!

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