Costume Discounters

Full review
We wanted to have the best Halloween that we had ever had. We were invited to a party at the local golf course for that mysterious night, which happened to fall on a Friday this year. Sweet! I could actually celebrate the evening with my family, and I wouldn't have to worry about going into the office the next morning. A few days after getting the invitation to the party, I started trying to figure out just what I was going to be. After all, I hadn't dressed up in a number of years.

After about - say - 3 minutes of contemplation, I decided that I was going to avoid the mall scene by all accounts. I have seen those places the few weeks before Halloween, and it's certainly not a pleasant site - people fighting with each other over the last "Sexy Kitten Rubber Suit" and over the "Sleazy Nurse/Maid/Cop/Hippie". It was something that I was simply not going to deal with. That, and the fact that Halloween stores tend to be way overpriced, was what ultimately pushed me into searching online.

I knew what I wanted to be - Popeye. I had been on a very strict workout routine and diet for a number of months, and I figured it was time to show off with the ultimate ego booster. So I visited Google and typed in "adult Popeye costumes." I received several hits from a variety of stores, including Target and Wal Mart. However, both stores - as well as a few others - showed that the Popeye costume was out of stock. (You would think in today's economy that stores would project demand a little bit better so as not to lose a $40 order, but I guess that's not the case.) Toward the end of the hit page, I found the Popeye costume listed as "In Stock" on CostumeDiscounters.com.

Needless to say, I was happy that I was able to locate the costume, and I made sure to go to Epinions.com first to make sure that this website was a legitimate one. The reviews overall looked pretty positive, so I decided to explore the site some more just to see if there was anything better.

The website is pretty well laid out and straight forward. While the white background, orange tab, and red text give off a cheap vibe, I guess the store isn't really hiding that it is - indeed - cheap (after all, the word "discounter" is in its name). On that note, the price of the Popeye costume that I found was in the middle of the pact compared to other stores that sell it. However, since those stores were all out of stock, I was willing to bite the bullet and spend the additional $5 or so.

I played around with the site for about ten minutes, clicking around to see if there was anything unique. I knew that I wouldn't be unique coming into the costume party with a Popeye outfit - I mean, it was sold out all over the place, so it was likely that others were going to have it. The website did offer a large variety of costumes for men - such as pimp costumes, officers, superheroes, etc. There are also many costumes for women and children, as well as special "sexy" costumes, pet costumes, plus-size costumes, wigs and accessories, and costumes for toddlers. And these costumes aren't just for Halloween; there is a special section with Christmas attire as well.

In any case, I wasn't too pleased with anything else I saw. I really had my heart set on Popeye. The picture of the costume was a little bit corny - it was being worn by a rather goofy looking character. There was no way to see the back of the costume or to see it 360 degrees, but there was a feature which allowed me to see it "zoomed." The page had about four lines worth of information - most of which was just marketingspeak and didn't really offer any information other than a brief description of what came with the costume. There were only two sizes to choose from - small/medium, and medium/large. This kind of irked me; a chart which showed which height/weight goes with which size would have been helpful. I wasn't exactly sure what to go with, but I decided to choose the small/medium since I am a little bit on the shorter side.

I added the costume to my shopping cart, and then proceeded to the checkout. Upon checkout, I had the option of signing up as a returning customer. Personally, I do not like to do this unless it is a store that I will shop at very often - like once a month. In this case, I do not have loyalty to a certain store for costumes, so I skipped this option. The costume was $33, and there were various shipping rates available - most of which were very steep. I chose the expedited ground method - the cheapest one, at $8.49. The description stated that I would receive the package 1-5 days after it was shipped. Fine.I was ordering two weeks in advance - this should have been more than enough time for me to get my costume.

After placing my order with my debit card, I received a confirmation e-mail on my Gmail account. It stated my order, the price, and the shipping address. The next day, my debit card was tentatively charged, though no money was deducted from my account - it was still a pending order. About three days after that, the transaction completely disappeared from my online banking account. I figured, "OK, it should probably ship within the next day or two. If not, I will check back to see what's up."

Unfortunately, I never did have the time to go back to verify the inactivity until nine days after my initial order. At that point, I called my card company to see if something was wrong. The agent informed me that it was not the bank's fault that I hadn't been charged yet - it had something to do with Costume Discounters instead. So I called Costume Discounters - where I was greeted by a machine which told me that due to unprecedented call volume, my wait would be 37 minutes. Shockingly, the system told me to hit the pound button if I wanted to be called back on my cell phone when an agent was available. Cool - I didn't have to stand around for a half an hour with a phone pressed against my ear! All companies should adopt this practice.

About 40 minutes later, I received a call from an agent with Costume Discounters. I informed her that I had placed an order nine days prior, and that my debit card had been "uncharged", and I was trying to find out what was going on. She pulled up my order, and then she went on to explain to me that the Popeye costume was sold out. She apologized profusely when I reasoned that this was unacceptable - the website clearly stated that it was in stock. She went on to tell me - and I quote - "our website has been giving wrong information about what is in stock and what is not. I'm so sorry."

I was shocked. But I kept my cool - the agent was very apologetic. It certainly was not her fault - but it certainly was her employer's. I asked her to cancel my order, which she quickly did without question while apologizing the whole time.

The next day, I went out to one of those overpriced, overcrowded mall stores which I alluded to before, and I bought a pirate costume. A few days later I went to the Halloween costume party and had a great time. Had I not called Costume Discounters on my own, however, I wouldn't have received my order until well after the holiday. It is completely unacceptable that the store has misinformation about inventory on its website. Further, it is unacceptable that the company failed to call me or even e-mail me about the back ordered Popeye costume while it was stated that it was in stock. While I understand that it was a highly sought-after item, I don't understand how a company could be so incompetent - especially when people are relying on them for something that is needed by a specific date.

On that note, I have no intention to ever order from Costumediscounters.com again.