Charged for Nothing: The "Ghost Order" Trap I Fell Into ???? (Order #4567 Cautionary Tale)

I usually love supporting independent shops, but my recent online purchase was a disaster—a complete cautionary tale for anyone thinking of ordering remotely. My experience was so disappointing, so utterly confusing and unresolved, that my final conclusion about the entire transaction was simply:
null
. Nothing worked. The tracking link died, my emails vanished, and weeks later, I still have no hat. I felt completely compelled to leave this blank review and immediately seek out customer service to understand why I was charged for an item that seemingly doesn't exist.
Customer: I am calling about order #4567. I placed it three weeks ago, my card was charged, and the tracking link still says "Error." Can you please tell me where my custom hat is?
CS Rep: I apologize completely for this confusing situation. Let me pull up order #4567 for you. I see the charge went through, but it looks like the fulfillment team marked the item as ready for shipping, and then… nothing was scanned out
>If you loved this article and you would like to collect more info concerning WholeCustomDesign Custom Hats generously visit the page. Customer: "Nothing" is exactly right. I bought this specifically for an event this weekend, and I’m relying on it. Is the hat even made, or was it just lost in the warehouse? This is an unacceptable level of service for a custom item
>CS Rep: I understand your immense frustration entirely, and I am truly sorry this error occurred. It appears the label was created, but the physical item was never scanned into the carrier system. That is entirely our fulfillment error
>Customer: So what is the solution here? I need the hat, or I need a full refund and compensation for my wasted time tracking down a ghost order
>CS Rep: We will immediately issue a full refund to your original payment method. Because of this significant error, we would also like to offer a future purchase credit of $50 as compensation for the inconvenience
>The reason I left this review on the website is to hopefully prevent others from falling into the same trap
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