Halloween is just a couple of weeks away, and there's nothing I love more than decorating our home with our Halloween tree, Jack O’Lanterns, and an assortment of items that turn our space into something ghoulishly spooktacular.
Finding Halloween decor wasn’t always easy in Cordoba City. When we arrived in 2012, Halloween was virtually non-existent here. But over the years, party stores have started adding more and more items.
This year, we were lucky to discover an online store in Buenos Aires called Ghostly Store. They offer a range of ceramic Halloween decorations, including a few pumpkin plushies and gothic-looking mirrors.
Eager to add something new to our Halloween collection, we decided to order an assortment of items for about 135,000 Argentine pesos (approximately $142 USD). After waiting several weeks, our ceramic decorations finally arrived, and we couldn’t wait to see what was inside the box.
Let me share with you what we ordered.
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| Cereal Killer Bowl from Ghostly Store |
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| Pumpkin Cup from Ghostly Store |
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| Coffin Plate from Ghostly Store |
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| Scream Cup from Ghostly Store |
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| Jack O'Lantern from Ghostly Store |
However, not everything was as we expected. Two pieces in particular were truly horrifying—but not in a fun Halloween way. We had ordered a large black cauldron and a Jack O’Lantern designed to hold candy. Instead, we received broken pieces that matched our broken hearts.
While the Jack O’Lantern seemed easy enough to repair, the cauldron was shattered into a lot of pieces. Considering the condition of the box, I was surprised that so many other items arrived intact. Clearly, we didn't pay that much money to fix damaged parts.
I guess I'm not really surprised. Disappointed definitely, but not surprised.
Correo Argentino is nothing like the United States Postal Service in the sense that the Argentine postal service sucks. I’m not saying USPS is perfect, but they do know how to handle packages (most of the time). In addition, most companies in the U.S., use sturdy boxes for shipping, but the one Ghostly Store used was flimsy. We also noticed they hadn’t labeled the box as “fragile.”
I emailed Ghostly Store to explain the situation. They apologized and promised to send replacements. It was very nice of them, but a month passed with no updates. I reached out again, and they apologized for the delay, explaining they were making more cauldrons and Jack O’Lantern candy holders. They promised to ship them once available. I expected this to mean a few more weeks, but I was wrong.
My original order was in May. The replacements were supposed to ship in June. By August, I still hadn’t received anything or heard from Ghostly Store. I contacted them again, and they once more apologized and shipped the replacement items. Within a week, my package arrived—but I wasn’t thrilled with what I found.
While the Jack O’Lantern candy holder was intact, the large cauldron was once again in a hundred pieces. That wasn't really shocking given that the flimsy box didn't have a fragile label this time either. Clearly, I wasn’t going to ask for yet another replacement, but I doubt I will order from Ghostly Store again.
Fortunately, a friend who had visited Buenos Aires a few months earlier bought a smaller cauldron mug from Ghostly Store at a horror convention and gifted it to us. I'll show you what it looks like in a future post.
Despite the order processing and shipping issues, Ghostly Store’s customer service reps were very kind. Though their kindness won’t bring my large cauldron back from the ceramic afterlife, we do have a really nice collection of Halloween-themed ceramic items to enjoy this year.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to start planning for this year’s first Friday the 13th.
Unpleasant dreams!
