Glencara Irish Jewelry Glencara.com Item ordered and paid for and never received Galway Ireland

Let me start with saying I have never written a poor review or complaint about any company. This case bothered me so much that I had to do it though.

My experience with Glencara's customer service was absolutely terrible. I live in the United States near Chicago, IL and was searching for a Christmas gift for my girlfriend. She specifically wanted a gold Claddagh ring. I could not afford to buy a solid gold one, so I search the Internet and found what I thought would be the perfect item.

I ordered a "Ladies 14K Yellow Gold Silver Claddagh Ring".

Here is the item's description right form the website: "Crafted from sterling silver and thickly Coated in 14K Gold and is Hallmarked .925. It was individually handcrafted by a Silversmith in Ireland. The gold will not wear off as it has been given a very thick coating."

The ring is priced at $39.95. There was no tax and also shipping was advertised as "Free Worldwide Shipping. 4 Day Delivery to US & Canada" Below is a complete timeline from start to finish of what happened next.

12/14/2014: Order is placed through Glencara.com. Invoice and order confirmation received the same day via email (Both Automated). My Visa was also charged the same day for the price of $39.95.
12/15/2014: Another email received (Automated) thanking me for the order and letting me know it has been processed and "Should ship within 24 hours"
12/18/2014: I email to Glencara's customer service email (sales@glencara.com) asking for an update, since it had been 4 days since I placed the order (3 days since the order was "processed"). I was looking for a confirmation that it had been shipped, or if there was any tracking numbers. In response to this I received Glencara's automated response email which I became all too familiar with over the next few weeks. It said I should receive a response within 36 working hours, they are "backlogged with emails due to the holiday season".
12/26/2014: Still no response (other then the automated), so I sent a follow up email stating it had been over a week since my last email and I had received no response. I acknowledged in there that it was the holiday season and I understand they may be busy, but at least some acknowledgement that my order has actually been shipped was all I was looking for.
1/2/2014: Still no response other then automated. I sent another email asking for some acknowledgement of my order or confirmation it has been shipped.
1/10/2014: Still no response other than automated. Again, I sent another email stating how I had not received any responses and it was beginning to look like I will not be receiving the item I purchased. This time i put "URGENT" in the subject line. In their automated response it says: "If your query is Urgent. Please put "URGENT" in the subject of your e-mail.". I stated in the email that if I do not hear a response within the next 36 working hours I will attempt to reach out to my credit card company and get a refund. Also stated the holiday season is now over (and so is my plan of giving the item as a Christmas Gift to my girlfriend) so I do not see why I have not gotten a response.
1/11/2014: Finally, I received an email that was not an automated response. The email read as follows:
Hello Joe,
Happy New Year!
Sorry for late reply. We have a backlog on our emails at the moment. If you still haven't received your item, could you please confirm the shipping name and address?

We send our packages by Priority Airmail without a tracking number (unless the Fedex shipping method is selected at checkout). We send without a tracking number as it costs 20% of the cost to send with a tracking number so we pass that saving on to our customers through our low prices.

We will have the backlog cleared within the couple of days.
If you have received your order and have no other queries, please ignore this email.

Kind Regards,
Laura

1/11/2014: Finally, I was beginning to gain some confidence back that this is a legitimate company and I am not being ripped off. I responded to the email in a very kind manner, thanking them for the reply and providing them with my shipping address as they requested. I also provided my order number, invoice number, the date the order was placed and with what credit card. I also gave them the description and item number of what I ordered.
1/16/2014: Had not received a response since I provided them with the information they requested, so I sent another email asking for an update, or at least confirmation that my order is being looked into. I stated in there that I am disappointed in their company's level of customer service especially with customers who have already paid.
1/20/2014: Still no response. My frustration is growing with each automated response I get. I send another email stating it ahs been 9 days since I provided them with the information they requested. It has been over a month since the order was placed AND since my card was debited the cost of the order. In response to this email, I got the automated reply. this time it was different, stating that I should receive a reply within one week.
1/29/2014: Still nothing. I sent another email stating it has been again 9 days since I received the automated response to my last email, and I still have heard nothing. Again stated it is unnacceptable that they can charge the card immediately but their response to customer service emails are almost nonexistent.
1/30/2014: Finally, another email from them that is not automated. Below is what it said:
"Hello,

Sorry for late reply. We have a backlog on our emails at the moment.
I confirm that your order has been shipped to the address provided in your previous email.

We send our packages by Priority Airmail without a tracking number (unless the Fedex shipping method is selected at checkout). We send without a tracking number as it costs 20% of the cost to send with a tracking number so we pass that saving on to our customers through our low prices.

We will have the backlog cleared within the couple of days.
If you still haven't received your order please let us know.
If you have received your order and have no other queries, please ignore this email.

Thank You,
SK"
1/30/2014: I sent a thank you email and asked simply for the date it was shipped on.
2/5/2014: No response. Sent another email stating I still have not received the order, nor have I received an answer to what date it was shipped.
2/13/2014: Still no response. I sent another email reiterating how long it has been since I actually ordered and paid for the item, their lack of customer service, and also that the holiday season is now long over and there is no reason why it should take as long as it has for actual responses. I also stated it has been over a month since I provided them with the additional info they asked for. I requested again the date that the item was shipped.
2/24/2014: No response. Sent an email simply asking for a response of any kind.
3/4/2014: Still no response. Sent another email stating that I have not received any response to my last 3 emails, and I feel like they are being purposely ignored.
3/10/2014: Still no response. Sent another email restating all of the information related to my order (order#, invoice#, item description, address, payment method) and also stated it has been almost 3 months since the start of this whole thing and I have not had my questions answered.
3/19/2014: No response other than automated. At this point there automated responses are still saying they need one week to reply due to the Christmas and new year season. Sent another email asking for confirmation it has been shipped (what date). also stated I would hate to have to write a negative review on the company.
3/29/2014: At this point I have lost hope, but decided to send one last email. It is listed below:
Hello,

It has been yet again another 9-10 days without any response. It appears that I will not be receiving the item I have already paid for and therefore have been robbed of my money. It has been over 3 months since I ordered and paid for this ring and I have only received ONE actual email response from you other then automated replies (which I responded to in a timely manner with the information you requested).

I am making one more attempt to reach out to your company in regards to this order. If i do not hear a reply within One week like your automated reply has said, I will have no choice but to take action with the Better Business Bureau and file a formal complaint with them, and any other organization whose goal is to prevent consumers from being ripped off and robbed by businesses.

I have been extremely disappointed with your company thus far, and I can assure you if I do not hear some correspondence within one week I will do everything in my power to warn people of your business practices and preventing them from making the same mistake I did. Of course, this can all be avoided by some truthful and genuine customer service in regards to what is going on with my order, why i have not received it, and IF I ever will receive it. I really hope it does not come to that, but after having been ignored for several months now under the ridiculous pretense that you STILL, 3 months later, have a "backlog of emails due to the holiday season".

Thank you for your time and I truly look forward to hearing back from you and getting this matter resolved in a peaceful way.

So as you can see, I was more than patient with them in my responses. I responded to them with the information they requested (the few times when it was an actual person) and when it wasn't, I waited the time that their automated reply said I would need. I am writing this review to warn anyone from ordering from this company. It is a shame because I have read reviews about people receiving their orders with no problems whatsoever, which makes it even more surprising to me that they could do such a poor job on this simple order. I will NEVER order from this company again. The only thing that will save my opinion of it and make me write a response to this review is if they see it and somehow get this rectified soon.

After it being nearly 3 months since sending my last email and hearing no response still, I decided it was finally time to get this review written and finally get all of those emails out of my inbox.

I hope this review helps someone else out there.