The digital age has promised convenience, with the ability to order almost anything from the comfort of your home. This promise is especially appealing to people who may have difficulty getting to physical stores regularly, like my almost 80-year-old mom.

Whether it’s groceries, household items, or something more seasonal like Halloween coffee cups, online shopping offers her an ease that traditional shopping can’t match.

But what happens when that promise of convenience turns into frustration? What happens when what should have been a simple, delightful delivery becomes a hassle that causes more stress than it’s worth?

This is exactly what happened to my mom recently with a set of ghost-themed cups that she ordered for Halloween. What should have been a fun and festive purchase turned into a drawn-out ordeal filled with disappointment, frustration, and a reminder of how fragile the convenience of online shopping can be when things go wrong.

Crafting the perfect Halloween atmosphere.

My mom is no rookie when it comes to holiday decor. She goes all out for every holiday on the calendar. From themed treats to somewhat spooky decorations, she enjoys decking out her house for when the grandkids come over for trick-or-treating.

This year, she added coffee mugs to her list of decorations — one set of jack-o-lanterns and one set of ghosts. She was super excited to have them ready for visitors and family.

Related:Amazon’s Switch to Paper Cushioning Prioritizes Curbside Recycling, and Profits

Two-day shipping turns to three weeks and disappointment.

In an era where two-day shipping has become the norm, waiting more than three weeks for a simple set of coffee cups is annoying, frustrating, and inconvenient. The original delivery date passed with some notifications, but really no explanation for the delayed shipment.

When the cups finally arrived, we immediately heard the sound of broken ceramic.

I was irritated because there was no indication on the box that the contents inside were “Fragile.”

When my mom opened the box, she was confronted by some weird paper netting packaging materials (see photo for reference). Three of the cups made it, but one had its handle broken entirely off.

Halloween headache: broken ecommerce experience; Meaghan Ziemba

My mom handled the disappointment better than I did. Knowing she would either need to go to the closest Walmart to return/exchange the cups or stop at a shipping place to return them and wait another possible three weeks to get a complete, intact set had me a little heated.

Online shopping is supposed to simplify her life, but this experience did just the opposite.

The hassle of packaging failures.

Related:3M Mailer Combines Recyclability with Right-Sizing

This is where the true frustration of the situation hits hard for me. When online orders arrive damaged, it’s not just the product that’s broken, but the entire experience. It’s not just about receiving damaged goods; it’s about the time, energy, and effort to correct the mistake.

Meaghan Ziemba photo by Ian Storck

What also bothers me about this situation is that it could have been easily avoided. Proper packaging should be a given when ordering fragile items like ceramic coffee cups. In a time when other distribution companies have mastered the art of secure packaging, there’s simply no excuse for this kind of oversight.

The broken coffee cups weren't just a case of bad luck; they were a case of poor attention to detail on the part of Walmart’s fulfillment team.

To top it off, my mom now had to deal with the stress of a return, the disappointment of not having her purchase, and the overall frustration of an experience that could have been avoided with the appropriate packaging.

When convenience falls short in online purchasing.

Walmart, like other large retailers, touts the convenience of online shopping, especially for customers who may not have easy access to physical stores. But when things go wrong, the convenience can quickly turn into a nightmare.

For people like my mom, who rely on these services because getting to a store isn’t always feasible, it’s important that companies do better.

From ensuring that fragile items are appropriately packaged to offering more empathetic solutions when things go wrong, there’s room for significant improvement.

What needs to change.

As consumers, we’re often told to “vote with our wallets,” but what can we do when large retailers like Walmart seem indifferent to the frustrations caused by their mistakes? It’s not just about offering refunds or replacements when something goes wrong — it’s about ensuring that these problems don’t happen in the first place.

Big retailers need to take a closer look at their packaging processes, especially when dealing with fragile items. It’s not enough to rely on standard solutions like refunds and returns. Proactive care, such as better quality control, could go a long way in restoring the trust of customers like me and my mom.

In the meantime, fingers crossed we get the reorder of ghost coffee mugs in time for trick-or-treating.