I ordered an awesome shirt from Shirt.Woot! How awesome? Awesome enough for the U.S. Post Office to tear it right out of the super-durable SmartPost package Woot uses to protect their shirts. The Post Office, bastion of empathy that it is, didn’t want me to miss my order completely, so they delivered my ripped empty package wrapped in an obnoxious “WE CARE” apology bag. Heartbroken, I tried emailing Woot for help…

For those who haven’t used Shirt.Woot! before, it’s very similar to regular Woot. A shirt goes on sale each night for $10 and remains available for 24 hours or until it sells out, whichever happens first. This design sold out in around an hour. Woot holds onto a number of shirts that they then sell for $15 after the one-day period ends. My design was still available for $15 when I sent an email explaining that I would prefer a replacement to a refund. Woot agreed, but quickly reversed themselves, claiming “that design has been discontinued,” even though it was still clearly on sale for $15. I instead have my $10 back, but what I really wanted was the shirt.

Crushed, I decided to take my useless bags to the Post Office for an explanation. They offered none. Since Woot doesn’t insure their shipments, the Post Office declared that they were blameless.

This isn’t the first time Consumerist has had a bad experience with a Woot! order. I may not have an awesome shirt, but at least I no longer trouble myself by visiting Shirt.Woot! at midnight to look for new designs.

Update: Woot! replaced the stolen shirt!

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