Raffaello Network – share your experiences please!

I have made two purchases from Raffaello Network. The first was a pair of slingback pumps (Sergio Rossi). It took so long to get the shoes, that by the time I received them, I had almost forgotten about them. This was about 4 years ago. I decided to give them another try a week ago, hoping that their service will have improved or that it was a fluke. Despite the fact that both pairs of shoes that I ordered were either noted on the website as being “in stock” or would take “2 to 3 days” before they can ship it, I still had not heard anything about shipping. I contacted the company. Neither of their telephone numbers (US and UK) worked. They both went to voicemail. The online chat was offline for most of the day. When I finally got on the online chat, I was told that the Italian office was closed for the day, so they couldn’t tell me anything about the status of my order, but that they would contact me the following day. Today, I received an email, saying that the items are on backorder, so it will take some time to organise its shipping. Basically, they don’t know when they can ship it. They may or may not eventually ship the items, but in the meantime, my credit card has been charged. If I were a bit more suspicious, I would think that they were running some sort of scam, leveraging exchange rates or interest rates. I have decided to request to cancel the order and request a refund. I have also contacted my credit card company, who are prepared to dispute the charge by Wednesday, if by then they still have not shipped the order. I may not have minded, if only they let me know (before I asked) that the items were on backorder. Based on these two experiences, I would not recommend purchasing through them. Yoox can also take some time to ship, but nothing like Raffaello Network, so I have made purchases through them, as well as Shopbop , Stylebop, My Theresa, Net-a-porter, Mr Porter, and My Wardrobe. I can recommend these other online retailers, without reservation.