Camera Woes, Continued

So there I was, having just bought a Kodak Easyshare camera off ebay, having done no research on the camera or searching for other deals that might be better, or even any soul-searching as to whether or not this was something I really wanted in my life.

After the fact, I did the research. As it turns out, the particular camera I had purchased was a great buy. The newer versions were selling for somewhere around $230, but this particular model had received good reviews. There were a lot of users who said that, despite being professional camerapeople (totally copyrighting that word!), this was their go-to camera that they took everywhere with them. I found a fairly official-looking website that listed the pros and cons of the camera in layman's terms, and I discovered that the drawbacks of this camera were still better features than were on my old camera. Things were looking up.

I even did some soul-searching and came to the following conclusions:
1) We have a baby coming soon. It would be good to have a camera to record the blessed event- after the fact when I've had a chance to brush my hair, of course.
2) I've been wanting to learn more about photography, anyway, and not wanting to break the bank to do it. I need a relatively inexpensive camera with some good options for manual control.
3) A new camera would help with developing whatever creativity I may have in the areas of photography, photograph manipulation (read: photoshop), and scrapbooking.
4) Photography is a great way to improve family history efforts. Someday, we're going to love looking back on these memories.
5) It was my money, dang it, and I could spend it however I wanted!

In short, I started to really look forward to getting my shiny new camera.

That was January 3rd. The estimated delivery date was the 12th-18th. So, I settled in to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And... nothing happened. I finally tried to contact the seller, who never contacted me back. After the 18th, I made a case with ebay, who encouraged me to contact the seller and said they would do the same. I then had to wait another 7 days for the seller to contact me.

Which he never did.

At this point, I was disgruntled. I gave the seller a bad rating.

Finally, on the 28th, ebay emailed me saying that they would refund my money- the entire $50 for the camera plus the $10 I paid for shipping. They've told me they would refund it through my PayPal account. It hasn't come through. So, here I am, no camera, no birthday money, and about 60 pictures I want to take. To top it off, on the day I bought the camera, I found a couple other cameras just like it that were better deals and were being sold by top-rated sellers. Since then, I haven't found another camera that both interests me and is within my price range.

*sigh*

Life's a grand adventure, isn't it?

Not to worry- I fully intend to get my money back and to keep looking for my pretty new camera. Pictures will rise again!