AZ Boutique

I placed a large order on 3rd October, not everything was in stock but I was told the whole order could be delivered between the 13 & 15th of November. The dates came and went without delivery, card saying delivery had been attempted, or attempt to arrange delivery. Here are extracts from AZ Boutiques replies to my enquires about my order and a refund: " They [The courier Hermes] only sent us this proof to say that you were not present. Please note that unfortunately these are the risk of ordering online. We may never know what happens to our parcel on their way. " " We cannot control the way the carrier proceeds. If they did not leave any card, then unfortunately this is not upon our responsibility.As you saw in the screenshot we sent you, they claimed they attempted delivery." " The carrier is not being incompetent. This is their normal process... they might encounter delay in their deliveries; but they will surely deliver the items." " The carrier confirmed to us that the parcel is being returned to us. Hence, we are only waiting to get the parcel back first in order to refund you." " We regret to tell you that it is impossible for us to refund you without getting the parcel back. They do have your parcel but as we told you earlier, they do not prioritised returning parcel and that is why it can take up to one month to reach France. " " We choose not to refund you as this is our company's policy. We have to ensure that we receive the parcel Back. As per the carrier the parcel is being returned as you were not present during the delivery... Unfortunately we cannot take the risk in refunding you and then later on we do not receive the parcel." AZ Boutique is clearly of the opinion that the customer should bare the 'risks of ordering online' from AZ Boutique, fortunately I paid by PayPal and PayPal does not seem to share AZ Boutiques opinion. PayPal refunded my AZ Boutique payment a few days after I asked them to. Thank you PayPal. Phew! Most reviews of AZ Boutique seem very positive, maybe I was unlucky. But why take the risk of shopping with a company who's stated policy is that the customer loose out when they mess-up?