tlrnhi,
I'm trying to remember from your other posts... are you overseas? (Not in the US?) If you're not... then I apologize, 'cause my answer won't really apply. If you're on a US military base, then my answer also won't apply.
But if you are (non-military) overseas, that's probably why they told you it could take 6-8 weeks.
I have bought from Clotilde a few times in the past - not recently, though - and it was always my impression that they were a reputable business. To be sure, Clotilde should have been able to tell you WHEN your package was shipped! I totally agree with you on that point.
I have found that there's a lot of confusion about international shipping, as a whole. So in the interest of anyone reading this forum who is overseas, I'm hoping that what I'm about to write here is truly helpful and of some use.
We ship internationally (and have done so for about five years), and I'll share with you what our experiences have been. While most of the time everything goes smoothly, I would guess that about 5% of the time, packages are delayed. It usually takes 2-3 weeks for packages to get delivered (except for France and Italy, where 6-8 weeks is the norm). But sometimes it takes much longer. Less than 1% of international packages do truly get lost, in our experience. We don't give up and consider a package "lost" until 45 days after it was shipped. (That's about six weeks.)
What any international buyer should be aware of is that in general, international packages are sent from the US are sent by USPS Priority Mail International (PMI). This is the budget-priced shipping method (costs about $13 for a flat-rate envelope), and it is definitely a no-frills service. When you ship an international package by this method, you give it to the Post Office... and then sit back, wait, and hope for the best. You can't track it. You can't hurry it up. You can't get any additional information about it, at all. The only thing that you can do is wait. It's frustrating... both for the shopper AND the seller!
So when Clotilde's customer service department told you there was nothing to do but wait, they weren't giving you a runaround, they were merely stating the reality of the situation. International shipping is not very customer-friendly. It's not seller-friendly, though, either!
At this point, you may be wondering, "Isn't there a better way to ship?" Yes, there IS a better way. It's called Express Mail International (EMI), and though the US Post Office picks up the packages, delivery is actually handled by FedEx. However, it costs more than twice as much. You can actually track packages sent by EMI, and it's a very good service, and it's a little faster than PMI, but it's expensive.
But... on to what you might be able to DO at this point. Did you pay by credit card? If so, you have solid protection available to you. If you don't receive your goods, or they arrive damaged, you can dispute the charges. (You probably should do this within 3 months of when you were charged.) When you file a dispute, you get your money back right away. If you paid by credit card, in the case of Clotilde, they actually SHOULD be doing the refund by credit card, too, not by a company check. (Actually, now that I think of it, if you're international you probably do NOT want a company check, because your bank might charge you a fee to cash it.)
I know a lot of people don't like to buy on the internet, using a credit card, but IMHO it's actually a smart move, because of the protection that you get. I would, though, suggest that it's smarter still to have one credit card that's ONLY used for internet purchases. That way, should it ever be compromised, you'll still have another card available for buying groceries, gas, chocolate, and other essentials. :wink: