On 30th january I ordered my dress from Ebay. I love it. The sellers are brilliant at communication, they never ignore an email....ever. so far so good. Anyway on the listing it states that seller will post dress within 30 days.
I am not stupid and i know they cant make them instantly.....so I was happy to wait for it. But they emailed me last week and I didnt even think about it until just now...
they emailed to say that the dress will be sent on 18th march. and they will send me a picture of it before they post it....on the 17th March.

I just worked it out in days......Not 30 days as listed but 48 days........thats OK you might think, and i would agree with you, to a point, but if its not right in any way at all, wrong size, wrong colour, or even got lost in the post.....I only have 45 days in which to make a claim from either Ebay or Paypal. (I actually thought it was 60 days thats why i wasnt too worried, but have just read it again and its 45)

Is this why they are holding on to it for what works out to be 48 days? so that there is no come back? and even when they send it on 18th March I wont get it for at least a week anyway.

I was loathe to email them and ask them to get going with it because i dont want it rushed......but to be fair...they have had my money for 36 days now, WHY did they have to wait so long to begin making my dress? Do you think its so that no refunds can ever be given because its gone past the date that you can apply for one?

I even just looked through all their emails and found one dated 27th feb saying they were starting the dress today.....this was 28 days after I ordered it, thats bad when they state on there listing it should be posted within 30 days. Why did they wait a whole month before even beginning my dress? it was never going to ready in 30 days was it?

Anyway, as much as i didn't want to, i DID email them and quoted to them there timescale of 30 days on the listing.
I dont know wether to wait until 2-3 days before the 45th day, and lodge a complaint......I could tell the dressmakers this is what i intend to do, then they still have time to finish it, and i am still covered by ebay/paypal for my payment. ebay will give them time to comply, and once i receive the dress i would cancel the complaint? would that work ok?

I dont want to be negative, but i just dont want a dress thats no good for me, and if i wait....it might be rubbish and i wont be able to do a thing about it.

Any advice would be much appreciated.....

Yes you can withdraw.
I just thought of another plan and wonder if i should email them and ask them to do this.

I order another dress and pay for it. then they refund me for the previous order.
that way they have the time they want to finish it, and my payment has a new 45 day protection period.

if for some reason they didnt refund me for the previous order, i would go for a refund for that, so i am not worried about having to bid and pay again.

Well i emailed them and put it to them, No answer yet because its middle of the night in China isnt it?
I asked them if I could re-order, then them cancel the previous order.....and if they dont want to do that then to please get the dress in the post , so that it reaches me before 13th March......because I only have until 14th to lodge a complaint. if they do that it means them posting it tomorrow or the next day to allow the posting times.

If they are not sure how to do it I can even do it for them, all I have to do is request to cancel an order, they agree, then the payment gets refunded automatically. I would order the new dress first just to show them I wasnt just trying to get out of having the dress, like if I had changed my mind or something.

eagerly awaiting their reply.....

i wud lodge a complaint if u dont get it in time, i wudnt pay 4 another then they have ur emoney twice i wudnt trust them

I agree with Katya.

Is the dress coming from China? A week delivery time is unrealistic - delivery takes around 3 weeks and may even be longer if it's held in custom.

I re-ordered via their website - ebay is not a part of it. And it's made in the UK.

Whenever I order from China it takes around 3 weeks to arrive. Sometimes a little shorter but sometimes longer - I order a lot of bulk knick knacks for crafting. Hopefully your dress will arrive asap!

I think you can only claim on paypal within 60days, and the claim takes up to 30 days to be resolved
I hope it works out for the best for you hun i really do

Im pretty sure I saw 60days on ebay a few days ago when i was selling something.
I could be wrong though (hopefully not in your case)

Oooo lucky you phoned then, ether way your money is safe but hopefully your dress will arrived and you will love it

I hope all your worrying is unnecessary, they should understand your caution though as any bride would be fretting that the dress will arrive on time and be a perfect fit. I've ordered a ball gown from a Chinese e bay site before. I had to give them all sorts of bizarre measurements such as the space between each breast and between my collar bone and the tip of my chin - I know, random! In the 2 weeks it took to arrive I put on a couple of inches to my waist and boobs. The dress was just slightly too tight so I took it to a local tailoress who made the alterations. She was amazed by the work that had gone into the dress and couldn't believe how little I paid for it. She said that the way it had been made there was enough material to take it out 2 sizes ans the measurements they took were to make the dress a perfect fit. The stitching and detailing were beautiful and she would have expected it to have cost hundreds.

The point I'm trying to make with my ramblings is that as long as the dress is the right colour and style, if it doesn't fit you may be able to get someone locally to alter if you are pushed for time.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.