The Juggle Zone: Bargain Blog

As stated in my general update, I ordered a pair of Uniden GMRS radios from OM, who cancelled them under my order. Their official email stated:

Dear OfficeMax.com customer,
We are sorry to inform you that we can not fulfill your request for the 5 Mile Radio
This item was discontinued by the supplier and is no longer available. Please accept our apology for any inconvenience this may have caused.
We appreciate your business and value you as a customer.
Once again, we are very sorry about not being able to fulfill your order . We have cancelled that item from your order .
If we can be of further assistance, please contact us by calling one of our customer service representatives at 1-800-283-7674.
Thank you,

Having known that it would likely not come (it was back-ordered when I ordered), I accepted the situation.

However, today I took a look at next week's ad, which, on Page 3, advertises the same Uniden radios for $39.99! I promptly sent an email to OM:

I just looked at next week's ad, and I noticed that on Page 3, the exact same model (and SKU) of Uniden radio is advertised. It's somewhat surprising to me that your company would advertise something that is "no longer available." Of course, next week they are 4 times the price! I expect to receive the set I ordered, at the price I ordered at ASAP, or I will be filing a fraud complaint with the BBB and FTC.

OM responded fairly quickly. Pay attention to the bolded sentence, I found it funny:

The advertisements are naturally printed weeks in advance due to the volume needed to reach the masses . I will not have this item next week as I do this week . The vendor has stopped shipping this product. It is discontinued .
The item advertised stated “ Hurry while supplies last “ and also a disclaimer in the actual ad covering stock ability.
It is unfortunate that we do not have the item to provide to you but the item was posted on several websites as a “hot deal” and the inventory was taken needlessly by individuals whom did not necessarily want or need this item.
Once again I apologize but the item is no longer available.