Buy.com is Weird
I still don't have any major complaints about Buy.com myself (though plenty of others do). Though the DVD player shipped in a timely fashion, the order I placed about a month ago is still incomplete - they haven't found my RCA TP262 In Line Phone Cord Coupler (Ivory). They have sent an email every 1-2 weeks since the order, stating they are still looking, but that I can cancel. Before doing so, I was concerned that doing so might ruin the coupon I used initially (the sole reason I ordered the coupler in the first place). So I called them at their super-secret number, and the CSR confirmed my fears. For that reason, I asked just how long this game would proceed. My actual words were "if the vendor won't have stock for another year, will my order really hang out until then?" She initially responded in the affirmative, but then corrected herself to state that orders automatically die after 90 days. Yay - only about 60 to go!
The ridiculous thing is not that they are refusing to cancel the item without sacrificing my coupon per se, but that it is costing them more to do so! After all, they will have to pay shipping and deal with me on the phone, both of which will cost more than whatever profit they can make on a $.99 item (for which they are now charging $2.95).
As I was composing this post, the CSR emailed me to inform me that "[they] have received an estimated time of arrival from [their] distributor and expect [my] product to ship on or about 3/22/04." That's today. That's very unlikely, but fear not, I'll keep you updated.