Dear Abby (Advice Wanted)

Okay, first you have to hear my story/rant then help me figure out what to do about it.

I was perusing the black friday sale items and found a new digital cordless telephone with answering machine I wanted for our house since our old one has been needing replaced for a long time. It was at Radioshack. So, I originally planned on going to the closest Radioshack when it opened and pick it up. Well, I found out that Radioshack made their deals available online Thanksgiving night. So, I thought "sweet, that will save me some standing out in the cold and early wakeup. So, I placed the order online instead of going to the store--same price with free shipping.

Well, I waited the three business days for order processing which in my mind was rediculously long to begin with--I'd never waited more than a day or two on any online order; something just smelt sour about this. I checked the order status several times online, and it kept saying "item located, in stock" which by clicking on it explained that this meant the item had been located in their warehouse and was just waiting for next shipment going out. I also called customer service Tuesday (2nd bus. day) during the day wanting to know why it had not been shipped and was fed the line of "we have up to three business days to ship, and that it was still in stock." So, I was a good customer, did not show frustration or anger at the agent, and simply told her that I would wait and if it had not been shipped by Wednesday than I would be calling back. Well, Wed came and went, still no change in order status and it had not been shipped. So, I called back, still being nice and cordial to the rep, and was told that "due to the high volume of orders on black friday, that their shipments were back-logged and it would be a few extra days." I asked if there was anything else I could do to get the phone sooner, and was told there wasn't. I asked for an estimate, and they told me that it should be shipped by Friday.

The happiness over getting such a good deal on the phone had long since faded after waiting this long. I had ordered something from Bestbuy a day later and had already received it a day before Radioshack was even planning on shipping my item-- very frustrating. So, I waited until Friday, and still nothing, so I attempted to call customer service again only to find out they were closed for the weekend--very convenient!

But wait, it gets better. I get an email this afternoon (Saturday) from customer service saying, "Thanks for shopping with us at http://www.radioshack.com/. Your business is important to us. We regret to inform you that we are unable to complete your order. The following item(s) are unavailable at this time and have been cancelled from your order... Again, we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We appreciate your business." They haven't actually charged my card yet because they don't do that until the item ships.

So, here I am. Frustrated, annoyed, feeling wronged in so many ways. I feel that they misrepresented their product and service by displaying that it was in stock when the order was placed, by their order status displaying that it was found in stock, and by verbally reaffirming that it was still in stock and waiting to be shipped. Had I know that ordering online from them was going to be an issue, I would have gotten my lazy rear-end up out of bed on Friday morning and picked it up from the store. But now, because they misrepresented their item, they have caused me to miss out on the sale price. I checked online, and the phone now says that it is not available online, but that it is in stock in several Radioshack stores nearby.

I feel that they should either (1) give me a voucher for the sale price to pay for and pick it up at one of their nearby stores, or (2) give me the same sale price on a comparable brand and model online. What do you guys think??? Is this not bad business? Do I have any bargaining power here? The only think else that I can think to tell them, is if I leave this transaction feeling sour, I will not be back, and I will tell everyone I know about this horrible business practice; and, I am true to my word-- ask buy.com (that was the fiasco 2 years ago with Cam & Crystal's christmas presents that got shipped to the wrong address, and they refused to do anything for us).