How Amazon screwed up my order

Summary: It's Amazon's turn to try and sabotage Christmas at the Burnette household.

Sigh. Remember the wall-plugged Ethernet extender kit that I was waiting on to go with the twin Dell Vostro mini-towers (the computer I got double-charged for)? I ordered it from Amazon.com on December 13th, where it showed as "in stock". That day, I got a confirmation email that said:

Shipping estimate for these items: December 17, 2007 1 "Netgear XE104G 85 Mbps Wall-Plugged Ethernet Extender Kit [one XE104, one XE103]" Electronics; $138.29

However on Sunday (December 16th, one day before it was supposed to arrive) they sent this update:

Unfortunately, an unexpected delay from our supplier may prevent us from delivering some items in your order placed on December 13 2007 18:01 PST (Order# nnn-nnnn) by December 24. Other items that may be in stock will still ship separately, with no increase in your total shipping charges.

"Netgear XE104G 85 Mbps Wall-Plugged Ethernet Extender Kit [one XE104, one XE103]" [Electronics] Estimated arrival date: 02/20/2008 - 02/22/2008

Nice of them to not increase my shipping charges. But why did it take them so long to tell me the order would be two months late?!

Unfortunately I didn't notice the email until I checked on the order today. After a quick search I managed to find an extender at the local Best Buy store for $181.46 ($169.99 + tax). I wish I could have waited, but the upstairs rec room where I wanted to install the Vostros does not get good wireless reception from the other end of the house (even with a highly rated Belkin N1 wireless router pumping out the signal on 3 antennas).

Now to unpack everything and see if it all works...

Topics: Amazon, Collaboration, Mobility, Networking, Wi-Fi

About

Ed Burnette is a software industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience as a programmer, author, and speaker. He has written numerous technical articles and books, most recently "Hello, Android: Introducing Google's Mobile Development Platform" from the Pragmatic Programmers.

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Talkback

4 comments
Log in or register to join the discussion
  • Oh the Humanity!

    nt
    D T Schmitz
  • par for the course

    I've waited longer to be informed that the supplier no longer supplied the item.

    Your case is typical of how they handle delays I think.
    sbj
  • With all your orders being screwed up lately...

    did you think it might be just you :)


    Note: THIS IS A JOKE
    mrOSX
  • i'm also having bad luck

    i ordered a samsung blu-ray player from amazon, hoping to use it this past weekend. unfortunately, it arrived in a non-functional state, so I had to send it back for a refund. I ran out to a local store to buy another one, and had to spend $30 more on it, plus $20+ on tax, so due to amazon i had to spend more than $50 extra. really a bummer.
    lostarchitect