Play.com "Awaiting stock" scam
This sounds to me like the seller is "taking the customer out of the market" .
This is common in retail , it generally prevents the customer buying elsewhere ( why should they , they have already purchased )
I would class it as a scam , even if no money is taken, and whatever the letter of the law says !!
<Sigh>
Fair enough, it's a scam. Play.com is run by dishonest, but inept "scammers" who care nothing for long term business or customer satisfaction and want only to annoy people by advertising goods for cheap prices that they're never actually going to fulfill thus making no actual money themselves from said "scam". By doing this, they may get said customers to buy something else at the same time (but of course may not) but will certainly disgruntle all these people so they can then tell their friends and other potential customers on forums like this one how awful the company is.
Or...
This could be the fact that most large e-commerce sites products are inputted by automation usually taken from a database provided by the suppliers of a particular product. Therefore they wouldn't neccesarily know that this product is not available immediately unless a large number has been ordered and someone hasn't bothered to update the estimated delivery times.
Tricky one.
<Sigh>
Fair enough, it's a scam. Play.com is run by dishonest, but inept "scammers" who care nothing for long term business or customer satisfaction and want only to annoy people by advertising goods for cheap prices that they're never actually going to fulfill thus making no actual money themselves. By doing this, they may get said customers to buy something else at the same time (but of course may not) but will certainly disgruntle all these people so they can then tell their friends and other potential customers on forums like this one how awful the company is.
Or...
This could be the fact that most large e-commerce sites products are inputted by automation usually taken from a database provided by the suppliers of a particular product. Therefore they wouldn't neccesarily know that this product is not available immediately unless a large number has been ordered and someone hasn't bothered to update the estimated delivery times.
Tricky one.
I ordered a game for my nephews Christmas on the 6th of December which was in stock, money was taken on the 7th of December, no game arrived in time for Christmas, I checked several times a week or two after ordering and got the awaiting stock message, finally gave up after four weeks and phoned only to be told that it was no longer available, they then refunded my money after a couple of days after me phoning them.
They seem to have figured out how to get round keeping customers waiting on stock, if it's out of stock they just send you anything sat on the shelves instead. I ordered 2 blu-rays as part of their 2 for £10 promo. Part of my order was Hamburger Hill: 20th Anniversary Edition, they actually sent me Austin Powers International Man of Mystery. In all the years I've been buying on the internet this is the first time I've been sent the wrong item.
In all the years I've been buying on the internet this is the first time I've been sent the wrong item.
When I was very much into Death Metal, I ordered an album by (I think) Ripping Corpse, and I got Mariah Carey. I wasn't best pleased. The worst part, the case was correct, the CD itself was the wrong one.
In all the years I've been buying on the internet this is the first time I've been sent the wrong item.
When I was very much into Death Metal, I ordered an album by (I think) Ripping Corpse, and I got Mariah Carey. I wasn't best pleased. The worst part, the case was correct, the CD itself was the wrong one.
Somebody else got a bit of a surprise then...
In all the years I've been buying on the internet this is the first time I've been sent the wrong item.
When I was very much into Death Metal, I ordered an album by (I think) Ripping Corpse, and I got Mariah Carey. I wasn't best pleased. The worst part, the case was correct, the CD itself was the wrong one.
Somebody else got a bit of a surprise then...
That could have been quite funny 
Really funny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUW6Q5psFLs&feature=related
Really funny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUW6Q5psFLs&feature=related Oh my goodness! What are they doing to the poor chap?
If they are doing it on purpose, it's a scam.
As I've already pointed out twice now, even if they are doing this on purpose (and I really can't see why any sane business would do this on purpose), it's still not a scam - they are not taking your money fraudulently. Dishonest yes, scam no.
Yes, but they are taking money from more honest companies. It's a scam against "them" to get "your" business.
Same as a scam I heard from the horses mouth with some car parts dealers...put an ad for something popular in the window at a great price...obviously not in stock for a few weeks, the person often buys other stuff that they may have bought elsewhere.
Stay calm, eat well, enjoy.