WalMart.com needs defensive design

I pretty much despise Wal-Mart to begin with, so this is biased, but still has a good point. To get an N-Gage as fast as possible (the quicker the review up the better), I decided that WalMart.com would be the best bet. I make a point of not shopping at Wal-Mart, but for this item things changed (it’s the same price everywhere, Wal-Mart probably has the biggest stock, they won’t steal my credit card info, and so on). Yesterday, the 29th, I got an email:

Subject: Walmart.com Order 2677067355895 Delay

We’re sorry to say that your order has been delayed due to a delay in our fulfillment process. Unfortunately, we
were unable to ship the item(s) you ordered below by the late we originally gave you. We are working with our suppliers to fill your order as soon as possible, but we are currently unable to provide a revised shipment date for your order.

We will continue to attempt to ship this order. However,
you can cancel the order at any time up until the date the item(s) are actually shipped.

Please note that if we do not hear from you and we have not shipped your order after 10 days, we will automatically cancel your order and you will be notified.

I could go all Defensive Design and note that the subject includes a (to me) meaningless huge number, but I won’t stoop that low. I was happy to get word on this. It’s a lot better than said device never coming and me not hearing.

I did some hunting around and found one locally, bought it, and then cancelled my WalMart.com order. All is well until today when I get a UPS package from WalMart.com with an N-Gage. It was shipped the 27th. That is two days before the email saying they won’t be able to ship it.

I love that you try and notify me of problems, but do not lie to me. Now I have to return the item at your expense.