ZALES.COM Selling items they do NOT have in stock Internet

...but this is how our system actually works:

It sounds as if you were ordering clearance items. Our clearance items tend to fly off the shelves, especially during the holiday season. Please remember you are dealing with an entity that markets to all 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the military worldwide, and we do this 24/7. Yes, unfortunately we do run out of items.

As we state on our website, "Please allow one to two BUSINESS DAYS to process your order." We also state that if you are ordering a ring that requires sizing (and most of them do), you must add another 1-2 days for sizing. If it is a special order item, we tell them right on our website what the timeline is going to be. Even if a person pays for overnight shipping, it does not change the fact that the order still must go through an order review process and be approved before we will send the ring to be sized. This makes sense, right?

Part of the order review process is that we verify that the billing address the customer gives us matches the information their credit card company has. Yes, you may ship it anywhere you want to, but your billing information still must match. For some reason, even though we tell you this, some people insist upon doing something else, which causes their order to be cancelled.

We actually do NOT sell merchandise that is out of stock. Once our system realizes we are out of stock, it will no longer allow us to key in an order for that item. This is what happens:

Let's say you've ordered a beautiful diamond pendant. It happens to be the last one. We inspect it and find out something is wrong with it. We cancel the order. Or, you've ordered a ring. It happens to be the last one. It has to be sized. Somehow in the sizing process, we ruin the ring. We will not send you a ruined ring. We cancel the order. Or, we have 5 left. Ten people are trying to order it. The first 5 people who make it through the order review process will get the item. The other 5 people will be disappointed.

I have been ordering through the mail since 1966 and now in modern times order on the phone and online constantly, with many different companies that I trust. When I ordered a pair of shoes on clearance from a company at a fraction of the price, and then the order cancelled, believe me, I wanted their head on a plate. But now that I work for Zales.com (and have done so for 3.5 years), I understand the process of online ordering much, much better.

...but this is how our system actually works:

It sounds as if you were ordering clearance items. Our clearance items tend to fly off the shelves, especially during the holiday season. Please remember you are dealing with an entity that markets to all 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the military worldwide, and we do this 24/7. Yes, unfortunately we do run out of items.

As we state on our website, "Please allow one to two BUSINESS DAYS to process your order." We also state that if you are ordering a ring that requires sizing (and most of them do), you must add another 1-2 days for sizing. If it is a special order item, we tell them right on our website what the timeline is going to be. Even if a person pays for overnight shipping, it does not change the fact that the order still must go through an order review process and be approved before we will send the ring to be sized. This makes sense, right?

Part of the order review process is that we verify that the billing address the customer gives us matches the information their credit card company has. Yes, you may ship it anywhere you want to, but your billing information still must match. For some reason, even though we tell you this, some people insist upon doing something else, which causes their order to be cancelled.

We actually do NOT sell merchandise that is out of stock. Once our system realizes we are out of stock, it will no longer allow us to key in an order for that item. This is what happens:

Let's say you've ordered a beautiful diamond pendant. It happens to be the last one. We inspect it and find out something is wrong with it. We cancel the order. Or, you've ordered a ring. It happens to be the last one. It has to be sized. Somehow in the sizing process, we ruin the ring. We will not send you a ruined ring. We cancel the order. Or, we have 5 left. Ten people are trying to order it. The first 5 people who make it through the order review process will get the item. The other 5 people will be disappointed.

I have been ordering through the mail since 1966 and now in modern times order on the phone and online constantly, with many different companies that I trust. When I ordered a pair of shoes on clearance from a company at a fraction of the price, and then the order cancelled, believe me, I wanted their head on a plate. But now that I work for Zales.com (and have done so for 3.5 years), I understand the process of online ordering much, much better.