Yes, online shopping and in-store inventory are separate things at many retailers that offer both brick-and-mortar and mouse-and-pajamas shopping experiences. Jeff is really annoyed, though, because he ordered a copy of a movie before Christmas, and still doesn’t have it. Copies of the “The Best Exotic Marigold” went on backorder, and he authorized an indefinite backorder under the wacky assumption that it surely would show up within a few weeks. Now it’s closer to four months. No movie. But it’s not like they have them in their physical stores, either, right?

Jeff writes:

Fry’s had a great Christmas sale on their website, and I ordered The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, with the expectation that it’d be delivered in a week or two

Or Three, or four…

Finally they sent me an email asking me to authorize indefinite backorder, and I did, figuring that Fox was out of copies for the movie, and at most it’d take a monthish to get them back in stock.

Or Two, or Three…

So a few weeks ago, I visited a friend in Texas, where they have actual physical stores. Inspired by the fact that they have in-store pickup, I called the customer service line, who said that they had no way to re-place my order as an in-store pickup at that price without manager approval (all the stores in TX had lots of copies). The manager refused to allow it.

So here I am, with a movie I’ve been waiting months for, that Fry’s for whatever reason refuses to re-order from Fox (I assume I’m one of many eternal backorders), at a price that can’t be beat (it typically goes for $12.99 at best).

I like Fry’s the store a lot, and I always look forward to visiting them when I travel, but why it takes 3 months to restock a recent Blu-ray, and why I couldn’t in-store pickup my item is seriously beyond me.

We can see this from both sides: from the retailer’s side, things just don’t work that way. From

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