Sarah says the Toys R Us website’s inability to determine whether or not items were in stock stopped her from taking advantage of a sale. She thought she got a “buy two, get one free” deal on baby nursery supplies, but discovered by email that it wasn’t the case.

She writes:

Normally I am a loyal Babies and Toys R Us customer. My son’s nursery is completely decorated in Babies R Us and my entire Christmas was purchased from Toys R Us. I went on Toy R Us website to begin Christmas shopping for next year and noticed a sale, but 2 get 1 free. After searching for 3 items priced closely together, I placed my order. Everything went through fine. At 3:30 the following day I received an email that 2 of my items were no longer available and therefore I was only being charged for one item. This results in me not getting the sale, which was the whole purpose of my order. I called customer service and was informed that because my order was placed the day before I could not cancel it or modify it. I told her I would like to add two more items to get the sale, but I was too late. I informed her that I was not notified of the change until today and she said there was nothing that could be done. I let her know that the items I had attempted to purchase were still showing available for shipping on the website. She told me “it just wasn’t updated yet”. If the advertised deal changed when I got to the register at a retail location, I could choose not to make the purchase. I was refunded my shipping charges, but if I want to return the item I will have to drive an hour because there are no Toys R Us retail locations where I live.

A week later, I went on the website and they are showing the item I was trying to purchase available under the same sale. I purchased 3 of the item, buy 2 get 1 free and oddly enough I am getting all three. If the item were coming back into stock, they should have just shipped them separately allowing me to have advantage of the advertised sale.

If you’ve been robbed of a deal you thought you were getting after the fact while ordering online, share your story in the comments.

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