Spotting a 40% off sale is a gleeful event — better than a measly 30% and almost at that sweet half-off price. So when Andrew stumbled upon just such a sale online at Banana Republic’s site yesterday, he acted quickly to nab some of his favorite items. Speed didn’t matter, in this case.

When Andrew saw the sale, he went ahead and placed an order for a number of items to stock up on on winter clothing. But his plan for discounted goods went awry soon afterward.

He says:

Overnight, I get the email below indicating that several of the items are no longer available. I found this to be odd since normally most merchants would tell you that the item was on back order, and give you the opportunity to wait until it is back in stock. Further, since these are all basic items that BR has been selling for years, I highly doubted that in some sudden, strategic brand shift, that Banana Republic would be exiting the sweater business right before Christmas.

Shenanigans! That’s what Andrew thought too, so he checked Banana Republic’s site. And there they were, the same cashmere sweaters and a v-neck he’d selected, all in his size and still listed as on sale.

So, what could be going on here? Andrew thinks the items they stood to lose more money on were removed, instead of just a general website error. Andrew even had a chance to wring some more savings out of Banana Republic by returning items purchased during a previous sale and re-purchase them at 40% off, but chose not to. Now he’s just asking for the same level of respect.

I am not sure I want to do anymore business with them if they can’t live up to their advertised prices (I realize 40% is a huge discount, but if they don’t want to sell items at that price, then don’t have the sale). Between the two orders I placed, I spent over $700, and hope they would see me as a valuable customer.

Also, contrary to their claim below, my credit card was charged for the full amount of all the items. Presumably, that means they will issue a refund at some point.

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