As with all websites (Petco, Best Buy, Home Depot, etc.) information
given for a product (availability, price, etc.) is for the website
ONLY! There is no way a website can pretend to keep up with the stock
details of thousands of retail stores.
The first paragraph is a digression. OTOH, you've digressed by
bringing up other websites as if one could deduce what RS is like by
knowing a little about what they are like. It's true that
many websites act almost like the stores don't exist. For example,
the discussion of warrantee on one was not accurate wrt to purchases
made at a store. And Home Depot and Lowes have terrible pages in
general. Once I looked at kitchen faucets at a nearby Lowes, where
they had 8 models that I could have used. When I wanted to review
them later that day, the website showed none at that location, and it
was hard to find out about any other location. Lowes used to ask what
zipcode the user lived in and then pick a store near there and call it
his home store. If they didn't have what he wanted in that store, the
computer user had to come up with another zipcode and see if the store
there had it. They've improved slightly. Now it looks iirc at my
"home store" and then the two stores nearest my home store. But I
have a car. Just tell me the closest store that has it and if I'll go
there now if it's important enough, or maybe I'll be nearby soon. --
I apologize. I have digressed.
I gather you have posted without knowing much about the radio shack
website. One of the reasons I called it a great webpage is that it
does indeed "pretend to keep up with the stock ....of its retail
stores." And not only that, afaict, it actually does keep up with
them. I made a mistake when I needed the A-B switch of not checking
the stores, so I'll never know what it said then, but in other
situations, when I wanted something that day (unlike this switch which
I knew I wouldn't use for weeks) I have looked for individual store
information and what I found appeared to be correct when I got to the
store.
Of course I won't know what happens between the time I check the
computer and the time I get to the store (although I could call and
ask them to reserve it for me) and of course there is shoplifing etc.
so actual stock doesn't always match inventory records, but with
computers it's not hard at all to keep track of inventory for each
store. They probably did it anyhow and then just made it available to
customers.
And only in a minority of cases
does a retail store match the price of a website.
Their own website? It's you who recommended a radio shack part. Do
you think that RS doesn't charge the same price at the store as
online?** And what does this have to do with the OP, who likely
wouldn't quibble about a dollar or two when he hasn't been able to
find what he wants anywhere else so far? **Plus they have free
shipping to any participating store, which I'm sure is almost all of
them. Since they have stores in almost every US state, they charge
sales tax on internet orders too, I presume. If the store has it,
it's just as good as online and it's quicker.
Only a fool would
think that a website saying "out-of-stock" would necessarily mean that
a retail store in BF, Iowa, was also out of stock.
So now you're going to call names. All this misinformation and
irrelevancy about RS just to call me a fool!
Anyhow, he'd think that if he figured the stores never stocked it at
all, and would only have it if he had it shipped to the store.
Because like you say, stores don't stock all the same things the
warehouse does.
I just bought a nice vinyl screen door (I'm 200' from the ocean) from
Home Depot that wasn't even available on their website. Apples and
oranges.
You don't know much about Radio Shack.
