I’ve seen a lot of people get ripped off on internet sales. In some cases, better judgment should have prevented the sale. In other cases, businesses with a good reputation have suddenly started having problems. Here are some links that you may find helpful if you’ve had a bad buying experience.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/mailorder.htm
http://www.fraud.org/info/contactnfic.htm

Basically, they have to let you know if they can’t ship it within the expected time, and must cancel the order if they can’t ship it within a reasonable time. This expected time can be the actual status shown when the order is placed, or general comments like “Most orders ship in 48 hours”. If no delivery date is stated, they have 30 days. If they can’t ship it to you within this expected time, they have an additional 30 days beyond the original stated date. When they notify you of this delay, you can choose to cancel the order instead of waiting. If they can’t ship by the end of the additional 30 days, they must cancel your order unless you specifically tell them not to. The FTC can sue for up to $11,000 per violation of these rules, as well as other costs. You have the power to make sure companies don’t rip you off. Use that power if you need to. It’ll make online business better for all of us.