Still, it seems totally stupid to be told your order is "out of stock" when it has never been "in stock" in the first place.

Companies like this should consider the confusion their misleading auto-reply messages generate. It would be a VERY simple matter to reword this message to eliminate this kind of misunderstanding.

Something like ...

"We're Sorry! The product(s) ordered can not yet be shipped because it is currently unavailable. It is either currently out-of-stock or a pre-order item that hasn't begun shipping. The product(s) will be shipped as soon as possible when the stock becomes available. Blah, blah blah ..."

I have a background in writing and business communication so this type of customer miscommunication really irks me when I see it. Most companies don't seem to give a damn though, even when mistakes like this are pointed out to them. This auto-reply letter will probably go on confusing people who pre-order products from this company and nothing will ever be done about it.

 Poser 2010 • Poser 8 • MacPro Desktop • Quad-Core Intel Xeon • 10 GB • Snow Leopard • Windows XP