On November 5th I placed an order with Connecting Threads for $128.00-I qualified for free shipping!! One of the items that I wanted to order would not be available until later in the month so that item was "saved for later" by their website.
On Nov 10th I got an email from them saying that my item was now available. When I placed it in my shopping cart it wanted to charge me $3.95 shipping. I typed a note in the customer comment box stating that this item was backordered from my original order # which qualified for free shipping and if they were going to charge me shipping now to just cancel the order.
Today I received my item in the mail with a note on the invoice that states "Sorry for any misunderstanding. This item is NOT backordered from your previous order. If it was, we would have automatically shipped it to you when it came in. Items in your Saved for Later are not backordered. We'll waive shipping this time, but note that future orders will incur shipping."
Their shipping policy states "Backorders will not be charged additional shipping" and their "Backorders" page states "Any item that is listed on your order as a backorder will be shipped as soon as it becomes available in our warehouse by standard shipping. Items that are listed on the website as "Available (date)" can be placed in your "Save for Later" and we will notify you by email when this item is available for purchase. Many of the items we list as "Save for Later" and not backordered is due to the inability to confirm the exact day the item will be available in our warehouse. We strive to provide the most accurate arrival dates for items that are out of stock and work hard to have over 99% of our stock available at all times."
Nowhere does it say that additional shipping charges will apply.
Don't get me wrong----I really like Connecting Threads. I like their fabrics, threads, etc. I order from them often. I just do not think this is a smart way for a company to treat their customers.
Sorry for the rant---I needed to get this off my chest and you were my audience!!!
:D