Massively unimpressed (pt2)

I am sick of trying to buy gear online. In December, I contacted Condor about their Rip-away EMT Pouch. Condor replied promptly with a list of European suppliers. I placed an order with Soldier of Fortune at the beginning of January and I am still waiting for the pouch following them sending me the wrong colour (I sent it back, and paid for the postage myself with no attempt to refund this expense from SoF), and then an email informing me that a pouch had arrived from the US but had no pouch, just the velcro backing panel. Last I heard from them two weeks ago was that they are going to try and order me another and if they can't get one, and I quote, "nothing has arrived with my new order that arrived last week I am placing one more this friday if nothing arrives i will just refund you and have to forget about it as its going on to long".

I contacted SOLO International today and they have one in stock, so this might have a happy ending, thanks to SOLO.

My second gear failure was with Dropzone Supplies where I placed an order with them for a 5.11 watch cap. I got the confirmation email and despatch notification and everything. Having waited a week or so, I emailed to find out if the hat had actually been despatched. This was followed up with a voicemail message on my mobile telling me that they didn't actually have the hat in stock, had not sent it out and would not be having the item back in stock now or in the future. They refunded my cash.

My current bone of contention is with JD Airsoft. I found their website and noticed that they had the 5.11 watch caps in stock. When I ordered the £8.99 item and checked my cart, they quoted me £9.99 for P&P. I contacted them the same day by email with a query about their postage fees and got the reply that this was the rate for next day delivery and that their website would be updated with lower and slower postage charges in the next few days. This was a week ago, and the charges have not changed, their online shopping cart system has also been unavailable for the last few days. I phoned them yesterday and there waas no answer. I've emailed them today about when would be best to phone today and have yet to receive a reply, although the shop is shut on Wednesdays.

This is a bit of a moan on my part. I have ordered stuff online, and continue to do so quite regularly. In these hard financial times, yopu would imagine that retailers would bend over backwards for trade. I appreciate that these retailers also supply the forces and (I would imagine, to some degree) the emergency services and that they may, and quite rightly so, get priority on orders, but come on. three and a half months for an order to come from the US ? Am I asking too much ?