Multiple orders and now the second time of ordering a set of goggles from a second online shop with an 'in stock' item, second time they've magically not been available due to stock error or distributer error.
Load of pish, if you haven't got it don't advertise it! Definitely don't take my money and hold onto it for ages!
Rant over hmmmpf
It's a sign of the times and the small margins that paintball retailers have
Showing stock that you don't have is fairly common. It costs shops money to bring in stock which could just sit on the shelf waiting for someone to buy it, and potentially sit there holding up limited space until it's been there so long that they sell off at a discounted price to move it.
When the supply chain works the distributor has items in stock and any of the retailers can give the impression that they have it and you can buy from any retailer of your choice. Only when you have bought it does it come off the distributors shelf and either sent via the shop or directly from distributor to you.
It's frustrating when this doesn't work and the distributor can't fulfill the requirement, sometimes because they don't have it and are also relying on the manufacturer, sometimes because they have a small number but multiple end customers buy the same item.
Once you've had one retailer fail to fulfill an order it's best to call and ask - you're then relying on the person you call to actually check they can fulfill but you can highlight that you've been trying to get it from elsewhere.
If the shops website refuses to fulfill order that aren't in their stock then they are losing out on orders that are sat in the distributor ready to be sold
