Bad luck with Surefire Weapon Light Order

So its abound midnight and I'm laying in bed with my fiance. Suddenly, we both see a strange green glow coming from the bathroom. It starts out rather dim, gets brighter, and brighter again. Then after about ten seconds it disappears completely. My girl is convinced that it was something supernatural, but I'm not so sure. There is a window in the bathroom and I wonder if someone was outside shining a light in. I roll off the bed, reach for my Mossberg 500 12 Ga, grab the dogs, and head for the back door, leaving instructions for my girl to call the police. Once outside, I realized that it can be pretty hard seeing in the dark. Fortunately, the dogs didn't sound the alarm and after looking around a bit, I decide that no-one is there ... at least not anymore.

The next morning, I'm determined to remedy the problem of not being able to see in the dark. Aside from replacing the landscape lighting bulbs, I do some research and find the Surefire 623FA forend weapon light, designed for my Mossberg. I decide that the way to was to order directly from the Surefire website. I get on, place my order for the weapon light and an upgraded bulb, pay with my bank card, and expect to get it in just a few days.

Two days later, I get an email from Surefire. It says that the forend weapon light that I ordered was out of stock and that they didn't know when they'd be able to ship it, but that normally it takes 2-6 weeks. This, of course, surpised me since there was no mention that the item was out of stock when I ordered. In addition, the email instructs me to contact Surefire about possible replacements. I call Surefire and their voice system raves about their "world class customer service." After negotiating a couple of voice menus I get someone to talk to. I ask about potential replacements and they indicate that there are none. They also tell me it'll be 8 WEEKS before the weapon light would ship.

Knowing that other reputable online vendors were purporting to have the Surefire forend weapon light in stock I cancel my order. Because I had seen a hold placed on my bank for roughly $280.00 from Surefire I ask that they credit my account. To my great dismay, the customer service rep from Surefire says that they can't do that but that the hold will come off in 7 DAYS!!! This of course means that I won't have access to the $280.00 AND I won't have the forend weapon light I ordered from them! Some customer service.

Just wanted to get the word out just in case anyone else is about to make the same mistake I did.

Thanks for the feedback. Good to hear I can get a better deal!

Thanks for the tip. So what do you recommend using for online orders? I'm wondering how credit cards work differently. Please explain.

I think you're right right in that the bank is the one keeping the hold, although I think I called the bank a couple of years ago on a similar issue and they said the vendor could ask them to release it. But if Surefire had been upfront during the ordering process about the product not being available, the entire situation could have been avoided. In todays computer age, it isn't that hard to cross-reference your inventory with the orders you're taking. Many vendors do it. My guess is that this failure is intentional since the likelihood that someone is going to order a product like this with a two month wait versus get it from somewhere else is probably slim. Once people go to the trouble of actually placing the order, they're probably somewhat less likely to cancel it. In the end it means more dollars.

Live and learn I guess. But hopefully someone who was about to do the same thing I did will get the benefit of my experience ... not using bank cards, calling ahead, knowing Surefire is currently out of stock for 8 weeks, etc.