I ordered on 20 Mar (black, phone order).
I was told the following when I called today:
- Orders between 16 and 20 Mar had no tracking numbers and had to be shipped "manually" and essentially have generally messed up tracking information. I've never heard this before and consider it suspect.
- He said that they have been authorized to _guarantee_ delivery on these orders by "Tuesday of next week" this translates to 11 Apr. Caveat: they could arrive at _any_ time between now and then.
- The new terms of service apply to my order because my card has not yet been charged.
- I told him I ordered under different terms of service and asked explicitly about cancellation penalties. He put me on hold and returned a few minutes later and stood his ground. *
- I gave him the gift story, and he suggested that I just transfer the service when I present the gift. When I stated that it would be a few months, he suggested I cancel and re-order.
At this point I figured that since I have now had someone tell me explicitly that the new terms apply to me, I would have a bureaucratic nightmare getting charges removed. While most non-negotiable contracts have little legal standing, they (correctly) bank on the fact that people are not going to go to the effort of going to court to dispute them.
I canceled. He said that if it should happen to arrive in the next few days (since he doesn't know where it is), to give them a call.
* "I don't know _why_ you would want to cancel your service."
