Wednesday night, 11pm. I get the im:

(22:57:50) Eugene: http://www.footaction.com/tentsale.html
(22:58:11) Eugene: 70% off sale
(23:02:33) Eugene: this is craziness
(23:04:21) me: damn
(23:04:25) me: when/where is this sale?
(23:04:30) Eugene: right now online
(23:04:37) Eugene: better get your stuff before its gone
(23:09:02) me: jesus

After taking a quick look at my shoe…

…I knew this sale was what I had been waiting for.

I hurried to the website as fast as my mouse could click, but all I encountered was:
Thank you for choosing our site! We apologize for the delay.
Demand on the site is at an all time high and we are currently at the maximum number of users. Please try back later!

But I presevered. After a couple of page reloads, I was on the site and in the hunt for new footwear. I quickly found two pairs of shoes that I wanted to buy. Some green Steve Madden shoes that normally sold for $70 that were on sale for $37.99 and a pair of snappy adidas, normally $49.99 on sale for $24.99.

I sprang into action, entering my information as fast as the ever-slowing server would let me. Finally, after clicking “same address as billing address I was ready to place my order.” I sat back, relieved that I would finally have some new stylin digs at an affordable price, and clicked “Place Order.” And then…

Disaster.

The page never reloaded. No confirmation number. Nothing could convince the web page to tell me that my order had been placed and shoes were on their way. The server was slammed, just too many connections, there was nothing I could do. My heart was pounding, blood pressure rising.

My life was over.

Then, like a voice from the sky:

(23:57:16) Eugene:
the sale is not pulled it is still on.
Call 1-800 8255565 and give them the SKU #

However they are running low on stock.

(23:57:18) Eugene: call that in the morning

Was it possible that there was still hope? Going against every bit of common sense in my possession, I set my alarm for 4am, the time the phone lines opened at footaction.

4am the next morning
The alarm went off and I got up. I tried the website one more time to see if the order would go through.

It didn’t.

I looked warily at the phone number on my desk. Was it worth it? Should I really bother some guy at the beginning of his shift at 6am central time? Surely they had run out of stock by now. I decided to try anyway.

The phone rang. A voice spoke!

I was informed that to improve customer service my call would be monitored. I waited some more. And then…

Jeff answered. I was probably the first call of his day, but Jeff was polite and courteous. He checked the shoes I wanted and informed me that they WERE in stock and I could still get the sale price. Victory was mine. I should have 2 new pairs of good looking shoes within a week or two. I’ll post picks when their server comes back from the dead.

(note – some im’s are abridged for clarity.)