We found 23 stores that may have this book...

... but, actually none do.

I was looking for this book: "India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond", by Shashi Tharoor. I heard a speech on this book by him - and I decided that it should be the next addition to my book collection.



I was checking if the local Barnes and Noble carried this book - so that to buy this today. Yes, every now and then, I am an impulse buyer to every retailer's delight.



Here's what I found.

"We found 23 stores in or near 20814 that may have this item in-stock as of Apr 20, 2008." Only one minor problem. Except that that each one of them said in the Availability column: "Not in Stock".

I wonder. What's the point of this feature? How hard can it be to show only those stores that have this book in stock? (and in this case: zero.)