Hello Keith,
The catalog was printed in January, and it is almost August. Please understand that we have over 1,000 active suppliers, and they submit updated price files to us willy-nilly year-round. There's no organization to it, there's no season or annual window for it.
We try our best to hold prices where we can, but we cannot ignore cost-increases between catalog printings, unless we proactively artificially-inflated the prices in a manner to predict/anticipate it. I don't think anyone would like that either.
Most every mail-order company you'll find has the same dynamic, and in most mail-order catalogs you will find a disclaimer in the terms/conditions page that states "Prices are current at the time of printing. Prices, specifications, stated suppliers or manufacturers are subject to change without notice". This is unavoidable due to year-round price changes from manufacturers, mergers, bankruptcies, sometimes we find a BETTER version of a reproduction so the manufacturer and pricing changes accordingly, etc.etc...
We are not in the business of bait-and-switch, we in no way intend to deceive, and real-time current pricing can always be checked/confirmed on our website or by calling-in to our sales department.
Regarding the customer-service, I am dismayed to hear that. If you have a name or wish to share your experience, please PM me. We pride ourselves upon our service, but if it was a matter of locking-horns over the pricing issue, I hope that you can now better understand our position with that.
