Page 1 of PLAY.COM providing misleading stock info???

Don`t get me wrong here because I use Play.com all the time and have never had any real problems. However, I have noticed increasingly that they are saying titles are in stock before they have been released.

It started on the Region 1 discs I believe. I saw some discs (incl. Moulin Rouge, Final Fantasy and others) advertised in stock up to 2 weeks before their scheduled release date. Being naive I thought they must have got their hands on some stock early and promptly order them (rubbing my hands in glee at the thought of getting them before anyone else).

Now, If you`ve used Play, In stock titles generally arrive within 2-3 days. These ones didn`t arrive until 2-3 days after their "official" release dates, some 2 1/2 weeks later.

I`ve noticed that they are now doing the same with Region 2, Conan the Barbarian for instance is now advertised in stock, but as far as I know it`s not released until 13th May.

Anyway, I guess they are trying to get those "early bird" orders in from people who would normally use other suppliers and who want these titles as early as possible.

Has anyone else experienced the same?

I`ve just had an e-mail from Play advising that Harry Potter has been mailed to me today, and when checking at `my account` it gives a Recorded Delivery ref no. which I take as confirmation that it has definately been mailed. It still says released on 11/05/02 on the web-site, so it seems to me that they are playing by the rules. They`ve obviously got pre-orders in stock now, but aren`t saying `in stock` for new orders. Generally I think Play are pretty upfront with this type of thing <plugs ears for inevitable `I ordered blah blah blah and it took 2 years to be delivered blah blah blah response>, but feel free to disagree!!!

I`ve always found Play to be straight-dealing, but delivery times to vary enormously. I`ve had in-stock stuff arrive two days after ordering, I`ve had in-stock stuff arrive two weeks after ordering. BUT: it`s always arrived eventually. Given the plethora of whines about Play on this forum are nearly always about delivery times, have you guys ever thought that maybe, just maybe, it`s the postal service`s fault, and not Play`s?

If I wanted discs immediately, because I couldn`t for some sad reason live a few days without them, then I`d either go to the shops or order from a site with guaranteed next-day delivery. And pay through the nose for the priviledge.

Agree with comments above. Play can be very hit and miss but given their prices am prepared to wait.
They do seem to be getting some titles in early now for R2, upto a week early rather than just the Friday prior to release. Also shipping early as both my Usual Suspects and Wicker Man arrived the Friday prior to the Monday release day. However I think they get in a first batch for preorders and when this is sold the change back to the standard release date.
For R1 you can get these upto 3 weeks early or so as some distributors in the US (seems to be mainly Fox, Paramount, Warner and Universal) release stock to retailers much earlier than in the UK. Movietyme and Futureent have good reputations for getting titles to you weeks before the official release date, Play seem to be slower but still manage to get some out early.

In relation to Conan this had a 6th May release in the UK so Play`s instock date is reasonable. Its a week later in Australia