On Nov. 9, 2008, I held my fifth Aerosoles Home Shoe Party since 2005. I enjoy having these parties, because it is a fun and relatively easy way for my friends and I to try and buy the Aerosoles shoes that we like so much.

I hadn't had much difficulty in doing this until this year, when I booked a party to be hosted by employees of the Aerosoles store in the Palisades Mall in West Nyack, NY (aero053 AT aersoles.com). In short, my party sold approximately $2, 000 worth of shoes in a 2-hour timespan on a Sunday afternoon, which, according to the salesperson, David, was much more than they would typically sell during the same timespan in the retail store.

Even though I sent a detailed request list ahead of time, including sizes, styles, colors, etc., David and his assistant (a young woman who obviously did not want to help customers at the party - I don't recall her name, but it began with an "L" and one eye appeared to be bloodshot that day), brought sizes and styles that were useless to many of my guests. Since most of us wear size 9 and up, we requested large sizes to try on. Most of the shoes that were brought were size 7 and 8, which meant that many of my guests had to order shoes for a catalogue, instead of being able to try them on. Tell me why guests should come to my house to purchase items from a catalogue without trying them on first? They could do that from their home computers.

But if the salespeople's lazy attitudes during the party weren't bad enough, it's the AFTER-shoe party behavior that I write you about today. I earned four pairs of shoes from the party. To date, I have received three pairs.I received one on Nov. 9, two on DECEMBER 10 and am still awaiting a fourth pair of shoes. I have called the store repeatedly and have dealt with a competent and polite manager, Lacey, who told me I should receive the fourth pair by Dec. 13 and assured me that David would call to follow up. It is now Dec. 19 and I don't have the final pair of shoes, nor have I heard from anyone at the West Nyack store.

I'm obviously a committed customer, as evidenced by the five shoe parties that I've held in my home. But please tell me why I should continue to do business with Aerosoles? I understand that Easy Spirit has a similar home shoe party business, which I am willing to try. It can only be better than the sheer lack of customer service that I have received from Aersoles.

I ordered a pair of boots from Aerosoles on their web site. Three days later I received an email:

We regret to inform you that OVERRIDE BROWN LEATHER 9.5M in your recent order, confirmation number 060144920, is currently unavailable to be shipped to you, and it has been placed on backorder. If you prefer not to wait until we can fulfill your order, you can cancel this item by contacting customer service at customerservice AT aerosoles.com, or by calling 1-800-798-9478. If the item is still not available to ship by 01/23/08, and we have not heard from you, the item will be cancelled automatically. If you do not want your order automatically cancelled on 01/23/08, you may request that we keep your order open and ship it as soon as new inventory arrives by contacting customer service. Even if you request to keep your order open, you still have the right to cancel the order at any time before it is shipped to you.

I called and requested to cancel the order. I was told I could not cancel the order because they are searching their retail stores to find a pair of the boots. I replied to the email they sent and pointed out the email stated I could cancel at any time as long as the order did not ship.

It has not shipped. I've been told I have to wait 2 weeks for them to try to find the boots then they may cancel the order. I reminded them of the email they sent stating that I could cancel and they said I cannot cancel.

I tried numerous times to resolve this problem through their customer service and was told the same thing, I had to wait 2 weeks. They refuse to honor their email and cancel the order.