So, I spent a good deal of time talking to Target about my order issues this morning. Couple of interesting findings to share with the group:
#1 - if you get an email that says they can't fulfill your order, that is NOT a cancellation. Open up the email and click "Check Alternate Options" then try to move your pick-up to another store
#2 - if you cancel the order at any time the system locks you out for 24 hours. That means you can place another order for it, but you will instantly get a cancellation notice. Apparently it needs that amount of time to verify that you didn't pick up the order. This is 24 hours from the point when the order is officially cancelled - it isn't cancelled if it just says they can't fill your order.
#3 - your order will be cancelled automatically after 24 hours if you do nothing, but that means you're waiting 48 hours from the time you placed the order until the time you can place another order that won't be automatically cancelled.
#4 - you can create another account to increase your chances, but you need a different email/phone/credit card
I can't figure out in this day and age why they would make a system that prevents you from ordering the same item again within 24 hours. Maybe to prevent pranksters from repeatedly ordering and cancelling something? Not sure why that would matter if no one has gone to fill the order yet anyway.
I tried ordering from four stores today and got the auto cancel on the last three because my initial order wasn't cleared out of the system. I just cancelled a few hours ago, so can't reorder any of the Fetts that are popping up until tomorrow. I made a second account and tried to order one that way, but got the dreaded "your item is unavailable" email. This time I clicked Alternate Options to order from a different store. Looks like that still didn't work - it shows as cancelled on Target.com, but I haven't gotten an email about it yet. Hopefully I can still order if more show up at least versus the auto cancellation on the other account.
Since stores appear to be getting only 3-4 of these and all the online orders are getting cancelled, I'm guessing employees are picking them up in the staging area then zeroing them out of the system. There's no locations showing up using the DPCI and my understanding is that the fulfillment orders get taken care of before items get put on the floor. I'm sure there will be lots of these popping up on FB Marketplace shortly. What a joke.
*Update* - moving the item to another store only worked the one time. When the second store didn't come through, they just cancelled the order, so you apparently can't keep trying at other stores. Now both accounts are locked out of ordering until tomorrow. Neat!