Back order? 延期交货_其他_趣味英语-英语网

Back order? 延期交货

Reader question:

Please explain order and back order in this sentence: "Orders will be put on Back Order until item is ready."

My comments:

Orders are straight forward. They are requests for a particular product to be paid for upfront or upon delivery - when the said product is delivered.

Back order? A back order is literally an order of an item that is currently unavailable, and so delivery has to be pushed BACK - to be processed later, when that particular item becomes available again.

That's exactly what our example sentence means. Because they have run out of stock, all orders are now back orders - to be dealt with when new supplies arrive.

Back orders are kind of like a waiting list. Your name is put on the waiting list. You wait for the service you're seeking to be available. For example, if you want to see a doctor who has a lot of patients to see, you may be put on a waiting list - for you to see the doctor later, maybe a week later or a month later or a year, depending on the number of people who are on the waiting list ahead of you.

The "back" in back order is similar to the "back" in back pay.

Back pay? Yeah, if you are owed back pay, it means your employer must have run out of money and therefore could not pay your salary last month or perhaps several months running. Hence, the employer promises to pay you some time later in future, when they have the money again.