They try very hard not to have back-orders, but that is virtually impossible as they cannot forecast exactly what is going to be ordered or what Swarovski might run out of. Their policy is to ship your package and notify you of any backorders. If the backorder isn't going to arrive in a day or two, they will call or email you to find out what you want to do. If it does arrive with a few days, they simply mail the item to you via 1st class mail, at no extra charge to their customer. If you have an overnight order or 2-day air order, they will attempt to call you to see what to do as they know your order is urgent. Please put a daytime phone number on your account so they can reach you if they do need to call.