Air-O-Swiss AOS 7133 2 Gallon Humidifier

I purchased an Air-O-Swiss 7133 humidifier from Bedbathbeyond.com ($141 plus shipping and tax). In the product description it indicates that the unit includes an "Ionic Silver Stick", which can prevent microbial growth. But when I received the unit yesterday, the silver stick was nowhere to be found. I called Bedbathbeyond and was told that the silver stick indeed should be included in the unit. They apologized for the inconvenience and were willing to send me a silver stick but didn't have any in the warehouse. They suggested that I contact Air-O-Swiss since this is apparently a manufacturer problem. So I called Air-O-Swiss and spoke with a woman in customer service. She said that the model 7133 now NO LONGER include the silver stick. Customer buys 7133 will have to order the silver stick separately. I asked her that since when the change occured. She said "very recently". I pointed out to her that the product description, the distributor (Bedbathbeyond) and even the manual that came with the unit all indicated that the silver stick should be included. If the production of 7133 has changed, Air-O-Swiss should clarify this information on the product description and provide price information ($30) for the silver stick. She said the change was fairly recent so the manual and product description are not updated. I then asked to speak with a supervisor but was told that he's busy in a meeting. The request to leave a voicemail for the supervisor was also denied because "there is no voicemail set-up". She said she could have someone call me but that "there is no guarantee when they will call".

Buyers please beware! I purchased this humidifier because I've heard good things about it. But now I'm really disappointed with the way the manufacture omits important component from the unit without telling customers (while keeping the same price!). Also the customer service is far from satisfying.