Interestingly enough....the EXACT same thing happened to me. Except about two weeks ago, so you'd think that if they knew it was being discontinued in August, they wouldn't have told me 2 months later that I, too, could come back for the sides. I called all over the place, complained at them on the phone...and they told me that the only stores allowed to ship are
Houston
and
Seattle
because they are franchise stores. And Houston has them in stock (quite a few, actually). So I call Houston and, amazingly....they are willing to ship them to me. Unfortunately, its going to cost me $160 to ship a $40 item. Obviously, I have decided to pass. But if you haven't figured your side-issue out yet, you're a lot closer to there than I am, so maybe you'll have better luck on the shipping costs.
*sigh* I really like this bed...I don't know what to do with it. They told me I could return the headboard/footboard even though it was as is because they lied to me...but I'd rather keep it and be able to use it. And also avoid tying it to the top of my car again. :-)