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LockedBeware of Sears.com prices

posted on November 21, 2009 at 07:57PM Inappropriate?

I placed an online order for some laptops that were priced for $92 (3 to be exact). I got an e-mail today saying that my order had been cancelled. I had not requested it to be cancelled, so I called the 1-800 customer service number and spoke with two supervisors who gave me two different stories. First, they were out of stock. Then, they said that it was a pricing error, and they were not going to honor the price posted on the website, even though there were at least 5 different items on there priced similar to the product that I had ordered. I was on the phone for over an hour getting the shaft from the sears.com "supervisors" who said they could do nothing about it. This is pretty horrible customer service. They will refer you to the terms of use page on their website which pretty much states they reserve the right to cancel orders in the event of a pricing error, then if you scroll down a little bit, it says that once the order has been placed, it can only be cancelled by the customer. It's not the consumer's fault if someone posted the wrong price on an item.

replies: 62 latest post: December 23, 2009 at 03:50AM by COBRA351
Displaying posts 1 - 20 of 62 in total
posted on November 21, 2009 at 08:04PM
 

While your disappointment is understandable, all retailers reserve the right not to honor erroneous prices. This policy is universal, and if such a policy puts you off shopping at a given retailer, then you will not have any retailers at which you'll be willing to shop.

And, repeatedly posting the same thing all over the Discussions boards will eventually result in being banned for spamming (which may have already happened, as this is a new name attached to the same story). Please be respectful. Just because you were disappointed that you didn't get something you thought was too good to be true (because it was) does not grant license to be rude or to violate the Terms of Service for the site.

If you would like to speak to a senior case escalation representative, send a private message to SearsCares on this site, or e-mail searscares@searshc.com and tell them your story. Continuing with your current strategy, however, will definitely not help your case.

posted on November 21, 2009 at 08:06PM
 

This is the first time that I posted anything on here.

posted on November 21, 2009 at 08:19PM
 
In response to BlueCrewGuyInMA's post from November 21 2009 08:04PM

It may be the same story because I'm sure that a lot of other customers' orders were cancelled, which is what the customer service rep said today when I called.  Nothing else was posted by me on any other discussion boards.  I do not feel that I was being rude. 

posted on November 21, 2009 at 09:11PM
 

I apologize if you are not the same person who posted the same story. Your wording was extremely similar to someone else's post.

posted on November 22, 2009 at 06:36PM
 

I don't think I will be shopping at Sears ever again, if this is the way you treat people. I don't think it is right to be so accusatory of your customers and try to defame your customers on a public site, especially since it was a Sears error, haven't you at Sears ever heard of freedom of speech?

posted on November 22, 2009 at 07:01PM
 

sf2006 - Don't even bother e-mailing their "Customer Care" directly.  They will just send you back a scripted e-mail, send you a 10% coupon that does not work on electronics, and pretty much say "sorry we handled this poorly...".  I know this because they had advertised a LG 47LH90 for a great price.  Sears associate told me to wait for friends and family.  Turns out they never had a sufficient stock and tried to upsell when I arrived to order it.  Thorough bait and switch.  Of course the sale is now over and they will not honor the sale price even though they dropped the ball.  I thought Sears was better in service then elsewhere but I was wrong.  I will not shop Sears after my gift cards are spent.  Good luck with your situation...

posted on November 22, 2009 at 07:49PM
 

I think that it is terrible for any company to ignore the pricing that they posted, erroneous or not.  We, as consumers, attempt to get the best pricing and when we find it we should be guaranteed to receive it.  If you make a mistake that is your fault and you should have to guarantee it like Albertsons does.

posted on November 22, 2009 at 08:07PM
 
In response to HDuser's post from November 22 2009 07:01PM

Sears may not necessarily be able to personally contact you, but they do try to address issues. If they are unable to provide you with such a deal, it is at least courtesy to present you with another option, and you always can refuse. As for the coupon, electronics are not very profitable for retailers, and are not  able to provide such a discount.  The demand of the product might have been higher then expected, no retailer can figure out the correct supply necessary.

posted on November 22, 2009 at 08:08PM
 

I'm not trying to be rude here, but imagine you have a rental property and you list in on craigslist.  The amount you need to pay the mortage and taxes and make a profit is 1200, but instead you typed in 120.  Would you be willing to rent the property to someone at a loss?  I wouldn't, nor would I be legally bound to.  It's the same way with any business entity.  While I agree corporations are expected to held to a higher standard and they should afford customers the actual reason why an order was cancelled, I wouldn't expect them to honor an erronous price.  It's unfair to take advantage of anyone, business or non-business entity, just because they made a mistake.

posted on November 22, 2009 at 08:34PM
 

Well put, Sean.

I'm sure if the roles were reversed, we'd be hearing some different responses.

People have this tendency to do things without thinking, and think about things without the slightest intention of doing them.

posted on November 22, 2009 at 08:46PM
 

Here Here Sean921...i couldnt of said it better my self. People do need to understand that pricing errors do occur, and not just with sears but with every major online retail site. I can gaurantee if these people that are complaining about this pricing error were to post something of theirs in thier local newpaper to sell and the newspaper or themselves typed it in wrong for a cheaper price, i can gaurantee they would not sell it at that error price because it was not the intended price they wanted to sell it for so they could make a profit off of it and they would decline the offers or void the offer and fix it immediately. This is the exact same thing happening here. Sears is only trying to protect its investment and make money just like every other company out there!! 

posted on November 22, 2009 at 09:34PM
 

Yes, I agree, it can be frustrating to buy something at a great price to find that that price cannot be honored because of a pricing error. It has happened to everyone at some point. It's life. Everyone is human, therefore, we are subject to making mistakes. No matter how successful a company may be, they didn't get there without mistakes. Of course, for the most part, big companies like Sears have gotten as far as they have because they DO have good customer service behind them. You only ever hear about the bad things, unfortunately. It seems to be that people like to rant negatively about their experiences then people do about their positive ones. Obviously, Sears wouldn't still be in business if EVERYONE thought that Sears was out to get them and tease them. Just like every other business, small or big, Sears made a mistake (pricing error) on their part. When you placed the order, there was a Terms and Conditions you had to check in order to complete the order, no? In this terms and conditions, it did state that if such an error were to occur, that Sears reserved the right not to honor that price and cancel the order. I mean, nobody really reads those things anyways, right? However, it was there, and you technically acknowledged it. Yay life.

posted on November 23, 2009 at 08:45AM
 

Hi LovetheFlintstones, 

 

I am sorry your order was canceled and for your troubles. Please allow me a little time to get your problem in the hands of the right people who can help you out.  

posted on November 23, 2009 at 01:19PM
 

 

I have to say besides the occasional glitches of the website, I believe Sears is the best retailer out there they believe in customer care. I have had similar instances where something went awry and sears stood by me and made it right. Thanks Sears

Your New Customer

posted on November 23, 2009 at 02:11PM
 

LovetheFlintstones, sorry that happaned to you but I think BestBuy had the same thing with a big screen TV and they refused to honor their online prices. Think all the retailers have that policy.

posted on November 23, 2009 at 06:22PM
 
In response to SHC-MollyL's post from November 23 2009 08:45AM

Hi Molly,

I really appreciate your concern.  It is not right what happened.  There were at least 5 different products in that price range on the website that morning; it was not just a one product error.

posted on November 26, 2009 at 06:45PM
 

I personally know two people who received their computers, at the erroneous sale price.  They chose two day shipping and the order left the store before the error was noticed.  The same computers were also available for the smae price on Saturday evening.  I purchased two on Thursday and one on Saturday, received order confirmations for both and then received order cancellations via email.

posted on November 29, 2009 at 10:02AM
 

flintstone

Sorry to hear about the pricing issues but it actually happens to all of us. A few of us saw other items at a "pricing error" price and they ordered it online through the store (we are sears employees) they all also had their orders cancelled as well. So normal customer or sears employee ~ if they want to cancel the order they do reserve the right to do so, same thing happens if you try to purchase an item in store and when it comes through if we do not have it in stock we can deny the order because its an out of stock item. 

HDuser ~ sorry to hear about the LG issue but that is the associates fault, the entire company ran out of stock on that tv about a week or more before the Nov. Friends and Family that associate should have contacted you to let you know the tv was no longer available, no item is ever guareented to be available outside the actual time you are looking at it. This is why we are trained to get the customers information while speaking to them and contact them if the price changes or the item becomes unavailable. That tv had been at the $1299.99 price point for a months time before becoming unavailable and still is unavailable to this day ~ I do believe LG has issued a limited stock notice to all stores as well. Our store has agreed to honor any rainchecks on that item if it becomes available again but as I said LG has issued a limited stock notice which usually means they have discontinued production on it.

posted on November 30, 2009 at 08:00PM
 

I tried to buy locally from Sears and ask if they would honor Best Buys ad.  No they wouldn't as Best Buys was cheaper on the LED tv,offered a blue ray player, and delivery and disposal of old tv. For mor money i can buy at Sears and get just tv. 

posted on December 01, 2009 at 02:18AM
 

What tv ksnative, Sears does not match promotions, Sears only matches prices. The reason being is a promotion is paid for by the manufacturer not the retailer. Money is money and its only logical to spend it where the deal is better.

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