Al_Tahoe

Incorrect.

Al_Tahoe

Yup, kinda sucks when some others are getting dozens of items, and i only bought ONE item and it ended up getting cancelled (Battleship Potemkin, $6).

Guess it's just the luck of the draw.

Although a bit disappointed, I certainly won't leave negative feedback, since it was an honest mistake.

Lastdaysofrain

I ordered 20 items in three different orders (two one item orders and an 18 item order) everything shipped aside from one of my one item orders, so I can't complain.

Al_Tahoe

Congrats. You might want to buy a lottery ticket tonight.

MooMooMooMoo

As I've had nothing but good experiences with BIOH in the past, I lean towards siding with them. It would be a good idea though, for the guilty party (Amazon or BIOH, at this point we don't know who's at fault, though) to send out an email explaining what happened to all impacted parties with some sort of a discount offer as an apology.

Brian T

Last Sunday, I sent them an email through Amazon asking whether the deal was legit or not, and they finally provided a response to it today, not long after canceling my order:

Maybe there was inventory (because they wanted to protect the stock they had left), maybe there wasn't (because they sold it all), but at least they provided official acknowledgement that the whole thing was a mistake, even if privately. They probably would've been smart to include this note in all the formal cancelation notices. It might have mitigated some of that negative feedback they've been getting.

Vaughan

jwstl : I appreciate your point of view. The issue I have with it is that you place no responsibility at all on the trader - blaming only those who thought they were getting a good deal. That can't be right.

Again, I knew this might go bad, but the way it's worked is just ridiculous, and reflects poorly on them. I even emailed them and got nothing back. Making excuses that they got a lot of emails just doesn't cut it with me. It's their business, and they should deal with it if the Customer experience is important.

I've not left negative feedback - plenty of others have done so. Strangely my email didn't mention that items were out of stock, mine simply said the order was canceled. No reason given.

The Out of Inventory thing is a nonsense. I'm supposed to believe that each of the 260 items I ordered are out of stock? Every one of them? I ordered some pretty niche stuff. Maybe that's why they offered me no reason at all......

Frankly this sets a dangerous precedent, imo. A trader can simply change their mind after you've bought something - even days later. No reason needed. Just Pfft. Kind of putgs Amazon Marketplace into perspective.

I do feel I-Deals owe us at least an explanation. I can't get my head around their being totally innocent in all this, and the buyers are in the wrong....

Peep

My cancelled orders are not even showing up in my order history. Is that normal? How do you leave feedback if you can't see the original order?

Perkinsun Dzees

Wow, one buyer left 40 one star ratings for I-Deals with the same comments:

"Oh, what a surprise! All orders I gave this seller are out-of-stock. What are the odds? Could it be you weren't going to send them anyway. Bummer. BAD SELLER! Promises great bargains then says they are out of stock. Avoid like a plague..too much trouble. I did get a refund which is a miracle."
Osiol, October 17, 2012

Talk about going overboard.

Perkinsun Dzees

Cancelled orders are removed from your order history. However if you go to "Your Account" page there will be a link under the "Your Orders" button that says "Leave Seller Feedback" which should show all your recent orders including cancelled ones.

jwstl

I appreciate your point of view. The issue I have with it is that you place no responsibility at all on the trader - blaming only those who thought they were getting a good deal. That can't be right. It can be right. It was obvious to everyone there was a computer error that caused $50 and up items to be sold for $1 and people tried to take advantage. And they feel wronged because they are getting them? Forgive me for feeling no sympathy.

Again, I knew this might go bad, but the way it's worked is just ridiculous, and reflects poorly on them. I even emailed them and got nothing back. Making excuses that they got a lot of emails just doesn't cut it with me. It's their business, and they should deal with it if the Customer experience is important. Again, they most likely received thousands of orders from thousands of people. This "deal" was posted on numerous message boards. They need time to address it.

The Out of Inventory thing is a nonsense. I'm supposed to believe that each of the 260 items I ordered are out of stock? Every one of them? I ordered some pretty niche stuff. Maybe that's why they offered me no reason at all......Amazon has a method for canceling multiple orders at one time so I'm guessing they used that and pick OOS as the reason. It may not be accurate but it was probably the fattest way to cancel all the items. I haven't checked recently but I don't think Pricing Error is a reason.

Frankly this sets a dangerous precedent, imo. A trader can simply change their mind after you've bought something - even days later. No reason needed. Just Pfft. Kind of putgs Amazon Marketplace into perspective This doesn't set any precedent; the Amazon MP has always been that way. Of course, if you were to do what you describe often without a legitimate reason Amazon would close your MP account.

I do feel I-Deals owe us at least an explanation. I can't get my head around their being totally innocent in all this, and the buyers are in the wrong.... I don't know what went wrong but I do know I have this message on my MP account: We are currently experiencing a technical issue affecting certain Amazon.com listings....

Al_Tahoe

That's a completely separate issue that started on the evening of the 15th.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

I don't buy that excuse. I also sell on Amazon and that's why there's an inventory box where you set how many you have. They just don't want to admit that their bot had a bad setting and went kill crazy. Feedback is already hitting them hard. No reason to not tell the truth to everyone.

ProfessorEcho

I side with Vaughn on this issue though JWSTL makes good points. What I find problematic is that they honored SOME orders with the pricing mistake, but not ALL. To claim the error affected all the orders, but only selectively fulfill some and cancel others, without much of an explanation or seemingly any rhyme or reason, is just begging for negative feedback.

As a seller myself on Amazon I would never deal with a mistake like this in such a half-assed manner. If you rely so much on automation to engineer your business, then you have to accept the responsibility and consequences when it breaks down. You don't say some will benefit by it while others won't.

MooMooMooMoo

Yes, in my experience that is normal with an AMAZON software error.

MooMooMooMoo

As a former Amazon seller & a current ebay seller; these companies with the automated software & low ball prices have destroyed the business for those of us with fair prices, excellent service & just out to make a living. I continue to have a higher opinion of BIOH than I do of Super D & all their evil minions, but these companies have reduced most dvd/cd/blu to a lower value than the bandwidth required for an illegal download.

Amazon, ebay & the postal service are making a fortune, while the rest of us in the business (I've been doing this full time since late 1998) get SCREWED.

bse

I got cancel notices for the rest of my stuff today. I did get my a box set and 3 blu-rays on my doorstep from them today though. I also supposedly have 3 more items that shipped, but the tracking shows nothing. I can't be mad for what I got is well worth it.

Whoever said Amazon doesn't charge your card as soon as you place an order is wrong. All marketplace orders are charged as soon as you place submit order.

Vaughan

jwstl: I'm not looking for your sympathy. I just don't agree with you that - no matter what - the store is always right. Or that a customer who buys something cheaply has a duty to assume it probably won't go through because it's a bargain. That responsibility sits with the vendor.

In this day and age a prompt service, with honest information, isn't too much to ask. I think every vendor owes it to the customer. If they don't agree, then they deserve all the negative feedback they get. I'm not sure why this is beyond your comprehension, but if you're a seller on Amazon or ebay I'd appreciate your PMing me your usernames so I can avoid buying anything from you (a serious request, not a dig).

If a company relies on automated services, whose look out is that? The customer?!?! Why? Did I tell them to rely on automated software? Does using automated software mean you won't get back to customers for four days? Or the lie that they're out of stock? How come?

I'm not asking them to honor sales - just to act quickly, and honestly. It's not my problem that they have automated software and used it incorrectly.

g

Amazon changed the system a year or two ago. It doesn't charge until the marketplace seller ships the item.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

I agree. On the other hand, I do occasionally run across a seller at amazon that has their automated pricing thing setup poorly and I've been able to make my price super low enough that it'll automatically beat mine, buying stuff, then changing my price back to normal. That's let me buy a few things at really low prices.

It may seem like a dick move but they're the one using the bot to drive down prices for everyone else.

g

I thought of doing this. But I worry somebody will buy mine. Do you do it at 2 in the morning?

Vaughan

Well, I had a change of mind. a) Lack of communication; b) No reasons given; c) No reply to a direct email; d) jwstl on here reminding me that some will defend the indefensible ='s bad feedback. So I gave them five negative feedbacks, and I've reported them directly to Amazon via their "Seller Performance Investigations team."

No, I don't expect to get anything out of it. And no, I don't expect sympathy from anyone. But there is a good deal of trust in buying things on the Internet, and this vendor has shown a distinct lack of class. Not in the mistake they made, but the sorry way they handled it.

I guess I should thank jwstl for convincing me that this was the right thing to do. At least now I know I did all I could my end, from putting in an honest order, making sure there were funds to pay for it, contacting them directly, and waiting for four three days without complaint. After that I just got fed up.

mitch079

Lack of class? An "honest" order...of 260 items? Stick it.

In fact, I have a CD for you:

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

Off times and items that aren't in super high demand. It's risky but for the odd times you find a autopricer that reprices fairly often, it can be worth it.

jwstl

I didn't convince you of anything. You're an ass so you acted like one. And you can't go against your nature.