cgray

Interesting article. Thanks

Warrior

Not really a "bargain" at $95 list price, I'll pass.....:-)
regards
Warrior

i86time

I see some people posting that intent is a strong factor in their decision to believe those of us that ordered are in the wrong. Well, though I may come off rather naive, because of the timinig of this offer, I truly believed it to be some crazy Amazon holiday present to those that ordered early. It wasn't until after people reported their totals were changed in their invoices (different than when they pressed the order button) that I figured it was probably a glitch. But by that time I had placed the orders I wanted and some of them had shipped. So, by that reasoning, should I be entitled to the ones that shipped since I did not intend to exploit a glitch but a very generous offer?

toiletduck!

So, here's my story--

I got in on this for one order (2 items) that I was curious about. I'll admit, I was (and am) not willing to pay the correct price for the order. I would have accepted a cancellation easily. Hell, when I got the e-mail, I would have even returned the items without complaint. But I tend to open the DVDs that I buy, so that's out of the question. So I called CS to see if they would make an exception in this instance and provide full rather than half credit for an opened return. Here's where things get interesting --

Me and the CSR went round and round for half an hour, only on the opposite sides that we should have been. I kept explaining to her that there had been an pricing error and I should have been charged more, but I didn't want to accept the charge, so could I return the items opened. And she repeatedly countered with no, sir, what appears to have happened is that the promotional code was entered double the correct amount so in order to correct this I will just credit you the extra $36.49 that we shouldn't have taken off. I argued with a CSR rep for half an hour to NOT credit me with money that amazon actually wanted to charge me with. Finally (and after she explained that others had called in as well, and this was how she had been handling it!!), I accepted the credit, because it was going nowhere. I went to check my account, and sure enough, $36.49 in store credit is sitting there right now, given to me for taking advantage of a pricing error!

Now, before everyone jumps down my throat, here's what I've done since then. I'll admit it took a night's sleep for any sense of ethics to kick in, and a small part of me is still kicking myself, but I responded to the post-customer service 'inquiry' that my question had not been answered, and went on to explain via e-mail that I WILL NOT be authorizing the charge to my card, but would gladly return the opened items for a full refund (I had two differently priced items, so my order was not free) if they would agree. I also informed them of the incorrect credit added to my account. Now, if they wish to show a little Christmas spirit and let me keep either the DVDS or the credit (or both!!), I'd be very grateful, and I may have even suggested as much in the e-mail. If they don't, whatever -- can't say that what I've done is making me feel terribly warm and fuzzy or holier than anyone, but I am aware that it really isn't that big of an issue. I'll grant amazon the benefit of the doubt, if only because it doesn't seem like very many others are. Hope they appreciate it.

-Toilet Dcuk

drmoze

Quote:
Originally Posted by drmoze
Let me hazard a guess that you don't actually practice any contract law in real life. (My second guess is that you're still in law school.)

OK, I overestimated. You're probably a paralegal who is still trying to get into law school, or else someone who watches a lot of lawyer shows on tv (and bought the DVD box sets!).

Seriously, your textbook approach for acting like a legal authority here is pretty lame. The black letter contract "information" you tried to "educate" us with really does not apply that simply in real life. Anyone who practices law would know better than to spout simplistic contract law hornbook concepts.

And your statement that such actions constitute theft in "some jurisdictions" was extremely misleading, as there's a clear implication that you were referring to certain states in the U.S. To then follow up with obscure references to Canadian and English is plain silly, and borderline deceitful. If you ever actually appear before a judge in a real-life lawyer situation, he'll have your @$$ for trying to slant things that blatantly.

If you actually are a lawyer (doubtful), you should write to your T4 school and demand your money back.

riotinmyskull

taken from that http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2864461.stm article:

Shap

Agreed, I will not do business with them due to how they're handling their mistake. Did I take advantage of an obvious glitch? Yep! Sure did. I'm fine with the moral and ethical decision I made when I purchased some DVDs for "free." However, now that Amazon has demonstrated they are willing to charge my credit card AFTER A COMPLETED SALE, what's to stop them from doing that on any future purchases, legitimate or not? The reason WHY they are using this business practice does not justify the fact that it is a shady, if not illegal, practice. I'm not quitting Amazon because I'm upset they "caught me," I'm quitting Amazon because they have demonstrated business practices that I will not put up with in a company.

i86time

Could this be because Amazon is actually going to go through with it's threat and charge the accounts? Since they seem to have credited you what they may eventually charge you (and may do so for all who complain), maybe they figure we won't care that what they want to do is illegal and probably against the terms of their contract with the CC companies.

animatedude

lol, come one ppl! admit it! amazon.com has the right to charge us all since it was an error but iam not going to let them!

so any advice to what kinda email i can send them? plus, iam getting jealous of that guy who got the $10 thingy...i want that!

tonyc3742

Then again, the US Supreme Court has referred to 'international law' and decisions from other countries in interpreting the US Constitution.....

story

Anybody watch The Insider, lately?

docdoowop

Personally, it's hard to work up too much sympathy for Amazon...they kicked everybody's online ass this season. According to comScore Networks between November 1st and December 26th, shoppers spent more at Amazon.com than on any other retail Web site. December 11th alone they booked orders for 4 *million* items. They should chalk this event up in the CoDB column.

Warrior

No, I much more intend to watch Amazon trying to get their money back...lol
(particularly from me:-)
regards
Warrior

Mosskeeto

When I first saw the offer it was still available but I decided not to proceed mostly because I'm not particularly interested in Season Sets but also because I felt that would I want any of these titles at the presumably correct offering price (B1G1free) if the deal defaulted to that. So I declined to purchase anything.
Now that the deal has soured, which I guess was to be expected, I honestly feel sorry for all the parties involved and neither side can be seen as blameless. It might be hard for those who placed multiple orders to not be held culpable.

Jah-Wren Ryel

That's it! People who took advantage of Amazon's glitch deserve the death penalty!

NeptuneHigh

Still waiting on a reply via email from CS after 12 hours, but I'm guessing I'll have to wait longer than that with all the calls their CSRs are getting.

I sent it via the Returns/Refunds enquiry form, not the 'My question has not been answered' one (as I never noticed that option). Will that make any difference?

I basically (politely) asked how they, in regards to their email, were going to approach international orders.

Like - How will we be expected to make their Jan 28th deadline when the estimated delivery date extends to Jan 26th? I'm due to be charged whether I return them or not from the looks of it, as there's no way the deadline will be met in time.

And - Would they hypothetically be refunding all international return shipping costs, as this would be a great deal more expensive than from within the US? If so, would this only extend to the return shipping, or would we be expected to eat the loss of $9.47 per order (for the UK anyway) international shipping for DVDs we are not apparently allowed to keep?

I pointed out the line quoted in this thread regarding their right to inform or cancel before shipping, and shipping notices apparently constituting a binding final contract in their eyes.

I welcomed a response to my questions and informed them that any further charges in the meantime will be met with me disputing the charges, with the final invoices printed off as proof of the "final amount" I was expected to pay.

No word yet though. And I'd rather not add long distance international calls to the potential costs I'll have to pony up.

bloopbleep

to my understanding after reading this, they didn`t ship orders then try to charge your credit card like amazon is doing now.I did 5 orders and I am leaning on sending 3 back, got to think about for awhile, it`s mostly crap that I just wanted to ebay. I will wait till after new years.I think it was the people who did 50 plus orders that will really get screwed in this.my crap was less then 300 dollars msrp which would be about $150 on ebay.

Peep

Well said!

I wonder how many of the Amazon-backers would be cheering if every company that had issued a 1-time use coupon started going after people retroactively who used the coupon more than once?

I would owe Reel.com at least $700.

Ginwen

I did not take advantage of this (or the Target deal) because I didn't feel right about it, but I still think Amazon is wrong to try to change the price after they shipped the items. The mistake was theirs, and they should've just cancelled (or at least held back) the orders, especially once the mistake was identified (and it seems the majority of the orders actually shipped after the glitch had been fixed).

On the other hand, if someone did order 50 or more sets "for gifts", it's pretty funny if they get screwed by this.

Warrior

Hi!

Being an international customer myself, my point of view is that they will just inform you to keep those items,
since asking to have them returned would mean that they would have to cover the cost of shipping (international)
therefore inflicting more (cost) damage to Amazon, not a very wise choice if you ask me.
So I think international orders, if they were kept at only a few per customer, are quite safe to be kept.
That's my opinion and that is why I am not worried at all about that email:-)
regards

Warrior

toiletduck!

No, this lady was just really stupid. I also made a point of repeatedly asking whether or not there would be any future charges appearing on my credit card and she repeatedly told me that there would not be, despite the e-mail specifically stating otherwise.

-Toilet Dcuk

creekdipper

Titles from popular culture that seem to fit this situation:

Music: "Money", "Come and Get It", "It Don't Come Easy", "Take The Money and Run"

Movies: "The Awful Truth", "Cheaper By the Dozen", "Shaft", "The Heist"

Literature: "Gone With the Wind", "The Agony & the Ecstasy", "Death of a Salesman", "Great Expectations"

And if Stan Lee adapted this as a graphic novel:

"Lo! The Behemoth Strikes"
"O, What a Tangled Web...."
"This Amazon...This Monster!"

The reimagined lyrics from Dire Strait's hit were priceless. I would go back & quote them for reposting (& to give credit to the poster who worked at the adaption), but I don't want to have to retype the above (laziness).

diditagain

After reading all these posts (it took a long time), I'm not sure how Amazon can legally enforce what they propose to do in their E-mail. It looks like Amazon recognized there was a glitch sometime Saturday afternoon (12/23). Some orders were cancelled by Amazon, while some already in the "shipping soon" category were not cancelled.

Before shipping all these orders, Amazon could have had workers at the various shipping centers find "glitch" orders and prevent them from shipping. (From what people have said appeared on their packing slips, it shouldn't have been too difficult for Amazon packing people to scan packing slips and spot ones that had the double promotional discount applied.)

If it were my company, I definitely would have temporarily stopped any packages from leaving for UPS, USPS, or FedEx, and spent a few hours (via computer records and searching packages) to find all "glitch" orders, sent an E-mail to those people saying there was a mistake, and removed the inaccurate charges from their credit cards. It would have been a crazy few hours work, but it would have been a more effective way for Amazon to deal with this once they realized there was a problem.

It's also interesting that Amazon noticed, and fixed, the glitch sometime on the afternoon of 12/23, but apparently didn't start sending the E-mails until the evening of 12/28. It looks like by the time they sent the E-mails, some people had already received and opened their DVDs, thereby making them unable to return the DVDs because the E-mail says Amazon will only take unopened DVDs!

Ocelot

Very logical situation and i think Amazon should have done that instead of sending out the fatuous e-mail. Hmmm, i wonder what if they do decided to do that? Are there any legal ground on such pratice? See, those who jumped on this deal took advatage of the glitch or loop hole in the system. Now, Amazon too can find a glitch or loop hole in the system to get back... Talk about karma

Ocelot

Dude, you should copyright this, it's pretty darn good.