Exploit (v):
1. to utilize, esp. for profit; turn to practical account: to exploit a business opportunity.
2. to use selfishly for one's own ends: employers who exploit their workers.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/exploit

As has been stated and restated ad nauseum, the key issue here is knowledge of the glitch, which boils down to advantage. Amazon was unaware of the glitch, while everyone posting here presumably was aware of the glitch when they ordered.

I submit that no one posting here was attempting to "properly buy" their DVDs in this case and, while it may have been "impossible" to pay the correct amount at checkout, no one posting here was crying in their beer at their inability to pay the correct amount.

Looking at it from another angle, perhaps Amazon has no reason to trust you?

All these slippery slope arguments are unavailing. Amazon did not just arbitrarily choose to charge people's credit cards. They gave ample notice and ample opportunity to avoid the charges. Those who chose to play chicken should not be heard to cry "fowl" now that their bluffs have been called.

they told you to return it not a month not two not three after but within a week or less after recieving the item. they gave people time to think about whether they wanted to keep them or not. would you have been much happier if they gave you a week to return rather than 1+ months

Orders were placed on December 23. The first e-mail from Amazon came on December 28 stating that items must be returned in the original, unopened condition. By that point, many people had already received and opened their orders. How is that "giving people time to think about whether they want to keep the orders?"

As Todd Flanders would say, 'It's all well and good for sheep, but what are we to do?' If someone agrees with you that Amazon's sole mistake was the misapplication of the B1G1 promotion, then that's one thing. But then you seem to ignore the fact that they fixed the error within hours, yet still shipped the items. Then 5 days after they discovered the problem (within which time many customers received and opened their sets) stated the customer could either send them back unopened, or pay what Amazon felt was fair. Regardless of whether customers 'exploited' any 'glitch', the customer knew that they they paid a lower price, but that was the price agreed to in the transaction, no more. Amazon's options were unilateral, unfair and without any thought of what postion they put the customer in by waiting so long to deliver the bad news. Amazon was REQUIRED to live up to their own conditions of use ('Any dispute relating in any way to your visit to Amazon.com or to products you purchase through Amazon.com shall be submitted to confidential arbitration in Seattle, Washington....' ), which they clearly did not. Regardless of what you or anyone thinks about the morality of this situation, the options Amazon offered were not the only options for that situation. They forced the hand of many customers to stick it out, and now we'll all see what happens. I'm inclined to think they could have gotten a more favorable response with arbitration than with letting CC companies decide whether or not Amazon violated any agreement between the two (or any law for that matter), but only the future knows.

The sale was done. DONE. Do you understand what that means? The transaction is COMPLETE. If I choose to return the item, amazon can choose weather or not to credit me. That is it. They cannot ask for return of the merchandise, then charge me more when i dont return it. Do you live in a society where simple buying and selling does not take place? You dont have to be a rocket scientist to see what is wrong with amazon doing this. Compound this with the timing of the sale. I am sure many people were buying for holiday presenets or were away for the holidays. I know i personally had opened my dvd's before i even heard about the issue. And was only told that I could return unopened items. So i'm stuck with the stuff.

He's just a troll. He has been rehashing the same tired argument ever since the mistake first happened. Everyone beats him down, and he just resurfaces. He isnt even worth your time Stealth.

What? Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? HELL NO!!

how is it that most poeple who are upset by this have their dvds still shrinkwrapped i understand people who opened it but a lot of people have had them shrinkwrapped for a LONG time hoping amazon backs down.

so to answer your question..you were warned that you would be charged in a month~or so a WEEK after orders were placed. HERE the bickering is that people make it sound like the CHARGES came out of NOWHERE! a month or two later... do you not see a difference?

wow lets look at this nonsensical arugment

1) from wikipedia: troll- is a person who enters an established community such as an online discussion forum and intentionally tries to cause disruption, often in the form of posting messages that are inflammatory, insulting, incorrect, inaccurate, or off-topic, with the intent of provoking a reaction from others.
so your saying my messages are incorrect? innaccurate? or off-topic?? the only one that i can think of is insulting.. by THAT term you are insulting yourself and are a troll - there was no intention to DISRUPT on my end

2) obviously you have not read 90% of my posts beacuse if you did you would know what i talked about in the begging. >obviously< you do not.
i have yet to see people beat me down, only one person was ever correct in their argument and i let that be known.

3) maybe so - but thats for him to determine and not you

4) dont know where you sprung off from but stop trolling by providing incorrect information!

STEALTH: --someone earlier said: "Anytime an item goes up in price we will get charged the difference two months later? How long is too long? months, years? And if the price goes down, will they credit us the difference? I don't think so. "
that was what i was refering to earlier...as a way to understand why i said that

also, someone who is calling me a hypocrit (wow a personal attack) has never even said so? i have never once said what i do with the deals how would that person even know that i'm a hypocrit.. o wait they just felt like personally attacking me

I'm sorry, can you break it down for me some more? I don't quite follow.

The Germans? Get your facts straight!

"Forget it, he's rolling."

Unilateral? Ironic, given the way some people unilaterally took advantage of Amazon in the first place.

Unfair? Yes, how unfair of Amazon to request that DVDs be sent back at their expense.

Position of consumer? It was entirely foreseeable to anyone taking advantage of this glitch that they might end up being held responsible for the intended charges. I don't see how Amazon forced anyone to do anything.

Arbitration? This clause is intended to prevent either party from filing a lawsuit; it does not tie Amazon's hands with regard to other collection methods. Incidentally, any one of you can invoke arbitration at this time, if you want a final, binding decision.

Your credit card banks will NOT decide whether Amazon is owed money in the event of a credit card dispute - they will only determine whether Amazon can recover these amounts by way of charges against your credit lines. It surprises me that Amazon actually followed through with the charges since chargebacks cost them additional money. I would assume that someone at Amazon researched the issues involved or actually spoke with a bank before initiating the charges, but who knows?

I'm curious what you mean by this. Can you elaborate?

Not to speak for ResIpsa, but this is how I took what he said--the credit card companies may go along with a chargeback, but that isn't the final word. Amazon could still pursue other means to collect.

I'm torn on this whole issue. I definitely think Amazon should have accepted opened merchandise here, and as a goodwill gesture, I think they should have let anyone with fewer than some small number of box sets (4 if I were queen) just keep them. It was their mistake and fixing it shouldn't be completely painless to them. But for people who made several orders, as much as I can sympathize with the impulse to get in on a good deal, I can't really blame Amazon for saying no.

Anyway, most people here seem to think once money has changed hands, it's all a done deal, but it doesn't always work that way. Here money didn't even always change hands--no consideration was given at all to Amazon for some of these box sets, and I would guess a court would say that's not even a contract.

Edit--just wanted to add that I do think Amazon handled this miserably and anyone who was told that they wouldn't be charged should not be charged.

Interesting factoid: "Cool New Member" romuo just joined DVDTalk in December, and every one of his 33 posts is in this thread discussing the Amazon promotion glitch!

Coincidence? Maybe. You decide. Just don't let the furry misshapen creature who lives under the bridge get you!

What? How could you say such a thing. He ordered every episode of Soap because of an undying love for the program. He was an innocent with bad timing, never meaning to exploit anything!

God, the level of justification here is just hilarious.

Hey, I'm sure all that stuff really classes up the double-wide. Way to go!

Wrapped up neatly and tied off with a bow. Well said.

Right there. All you seem to do is Attempt to fire people up and cause disruption. I have yet to see a useful psot from you. Do you have anything pertinent to add to the conversation? If you do, I would love to see it.

I read about 50% of your posts, all in the beginning of the thread. After that it became quite clear what your point was in posting in this and the other threads, and I just ignored the rest of your useless posts. As far as only being wrong once, get real.

Dont know what youre referiing to here, dont really care at this point
wow. Third grade retaliation. i correctly call you a troll, you call me one back. What have I said that was incorrect?
What is next the old rubber glue argument? Grow up.

Well, i guess that would be the second time in this argument that you've been wrong, by your count anyways. Let me fill you in, you are not the center of the universe and it most certainly is not always about you. Grow up, and get over it.

Awesome!!

Seriously? Sometimes you gotta say it more that twice for some of the slow kids to catch up.

Glad someone else noticed this fact.