Forum Moderators: buckworks
The trading company listed a new PC on the site on Oct. 31 for only 19,800 yen, instead of the intended price of 198,000 yen.source: Marubeni to sell PCs at 90% off due to online pricing blunder [asia.news.yahoo.com]
"We could have canceled the contracts but we have decided not to, preferring to place emphasis on public trust in us," a company spokesman said. Some 1,500 people ordered the discounted PCs as word spread via online bulletin boards before the company learned of the mistake and corrected the price on Nov. 3, the officials said.
as word spread via online bulletin boards
Not sure if I can do a 90% discount, but can I get this kind of viral-press with a 40% discount?
:>)
I've never figured out why companies want to get the business of customers which are intentionally trying to screw them
Good point. However, and this does not relate to the above company - it is not beyond some companies to trade some stock for a large volume of "free publicity" via pre-planned mis-pricing. Those companies deserve customers who try to, as you put it, screw them.
Perhaps it's not somuch courting the vultures as it is just handing over a small bucket of oats to a donkey so the critter is busy quietly chewing instead of braying and kicking and mucking up the pasture.
Other cultures may also be-head the employee which makes a costly mistake.
:-)
(Betcha my employees would act a whole lot different if that were an option!)
I dont think it went down to well...
I've never figured out why companies want to get the business of customers which are intentionally trying to screw them.
It was not customers who screwed that company. It was the mistake on the part of that company that they didn't proof-read their site.
Companies make mistakes
But it seems that because they are companies they should pay for any mistakes!
It was not customers who screwed that company. It was the mistake on the part of that company that they didn't proof-read their site
I'm no lawyer but there are laws about deceptive advertising
Some mistakes are glaringly obviously mistakes. When a company makes a genuine mistake punters go for the "deceptive advertising" angle as that's the best way of securing something for free, or almost free. The only thing that's cheap is the opportunist who tries to exploit a genuine mistake.
(No excuses for companies that intentionally deceive customers. They SHOULD be penalised)
No excuses for companies that intentionally deceive customers.
The problem is that there is no way to tell what is a mistake and what is an effort to get people to visit your website if they never would have at all without the price that seems too good to be true. THAT is why there are laws about honoring prices that are advertised. And just because a company refuses to honor an advertised price does not mean that it is acting lawfully.
The problem is that there is no way to tell what is a mistake
In some cases it's very obvious. A TV for 0.99p, new PCs for £3.99, Dell's monitors for $0.05. I'm not talking about the grey area. I'm talking about the cases where the mistake is very clearly a mistake.
As sun818 puts it
If a company repeatedly engages in pricing mistakes, they are incompetent, deceptive, or both
Blanket assumption of devious practice/misleading pricing pre-supposes that it is beyond a company to make a mistake.
If a household name has a gazillion products on their corporate site and on page 876 have a glaring mistake on item 54 then I'd give them the benefit of the doubt. Especially if they took prompt action on being notified of the mistake.
It seems we expect high standards of companies and ALSO expect zero mistakes from them, but we are willing to accept, condone and encourage consumers looking to exploit someone's genuine mistake; we are willing to accept zero morals among customers?
