Z-Buy

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Originally posted by Nightstalker_2hc
Of course they did something wrong, they had a product on their site for sale at a certain price, received many orders for said product, and lied in order to get out of honoring those sales. How is that not wrong? :mad:

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Yes they lied, but legally I don't think they did anything wrong. You can be "wrong" in an ethical sense but "right" in a legal sense. Morally they should've just said it was a price mistake but legally they can tell you they are out of stock and not sell you the product. Any company at any time can refuse to sell you something at the price they list.

Actually, thats not true. You must honor any advertised pricing. Failure to do so is considered false advertising which is illegal. I had a similar instance a few years ago when my club soccer team was buying some bags. A catalog listed the bags at an unbelievable price of $9.95 when it should have been at $99.95. We placed our order quickly and they tried to say they wouldn't be able to sell them at that price. After a talk with the BBB and a few more phone calls to the catalog, we got the bags for $9.95. BBB says if you advertise at a price, you sell at that price.

If a company advertises a price that is incorrect and orders are placed for that product at that price, the price has to be honored or it is considered false advertising. Many companies other than them have had to bite the bullet before because of a misprint. That's just how it goes. You must, by law, adhere to the prices you advertise.

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Originally posted by Paladyr
Yes they lied, but legally I don't think they did anything wrong. You can be "wrong" in an ethical sense but "right" in a legal sense. Morally they should've just said it was a price mistake but legally they can tell you they are out of stock and not sell you the product. Any company at any time can refuse to sell you something at the price they list.

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Legally they committed false advertising and that is punishable by law if they refuse to honor the advertised price. These people who ordered need to contact the BBB and get the matter resolved.

My friend just received his "we do not have any in stock" letter. I haven't received anything yet. However I am seriously doubting I will received anything different. The BBB idea sound pretty good. What is the law if they don't have any in stock, do they have to honor the price if they get more in stock???

Well Best Buy didn't have to honor the price of the Ti4600s that they advertised for some ridiculously low price when they first came out, neither did another store who I tried to buy a 9700 from for cheap. They just said it was a misprint. I think you would have to prove that it was intentional false advertising and not just a mistake. I don't think you would win a court battle. Until someone actually shows me the law on the matter, I won't believe there is anything that can be done.

Here it is, straight from the BBB:

"False Advertising" or Honest Mistake?

"The company’s ad shows a car for $25. They say it was a mistake, but I think they were just trying to get me onto their lot. Don’t they have to sell the car at that price whether it was a mistake or not?"

"They advertised the toy in the Sunday paper. When I showed up at noon, they said they were sold out. That’s false advertising, isn’t it?"

The answer to those questions is probably "no" and "no."

Very few consumers really appreciate what "false advertising" means and how serious the accusation is, and even if they do, even fewer are in a position to prove that a company has engaged in the unlawful practice. There’s a huge difference between a mistake and a lie. Mistakes happen more often than anyone (including advertisers and the media) would like. Actual incidents of false advertising are probably few and far between.

Errors in ads can happen in many ways. The ad copy may be given to the newspaper or other medium too close to a deadline for the ad to be properly proofed by either the advertiser or the printer. Keystroke errors on the part of either the advertiser or the media can and do happen. Sometimes a miscommunication between the advertiser and their representative results in an errant ad.

When mistakes make it to print, advertisers will often post a retraction or correction both in the newspaper where the ad appeared and in their stores. Some advertisers honor misprints (within reason) to maintain customer good will or make adjustments to compensate their shoppers for the error, but stores aren’t obligated to do so. Mistakes happen.

The law and the BBB Code of Advertising suggest that, when a store advertises a specific product, it should have enough of the item on hand to meet the expected demand. Most stores have complicated formulas to calculate the number of items they order from their suppliers, and most of the time, those formulas work well. Sometimes, demand catches the buyers by surprise and they are caught short. Understanding that some circulars (especially full-color ads that appear in Sunday editions) are printed as early as six weeks before their insertion date, it’s easy to see how scheduling problems, unexpected shortages, and other conflicts can create situations where the product isn’t on the shelf when the ad says it will be, or is in shorter supply than expected. In these cases, rainchecks are almost always the appropriate remedy. Accidents happen.

Stores are just as upset about misprints and other errors as you are. No advertiser likes to disappoint its customers.

This is also what you agree to when you hit the AGREE button after checking out:

"Pricing and availability disclaimer
· Due to changing market forces and other extenuating circumstances that affect product availability, and price stability we reserve the right to withdraw any product we advertise and change prices without notice. "

The law and the BBB Code of Advertising suggest that, when a store advertises a specific product, it should have enough of the item on hand to meet the expected demand.

That statement right there basically sums up why they are in the wrong and something needs to be done. They advertised a product with a price and no one who ordered the product is going to get it. That is false advertising. The product was not removed until a swamp of orders had come in. Even the first ones to get in were not shipped out. That, my friend, is wrong and possibly illegal. I will be contacting the BBB about this as I feel they should have never advertised the product if stock was not available, misprint or not. I will also be contacting z-buy.com and let them know I plan on expressing my concerns to the BBB. In most cases, doing just that gets everything resolved like it should be.

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Originally posted by AutomaticErik
The law and the BBB Code of Advertising suggest that, when a store advertises a specific product, it should have enough of the item on hand to meet the expected demand.

That statement right there basically sums up why they are in the wrong and something needs to be done. They advertised a product with a price and no one who ordered the product is going to get it. That is false advertising. The product was not removed until a swamp of orders had come in. Even the first ones to get in were not shipped out. That, my friend, is wrong and possibly illegal. I will be contacting the BBB about this as I feel they should have never advertised the product if stock was not available, misprint or not. I will also be contacting z-buy.com and let them know I plan on expressing my concerns to the BBB. In most cases, doing just that gets everything resolved like it should be.

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So explain this then, if a company has 1 of a product that they want to get rid of, they can't lower the price to something very low just to get rid of it because if 2 people order it then they are screwed?? You must be kidding.

What you quoted uses the word "should" and "suggest". Sorry, that doesn't mean they have to or are legally obligated to, because quite frankly, that isn't always feasible.

Go ahead and try though! I think it is a colosal waste of time.

If a company has 1 of a product to sell ASAP, they sell it and take it down as fast as they possibly can. Or, they invest in an inventory tracking system to tell customers that it is out of stock. I think there can and will be something done with enough action taken against them.

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Originally posted by AutomaticErik
If a company has 1 of a product to sell ASAP, they sell it and take it down as fast as they possibly can. Or, they invest in an inventory tracking system to tell customers that it is out of stock. I think there can and will be something done with enough action taken against them.

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A start up company cannot afford the software/hardware necessary to have real-time inventory tracking that is 100% accurate all the time, so how can a law say you HAVE to?? Also, like I said, your quote said the law "suggests" that they "should". Those aren't terms you use to describe a law.

Like I said, feel free to try, and if you win, next time I'll jump all over a deal like this.

Come on, I just built a completely e-commerce driven site with inventory tracking etc. and that was actually one of the easiest things to do. Thats no excuse.

Well I just called Z-buy to check on my order status: They do not have anymore in stock and will not be able to get anymore, they said they checked with their purchaser. So my order is cancelled. I asked them if the ever had any in stock. ( I know stupid question) and she said of course we did. I told her that 8-10 people that I know ordered this product and never received one. She basically dodged the statement and said you order has been cancelled. Well a pretty shady way to do business, they probably had 1 at that price :D . I don't think I will be doing business with that company anymore. I may get flamed for that statement however I will stick with newegg which does very well at inventory tracking.

Yup, mine was cancelled too.

Did anybody actually get a 9700NP at that price?

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Originally posted by AutomaticErik
Come on, I just built a completely e-commerce driven site with inventory tracking etc. and that was actually one of the easiest things to do. Thats no excuse.

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Show me the site. I guess you have palms with scanners as well as barcoding technology??? That's the only way you'll get realtime inventory tracking. You'll also have to have the warehouse and the central offices working off the same database. That's a lot of money you would need to invest for all that. It's not just about making a website that decrements the quantity in stock, that's the EASY part.

Sorry, but all of you are SOL. I'm also guessing none of you have taken a college level law course (you sure ACT like you know what you are talking about!!!).

You also ignored what i copied and pasted from the agreement you agree to when you order from there.

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Originally posted by Paladyr
Show me the site. I guess you have palms with scanners as well as barcoding technology??? That's the only way you'll get realtime inventory tracking. You'll also have to have the warehouse and the central offices working off the same database. That's a lot of money you would need to invest for all that. It's not just about making a website that decrements the quantity in stock, that's the EASY part.

Sorry, but all of you are SOL. I'm also guessing none of you have taken a college level law course (you sure ACT like you know what you are talking about!!!).

You also ignored what i copied and pasted from the agreement you agree to when you order from there.

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Ok explain this to me,
I was the one who called them BEFORE I purchased this card. He said it was a correct price, but we never dicussed availability. I think at that time he shouldve informed me they didnt have any left. Actually, he had to look the product up for me. I havnt recieved a letter yet, and I havnt ben charged either. Im calling them back.

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Originally posted by Jaybag
Ok explain this to me,
I was the one who called them BEFORE I purchased this card. He said it was a correct price, but we never dicussed availability. I think at that time he shouldve informed me they didnt have any left. Actually, he had to look the product up for me. I havnt recieved a letter yet, and I havnt ben charged either. Im calling them back.

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I agreed it was unethical of them to say they were out of stock, which they probably weren't. The average joe customer service rep probably has no clue what a 9700Pro is or how much it costs so he/she probably just checked the website and said "yep, that's what the website says!". All I'm saying is that legally, I don't think you have a chance in h3ll of getting anything by taking any kind of action against them.

One of two things happened, either they made a mistake on the website or it is some kind of bait and switch. Since they are cancelling orders, I am assuming it was a mistake. I am sure they covered themselves legally in the disclaimers, even Newegg has the same disclaimers. Newegg just doesnt have to fall back on them because they don't screw up like this company did.

Regardless of the law, BBB, etc., if enough of us start to complain to them about the problem and we express the views that we now have of them as a company, they will most likely do something to compensate for this nonsense. Jaybag probably has the best chance of any of us because he actually called and confirmed everything before placing the order. That, to me, says that yes everything was in stock and ready to be shipped until someone at z-buy.com caught on and said, "Hey, we're gonna lose a ton of money! Cancel all those orders!" Thats not the way you deal with the problem.

Did any of your guys who ordered the 9700np actually get it for $115

None of us got it. I called back and acted all tough with the guy, lol. I told him I wanted a replacement, something of equal value of the 9700 pro. He said he would call me back. Hours passed, and I called him back. He said I will not recieve anything of equal value, and that I am out of luck. So....here we are, all of us dissapointed, and noone got a 9700pro.:(

I plan on raising so much of a stink about this that they'll have to buy me off with a 9800XT :D

Well I got my e-mail it seems they are all out now:mad: Pure bs, I knew it was to good to be true but the way they have dodged the fact they screwed up is unreal to me! And no effort to win a customer back
I will e-mail them untill they give. Well maybe just a few:D