Joe Pack
11-29-2003, 12:23 AM
Forget my post below on the Delta 14.4 drill...I'm not going to bother.
The drill is advertised nationally as Rockler's Sunday 7a.m - 11a.m. Thanksgiving weekend special @ $49. Not especially caring to get out of bed any morning, especially Sunday, I called to figure out just how early I had to get there to reasonably expect to get one. The fellow on the phone was very nice, even apologetic, when he told me they only had eight drills to sell! That, ladies and gentlemen, is, in my humble opinion, absurd.
There is exactly ONE Rockler outlet in the Cleveland, OH area, and, including suburbs and outlying areas, it serves a population of over half a million people. To offer an item as the "promo" or "loss-leader" to get people through the door, without telling people that there is no chance in Hades that the item will be there when they arrive because the number for sale is a ridiculously small number is, in my opinion, essentially a "bait and switch" tactic.
The add does not say "only 8 available at this price,"which, while still a very small number, would be honest advertising. Instead, the add is intended to bring people to the store to purchase an item that Rockler knows darn well is not going to be there after the first 10 minutes of the day. That is just plain misleading, if not actually dishonest. If you don't have a reasonable number of items to sell, then don't advertise them as if you did.
I don't blame the people at the local affiliate. They are nice, helpful, friendly people who go out of their way to please customers. I do, however, blame the corporate entity responsible for operating procedures that regularly leave store personnel in the position of regularly having to explain why an advertised item is not available 10 minutes after the store opens. (Related topic...this is a regular occurance at our local affiliate...sorry, they only shipped us 12, but we can backorder it for you...sorry you drove 45 miles to buy it, and will have to do it again if a week...or two...or three...or whenever it gets here...)
This weekend's Staple's ads listed "...6 to sell..." Big Lots ads listed "...12 per store..." We Cheat 'Em used car ads listed "...only 1 at this price..." Small quantities, yes. Annoying, yes. Honest, YES! If you only have 8 to sell, SAY SO!! I will understand that. I may not show up, but I will understand. But I won't understand, and won't do anything but steam and feel cheated and taken for granted, being lured 45 miles to a store, only to find out that there was never any intent to have enough product in stock to satisfy a reasonable demand. And eight items for a population of half a million people is certainly not reasonable.
I understand limiting the number available; loss-leader advertising logically must have some limit, but to have only 8 items available in a market of over 500,000 people is so misleading as to make me rethink where I spend my money. If I had not thought to call to check on supply, I would have been up early and driven one hour, only to find that I had been "had." Yes, I would love to have this drill, particularly at $49, but the same drill is available from Amazon.com. Factoring in sales tax/shipping, I can have the exact same thing delivered to my door for about $28 more...and I am willing to spend $28 not to have to get up at 5 a.m., use $10 to drive one hour through a cold, slushy rain, then stand in line outside a door waiting to be one of the first in the door. Plus, by staying home, I will save another $150 or so that I was planning to spend on two larger Sorby turning tools, a center-finding rule, sandpaper and the set of diamond hones.
Gee...I won't be spending any money this weekend. Maybe that's not so bad after all. I feel better now.
The drill is advertised nationally as Rockler's Sunday 7a.m - 11a.m. Thanksgiving weekend special @ $49. Not especially caring to get out of bed any morning, especially Sunday, I called to figure out just how early I had to get there to reasonably expect to get one. The fellow on the phone was very nice, even apologetic, when he told me they only had eight drills to sell! That, ladies and gentlemen, is, in my humble opinion, absurd.
There is exactly ONE Rockler outlet in the Cleveland, OH area, and, including suburbs and outlying areas, it serves a population of over half a million people. To offer an item as the "promo" or "loss-leader" to get people through the door, without telling people that there is no chance in Hades that the item will be there when they arrive because the number for sale is a ridiculously small number is, in my opinion, essentially a "bait and switch" tactic.
The add does not say "only 8 available at this price,"which, while still a very small number, would be honest advertising. Instead, the add is intended to bring people to the store to purchase an item that Rockler knows darn well is not going to be there after the first 10 minutes of the day. That is just plain misleading, if not actually dishonest. If you don't have a reasonable number of items to sell, then don't advertise them as if you did.
I don't blame the people at the local affiliate. They are nice, helpful, friendly people who go out of their way to please customers. I do, however, blame the corporate entity responsible for operating procedures that regularly leave store personnel in the position of regularly having to explain why an advertised item is not available 10 minutes after the store opens. (Related topic...this is a regular occurance at our local affiliate...sorry, they only shipped us 12, but we can backorder it for you...sorry you drove 45 miles to buy it, and will have to do it again if a week...or two...or three...or whenever it gets here...)
This weekend's Staple's ads listed "...6 to sell..." Big Lots ads listed "...12 per store..." We Cheat 'Em used car ads listed "...only 1 at this price..." Small quantities, yes. Annoying, yes. Honest, YES! If you only have 8 to sell, SAY SO!! I will understand that. I may not show up, but I will understand. But I won't understand, and won't do anything but steam and feel cheated and taken for granted, being lured 45 miles to a store, only to find out that there was never any intent to have enough product in stock to satisfy a reasonable demand. And eight items for a population of half a million people is certainly not reasonable.
I understand limiting the number available; loss-leader advertising logically must have some limit, but to have only 8 items available in a market of over 500,000 people is so misleading as to make me rethink where I spend my money. If I had not thought to call to check on supply, I would have been up early and driven one hour, only to find that I had been "had." Yes, I would love to have this drill, particularly at $49, but the same drill is available from Amazon.com. Factoring in sales tax/shipping, I can have the exact same thing delivered to my door for about $28 more...and I am willing to spend $28 not to have to get up at 5 a.m., use $10 to drive one hour through a cold, slushy rain, then stand in line outside a door waiting to be one of the first in the door. Plus, by staying home, I will save another $150 or so that I was planning to spend on two larger Sorby turning tools, a center-finding rule, sandpaper and the set of diamond hones.
Gee...I won't be spending any money this weekend. Maybe that's not so bad after all. I feel better now.