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Thread: Go ahead, insult my intelligence!

  1. #1
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    Go ahead, insult my intelligence!

    I decided not to buy the merch in my cart; I'll do without for now and shop elsewhere. The big Blue R woodworking company sent a promo code for $10 off of $50. I had more than that in merch in my cart. Their system only allows one promo code, so the ever-lasting free shipping code (over $35) cannot be combined with any other offer. I entered the proper promo code for $10 off and did not receive it; instead it gave me free shipping valued at $9.99. Who thinks up this stuff? Marketing geniuses who think everyone else is a dunce?

  2. #2
    You can't blame the marketing people for thinking everyone is a dunce because most people are today.

  3. #3
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    I'm not sure what the rant is about here. Are you upset about not getting both offers, or are you upset about a penny?

  4. #4
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    It's called bait and switch they promised you $10.00 off and only gave you $9.99. It is against Federal law but for every 100 customers they save $1.00.
    Bill D

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Dufour View Post
    It's called bait and switch they promised you $10.00 off and only gave you $9.99. It is against Federal law but for every 100 customers they save $1.00.
    The fine print in both offers almost certainly says something to the effect "cannot be combined with other offers", which is perfectly legal. The web site probably set a cookie in the cart that applied the $9.99 free-shipping code and therefore won't accept the new one. If OP purges cookies and starts from scratch, it'll probably let him use the $10 code, save that precious penny, and stave off bankruptcy for another few microseconds. Or not.

    Plan B was apparently to waste a bunch more than $0.01 worth of his time to complain about it here...whatever floats your boat.
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  6. #6
    Here's a bit different situation I recently encountered... Got an email ad from a boat parts company. They had bottom paint on sale via online coupon for like $15 off a gallon. Just so happens I need to put 2 coats of the stuff on the bottom of our 53 x 14' houseboat soon, very timely sale, so I ordered several gallons.

    Sorry, can't honor the coupon, it's expired...

    It WAS the last day, and it was 11-something PM here in Utah, still 'the last day'.

    But it was after midnight boat parts company's state...

    I kinda assumed a sale that ends today is based on MY day, not theirs...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
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  7. #7
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    Perhaps you are right and I think I have a pre-disposition about marketing "geniuses". I worked in a production environment in two different industries and found marketing to be the tail that wags the dog, so to speak. They seemed to be given a free rein and told production what they must do for the latest grand scheme. They ignored any input about line efficiencies (something production studied and calculated daily) and their ideas seemed to fail about 4/5 tries. They certainly made the big bucks for a .200 hitter.

  8. #8
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    The email actually said you'd also get "free shipping if the order was over $35". I guess the rant is that you'd have to actually call them (takes more of your time) to make it work. I think my patience with inaccuracy is wearing a bit thin. In twenty-one years of online shopping (from my very rural home), I had two mishaps (from the shipper) in the first 18 years; I've had five in just the last two years. Is the solution that we should continue to lower expectations of our suppliers (like we have of our politicians)?

  9. #9
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    I'd suggest that you look closely at the promotion code section in the cart. The system automatically applied the standard free shipping code that I use when it's available and would not let me apply the VIP code. The system properly applied the discount AND the free shipping when I canceled the default code and entered the VIP code.

    Scott

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    It WAS the last day, and it was 11-something PM here in Utah, still 'the last day'.

    But it was after midnight boat parts company's state...

    I kinda assumed a sale that ends today is based on MY day, not theirs...
    Any company with a decent legal team will list the exacting ending time in which time zone. It tends to be 11:59 PM in whatever timezone the company's headquarters is in.

    Otherwise, would they have to take orders up until 11:59 pm in whatever time zone the international date line is in? They would have to take orders until early morning Eastern time then.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Elfert View Post
    Any company with a decent legal team will list the exacting ending time in which time zone. It tends to be 11:59 PM in whatever timezone the company's headquarters is in.

    Otherwise, would they have to take orders up until 11:59 pm in whatever time zone the international date line is in? They would have to take orders until early morning Eastern time then.
    It was just an online coupon with a code, which said 'expires June 30, 2019'... No legal-eze was involved in the verbiage at all. And when I submitted my order, it was still June 30th. Their ordering software should account for time zones. Regardless, because of that they missed out on an $800 sale and I missed out on a good deal, so who won that battle? Classic lose-lose all because of a time zone glitch...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    It was just an online coupon with a code, which said 'expires June 30, 2019'... No legal-eze was involved in the verbiage at all. And when I submitted my order, it was still June 30th. Their ordering software should account for time zones. Regardless, because of that they missed out on an $800 sale and I missed out on a good deal, so who won that battle? Classic lose-lose all because of a time zone glitch...
    They don't have a good legal department if doing online sales and they don't put a time and a time zone of the coupon. Their software does understand time zones. It stopped taking orders at the end of the day in their time zone.

  13. #13
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    Speaking of offers: If you get a HD credit card and spend $1000, you get $100 off on your first statement. You get $25 off at some lesser number. I needed a new chipper and some deck boards. I ordered both online at the same time with my new card, total just over $1000. Only reason I got the card was to save $100. Got my first statement and they only took off $25. Why? Because they were not picked up at the same time. Apparently they actually charge the card when the item is picked up. One was in stock at my second closest store, the other was shipped to my closest store a week later. It took several phone calls and two months to finally get the other $75 credit. I mentioned it to a gal at my local HD service counter and she said if it was not reconciled to my satisfaction, to see her and she would make it right. That impressed me. Haven't used the card since.
    NOW you tell me...

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ole Anderson View Post
    Speaking of offers: If you get a HD credit card and spend $1000, you get $100 off on your first statement. You get $25 off at some lesser number. I needed a new chipper and some deck boards. I ordered both online at the same time with my new card, total just over $1000. Only reason I got the card was to save $100. Got my first statement and they only took off $25. Why? Because they were not picked up at the same time. Apparently they actually charge the card when the item is picked up. One was in stock at my second closest store, the other was shipped to my closest store a week later. It took several phone calls and two months to finally get the other $75 credit. I mentioned it to a gal at my local HD service counter and she said if it was not reconciled to my satisfaction, to see her and she would make it right. That impressed me. Haven't used the card since.
    When buying material for building decks/porches for the home, the clerk told me she would could take ~$100 off with an application for an HD credit card. She even told me my Visa card could be used to pay. So we actually saved about $100 on my first material buy.

    A few days later we decided it would be a good idea to have a second cordless drill so two of us could be driving screws at the same time Again the clerk mentioned she could take off 35% with an application for an HD credit account. After mentioning that an application was given a few days earlier, she said it didn't matter if it was charged to a new card and some customers have multiple cards for separate client accounts. So a second card app was submitted and another cordless drill was purchased.

    With my next trip to the HD, a stop was made at the customer service counter and the bill was paid off without any interest accrued. My surprise is the letter of confirmation of my account explained the interest rate is based on ones credit score. With a good credit score my interest rate is 21.99%. Makes me wonder what someone with a bad credit score is paying.

    My dissatisfaction with not being able to find a new drill of the same model as my old cordless drill and battery or that the old style battery replacements are more than the drill and batteries cost in the first place is a different story.

    jtk
    Last edited by Jim Koepke; 08-31-2019 at 2:15 PM. Reason: word correction
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

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