BARGAIN BUYERS BEWARE - When a saving can COST you money....

diefenbaker77

This website is fantastic for bargains of every description, but in this time of credit crunch and economic downturn, what of those companies that would try to exploit those looking for a bargain with misleading or incomplete "SAVE!" advertising?

In the run up to Xmas I think it would be helpful to name and shame those companies whose advertising of "special offers", shall we say, requires a pinch of salt.

My first nomination is COMET.

Take this offer on a Panasonic Lumix TZ5 camera from their website:

Saturday 22 November:
Price "£209 Save a total of £20" (rollover text reveals "Was £229.99, then £219.99, now £209.99")

Doesn't sound that bad right? The price has been falling, it must be a bargain... except, what was the price of this bargain the previous two days? Why surely it must have been 229 or 219, right?....

Friday 21 November:
Price £199.99 (no additional text ie normal price)

Thursday 20 November:
Price "£182.99 Web promotion save £17 normal price £199.99"

Wow, that's some bargain Mr Comet. Put the price up by £10 and declare it a £20 saving(!!)

I'm sure it's true from a certain point of view, but a lie of ommission still leaves the customer misinformed and £10 poorer.

Lesson of the day, always do your homework (Amazon, Ebuyer, Currys, John Lewis, Uncle Tom Cobley... all cheaper) and NEVER trust the word of a salesman.

Oh, and the Comet website can seriously damage your wealth!

mdcdeve

Well high street retailers along with their online side are rarely a good place to look as they are usually quite a bit more expensive than online retailers so best not to shop there at all. Or at least type what you're looking for into google which will result in cheaper options.

catmiaow

Tesco are known for doing this, putting prices up prior to a so called saving. I think they all do it to some degree, its false advertising and should be stopped.

diefenbaker77

Tis the season to rip off customers it seems...

Next entry into the Not-so Special Offers Hall of Shame

EBOOKERS

Advertised offer on their website, book this Hotel and get "Ebookers Special Offer: Complimentary upgrade" (to an 'Ocean View' room in this case)

Book the hotel and you might be lucky enough to actually spot that the booking hasn't been upgraded.

Surely this is just a mistake on their computer booking system, right...?

Nope, contact their customer services and they actually try to SELL you the upgrade they're already supposed to have given you!

That's right, an ebookers 'special offer' discount seems to mean - take the customers' money first, then ask them to pay the difference later or they don't get what they bought!

Each to their own, but it doesn't seem very 'special' to me!