Muddy Paws (Blandford) and misleading Google Ad

Honeydog

I want a waterproof coat for my dog. It sheeted down yesterday and he looked really fed up. I did some research and came up with the Hurtta Raincoat Pro which is a bit like a Berghaus but for a dog. Expensive but it does rain a fair amount where I live so it will get plenty of use.

I put it into Google to find a stockist and an ad came up - one of those ones which are in a different colour and at the top of the page (Sponsored by the company? Paid for? Someone will tell me I'm sure)

Anyway the coat isn't cheap so when it came up 20% off TODAY on the exact coat I wanted I was delighted. Clicked on it, measured dog, added coat to my basket and...... where's my 20% off coming from?

So I emailed them. Apparently the offer was ages ago and is no longer valid. :mad:

OK so why did the ad (with 20% off) come up yesterday and why does it still come up (with 20% off) today?When the offer isn't valid anymore and hasn't been for a long time?

So is it a deliberate use of misinformation to get people to visit their site or an unavoidable error?

I'm seriously not impressed although I have found a cheaper (even than the offer) stockist now. To those who will say 'why do you care if you've found it cheaper?' I care because it seems dishonest and I don't like dishonesty.

Fosterdog

This isn't the fault of the company it happens all the time with Google, they are known for having outdated information. Google use cached searches quite often so it must've picked up on a previous deal. It's the same as their quotes for delivery, they quite often quote free delivery but when you get to the website it's either an old offer or only over a certain value.

kermitfrog

Honeydog wrote: »

So is it a deliberate use of misinformation to get people to visit their site or an unavoidable error?

Neither. It's probably just incompetence. Not everything is a conspiracy.

Honeydog

kermitfrog wrote: »

Neither. It's probably just incompetence. Not everything is a conspiracy.

Google's incompetence or Muddy Paws'?

Techhead_2

Honeydog wrote: »

Google's incompetence or Muddy Paws'?

Google, but only because they don't make clear that what you are seeing isn't live as of this moment.

It does tell you this in the help, but many people assume its live rather than a record of 'how it was when checked'.

RadoJo

The sponsored ads are actually managed by the company (or outsourced to an agency) so it won't be down to Google's caching, more likely an oversight on the part of whoever was supposed to stop the ad from running - easily done when you have hundreds, sometimes thousands of different ads rotating. They should have removed it when you complained though - perhaps worth e-mailing them a reminder.

Honeydog

Ha! This is hilarious - you couldn't make it up!

The 20% off Hurtta Pro coat ad has gone. It has been replaced by one which says 'Save on Hurtta dog products today' They LOVE that word today!

So I looked and out of all the things they stock - the only thing which is discounted at all is a special cooling jacket!!!:rotfl:Yeah in the current climate they're going to sell a lot of those.;) Let's discount something no one will buy!!!

It says products (plural) though and I can only see one so it is still misleading.