Argos Pricing Error

bod1467

spekes wrote: »

It started when Argos had an Apple iMac on sale on their website at 399. This I thought must be wrong, but it also clearly stated it was a 'Better than half price' offer and an 'Online Exclusive'. Initially I had trouble ordering the item, so I sent off an email to Argos customer services, stating all the details, including the price of the item and said I was having issues.


Argos duly replied that it was purely down to stock issues and I should try later.

Doesn't that take things beyond a simple pricing mistake? The seller has had an opportunity to correct this error when it was brought to their attention yet didn't state that it was an error.

browneyedbazzi

spekes wrote: »

Whilst I agree that it is reasonable to make mistakes, I don't feel consumers should have payments taken prior to any contract being agreed between the parties, technically Argos are still holding £399 of my money for something that they are not able to supply. Think I will stick to Amazon in future where the contract to supply the goods is in place prior to the deduction of funds.

I can understand your frustration but the solution you put forward (not taking the money until the contract is legally formed) is not workable for distance sales - the nature of the business is that the contract is formed on dispatch of goods, if they waited until that point to take payment and the payment failed there would be a lot of goods sent to customers who hadn't paid. The cost of that system would be huge for businesses as recovering the goods or pursuing consumers for the money would be time consuming and expensive.

I think it would be a good idea to do something about speeding up refunds where an order is cancelled due to an error/stock issues etc though - some retailers seem to be very slow at this, whilst others manage to process the refund and get the money back to the consumer very quickly.

spekes

Just for reference, the initial email is as below:


From: Argos Direct E-Commerce
Subject: re: CATID Customer Enquiry, Our Ref: xxxxxx
Dear,

Subject: Catalogue Number: 166/9718 - Apple iMac ME088B 27 Inch i5 3.2 GHz 1TB PC.

Thank you for your email regarding stock availability.

I am so sorry you cannot order the above item.

On checking our system, I find this item is currently out of stock. I am pleased to confirm we are expecting new supplies. Please keep checking our website or use our text and reserve service for up to date information about stock availability.

Please visit us at <<argos help>> where you will find answers to many frequently asked questions, product information and all of our full contact details.

Regards,


Tina Evett
Argos E-Commerce Customer Service Team.

For your reference the above reply is in reference to your earlier email ARG********X:


Reason for enquiry (header) - Product Information
Reason for enquiry (specific) - Product and Buying Advice
Comments - I am attempting to buy the item listed here <<Link to item>>
an Apple iMac ME088B which you have priced at £399 but the site crashes every time I select buy. Can you advise how I go about purchasing this item at this price on your website.

Thanks

browneyedbazzi

bod1467 wrote: »

Doesn't that take things beyond a simple pricing mistake? The seller has had an opportunity to correct this error when it was brought to their attention yet didn't state that it was an error.

No, I don't think it does. The error can be caught at any point. Just because there's one missed opportunity to spot the error doesn't mean they can't spot it and rectify it later in the process.

The person who took the query probably has nothing to do with setting prices or ensuring that pricing on the website is correct. They probably saw it as a simple query from a consumer who was having trouble ordering and checked the status of the stock to give a reply.

If they were very diligent they could have checked that the price was correct, but it's more likely that they have targets for how quickly they deal with an enquiry so they don't dig deeper.

GrumpyPL

The person who replied to your email will be working in a different department to the person pricing the items and adding the listings to the website. Move on - you're not getting a £900 product for £400.

spekes

I will give one tip though for possible future readers of this thread. If you want to get Argos to respond, and this also seems to work for Virgin Holidays, and probably others, they seem to be a lot more helpful and get back to you quicker if you post on their Facebook page than if you e-mail them.

somethingcorporate

It's good advice, public bad press (i.e. on facebook) is a decent kick up the backside.

FOREVER21

spekes wrote: »

I will give one tip though for possible future readers of this thread. If you want to get Argos to respond, and this also seems to work for Virgin Holidays, and probably others, they seem to be a lot more helpful and get back to you quicker if you post on their Facebook page than if you e-mail them.

I think this applies to many companies, my experience when having difficulties with M &S and Co-op energy using social media sites Facebook and Twitter got results when other avenues failed.