Seagate ST31000340AS 1TB 32MB SATA HDD $110

I only ordered 2, I figured that wasn't being too greedy LOL. Even if I could have ordered say 10, I wouldn't have.
 
Mine was delayed.

Then i checked my junk mail and saw the cancel notice. /cry
 
This is bizarre.... instead of an email I got a phone call with a recorded message. No email, and the order status still shows "in production" with delivery date of 8/26.

Kind of annoying, this whole thing. This means that any good deal you see on dell could be a "mistake". It undermines the deals they are offering (if they are in fact offering them).
 
I just got the same message left on my voice mail. Oh well, was worth a shot.
 
So some people got 10% coupon? What decides who gets an email, who gets a phone call, who gets an apologetic coupon?
 
I always love these threads because people always get pissed off when their order gets canceled despite the fact it was obvious from the beginning that it would probably be canceled and was a pricing error (gee, an $80 discount for cameras applied to a hard drive? there can't be anything wrong with that!)
 
mpeg4v3 said:
I always love these threads because people always get pissed off when their order gets canceled despite the fact it was obvious from the beginning that it would probably be canceled and was a pricing error (gee, an $80 discount for cameras applied to a hard drive? there can't be anything wrong with that!)
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It's not necessarily a mistake. These prices are set in part by pricing engines that account for cost of goods, depreciation, inventory and expected demand. It may not account for the competition's price, sales forecasts or other factors that could stabilize the selling price.

The thing is, since Dell reserves the right to refuse because of "mistakes", Dell is then free to test the demand at any price. For example, given their factors the engine decides that it needs to sell off a few and $109 is chosen as the right way to get that done. They sell the number of units they intended at that price; all orders they don't need then are cancelled and called a "mistake".

This has the side benefit of generating lots of marketing data; the pricing engine could be stalling from lack of data in slow demand.
 
venm11 said:
It's not necessarily a mistake. These prices are set in part by pricing engines that account for cost of goods, depreciation, inventory and expected demand. It may not account for the competition's price, sales forecasts or other factors that could stabilize the selling price.

The thing is, since Dell reserves the right to refuse because of "mistakes", Dell is then free to test the demand at any price. For example, given their factors the engine decides that it needs to sell off a few and $109 is chosen as the fastest way to get that done. They find that there is higher demand at this price than expected, so they cancel all the orders they don't need to get their numbers in line, and call those "a mistake".

This has the side benefit of generating lots of marketing data; the pricing engine could be stalling from lack of data in slow demand.
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no, I'm pretty sure having a $80 discount for cameras being applied to a 1tb hard drive counts as a "mistake"
 
mpeg4v3 said:
no, I'm pretty sure having a $80 discount for cameras being applied to a 1tb hard drive counts as a "mistake"
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Well, how do you figure this mistake happens? A clerical error, like they have some intern in charge of setting the price just for the Seagate 1gb? There's probably a little more to it than that.

Dell did not survive this long on razor thin margins by overlooking the cost and resale price of parts, or setting the prices off the top of their head. The only way they can optimize the prices is with a system.

$80 off a camera isn't necessarily a bad decision in small quantities, if it shores up your numbers when they need to be. But what they ought to be doing is constraining the # of sales at that price and immediately changing the price when that's reached.
 
call a message this morning :(

isnt there anything we can do, like isnt there some sort of contract set up when we "bought" these drives?
 
Just got the call myself. It was a canned message. Said it was a pricing error and canceled.
 
i dont get it still. i mean i walk into some store where they have a pricing error like a PDA with a sticker of 89.99 but when it rings up it says 129.99 the store has to give it to you for 89.99 right? whats the difference with dell online and me walking into the store other than millions of people can take advantage of an online offer?
 
Crankmonkey said:
i dont get it still. i mean i walk into some store where they have a pricing error like a PDA with a sticker of 89.99 but when it rings up it says 129.99 the store has to give it to you for 89.99 right? whats the difference with dell online and me walking into the store other than millions of people can take advantage of an online offer?
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They should honor the first one and immediatley change the price.
 
Crankmonkey said:
call a message this morning :(

isnt there anything we can do, like isnt there some sort of contract set up when we "bought" these drives?
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read the fine print next time. as said above, dell has the right to cancel any orders they want
 
There needs to be laws against this to protect consumers. I mean, it could be considered false advertising. Retailers need to be held accountable for these mistakes, or they should only allow a certain amount of mistakes per year depending on size of the business. Or something....otherwise all retailers would "accidentally" pull this shit just so people would come to their stores/site and get away with it. Just because it in their policy doesnt mean it is legal.
 
mine just got cancelled too :(
oh well, by the time the rest of my server gets here the drives will be this price on ZZF
 
Thats why I didn't even bother with this deal. Dell has done this before several times and the wait + delayed shipping + delayed cancel just wasn't worth the gamble. I just went with ZZF.
 
"This order has been changed or canceled."

Goddamn @#$$%%#@ Dell !! Hope they made a nice profit off of us suckers.
 
Bugster said:
There needs to be laws against this to protect consumers. I mean, it could be considered false advertising. Retailers need to be held accountable for these mistakes, or they should only allow a certain amount of mistakes per year depending on size of the business. Or something....otherwise all retailers would "accidentally" pull this shit just so people would come to their stores/site and get away with it. Just because it in their policy doesnt mean it is legal.
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Agree completely. The price online was a price advertised to the public. To renig, fine print or not, falls under Bad Faith and is likely technically illegal under the laws we already have.
 
I hope everyone that is here complaining is, at the very least, filing with the BBB. A couple hundred complaints might get them to stop acting so horribly. I went through the same crap with the 8800gt when it came out and it cost me missing other deals while I waited for Dell.
 
I am not really pissed off or sore per se -- some people did get their drives to ship, likely those who got in early. Because some people did in fact get their drives to ship, I thought I had a glimmer of hope. I'm not mad at all for them shattering my dreams and ruining my life. ROFL. BBB complaints won't do jack most of the time.
 
Strmtrper6 said:
I hope everyone that is here complaining is, at the very least, filing with the BBB. A couple hundred complaints might get them to stop acting so horribly. I went through the same crap with the 8800gt when it came out and it cost me missing other deals while I waited for Dell.
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Yeap, missed out on ZZF's $139 deal, its now back to $149.
 
ir0nw0lf said:
I am not really pissed off or sore per se -- some people did get their drives to ship, likely those who got in early. Because some people did in fact get their drives to ship, I thought I had a glimmer of hope. I'm not mad at all for them shattering my dreams and ruining my life. ROFL. BBB complaints won't do jack most of the time.
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Well, one BBB complaint will only encourage a company to resolve your issue, not change their business practices. A large number of complaints, especially unresolved will result in a poor rating and a bad public stain on the company's reputation ---- that will motivate them to change.


BBB report for Dell Inc :
(for comparison, Newegg and HP)

The BBB processed a total of 12223 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total of 12223 complaints closed in 36 months, 3805 were closed in the last year.
-----------------
Advertising Issues - Claims alleging print or electronic media advertised claims or practices misrepresent the service or product offer.

Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues.

147 - Company resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues. The consumer acknowledged acceptance to the BBB.
242 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB.

Administratively Closed - The BBB determined that the complaint could not be satisfactorily settled using standard methods of voluntary dispute resolution

24 - BBB determined the company made a reasonable offer to resolve the issues, but the consumer did not accept the offer.
11 - BBB determined the company provided proper verification that indicated there was no obligation to resolve the issues of the complaint.
65 - BBB determined that despite the company's reasonable effort to address complaint issues, the consumer remained dissatisfied.
6 - BBB determined that while the company addressed the complaint issues, the complainant was dissatisfied and the matter was outside the BBB Rules of Arbitration
-------------------
.
 
Some of you people are really spiteful. Why waste time filing a BBB complaint over an honest mistake that didn't harm anyone.
The price mistake was so obvious. You entered the lottery. Some of you won, most didn't win. Just let it go and move on.
 
GlimmerMan said:
Some of you people are really spiteful. Why waste time filing a BBB complaint over an honest mistake that didn't harm anyone.
The price mistake was so obvious. You entered the lottery. Some of you won, most didn't win. Just let it go and move on.
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$20 discount over compeditor prices (who had no tax and free shipping) isn't very obvious.
 
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