Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

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Can You Believe Sears’ Presidents Day Sale Prices?

 For Presidents Day, Sears advertised a big appliance sale, and really was one of their best sales of the year. They were promoting 35% off Kenmore appliances, which is their most generous across-the-board discount on this brand.

Sears 35% off

Poking around the Sears website, MrConsumer was curious to see if Sears was really giving this generous of a discount on all Kenmore major appliances. Checking some refrigerators, some times they were $20 or $25 or so less than a full 35%, and sometimes they over-discounted by that much.

Moving onto slide-in gas stoves, similar to what MrConsumer owns, he found this.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Sears 35% off Kenmore

The actual discounts for these ranges were not even close to the claimed 35% off. Thinking that possibly the extra discount would be added when the item was placed in one’s cart, MrConsumer added that $1259.99 range on the left.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Sears $100 higher

Shockingly, the price became $100 higher –$1359.99 — making its discount the same as the other three shown — only 15% off.

Nothing in the original advertisement indicated the discount on Kenmore appliances was “up to” 35% off as they disclosed for other brands. And there was no asterisk indicating that some Kenmore appliances were excluded from the sale. Given the nature of this advertisement, it is perfectly reasonable for a consumer to believe that any and all Kenmore major appliances were being offered at 35% off.

After running the “35% off Kenmore” appliances claim for several days, Sears finally heard the whispers of Honest Abe Lincoln and George “I cannot tell a lie” Washington, and changed their advertising to “up to 35% off”:

up to 35% off

And they even fixed the price on that slide-in range back to the promised $1259.99.

UPDATE: On Presidents Day itself, one day after correcting their advertisement, Sears sent an email to customers once again promising a full 35% off Kenmore appliances:

Sears 35 repeated

So much for Honest Abe.

The bottom line is, unfortunately, that you have to double check every price and every savings claim to ensure that you are really getting what was advertised.

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The 24-Hour Airfare Reservation Cancellation Rule Revisited

airplane Last week, we scolded JetBlue for not being as generous as some other airlines if a consumer wants to cancel a ticket purchased within the past 24 hours. JetBlue follows the federal rule to the letter, and only grants a full refund for tickets bought at least a week in advance of the flight and is cancelled within 24 hours of purchase. Delta and US Airways, on the other hand, don’t impose that seven-day in advance restriction. They let you cancel within 24 hours of purchase, irrespective of the actual travel date, and get a full refund.

Mouse Print* checked with a few other airlines to see what their policies were and learned that American Airlines seemed to have a strange application of the federal rule.

Here is the actual federal rule from the Department of Transportation, requiring each airline to adopt a customer service plan that covers certain things, including:

*MOUSE PRINT:

“(4) Allowing reservations to be held at the quoted fare without payment, or [emphasis added] cancelled without penalty, for at least twenty-four hours after the reservation is made if the reservation is made one week or more prior to a flight’s departure;”

Most people would read that to say whether the customer merely makes a reservation OR actually purchases a ticket, and they cancel within 24 hours of making that reservation, they are entitled to do so without penalty (as long as the reservation was made at least seven days in advance).

That is not how American applies the rule. If you buy a nonrefundable ticket on their website at 10 am today but decide at noon that you want to cancel the reservation, American will charge you a $200 penalty/fee. If, on the other hand, you merely want to make a reservation today and lock in the price shown, they will allow you to do that without having to purchase the ticket until 11:59 pm the next day.

They take the word “or” literally in the federal rule, and interpret the rule to require them to EITHER hold a reservation free for 24 hours OR provide a refund for purchased tickets cancelled within 24 hours of the transaction. They chose the former.

What does the Department of Transportation say about such an interpretation? They agree!

*MOUSE PRINT:

8. Does a carrier have to offer a consumer the opportunity to either “hold a reservation for 24-hours without payment” or to “cancel a reservation within 24 hours without penalty?”

No, a carrier is not required to offer both options. But if a carrier accepts reservations without payment, it must allow the consumer to cancel the reservation within 24 hours without penalty, and if the carrier requires payment with a reservation, it must allow the consumer to cancel the payment and reservation within 24 hours and receive a full refund.

Wow. How anti-consumer.

The lesson is that there is no blanket 24-hour right to cancel airline reservations, and therefore you have to check each airline’s policy before you buy.

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Full Refunds Not Always Guaranteed at JetBlue if Canceling a Flight Within 24 Hours

  The airlines don’t like to publicize it, but starting in 2012 the Department of Transportation required US airlines to make refunds to passengers who cancelled their non-refundable tickets/reservations within 24 hours of making them.

That is a great consumer right.

One New Yorker, however, needed to take an emergency flight in the next day or two, so he bought a ticket on JetBlue. His plans shortly changed, and within 24 hours he contacted JetBlue to cancel the reservation. They said he did not qualify for a full refund. What?

JetBlue’s contract of carriage states this:

*MOUSE PRINT:

“Following receipt of payment from a Passenger, JetBlue will allow a reservation to be held at the quoted fare for 24 hours, if the reservation is made at least one week prior to the flight’s departure. [Emphasis added.] If such reservation is canceled within 24 hours of booking, Passenger will receive a full refund without assessment of a cancellation fee.”

Sure enough, the fine print of the DOT’s regulation provides:

*MOUSE PRINT:

Allows “passengers to hold a reservation without payment, or to cancel it without penalty, for 24 hours after the reservation is made, if the reservation is made one week or more prior to a flight’s departure date.”

Who knew?

A check of some other airlines’ policies and a call to U.S. Airways suggest that their cancellation policies don’t impose that seven-day in advance purchase requirement to get a full refund.

As always, don’t assume. Ask your airline if you indeed have the unrestricted right to cancel your ticket within 24 hours of purchase.