Computers

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The Case of the Disappearing Charity Donation

Those who watched the Apprentice a week ago Sunday saw a competition to promote the sale of Symantec’s Norton 360 computer protection software that is packaged along with Lifelock’s identity fraud protection service for $79.99. The commercial that immediately followed the selection of the winner promised to give $10 of each sale to a particular charity.

What probably went unnoticed by most people was a fine print disclaimer that flashed on the screen momentarily, limiting the donation.

*Mouse Print:

“up to $25,000”

While certainly any donation to a charity is a kind gesture by these companies, and $10 is a good percentage of the selling price, the cap on the donation really means that only the first 2500 orders will trigger it. If your company had in essence a two hour commercial for a product on national TV, wouldn’t you expect that tens of thousands of orders would be placed? If you then ran a commercial the following week on the Apprentice (last night) and said the charitable donation offer was being continued, wouldn’t you expect even more people to sign up? And wouldn’t you expect some goodly percentage of people watching either week might erroneously believe that they were helping a charity when in fact they may not have been?

To add insult to injury, if someone visits the Apprentice website at NBC.com, to find out about the offer, they would have seen the ad above. When clicking it, the user is taken to this descriptive page:

In neither place is there any mention of a $10 donation. In fact, in order for there to be a $10 donation, one of two promo codes have to be filled in on the order form (and they are not mentioned at all on the NBC site).

*MOUSE PRINT:

To make matters worse, a promo code that does not trigger the charitable donation is already filled in on the ordering page.

*MOUSE PRINT:

To their credit, both Lifelock and Symantec mention the charitable donation limit of $25,000 on their websites (albeit in small type), and pre-fill-in the proper code on their ordering forms. Mouse Print* wrote to NBC and Symantec to point out the problem, but no explanation or fix has yet been made.

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Get TurboTax 50% Off by Outsmarting the Fine Print

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it is time to begin to think about doing your income taxes. For many people, that means looking for a deal on tax preparation software.

To get the best deal, you have to combine the various ways to save money: buy the item on sale, use a coupon, get a rebate, and do a price match. And that is exactly what you have to if you want to get a great price on TurboTax Deluxe (for federal and state returns, with “free” federal efiling).

TurboTax Deluxe is selling for $59.99 this year, but by using all the techniques mentioned above, you MAY be able to buy it for a net price of $29.99. We say “may” because doing a price match is always YMMV (your mileage may vary) depending on which store you go to and the temperament of the checkout person. And rebates can also be iffy.

This year, Costco is offering TT for $49.99 — a $10 savings to start with compared to most stores. But they just issued a $10 off coupon (good in-store or online until January 24, 2010) to bring down the price to $39.99. At the same time, Intuit has a $10 mail-in rebate on TT Deluxe which should bring the net price down to $29.99. [Rebate not valid in NY or ME retail locations.] But there is a catch on Intuit’s rebate site:

*MOUSE PRINT:

“TurboTax and Quicken products purchased at Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Costco or Target are not eligible for rebates, unless otherwise specified by Intuit.”

In addition, it is not currently good at Staples either because you must use their “easy rebate” website, and there are no rebates available for the purchase of TT alone.

So what’s a bargain hunter to do? Find a store that does price matches other than those stores excluded from the promotion above. So you well may be able to use Best Buy, OfficeMax or Office Depot. (Note some stores will balk at matching Costco’s prices because it is a “membership club”. So, you may have to fight a little. You can also ask if their computerized system for doing price matches has a list of stores for which they do honor price matches. If so, ask to see it. Costco may actually be listed!)

In a nutshell, here is how to get this deal: print the Costco webpage showing the $39.99 price (after the $10 coupon has been deducted). Bring along a copy of the $10 coupon (the link is above), just in case. Go to Best Buy or your favorite store that carries TT and has a price matching policy. Ask for the price match. Do the rebate. And if all goes well, you will have snared TurboTax Deluxe this year for just $29.99 net.

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Hidden Fees Discovered for “Free” Windows 7 Upgrades

win7upgrade Since June 26, retailers and computer manufacturers have urged shoppers to buy computers already on store shelves loaded with the much-maligned Windows Vista operating system because they would qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 7 when it was released in October. As it turns out, Mouse Print* has learned that some computer purchasers will be asked to pay shipping, handling and other junk fees that total between $11 and $17 to receive their “free” upgrade disks.

Here is a part of a typical advertisement promising a free upgrade to Windows 7:

win7lenovo3

However, when visiting various computer manufacturers’ websites specifically set up for processing Windows 7 upgrade requests, some consumers will learn for the first time about the possible fees (that are often buried in a FAQ section or under Terms and Conditions):

*MOUSE PRINT:

The Details: “The Windows 7 Upgrade license is free for qualifying PCs. Only materials, shipping, handling, and fulfillment fees may be included in the cost of the upgrade program. If any fees apply, the amount will be presented to you prior to final submission of your order. At that time, you will have the opportunity to opt out before final order submission.” [from Lenovo terms] [Emphasis added]

“There is no charge for the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program from HP; however, shipping, handling, and other fees (including taxes depending on local and state laws) might apply depending on the retailer or reseller where you purchased your eligible computer.” [from HP FAQ] [Emphasis added]

win7dellglobe2
Dell ad 9/30/09. [Dell FAQ]

Dell told Mouse Print* that it is not going to charge any fees to US customers, despite disclosures to the contrary on their website and in recent newspaper ads (like the one above).

Both HP and Sony told Mouse Print* that they negotiated with big retail chains offering them the opportunity to allow their customers to receive completely free upgrades. Neither would provide a list of which retailers signed up, nor what retailers had to pay or agree to. Retailers say the manufacturers decided on pricing. So they are each pointing fingers at the other claiming the other is responsible for setting the shipping charges if any. Who’s caught in the middle? The consumer, who may not know until after purchase, whether they will have to pay high shipping and handling fees.

No manufacturers’ site linked from the official Microsoft Windows 7 upgrade page lists upfront the specific total charges that consumers will incur for shipping/handling/fulfillment, nor which retailers have agreed to “eat” the shipping charges and which have not. You often have to begin filling out the upgrade request form, sometimes with personal information including the serial number or part number of the computer you have purchased before the shipping costs are revealed. Lenovo is one of the few manufacturers that discloses their fee in the first step of the upgrade process.

Despite the near complete lack of price disclosure, Mouse Print* has learned some of the charges that some consumers will face:

Manufacturer Shipping Fees for “Free” Upgrade to Windows 7
Acer/eMachines/Gateway $0
Compaq $0 for most buyers; others pay $12.99 for first kit
Dell $0 for US online and retail purchasers
HP $0 for most buyers; others pay $12.99 for first kit
Lenovo $17.03 all buyers
Sony $0 for some buyers; $14.99 for others
Toshiba $0 for most buyers; $11.25/$12.99 for others

Now to the retailers. There generally is little or no disclosure by retailers and etailers in their advertisements that some purchasers may have to pay substantial delivery charges to obtain their “free” upgrades, let alone the actual price that will be charged. Of course, some stores’ customers won’t have to pay any charges, but the consumer cannot tell the difference between sellers that fail to disclose the charges and ones that legitimately are not making their customers pay. Staples appears to be the only major retailer that clearly states separately for each computer in its circulars when customers will have to pay for shipping.  Spokespeople for Amazon.com, Costco, Best Buy, and Office Depot told Mouse Print* that their customers will not be charged shipping and handling fees.

So what’s a consumer to do?  If you have already purchased your computer, you can go on the manufacturer’s website to register for the “free” upgrade.  During the registration process, manufacturers will eventually disclose the actual shipping cost, if any. If you have not yet purchased your computer, there is no real way to know whether purchasing it at retailer “A” versus at retailer “B” will result in a truly free upgrade (except those noted above).

And one last bit of bad news.  Some customers who purchased computers since June 26, the start of the free upgrade qualification period, will not qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 7 no matter what, and different procedures and costs apply to purchasers of boxed Windows Vista:

*MOUSE PRINT:

  • Computers with Windows Vista Basic are excluded from the program;
  • Computers with Windows XP (except for the Professional Vista version downgraded to XP) are also excluded.  That means virtually all purchasers of netbooks will not get Windows 7 free.
  • Purchasers of boxed Windows Vista software versions higher than Basic since June 26 must process their upgrade requests through Microsoft at a cost of $9.99 for shipping and handling.

No doubt, the charges that some computer purchasers will be asked to pay for their “free” upgrades will come as a big surprise.