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Office Depot Price Guarantee: We’ll Match Prices Anywhere*

office depot price guarantee

No one wants to pay more than they have to, so when a retailer like Office Depot advertises that they will match prices anywhere, that is reassuring.

Or is it?

*MOUSE PRINT: “If you find a lower price on an identical product advertised for less within 14 days…” “…Internet offers do not qualify.” [circular 8/20/06]

By excluding items priced lower online, Office Depot is eliminating a primary source of low price comparison. Thus their headline promise of matching prices anywhere simply is not true.

It is now nearly a year after that ad was published, and Office Depot’s print advertising has been slightly modified to say “Low Price Guarantee. Find a lower price, and we’ll match it!”  They took out the words “anywhere” and “instantly,” and shortened the claim period to seven days.

Their website details their price guarantee, the terms of which vary with your method of purchase. For online and catalog purchases, they will match competitors both online and off; purchases made in stores qualify for price matching at brick and mortar competitor stores only. In both cases, the terms “competitor” and “web competitor” are specially defined by Office Depot:

*MOUSE PRINT:

The qualifying competitors (“Competitors”) are: Staples, Office Max, Best Buy, Circuit City, Reliable, Quill, Sears, Target, K Mart, Costco, Sam’s Club and Comp USA. The qualifying web competitors (“Web Competitors”) are: Staples.com, OfficeMax.com, BestBuy.com, CircuitCity.com, Reliable.com, Quill.com, Sears.com, Target.com, KMart.com, Costco.com, SamsClub.com, CDW.com, Tigerdirect.com, Outpost.com and Frys.com.

They also say if you find a lower price in a different store, “we reserve the right to review your request and match that price in our sole discretion.”

Lastly, they, like Staples, get into a contorted explanation of how they handle price matches when coupons, rebates, or instant savings are involved.

The policies seem simple as advertised, but the details could easily trip up the shopper who doesn’t know the rules.

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iPhone Upgrades: Discount Downgrades

iPhoneAs people lined up to buy iPhones last Friday, some purchasers got less than they bargained for.

One consumer wrote to Mouse Print* saying he bought an iPhone for his fiancée to replace a more conventional phone on her existing AT&T plan. Besides paying $500, and based on material that was handed to him at the Apple store, he expected that her monthly cell bill would only rise by $20 to cover the cost of just adding a data plan.

From AT&T’s website:

Q. Do I need to switch to a different rate plan if I upgrade to iPhone?


A. If you’re an existing AT&T (formerly Cingular) wireless customer, you just need to add an iPhone Data Plan. (This may replace your current data plan. Your voice plan will stay the same) The iPhone Data Plan gives you Visual Voicemail, as well as Unlimited Data—includes both email and web—and texting, all for as little as $20. You’ll add an iPhone Data Plan and sign a new 2-year service contract during the activation process. Discount eligibility for other devices will continue from the time of your most recent contract.

Everything seemed fine for the soon-to-be-groom until he went home to activate the phone via his computer. A notice came up that said “all discounts will be lost.”  This was troublesome since his fiancée had a 15% educational discount on the calling plan that all teachers in her state can have. Since the loss of the discount seemed contrary to his understanding from Apple and AT&T, he continued the activation process. After hours on the phone and back at the store, he learned the truth.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Q. Are business customers eligible for discounts?
A. No. iPhone service is available only to consumer accounts. iPhone and associated wireless service are not eligible for corporate discounts. 

Apparently, her discount plan caused her account to be coded as a “business.”

The consumer said he was not given anything at the store to indicate he would lose the plan discount his girlfriend was receiving. Even the Apple site currently says “If you’re already an AT&T customer and want to keep your current voice plan, you can just add an iPhone Data Plan with unlimited data (email and web) and Visual Voicemail for just $20 per month.”

Worse news came when the consumer checked their refund policy:

*MOUSE PRINT: “You can return your iPhone within 14 days for a full refund, but there is a 10% restocking fee if the box has been opened.”

Our consumer is not alone in his iPhone woes. People on family plans through their employer, for example, cannot merely add an iPhone to their account. An entirely separate individual plan must be purchased, from outside the company, and without any corporate discounts. [See CNN Money story.]

All these consumers may have a good case for requiring Apple/AT&T to waive the restocking fee should they want to return their phone. Sellers generally are required to disclose key facts that might have induced prospective buyers not to make their purchase in the first place.

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Embarq DSL Only $24.95: Your Price Until Pigs Fly*

Embarq 24.95 til pigs fly Isn’t it nice to finally find a company that doesn’t play pricing games with their Internet service?  So many ads offer a low come-on price for a short period, then the price goes up. That’s what one consumer thought who recently wrote to Consumer World.

Embarq, which is the local phone company spinoff from Sprint, is advertising a fixed price of $24.95 for high-speed Internet service, and says that it is “your price until pigs fly.” [website 1/13/07]  They also say “a price that won’t budge” … “for as long as you have the service.” 

The consumer decided to sign up because he could save money by cancelling his existing NetZero dial-up service, and even cancelling his local phone service since he had a cellphone. He could now get high-speed Internet for less than he was currently paying for slower service.

Of course, Mouse Print* would not be looking at this ad unless there was more to it than meets the (pig’s) eye.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Embarq details

pigs fly 2The fine print above indicates that the company can just cancel the service, which, obviously, would immediately extinguish the $24.95 “forever” price. In addition, their standard terms and conditions page has more fine print than a phonebook, yet seems to be currently missing detailed rules about their residential Internet service. In part it reiterates they can discontinue a service with 30 days notice, but makes no mention of the customer’s right to a fixed price for life. Also, since the fixed bargain DSL service price is linked to local phone service,  local phone service prices could easily go up with regulatory approval where required.

Unfortunately, the consumer did not read the fine print, and Embarq did not direct him to it by means of using an asterisk next to the price. He didn’t realize that the $24.95 price is only available as part of a package of telephone services, that he no longer has. He didn’t know they would add a $10 Internet access charge to his bill. And he didn’t realize to get out of this mess he would have to pay a $99 early termination fee.

There is no happy ending to this story, but a moral. You have to read the mouse print, and know that most phone companies do not sell “naked DSL.” Â