Internet

Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

“If Your Credit Card Expires, We’ll Charge it Anyway”

et bookTo entice people to sign up for an annual subscription to their Entertainment coupon books, the company recently offered an enticement: pay just $10.50 for the 2012 book (and agree to buy the 2013 book, and those printed in subsequent years, for $5 off when they become available).

Like a book club, they say they will give you advance notice before the new book is shipped and give you an opportunity to cancel. That’s fair and reasonable.

To prevent some clever consumer from just cancelling the future editions in order to snag a bargain on this year’s book, they buried in the fine print, this bit of protection for themselves:

*MOUSE PRINT:

6. If you cancel prior to receiving your first book through the Annual Renewal program (2013 Edition) your credit card will be charged a $5 cancellation fee.

That also seems fair, and the consumer is still getting a bargain price on the 2012 book.

What seems to cross the line, however, is this:

*MOUSE PRINT:

5. If your Credit Card reaches its expiration date, your failure to cancel after receipt of our notification will constitute your authorization for us to continue billing your card.

What? They are going to send you the book, knowing that your credit card has expired, and deem this fine print provision to be your authorization to engage in this questionable practice?

Somehow, I don’t think that Visa and MasterCard would look kindly on a company that deliberately puts charges on a card it knows is no longer valid.

Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

90% off on Groceries at Amazon? (part 2)

Recently we told you that JC Penney was doing away with phony price comparisons in its stores. Other sellers, however, still need to clean up their act.

A little over a year ago, Mouse Print* spotlighted a number of grocery items at Amazon.com that they claimed were 90% off, when they were not. The company used grossly exaggerated “regular” prices to make it appear that the goods were 90% off.

After we called them on the carpet, influential blog that Mouse Print* is, the company cleaned up its act, right? Well, not quite. A quick look through their listings turned up hundreds of questionable discounts.

Here, they are claiming that 24 boxes of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese normally sell for $791.76 — or $32.99 a box.

*MOUSE PRINT:

The actual regular price at a local supermarket was $1.59 a box, or $38.16 for 24, not nearly $800 as Amazon claimed.

Here are some more examples of wildly exaggerated regular prices used to provide an illusory discount of over 90%:



*MOUSE PRINT: Supermarket price is $2.50 a box; with four boxes costing $10, not $239.


*MOUSE PRINT: Supermarket price is $1.34 a box, not over $140.


*MOUSE PRINT: Supermarket price is $4.69 a box, not over $90.


*MOUSE PRINT: Supermarket price is $1.89 a bottle, not over $47.


*MOUSE PRINT: Supermarket price is $1.79 a can, not almost $45.


*MOUSE PRINT: Supermarket price is $1.59 a box, not $55.


*MOUSE PRINT: And in one of the craziest savings claims ever, how could a single small package of licorice ever cost over $72, thus forming a basis for a $2599 regular price for three dozen?

In many of these cases, a third party seller has established the regular and sale prices, apparently with little oversight by Amazon. So, a word to the wise is to ignore Amazon’s savings claims, and do your own comparison of actual selling prices at a variety of stores.

You can see more wild price comparisons scattered here.

Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

TGI Friday’s “Free Entree” Offers Mislead

We’ve often complained about misleading subject lines in email used by marketers to make you think you are being offered a better deal than you really are.

Back in March, TGI Friday’s sent an email with a subject “Coupon Inside – Free Entree on Us!”. But that was not what they were really offering.

*MOUSE PRINT:

The offer is really buy a meal, get one free, and that is far different from being given a free entree coupon as the subject suggests.

Fast forward to January 2012. The company sent another email promising a free entree:

Here we go again. But this time, it wasn’t even a buy one, get one free coupon.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Buy one entree, get HALF off another? How is that a “free entree”?

Enough of this foolishness. Mouse Print* contacted the PR company for TGI Friday’s to point out the misleading nature of their January offer, and ask what the company was going to do about it. The spokesperson replied:

Thank you for calling our attention to this matter. T.G.I. Friday’s is aware that there was a discrepancy between the subject line and the message of an email that was distributed to Friday’s email subscribers on Friday, January 13th. T.G.I. Friday’s sent an email today clarifying the offer and apologizing to its guests for the mistake.

Less than 30 minutes later, an email entitled “Accept Our Apology” was received from the company, complete with bright red type:

We sent you an email on January 13, 2012 with an incorrect email subject line. The subject line stated “Free Entrée and MORE Savings Inside”, however the coupon is valid for “Buy One Entrée, Get the 2nd Entrée Half Off”. We hope you will accept our apology and still use the coupon below.

Thanks to the company for doing the right thing. I wouldn’t hold my breath, however, expecting them to ever send an email with a really truthful subject like “Buy 1, Get 1 Free Coupon Inside”. Maybe they will surprise us.