Internet

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Land in San Bernardino, CA: $115 an Acre?

We all know that real estate prices are falling, but this is ridiculous. Here is a land auction ad that appeared recently on eBay:

land auction ad

Actually, the auction began at $1.00, and quickly zoomed to a $1.25. A week later, the five acres of land in San Bernardino went up to $570. Still a bargain by any standard. Or is it?

*MOUSE PRINT: Tucked away in the description of what you are bidding for is this further disclosure:

land auction small 

Translation: You are only bidding on the downpayment, and then you must also pay about $300 a month for the next 15 years. That comes to $54,000 including interest at an unspecified rate.

Of course, you need to make sure the advertiser really owns the property, that it is not located next to a nuclear power plant, and you will own more than just mineral rights.

Update: The auction ended on September first with a winning bid of $1525.

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Laplink PCMover: Use Once, Throw Away?

pcmover small Getting a new computer is always a hassle because of the difficulty of transferring your programs and files from the old computer to the new one.

To make the task easier, some programs are for sale that do the heavy lifting for you. You install it on both the old and new computers, connect them together, and woosh… most programs, files and setting get moved over automatically.

There is just one problem. Not likely noticed by most purchasers of Laplink PCmover, is the little asterisk on the product’s cover to the right of the words “Move All Your Programs, Files and Settings to a New PC*”. That leads to a fine print disclaimer on the side of the box that says:

*MOUSE PRINT:

disclaimer

Translation: The product is in essence for one time use only. Even if you uninstall it from your old computer, you cannot reinstall it on another old computer you want to migrate without violating terms of the licensing agreement. For that, you have to buy an additional license (albeit at a 25% discount).

At a list price of $59.95, you should be able to use the program at home one set of computers at a time as you probably expected you could.

 

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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.