Retail

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We’ll Beat Anyone’s Price by 15% or It’s Free*

 Some claims in advertising seem very enticing until you begin to think about them. A classic example is the price guarantee promoted by National Floors Direct:

National Floors Direct
Click picture above to watch commercial

The claim “we’ll beat anyone’s price by 15%, or it’s free” is ludicrous on its face because what merchant would rather take a 100% reduction in price over just a 15% one?

But National Floors Direct goes one step further.

*MOUSE PRINT:

National Floors Direct

If admitting that they never have given away any merchandise free isn’t proof that this is a disingenuous offer, then we don’t know what is.

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At Sears, “All” Does Not Always Mean “All”

  Last week, Sears advertised “lowest prices of the season” in certain product categories and offered some of the biggest discounts ever offered on Kenmore ovens and ranges.

sears

In addition to offering wall ovens for 50% off and Kenmore ranges for 35% off, the deal was particularly sweet because you could get an “extra 15% off ALL [emphasis added] appliances with Sears card.”

MrConsumer encouraged a friend to go to Sears to get a Kenmore stove he had been admiring since the 35% off sale coupled with the extra 15% off would likely beat the prices that would be offered during the upcoming Friends & Family sale. When he approached a salesperson about getting the extra 15% off, the first thing he was told was that they needed to check the exclusions. Exclusions? What exclusions? Nothing could be simpler than the straight forward promise that ALL appliances were an extra 15% with the Sears card.

*MOUSE PRINT:

sears exclusion

What, no extra 15% on Kenmore ranges or ovens? Mouse Print* wrote to Sears’ PR folks about this last Monday and by the next morning the advertisement had been corrected after admitting it was an “inadvertent error”:

Sears

Great. Hats off to Sears for the quick corrective action.

A day or two later, however, Sears sent an email with a link exclusively for Sears card holders promising an extra 15% off “select” appliances. Were those Kenmore ovens for 50% off and other Kenmore ranges advertised for 35% off excluded. Nope.

Sears extra 15%

*MOUSE PRINT:

Extra percentage off cannot be combined with other Sears card discounts. Excludes Jenn-Air, Dacor, floor care, sewing machines, countertop microwaves, water heaters, water softeners, water filtration, air conditioners, air cleaners, fans, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, accessories, closeouts and everyday great price items. Excludes Sears Commercial One® accounts and Outlet Stores.

Of course, when trying to make a test purchase of one of the 35% off Kenmore ranges, there was zero extra discount when using the Sears card.

We wrote to Sears again asking what steps the company will take going forward to assure shoppers that advertised offers are accurate and will be honored as stated, and how they planned to compensate customers who sought to take advantage of the sale price AND the card discount but were denied.

Sears did not respond by our publishing deadline. Any update will be provided here.

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What’s Really in That Pet Food?

 A professor at Chapman University in Calfornia just completed a study of the actual contents of dog and cat food with some shocking results.

Of the 52 products tested, only 31 were labeled correctly. Of the about 20 that were potentially mislabeled, seven were cat food and 13 were dog food. What kind of discrepancies did the researchers find?

*MOUSE PRINT:

Sixteen contained a certain kind of meat that was not specified on the label. In three cases, one or two meats were substituted for the meats listed in the ingredients. Pork was the usual addition. On the bright side, no horse meat was found.

The study did not specify the brand names of the affected products (and our request of the author to provide specifics was denied): “It was not our intention to single out pet food brands, but rather to investigate the issue as a whole. Therefore, we will not be releasing the names of the brands or specific products that were tested in this study.”

A pet advocate who has written extensively on this subject at TruthAboutPetFood.com paid for a copy of the study and posted examples of some of its findings:

Sample number P017 – Cat Food (wet). Meat ingredients listed on the cat food label: “Liver (turkey), Turkey, Meat by-product, Chicken”. Testing found: “Chicken and Goat”. This pet food was a ‘turkey’ cat food – but testing found no turkey.

Sample number P019 – Dog Food (dry). Meat ingredients listed on the dog food label: “Chicken, Chicken meal, Beef fat”. Testing found: “Beef, Lamb, Chicken, Turkey, and Pork”. This chicken and beef fat dog food included 3 other animal species that were not listed on the label (lamb, turkey and pork).

We unfortunately have to conclude that in too many cases, the ingredients listing on pet foods is merely a suggested list of what might be in the bag or can.