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Consumer World Celebrates 30 Years: 1995 - 2025  
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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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Consumer World Celebrates 30 Years: 1995 - 2025  
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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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Consumer World Celebrates 30 Years: 1995 - 2025  
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Purina Dog Chow: Adds Up to 2 Years to Your Dog’s Life*

Purina Dog Chow Imagine if your choice of dog food could extend the life of your favorite pet by years.

That seems to be the claim in a currently running commercial for Purina Puppy Chow and Dog Chow. The ad says, “add up to two healthy years to his life.”

What proof does the company have? The ad goes on to say, “a groundbreaking 14 year study by Purina proves that Puppy Chow, then Dog Chow nutrition, fed properly over a lifetime, helps add up to two quality years with your dog.”

Wow. Who would feed any other brand to their dog if Purina is so much better?

*MOUSE PRINT: The company never tested other brands of dog food compared to Purina. “All dogs received the same 100 percent nutritionally complete and balanced foods – only the amount differed. ”

In fact, here is the test methodology:

For the first three years, the control group was fed an unlimited amount of food during 15-minute daily feedings; afterwards they were fed an amount estimated to be the caloric requirement for large breed dogs in “normal” body condition. Each dog in the lean-fed group always received 75 percent of the amount eaten by its paired littermate. All dogs consumed the same diets, which were 100 percent nutritionally complete and balanced (first a puppy formula, then an adult formula) — only the quantity provided was different.

Translation: what was really tested was how underfeeding your dog could extend his life.

While the advice from the actual test may be sound — that slim dogs live longer — it may not be just this brand that can extend your dog’s life.

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