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Bad Black Friday at Rockler!

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3K views 25 replies 18 participants last post by  Kazooman 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I ordered a router table on sale for Black Friday (Bench Dog® Cast Iron Router Table with Prolift, Plus FREE Portamate 3-1/4 HP Router Item # 58807 1 $499.98)

Rockler send a confirmation email, then a day later refused to honor the price saying it was a posting error and raised the price $400!!!!

Really? That sounds easy, advertise low prices to attract customers then after the sale, pull back? That's bait and switch to me! They offered a $25 coupon, though :(

Be careful
 
#3 · (Edited by Moderator)
Do you mean to say that the price went from ~$500 to ~$900, or almost double what was advertised?? I would normally be inclined to just write off Rockler for any future purchases, but with that amount of gouge, I'd be more inclined to contact the Consumer Protection division of your states AG! You have the confirmation, so it's already in writing from them.

Cheers,
Brad
 
#4 ·
Sounds more like an error by a low-level flunky than a deliberate bait and switch. Was $499 way too low to be believed? If so then the fault is with some overworked copy editor who made a mistake then a distracted clerk who made another. Easy for me to say because I didn't get burned, but cut 'em a break… they're a little half-assed retailer doing all of us a service by running brick 'n mortar shops whenthe whole world is running the other way.
 
#8 ·
They have to sell at the price advertised, it is the law, mistake is on their part and they have to assume. Insist and you will get your stuff. Of course you have to prove the facts.

- ThomasChippendale
sucks but if you read the fine print on most circulars/FAQ on websites they state a disclaimer that they are not responsible for misprints. Now each state has laws on the books but most would hold a retail to that.

Bummer for sure, but I don't think rockler operates like that .
 
#9 ·
Thanks all for advises ! Yes they say they are not liable for misprints, although there is really no place you click to say you agree with that, and even using their search feature I could not find that verbiage on their web site: it must be pretty hidden!

Rockler must have literally thousands of items they sells and they change the price of just a few dozen for Black Friday. I find hard to believe that this list has not gone through a LOT of decisions and revisions. It is not just like some low level person, check the left-over boxes in the corner of a warehouse and decides: "this needs to go and that one too". Also on my keyboards, 4 and 8 are pretty far apart, it is not like some big fingered guy could have hit the adjacent key! I don't think this is malicious, but hey, I spend quite some time reviewing the best offers then when they switched I was not in a position I could re-review the market again !

I ended up making a complaint at the State Consumer Protection Agency.
 
#10 ·
Definitely a bummer and a disappointment, but this sounds like an honest mistake to me on the part of Rockler; not a bait and switch tactic, or other intentional deception. It doesn't seem consistent with the good natured woodworking culture to be punitive when someone makes a mistake. Rockler is just a bunch of woodworkers like us, and one (or maybe two or three) of them made a goof here.
 
#11 ·
They have to sell at the price advertised, it is the law, mistake is on their part and they have to assume. Insist and you will get your stuff. Of course you have to prove the facts.

- ThomasChippendale

sucks but if you read the fine print on most circulars/FAQ on websites they state a disclaimer that they are not responsible for misprints. Now each state has laws on the books but most would hold a retail to that.

Bummer for sure, but I don t think rockler operates like that .

- bonesbr549
There's a difference between a misprint and a sales transaction that has taken place and confirmed and then saying there was an error after the fact. Especially if the card was already charged.
 
#13 ·
A disclaimer does not allow you to bypass a law, last week I bought a 4 pack of light bulbs advertized at $1.00. The cashier charged me $3.69, the regular price. I went to the service desk and they acknowledged the error, (only after trying to fool me with saying that only ones with damaged packaging was $1…) , I got it for free since the ruling is that for a item under $10, if the price is wrong, they have to give it away.
 
#15 ·
I got two fishing rods for the cost of shipping over the weekend, because of a dual-special (mistake) tackledirect.com ran for a bit. Granted, I haven't received the rods yet, but I did get order and shipping confirmation with a tracking number. I was waiting for the call to tell me they had realized they made a mistake and were going to cancel. I didn't need the rods, just so happened to stumble on the deal, so I figured why not?

I guess I will see what happens.
 
#16 ·
Many many times you go to a grocery store they make a mistake with pricing. The price they run through the cashier machine happens to be higher than the one advertised in a local newspaper or on the actual price tag. They have buzillions of items so it is easy to make a mistake. Fair enough.
But…
I am still to see a mistake where the actual price is lower than advertised.
 
#19 · (Edited by Moderator)
... I didn t need the rods, just so happened to stumble on the deal, so I figured why not?
I guess I will see what happens.
- ste6168

So you knew that was a mistake, did not need the items but the greed did not let you to just let them know they did a mistake, right ?

- 716
Not quite. I did let them know, I commented about it via social media (Instagram, actually). I commented on their post, asking if both sales were in effect coincidentally, and they ignored my post. They commented on the same post, after my question. So, I figured the worst that would happen, is they cancelled my order. Not my mistake, not my loss.
 
#20 ·
this sounds like an honest mistake ive dealt with rockler for years and have never been burned their great people and have a lot of great products dont let this sour you.take teir coupon and move on its not worth it.as far as a confirmation those are generated automatically by the computer and probably got caught by someone later.and ya gotta face it it sounded too good to be true.
 
#21 ·
I finished my last order with Rockler about a year ago when they had a deal for something like purchase $100 and they will send you a certificate for $25 off a future purchase. A few weeks went by and I never saw the certificate until I looked in my junk email folder. There is was, two days after it had expired. None of Rockler's normal emails ever got caught by the junk email filter. The wording of the certificate was such that it got filtered out and I missed it.

I emailed the company and their response was basically "tough luck, the certificate has expired". They lost me as a customer for life on that day.
 
#24 ·
Yeah for an increase in $400 I can't afford: they can indeed keep it ! They have all those friendly looking woodworkers in their adds, but the folks in the business side maybe a different group :(
 
#26 · (Edited by Moderator)
Google "internet price error law" and check out the first half a dozen hits that you think are reasonable opinions, not some forum discussion by armchair quarterback lawyers and judges like this one.

$hit happens, no matter how far apart the 4 and 8 keys are on a keyboard. An error was made.

I don't think that Rockler is going to send you the goods at the price you hoped would be in effect

BTW…. To all "baby boomer" Lumberjocks this thread brought to mind another "too good to be true" scenario that was popular urban legend back in the sixties. Basically, it ran like….. "I know a guy who can get war surplus motorcycles (or Jeeps) really cheap! Still in the shipping crate and covered with Cosmoline! Only $50.00 each!!! All we need to do is get ten guys together who agree to go in on the deal. Man oh man! Did we ever look great riding around town on our somewhat greasy motorcycles!
 
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