back to article Ebuyer on the naughty step for fondleslab promo cock-up

Ebuyer has been rapped for a "misleading" tablet promotion and ordered not to repeat similar claims of cost savings in future. The Advertising Standards Agency gave the online IT bazaar a stern ticking off after receiving a complaint about an email sent to customers touting the Storage Options' Scroll Extreme Tablet PC. The …

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  1. Andrew Baines Silver badge
    Stop

    Do this all the time

    Forever complaints in the comments section about this. They're still a pretty good supplier though, just check the discounts against amazon first.

    1. LarsG
      Holmes

      Re: Do this all the time

      Yep and WHEN THEY GET CAUGHT they say

      It was a bug

      It was the new guy

      It was the guy we sacked

      It was a keyboard error

      Accidentally over looked

      And they never apologise or admit that they did it deliberately, because we all know THAT THEY DID.

  2. Richard Wharram
    Trollface

    Much easier to...

    Go down the BOGOF or similar route where no such previous price restrictions apply :)

    Buy one Tablet PC for £360 and get another one free!!!

    (last week they were £180 but we don't need to tell you that)

    Works for other retailers :)

  3. npupp 1
    Trollface

    well

    they were harshly reprimanded for this transgression.

    *slap on wrist* and "don't do it again"?

  4. foolonthehill
    Unhappy

    It's not unusual

    Ebuyer do this all the time. I regularly see prices on items fluctuate by 50%+ over the course of the 2-3 days, only to settle at the lower price with a "save 50%" tag line.

    What are the rules on setting up an external price tracker these days? Have e-tailers managed to illegalise screen-scraper sites yet?

  5. David Lawrence
    FAIL

    Hmmmm....

    ...so all they have to do in future is advertise it for £400 for half a day, before introducing the amazing, once-in-a-lifetime, super-duper discounted price and they won't get any further slaps on the wrist.

    Glad to see the consumer's best interests are always protected!

    1. Allan 1

      Re: Hmmmm....

      No, if I recall the rules correctly, and I may not be doing, its been a long time since I read them, in order for a sale to be valid, they have had to sell the item at the higher price for at least 28 days prior.

      1. John Bailey

        Re: Hmmmm....

        Isn't it just "offer for sale"? Not actually part with stock when given money?

        This is how the furniture warehouses get around discounting the entire stock all the time.

        "Real leather" sofa.. £800. In the back room of the shop in the most remote place possible = on sale. Total stock.. One unit. Keep it there for a month, print it in the internally distributed stock lists. Kosher offer.

        Real leather sofa £400 reduced FIFTY PERCENT!!!!!!!! For a limited time only, cos they will not be putting in a second order for that particular pile of chipboard and foam.. They never do...

        Get em before they fall to bits..

        Simples..

  6. InsaneLampshade

    Do these rules apply to in-store adverts?

    I worked for a rather large chain store (that unsurprisingly went bust!) and came to realise that every single one of our seasonal "sales" were no such thing at all, they had never been sold before at their advertised "previous" price (price history could easily be checked on the tills... seasonal sale items had no price history other than their current sale price).

    Do the ASA rules not apply to stickers on physical products in-store, or were the company just getting away with it?

  7. Anonymous Coward 15

    If DFS can get away with it

    then this is small potatoes.

    1. BorkedAgain
      FAIL

      Re: If DFS can get away with it

      I suspect I may be the only person in the history of the world who actually bought a sofa from DFS when they didn't have a sale on.

      I know, I know... In my defence I was younger, and more of an idiot...

      1. John G Imrie

        Re: If DFS can get away with it

        The last DFS ad I saw actually took the mickey out of their constant sails.

        1. Ian Yates
          Headmaster

          Re: If DFS can get away with it

          The curse of the homophone!

          1. Anonymous Coward 15
            Joke

            Re: If DFS can get away with it

            Homophone? We'll have none of that round here, the kids might start calling it.

  8. CD001

    Depends on the claim

    You can say things like "Save 50% on RRP" but not "WAS ... NOW" unless you have previously sold the item at the "was" price.

    1. JulianB

      Re: Depends on the claim

      Indeed, and tying in with the DFS comment above, such places usually have a discreet notice saying something like "Higher price charged at our Loughborough store between 31/5/2012 and 14/6/2012".

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Depends on the claim

      We use the ol' 'save on RRP' trick. I've come to learn that the RRPs we mention are a complete fabrication.

    3. Keith Williams
      Angel

      Re: Depends on the claim

      Is RRP the same as MSRP - manufacturer's suggested retail price?

      1. Andy Fletcher

        Re: Depends on the claim

        Pretty much. Also, you missed SSP (suggested selling price) which is also ostensibly the same thing.

        All these numbers are abused (although not by everyone). Bottom line with pricing - it's only worth what YOU are prepared to pay for it. A lot of people tend to confuse the term "RRP" and "worth". They usually bare no correlation to each other.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    HDDS

    Ebuyer have been pulling this crap with the prices on HDDs ever since the Thai floods.

    They regularly advertise "WAS £179 NOW £120 - Save £59 or some such bollocks, when the pre flood price was £60 for the same item. (Amazon do it too BTW).

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Storage Options Tablet?

    Who'd be silly enough to buy one at any price, they're rubbish!

    Ebuyer were selling 10" Tegra2 tablets a while back at £140, that was a good price.

  11. Ben Holmes
    Meh

    So...people actually complain about this stuff?

    Personally, I'd just have a chuckle, assume they'd pissed up their mailshot /website, and move on. YMMV of course.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      re: So...people actually complain about this stuff?

      It's not the "amazing savings" that influence my purchase choice, but the current price. Anyone without the sense to use that approach shouldn't be allowed to complain about their own stupidity.

      1. Zombie Womble

        Re: re: So...people actually complain about this stuff?

        My neighbour is a perfect example of that.

        She believes everything she sees on TV or in print because 'They're not allowed to lie'.

        I dread to think what would happen if she ever used email.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I used to work in Currys, and every time a sale/bank holiday was coming up there would always arrive huge stock of TV's or plastic awful samsung digital cameras at vastly inflated prices. Low and behold on the day of the sale, the camera price was slashed and people waltzed in to buy.

    I appreciate there's no where near enough resources, but in an ideal world, the "fair price" or "value" of the product should be deemed the starting price, with deductions based upon that. The awful plastic cameras would spend a month in the shop at £200-£300, when similar spec and quality cameras were available at the £100-150 bracket.

    As for me, i dont feel guilty. I told customers that its basically just been over priced and then dropped to show a big headline of "50% off", and went on to sell them a decent camera, usually of similar or greater value, because they appreciated the honesty.

    1. Anonymous Coward 15
      Holmes

      Currys sells plastic crap at inflated prices

      More at 11.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Shops

    Was in a shop the other day that was advertising massive savings. In very small print on a display was a notice that said "These items have been on sale at the higher price in at least 3 of our stores for at least 5 days in the past year".

    i.e they raise the price in a couple of shops for a few days and are then able to claim a massive discount when the put the prices back to normal.

  14. VulcanV5
    Happy

    More ass than ASA??

    A few years back, I complained to the ASA about all those daft wristwatch adverts from the well-known internationally acclaimed award-winning Swiss company Kurt von Beethoven Omega Fish Oilz, where Limited Edition Heritage Timepieces were being offered at just £9.95, down from their previous selling price of £849.95p.

    I also asked ASA to look into several other famous Geneva-based watchmakers like Gustav Holtz-Alzheimer, Marco Rocco Lambretta-Baguette, Heinz Steinz Vumpzadazy, and Paul Raymond-Unweiled, all of whom were offering 'Classic Watch Collectors' an opportunity to buy 'Immortal Timepieces' at around 95% off the original selling price.

    Somewhat uncharitably, I felt all these watchmakers were fictions dreamt up by fast-buck Chinese or Eastern European scammers. But I was wrong.

    They were slow-buck.

    What they did -- and for all I know, still do -- was find some flea-bag dump of a hotel anywhere in London, pay a few quid to the manager to install a small glass showcase in the tiny reception area, and display the wristwatch at £1,685,426. Only some four to six weeks after that did this same masterpiece appear at £5.95p plus P&P from the Daily Telegraph.

    How do I know all that? Because ASA told me. (It may not have specifically characterised the London hotels in the way I've done above, but no matter.)

    And ASA went on to say, sorry chum, there's nothing we can do about this. Obviously, it's a legitimate sale offer: the item has been on puiblic display at a previously advertised higher price.

    So-ooo . . .

    If anyone from El Reg, or eBuyer, or Currys or indeed any other outfit for that matter wishes to contact me, I have a network of 50 appalling 'hotels' in London in which I can install little showcases featuring everything from £15,650 fondle slabs to £1 million smartphones. I am also able, if required, to re-brand anything with a Teknica badge as being an award-winning product from Sungsam-HCT, of which I am the UK's only Official Authorised Reseller..

    And no, no need ever to worry about the ASA.

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