Contacting the BBB about a bad company - do I have a leg to stand on

[caveman017]

This past week I have ordered 5 pairs of shoes from a company named Footaction (http://www.footaction.com) which is owned by Footlocker (Same company with proof due to the same discount coupons). On Footaction's website under the customer service >payment info > tax it states:

How much will the tax be?

Footaction is required by law to collect applicable sales or use tax on all purchases shipped to the state of Wisconsin. No tax will be collected for purchases shipped to other states.

For orders outside the United States, all applicable duties must be paid by the customer and will be billed by the delivering carrier. (See duties and customs guidelines.)

As I live in Illinois I figure I would be exempt from this tax. As I am checking out I notice that there is tax added to the order in the amount of $17 I contact their customer service depardment and they say

Dear Brandon,

Thank you for your e-mail.

I apologize for any inconvenience. Our website has the wrong information
on it. Because there are retail Footaction stores in Illinois you will
be charged Illinois sales tax. We are currently working on correcting our
website. Again, I apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you for your
patience in this matter.

Please let us know if we can assist you further. Thank you for visiting
www.footaction.com.

Sincerely,

Tanya
Customer Service

I respond with and get the reply of

> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Brandon"
> Sent: Oct 27, 2006 3:00:41 PM CDT
> To: "customerservice@footaction.com" <customerservice@footaction.com>
>
> It just seems to be false advertising then. Something that important should
> have been corrected right when the new stores had opened, not weeks, months
> or years after. This makes me weary of shopping at footaction now if they
> cannot be bothered to update something as simple as that.
>
> Brandon

Dear Brandon,

Thank you for your e-mail.

Again, I apologize for any inconvenience. We appreciate you letting us
know about the error on our website. We would like to offer you 15% off
one item in your next order. If you order online please send us an e-mail
when you have placed the order and we will apply the discount. If you
order over the phone they will be able to apply the discount right away.
Thank you for your patience in this matter.

Please let us know if we can assist you further. Thank you for visiting
www.footaction.com.

Sincerely,

Tanya
Customer Service

For the best customer service, please reply with email history,
referencing customer number 1487020.
- Hide qd text -

Thats fine with me so I go ahead and place the order last night using a 30% off coupon which is readily available to ANY customer who shops at Footaction online (link to the coupon http://ww2.footaction.com/2006/fae102506a/index.html)

I email support back after ordering my shoes and get this response

Dear Brandon,

Thank you for taking the time to email us.

Unfortunately, as a discount was already applied to this order, in the
amount of 30%, we are unable to further discount this order. I apologize
for any inconvenience.

Please let us know if we can assist you further. Thank you for visiting
www.footaction.com.

Sincerely,

Amy
Customer Service

Never in an email before did they say I could not use a coupon which was readily available to the General Public without being to get my discount. My reply was

thank you for your help. I will be contacting the BBB (Better Business Bureau) about this as now it is still two days later and the website has not been updated, which leads me to believe that It won't be updated.

For a company as large as Footaction I would think that you would want to have as much correct information on your website as possible to help avoid any possible lawsuits.

So do I have a leg to stand on? I would think that would be false advertising and truthfully I really do want the $23 in taxes I have been charged, but I said I would have been fine with the $15% off, as agreed to in the offer. After taking my business law class in school and learning about contracts they are comitted to give me the 15% off one item as they legally offered it to me, and my using the offer and replying with my order number was enough for me to accept it..



Ideas?

Brandon

 

[caveman017]

anyone?

 

[pulse8]

It's worth a shot.

 

[mugs]

You're supposed to pay sales tax on out of state purchases anyway. Legally. Very few people actually do.

 

[BobDaMenkey]

Originally posted by: mugs
You're supposed to pay sales tax on out of state purchases anyway. Legally. Very few people actually do.

Doesn't change the fact that there is wrong information on the website, and that it's basically a bait and switch. They're advertising one price, and saying that you will not have to pay sales tax, and then charging it anyway, because they 'forgot to update the website'.

I'd go to the BBB too, and raise hell about the cupon stacking, because they didn't say that it wasn't stackable.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: caveman017

So do I have a leg to stand on? I would think that would be false advertising and truthfully I really do want the $23 in taxes I have been charged, but I said I would have been fine with the $15% off, as agreed to in the offer. After taking my business law class in school and learning about contracts they are comitted to give me the 15% off one item as they legally offered it to me, and my using the offer and replying with my order number was enough for me to accept it..

Ideas?

Brandon

Originally posted by: caveman017
anyone?

You're barking up the wrong tree.

A Tax Revolt is the only answer.

 

[Zaitsevs]

I'd say you ask for the company to reimburse you for the money in taxes you paid. Granted taxes are just something we have to pay, but I would consider that false advertising and they should own up to their mistakes.

also, that's just more BS when you can't use that coupon + whatever the general public uses

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: caveman017

So do I have a leg to stand on? I would think that would be false advertising and truthfully I really do want the $23 in taxes I have been charged, but I said I would have been fine with the $15% off, as agreed to in the offer. After taking my business law class in school and learning about contracts they are comitted to give me the 15% off one item as they legally offered it to me, and my using the offer and replying with my order number was enough for me to accept it..

Ideas?

Brandon

Originally posted by: caveman017
anyone?

You're barking up the wrong tree.

A Tax Revolt is the only answer.

Well, he has more reason to complain about them not honoring the 15% off he was given rather than the tax situation.

 

[Epic Fail]

A complaint to BBB is just a complaint, not much they will do after seeing the paper work.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: pulse8

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: caveman017

So do I have a leg to stand on? I would think that would be false advertising and truthfully I really do want the $23 in taxes I have been charged, but I said I would have been fine with the $15% off, as agreed to in the offer. After taking my business law class in school and learning about contracts they are comitted to give me the 15% off one item as they legally offered it to me, and my using the offer and replying with my order number was enough for me to accept it..

Ideas?

Brandon

Originally posted by: caveman017
anyone?

You're barking up the wrong tree.

A Tax Revolt is the only answer.

Well, he has more reason to complain about them not honoring the 15% off he was given rather than the tax situation.

See, right away people give in to the system.

Sad

for America

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: pulse8

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: caveman017

So do I have a leg to stand on? I would think that would be false advertising and truthfully I really do want the $23 in taxes I have been charged, but I said I would have been fine with the $15% off, as agreed to in the offer. After taking my business law class in school and learning about contracts they are comitted to give me the 15% off one item as they legally offered it to me, and my using the offer and replying with my order number was enough for me to accept it..

Ideas?

Brandon

Originally posted by: caveman017
anyone?

You're barking up the wrong tree.

A Tax Revolt is the only answer.

Well, he has more reason to complain about them not honoring the 15% off he was given rather than the tax situation.

See, right away people give in to the system.

Sad

for America

:roll:

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: yamadakun
A complaint to BBB is just a complaint, not much they will do after seeing the paper work.

yeap they wont do crap since he is required by law to pay the tax anyway.


OP there is NOTHING you can do. they are not breaking any laws or trying to scam you. If they have a store in state they are required to get taxes. anyway by law you are required to pay taxes on it.


the BBB will not do anything once they find out your complaint. since it is BS.

 

[caveman017]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: yamadakun
A complaint to BBB is just a complaint, not much they will do after seeing the paper work.

yeap they wont do crap since he is required by law to pay the tax anyway.


OP there is NOTHING you can do. they are not breaking any laws or trying to scam you. If they have a store in state they are required to get taxes. anyway by law you are required to pay taxes on it.


the BBB will not do anything once they find out your complaint. since it is BS.

Thats fine, but they should have updated their website. I found that there are 3-4 stores in chicago, which means this isnt something extremely recent (ie its been more then a month). To the fact they said they would give me 15% off the order not saying it was not stackable or anything, then not going through with it is what pisses me off. Plus the website is STILL not updated. Last time I found a price mistake on circuit city I got a $20 gift card

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: caveman017

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: yamadakun
A complaint to BBB is just a complaint, not much they will do after seeing the paper work.

yeap they wont do crap since he is required by law to pay the tax anyway.


OP there is NOTHING you can do. they are not breaking any laws or trying to scam you. If they have a store in state they are required to get taxes. anyway by law you are required to pay taxes on it.


the BBB will not do anything once they find out your complaint. since it is BS.

Thats fine, but they should have updated their website. I found that there are 3-4 stores in chicago, which means this isnt something extremely recent (ie its been more then a month). To the fact they said they would give me 15% off the order not saying it was not stackable or anything, then not going through with it is what pisses me off. Plus the website is STILL not updated. Last time I found a price mistake on circuit city I got a $20 gift card

whaaa whaaa! i found a mistake on line and the big bad company wont give me money! whaa so i am going to try to get them in trouble with the BBB! whaaa!

 

[imported_Mike]

Sounds like you're just trying to take advantage of the situation and being a little b!tch about it.

 

[cyclistca]

Do you make mistakes? I bet you do. Well so do companies? It's not false advertising.

 

[altonb1]

As far as the tax goes, I'd be upset, too, but you have to pay it so the website mistake is not anything you can really fight. The website's mis-information does not supercede federal and/or state laws.

Regarding the coupon, though, you used a 30% coupon which probably DOES have restrictions on stacking. So...whether the 15% coupon's details were clearly stated or not, the 30% off was probably VERY clear. Therefore, you have no beef on it, either.

 

[AccruedExpenditure]

The BBB is a joke.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: BobDaMenkey

Originally posted by: mugs
You're supposed to pay sales tax on out of state purchases anyway. Legally. Very few people actually do.

Doesn't change the fact that there is wrong information on the website, and that it's basically a bait and switch. They're advertising one price, and saying that you will not have to pay sales tax, and then charging it anyway, because they 'forgot to update the website'.

I'd go to the BBB too, and raise hell about the cupon stacking, because they didn't say that it wasn't stackable.

It's not a bait and switch by any means. Whether the store collects the tax or you pay it directly to the state, the amount of tax and the final price of the product is the same. The fact that the OP would not actually pay the tax he owes to the state is not a reason to complain to the BBB.

But by all means waste your time OP. Just try to remember you checked the number of BBB complaints against a store before you shopped there.

 

[Lonyo]

Does the 30% off say anything like "Cannot be used in conjunction with any other money off discounts"?

 

[killface]

Originally posted by: AccruedExpenditure
The BBB is a joke.

Exactly. Even if your complaint was valid, all the BBB does is register the complaint in their 'naughty' book.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: BobDaMenkey

Originally posted by: mugs
You're supposed to pay sales tax on out of state purchases anyway. Legally. Very few people actually do.

Doesn't change the fact that there is wrong information on the website, and that it's basically a bait and switch. They're advertising one price, and saying that you will not have to pay sales tax, and then charging it anyway, because they 'forgot to update the website'.

I'd go to the BBB too, and raise hell about the cupon stacking, because they didn't say that it wasn't stackable.

iirc, under FTC regulations, they can't say you don't have to pay sales tax. dell got fined for it big time back in the late 90s.

 

[Reckoner]

I've found the BBB to be quite helpful. They helped me with Cingular charging me for a phone which should've been free. In addition, they have just this past week helped me in regards to warranty work on my TV in regards to Philips. Avoid Philips at all costs, btw.

 

[DrPizza]

I think you're making too big of a deal about it.

Suppose instead, you got a reply that said something like this:

"We are very sorry about that. Until recently, we were not obligated to collect the tax on behalf of your state; a process which results in extra paperwork and costs at our end in order to comply. As prior this change in our company's status within your state, you would have been required to remit the taxes personally to your state, we have acted on your behalf and contacted your state tax collection agency. They have agreed to allow you to send in the taxes instead. Enclosed, you will find a check for $17 made out to your state's tax agency. We have also paid for the postage on an envelope which is enclosed and addressed to your state's collection agency, saving you the 39 cents as well as time to look up the address yourself.

If this is not satisfactory, and you want the tax payment check to be in your name, call us at 1 xxx xxx xxxx, tear the check up, and we will return $17 to you. Keep the envelope that is addressed to your state tax agency as they are aware that you WILL be sending $17 to them to cover the taxes, as you are obligated to do under your state's tax laws."


For what it's worth, I disagree with use taxes and still wonder if they've ever been questioned in the Supreme Court. I'd think it would be unconstitutional under interstate commerce... regardless of the language, they essentially say: you have to pay tax to our state on any items which are not taxed in the other state. In my case, Pennsylvania doesn't consider clothing to be taxable... NY says I have to pay the tax to Albany on clothing purchased in PA, but if I buy a TV in PA, I don't have to pay tax in NY...