Dell WD Blue PC 250G SSD $19.99

[Mike64]

I gotta say, I have no clue how a billion $ company still

keeps around employees who don't ask themselves "hey, wait a sec, is the sale price on brand-name 250G SSD really $19.99? 'We' never sell stuff that cheap! Maybe I'd better just double-check that before I update this database entry…"

 

[GagHalfrunt]

keeps around employees who don't ask themselves "hey, wait a sec, is the sale price on brand-name 250G SSD really $19.99? 'We' never sell stuff that cheap! Maybe I'd better just double-check that before I update this database entry…"

That's the thing, you don't have to trust employees to have a clue or care. You can easily take their apathy completely out of the equation by doing an automatic check of selling price vs cost. If selling price is lower than cost fail gracefully and make ordering the item impossible. Put that simple safeguard in place and it doesn't matter if a careless employee means to enter $199.99 and typos it as $19.99. The site won't allow it, the customer won't see it, nobody can order it and there's no mess to clean up. It's really that simple, 5 minutes and a couple of lines of code and you can protect against egregious pricing errors on every item you carry.

 

[Mike64]

That's the thing, you don't have to trust employees to have a clue or care. You can easily take their apathy completely out of the equation by doing an automatic check of selling price vs cost. [...] It's really that simple, 5 minutes and a couple of lines of code and you can protect against egregious pricing errors on every item you carry.

In broad concept it's "that easy", but do you really think their in-house purchasing data is that closely linked to their POS systems? Could be, I suppose, but personally, I seriously doubt it... Not to mention that that would only guard against the most egregious pricing mistakes. It seems to me what might work is a wake-up call in the form of even just a minor "inquiry" by one or more states' consumer protection agencies or attorneys-general offices. Contrary to the frequently expressed fantasies of a vocal minority on SD (among other places), it's not grist for any sort of profitable class-action lawsuit (and it's only very profitable ones that ever get filed at all), but it does seem to happen often enough to be worth the attention of one or another enthusiastic young/new Deputy AG…

OTOH, I do seriously suspect that a pretty small number of people apart from "bargains-website enthusiasts" (and flippers, of course) ever really take a shot at these price-mistake "deals" to begin with, which doesn't give Dell a very strong reason to change their behavior, and also means very few of the putative purchasers really have an interest in Dell cleaning up their act... Legitimate "slick deals" are rare at Dell.com. With the status quo, a few people occasionally luck out, even more get some sort of dubious enjoyment out of trying their luck, and then of course a subset of that last group has the even more dubious pleasure of ranting and raving when their orders get canceled.

 

[Sonikku]

Mine got canceled. Sucks! lol. Not unexpected, but I've been needing two and getting even the one I ordered would have been a nice windfall.

 

[Replay]

So close... Out for delivery, and then the dreaded "Delivery Address Change Requested" appeared at 11:30 this morning on the UPS tracking. Oh well.
Thought this could be a blowout sale. Don't try to take advantage of price errors as a rule.

 

[Sonikku]

The smart people were price matching at Best Buy over the phone.

 

[Mike64]

The smart people were price matching at Best Buy over the phone.

I know someone got a price match at Microcenter (apparently for every single one of the 11 they had in the store, no less), but I thought BB was denying most people's price match requests?

 

[GagHalfrunt]

In broad concept it's "that easy", but do you really think their in-house purchasing data is that closely linked to their POS systems? Could be, I suppose, but personally, I seriously doubt it... Not to mention that that would only guard against the most egregious pricing mistakes. It seems to me what might work is a wake-up call in the form of even just a minor "inquiry" by one or more states' consumer protection agencies or attorneys-general offices. Contrary to the frequently expressed fantasies of a vocal minority on SD (among other places), it's not grist for any sort of profitable class-action lawsuit (and it's only very profitable ones that ever get filed at all), but it does seem to happen often enough to be worth the attention of one or another enthusiastic young/new Deputy AG…

OTOH, I do seriously suspect that a pretty small number of people apart from "bargains-website enthusiasts" (and flippers, of course) ever really take a shot at these price-mistake "deals" to begin with, which doesn't give Dell a very strong reason to change their behavior, and also means very few of the putative purchasers really have an interest in Dell cleaning up their act... Legitimate "slick deals" are rare at Dell.com. With the status quo, a few people occasionally luck out, even more get some sort of dubious enjoyment out of trying their luck, and then of course a subset of that last group has the even more dubious pleasure of ranting and raving when their orders get canceled.

Wow! So much to shred, so little time.

First and foremost, why wouldn't their purchasing data be linked to POS data? And if it's not, why can't it be? That's what databases are designed to do. Any company should be able to do that in 5 minutes.

Second, even if you're only guarding against the most egregious pricing errors (like this) why wouldn't you want to? Don't you admit that any pricing errors annoy customers? If you can invest 5 minutes ONCE, let me repeat that, ONCE, to guard against it forever, why wouldn't you?

Third, WTF cares about the bargain deal enthusiasts or the flippers? And nobody mentioned any class action lawsuits. Here's what REALLY happened and here's what really happens EVERY SINGLE TIME there's a pricing mistake like this:

-- You waste a lot of money on product that goes out the door below cost before it's caught.
-- You waste a lot more money chasing down product to retrieve it before it gets delivered.
-- You waste more money and man hours responding to nuisance complaints from customers via email and phone
-- You waste more money and man hours getting that product back, opening it, processing it back into your system and into the warehouse to be sold again.
-- You waste more money and man hours responding to official complaints filed with the BBB and states AG. Even if those complaints can't legally bear fruit for the complainer it still costs time and money to respond.
-- Among the flippers and deal shoppers, you're getting REAL customers mixed in. Why would you want to risk alienating any of them?
-- Your reputation takes a hammering and you get destroyed by word of mouth.
-- You reputation takes a hammering and you get destroyed in business ethics composites like the BBB and ResellerRatings which costs you more money down the road as potential new customers see nothing but bad reviews and unaddressed problems and take their business elsewhere.

And this isn't the first time this has happened with Dell. Or the second or the third. They have a long history of this same thing happening time after time after time. All preventable forever by a single 5 minute investment of one coders time to guard against it. So now, since you seem to think you have the answers, explain to me why Dell (or anyone else) would not want to spend that 5 minutes now once and would instead choose to spend untold time, money, man hours and reputation hits cleaning up the mess every time it happens? How stupid do you need to be to deal with the same mistakes over and over again without stopping for a minute and asking "Gee, how can we prevent this from happening again?" And that's not hyperbole. This really is preventable that easily. And yet despite the long history of this same thing happening Dell refuses to address it. Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. You know what's going to happen the next time Dell has a pricing mistake? This. Because they refuse to perform the obviously necessary cranial rectal removal and learn from past mistakes.

 

[Replay]

4 drives in a padded envelope, found near the front door at 10 pm.

I can't help it if I am lucky.

 

[Sonikku]

I'll buy one for $20.

 

[Elixer]

4 drives in a padded envelope, found near the front door at 10 pm.

I can't help it if I am lucky.

Lucky is right.
What shipping option did you use?

 

[Netopia]

I didn't even order one, but as one of the original Wounded Monitor Children.... I want one at that price and then I should get a rebate on top! LOL

 

[KillerBee]

So after a week of holding out hope
- still on the "confirmed" list with Jan 12 expected delivery
- no cancellation notice
- no shipping notice
- no cc refund

I finally got the dreaded "Your order has been cancelled" today Jan 11

Edit: CC was refunded today too

 

[Replay]

Lucky is right.
What shipping option did you use?

UPS Ground, which traveled through about five UPS facilities, only to sit through the entire weekend at the local depot. Then it was delivered five hours after I gave up, when tracking said it was being redirected. Don't do much with Dell, but have had strangely good luck with them. Typing on a Dell U2414H Ultrasharp display. Ordered a refurb P2414H series, and the P2414H box had a nice Ultrasharp inside.