Vendor shipping fun & games

[Zap]

I just placed an order with Buy.com for an item that had "free" shipping.

On checkout, "Second Day: 2 business days" was automatically selected at a cost of $5.49.

I changed my shipping method to "Budget: 7 to 9 business days.

A text box appears above it saying:

Limited Time Offer!
Your order qualifies for a special 2 day shipping rate of only $2.99!(was $5.49) Select
Second Day below to take advantage of this great rate.

So, I select it and indeed it is now only $2.99. However, I'm a patient person and also a cheap bastard, so I switched back to the free Budget option.

Now a new text box opens up under that selection saying:

Important Note: Items will take an additional 3 business days to ship. Your estimated delivery window is 11 to 14 business days following the placement of your order for In-Stock items.

What the fuck?

First they try to bait-switch me to faster shipping at an additional cost. Then, they try to sweet talk me by discounting it. Finally, they penalize me for not playing along by artificially adding three days to my order.

Anyone else experience this kind of tomfoolery at Buy.com or elsewhere? No mentioning Newegg - there's a separate thread for that already.

 

[DSF]

On the one hand, $3 is a good price for two day shipping.

On the other hand, that's messed up. Makes me hesitant to recommend those free shipping deals buy.com has on PSUs.

 

[Denithor]

Wonder if someone's getting kickbacks for volume shipping or something? Like that guy over at Fry's...

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Denithor
Wonder if someone's getting kickbacks for volume shipping or something? Like that guy over at Fry's...

:laugh:

Update: I received an email saying it was shipped. So much for their scare tactics.

 

[Eric62]

After my last transaction with buy.com I'm on a complete boycott of that e-retailer.
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Buy

 

[DSF]

Wow, I didn't realize their feedback was that bad. Good to know.