I recently (this weekend) purchased a laptop bag for Sue from Laptopstuff. It so happened that laptopstuff were the cheapest online site I could see selling this particular bag:
http://www.laptopstuff.co.uk/p/Celly_Model_A_Series_Laptop_Bag.htm
It was priced at £29.99 and delivery was around £3.50 – total including delivery and VAT was £33.98.
This should have dispatched Monday but didn’t appear to have done so when I checked. I logged into the site on Tuesday to find that the price of the bag had been reduced to £24.99, my order said that it was still awaiting dispatch at the warehouse.
So I sent them a message:
Hi there -
The laptop bag I ordered at the weekend has been reduced to £24.99 and my order hasn’t yet been dispatched – can I have a refund of the difference please?
Many thanks,
Matt
To which they replied:
Dear Matt Charlton
Unfortunately your order has been dispatched. It left for delivery on 15/06/09.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Kind regards
Vicky
LaptopStuff
PO Box 298,
Twickenham,
TW1 9AU
I was a little perplexed – the site said it was still awaiting dispatch and besides, the price had been reduced by a fiver and it was less than 48 hours since reduction. A refund would have been nice.
I sent this message back
Hi Vicky,
Whilst that might be the case, I still feel that a £5 price drop the day after I order something warrants a refund for the difference – I’m quite within my rights to return the bag under the distance selling act within 7 days for a full refund and re-order at the lower price – I’m sure that your returns team doesn’t need the hassle putting the bag back into stock when a simple £5 reimbursement would resolve the situation.
I’ve dealt with online retailers in the past that offered a 30 day price difference refund – if their price dropped 30 days following your purchase they would refund the difference – I know that this isn’t one of your policies and were this a matter of £1-£2 I wouldn’t be sending this message but it’s near enough a 20% price reduction.
Many thanks,
Matt
And received this message this morning:
Dear Matt Charlton
Unfortunately we are unabelt o offer you the £5 refund that you are requesting.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Kind regards
Vicky
LaptopStuff
PO Box 298,
Twickenham,
TW1 9AU
I’m not the happiest bunny in the world but I really don’t know if I can be arsed to follow this one through. I can send the bag back, get a full refund and then reorder at the lower price but it’ll cost me £2 or so to send the bag back recorded delivery. It’s only a fiver so I’ll only end up around £3 up, still that’s £3 in my pocket rather than theirs.
Am I just being anal or do I have a point? I mean Amazon used to offer a 30 day price reduction policy but they stopped it a few months ago – that was fantastic and it meant that I used Amazon for pretty much anything and everything that I could. It’s just annoying that the price had been reduced on an item that I’d ordered and as far as I was concerned hadn’t shipped. I came back to my desk this morning to find the bag waiting for me – I guess it came yesterday and with a 2nd class postage label it was probably send Monday. Still, if the price reduction happened on Monday I still feel shortchanged. Most companies would probably honour a price difference refund. I don’t know whether to order it again and send this one back or what.
Can I be bothered? For the sake of £2-£3, I don’t know.
What I do know is that I won’t be using laptopstuff again.
heh vicky seems to have a “Computer says No !!” attitude and me being quite the pedantic,abstruse,didactic,egotistic,ostentatious,erudite fussy hairsplitting type, I would send the F***ing thing back and get a refund and then look to order from somewhere else. Thats really quite annoying that they are taking that attitude with you. Perhaps they know you ;p
After the short and abrupt replies you got from someone who obviously doesnt give a t£*s i would go the whole hog and get the refund. Then send her a nice thank you mail to show your appreciation…..
….then find somewhere else to shop.
nah, your just been a tight git
its a fiver, not £50.
I would hate to see you in morrisons.
Send it back, it’s the principle not the money!
As infuriating as it is mate, you’ve got the bag now, so leave it be. The only stress incurred by getting worked up about it, will be on your part. Be serene. Sit back and let karma do its stuff.
Karma loves people like Vicky and adores companies like laptopstuff, in the same way as an adolescent loves Mortal Kombat after a long day at school.
I decided to take the words of wisdom from Stef – that guy is a legend.
For the sake of a couple of quid and a boatload of hassle I’ve decided to leave it be and keep the bag.
What goes around comes around and this customer review will float to the top of google and might at least go as far as warning people to expect zero customer service from laptopstuff.
A week later they reduced the price again to £19.99
Bastards!