BUYER BEWARE - PricePoint.com

[spongebob]

Not sure which forum is correct to put this in, hopefully this is the right one. Just wanted to tell other cyclists of a bad experience with PricePoint.com. I just bought 2 SRAM cassettes for their online price of $34.98 each. They arrived quickly, and also included was their current catalog. Opening the catalog, I saw the same cassettes for $29.98 each, so I read with interest their low-price guarantee, "30-day Price Protection, Find it for less? We'll refund the difference up to 30 days after your purchase." I emailed them back immediately and got a response from Frank. He said the $34.98 price stands. Last week I found these cassettes at Performance during their Year-end Inventory reduction sale - $29.95 each. I emailed frank again and he said the price stands. BUYER BEWARE. Price Point does not back their prices.

 

[Rich Clark]

"spongebob" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
>
> Not sure which forum is correct to put this in, hopefully this is the
> right one. Just wanted to tell other cyclists of a bad experience with
> PricePoint.com. I just bought 2 SRAM cassettes for their online price
> of $34.98 each. They arrived quickly, and also included was their
> current catalog. Opening the catalog, I saw the same cassettes for
> $29.98 each, so I read with interest their low-price guarantee, "30-day
> Price Protection, Find it for less? We'll refund the difference up to 30
> days after your purchase." I emailed them back immediately and got a
> response from Frank. He said the $34.98 price stands. Last week I found
> these cassettes at Performance during their Year-end Inventory reduction
> sale - $29.95 each. I emailed frank again and he said the price stands.
> BUYER BEWARE. Price Point does not back their prices.

And what was the explanation given for refusing to honor the lower price?
Feel free to quote the original e-mail.

RichC (who finds it interesting that these vendor-complaint threads seem
always to be started by people who have never posted to the group before)

 

[Kenneth]

On Sun, 2 Jan 2005 08:11:48 +1100, spongebob
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>Not sure which forum is correct to put this in, hopefully this is the
>right one. Just wanted to tell other cyclists of a bad experience with
>PricePoint.com. I just bought 2 SRAM cassettes for their online price
>of $34.98 each. They arrived quickly, and also included was their
>current catalog. Opening the catalog, I saw the same cassettes for
>$29.98 each, so I read with interest their low-price guarantee, "30-day
>Price Protection, Find it for less? We'll refund the difference up to 30
>days after your purchase." I emailed them back immediately and got a
>response from Frank. He said the $34.98 price stands. Last week I found
>these cassettes at Performance during their Year-end Inventory reduction
>sale - $29.95 each. I emailed frank again and he said the price stands.
>BUYER BEWARE. Price Point does not back their prices.

Howdy,

Did you pay with a card?

If so, call your card company. It is very likely that they
will go to bat for you.

It is worth a try,

--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

 

[tcmedara]

spongebob wrote:
> Not sure which forum is correct to put this in, hopefully this is the
> right one. Just wanted to tell other cyclists of a bad experience with
> PricePoint.com. I just bought 2 SRAM cassettes for their online price
> of $34.98 each. They arrived quickly, and also included was their
> current catalog. Opening the catalog, I saw the same cassettes for
> $29.98 each, so I read with interest their low-price guarantee,
> "30-day Price Protection, Find it for less? We'll refund the
> difference up to 30 days after your purchase." I emailed them back
> immediately and got a response from Frank. He said the $34.98 price
> stands. Last week I found these cassettes at Performance during their
> Year-end Inventory reduction sale - $29.95 each. I emailed frank
> again and he said the price stands. BUYER BEWARE. Price Point does
> not back their prices.

I gotta concur with Rich Clarke on this one, I'm wondering if the OP has
laid out all the facts here. In the interest of full disclosure, I've been
buying from Pricepoint for years and have never had a problem, 'course I've
never tried to invoke their "Price Protection" policy either. Still, I
can't imagine that "Frank" would have merely rejected your claim without
some sort of explaination. Lots of possibilities on this one. I suspect
there's more to the story here. Are you sure you're talking about the right
cassettee? Pricepoint's web site lists SRAM 9 sp road cassettes at
$34.98-39.98 and 970 mountain cassettes at $29.98. I suspect you may have
mixed up your prices/cassettes. Similarly -- Performance year end clearence
lists the 850 mtn cassette at 21.98 and the 970 mtn cassette at 34.98 (more
expensive than Pricepoint). Seems to me that you might want to check the
details.

Based on the facts you've presented, and the advertised prices on the
various websites (usually the most current and often the cheapest) it
appears Frank may have been correct in rejecting your claim.

Tom

 

[Gofastdaddy]

I had this happen with PricePoint on a Selle Italia seat. Placed the
order in the morning, found it for less later in the day, called them-
was told that I have to notify them when I'm placing the orderl I had
a similar experience on Supergo with a bike pump. I tried emailing to
see if the decision would be any different- it wasn't.

 

[tcmedara]

Gofastdaddy wrote:
> I had this happen with PricePoint on a Selle Italia seat. Placed the
> order in the morning, found it for less later in the day, called them-
> was told that I have to notify them when I'm placing the orderl I had
> a similar experience on Supergo with a bike pump. I tried emailing to
> see if the decision would be any different- it wasn't.

This from Pricepoint's website:

"Note: We will gladly match our competitors' prices as long as the exact
item is in stock and the price still holds. This does not include items
that are on sale, clearance, or blowouts.
Our low price guarantee extends up to 30 days from the date of your
purchase. Let us know the name of the competitor, what they're selling it
for, exact product size/color, and we will take it from there."

Sorry for your experiences, but details matter -- in this case the OP stated
he found a lower price in Performance's year end sale. The Performance
price a) doesn't appear to be lower; and b) is in fact a *sale* item and
hence not covered by Pricepoint's policy. While you may think that is kinda
cheesy, but it is clearly stated. You claim to have "found it for less" as
well. Where did you find it and what reason did they give for not matching
the price? Seems to me there is a pretty broad range of circumstances where
the match doesn't apply.

I don't mean to sound like some sort of apologist for Pricepoint or the
bicycle component industry, but it's just that I'm somewhat suspicious of
the original poster's claims. My own perusing of the web suggests some
confusion over actual prices and/or products, and that Pricepoint's
pricematch policy doesn't apply to competitors markdown items.

Perhaps if the OP could provide us with more details about the products and
prices (to clear up the disconnects between the post and the published
prices on the web) and offer some more details about his correspondence with
Pricepoint his story may warrant notice. Without it is merely
unsubstantiated assertion at best.

Me......I usually try and find the best price *before* I purchase a part.

Tom

 

[Gary Mishler]

"tcmedara" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:tPKBd.65640$Jk5.40638@lakeread01...
at best.


> Me......I usually try and find the best price *before* I purchase a part.

Bingo

 

[John Everett]

On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 14:13:42 GMT, "Gary Mishler"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>"tcmedara" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:tPKBd.65640$Jk5.40638@lakeread01...
> at best.
>
>
>> Me......I usually try and find the best price *before* I purchase a part.
>
>Bingo

Another place to try is Lickton's
(http://www.lickbike.com/index.shtml)

I've taken advantage of their "You can't beat our prices!" guarantee
in the past and have been really satisfied with their service.

Note, I'm not connected with Lickton's; just a satisfied customer.


Only problem for me, I live in Illinois and so have to pay sales tax
when I order from them. :-(


jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

 

[[email protected]]

John Everett wrote:

> Another place to try is Lickton's
> (http://www.lickbike.com/index.shtml)
>
> I've taken advantage of their "You can't beat our prices!" guarantee
> in the past and have been really satisfied with their service.
>
Indeed. In fact, Pricepoint was one of the retailers Licton's once
matched for me, on a Selle Italia saddle as I recall.

RichC

 

[Leo Lichtman]

"Gary Mishler" wrote: Me......I usually try and find the best price
*before* I purchase a part.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
This kind of price-matching guarantee is intended to disarm the buyer. The
30-day period may result in your finding a better price which may not have
been in effect on the date of purchase.

If that sort of promise was made to me and not kept, I would be out the
money, and they would lose me as a customer FOREVER. By the same token,
there are several businesses that I have continued to patronize over the
years, and recommend to others because of the way I was treated. Businesses
spend large amounts on advertising, which may be more expensive and less
effective than just treating the customer right.

 

[Gary Mishler]

"Leo Lichtman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Gary Mishler" wrote: Me......I usually try and find the best price
> *before* I purchase a part.

Just to clarify - I did not write the above, you miss quoted. The person I
responded to wrote it.

Mish

 

[Leo Lichtman]

"Gary Mishler" wrote: Just to clarify - I did not write the above, you
miss quoted. The person I responded to wrote it.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sorry, I see that now. But, you said, "Bingo" to what he wrote, so my
response could be to both of you. (But, I should have got it right.)