Price mistakes - how to proceed?

[Jfire]

Too much controversy off a topic thats not much of a big deal IMO. I worked at Menard's Hardware as a manager for 5 years. That company was built off loss leader sales all the time. IMO if this company was hurt that bad off "incorrect advertising" they would of came back with a "we are sorry email". "Here's 20% off your next order." Try to remember guys nobody held a gun to the websites head saying you must honor it. They're probably taking a honest mistake and trying to make future customers off it. It's a good business model. My only thing is lets not see any of these cigars in sales threads 3-4 months from now.

 

[CheapHumidors]

As the retailer mentioned in this thread I'd like to chime in.

I would LOVE if people called up and cancelled their order so we don't have to take a $6882.02 loss. I am sure the employee responsbile would love it too for his job is at risk. Believe me, we are not a CI with 100+ employees. We are a small operation with 6 people who work hard to offer good prices and service. A loss of this nature hurts, and hurts big time.

But the way I see it is that we now have a new procedure in place to prevent similar problems. I could have just cancelled the orders and walked away and let everyone yell and scream at us till they were blue or I could honor the price and hope people purchase from us again in the future, but the reality is that only a few % will, and a loss is a loss and you have to just eat it and move on.

I am sure some people saw the price and figured they could sneak an order in, some people saw the price and might have thought it was a loss leader, and others might have just figured that was the normal price.

I am not sore, upset, disgruntled, etc at any customer. I can't say I wouldn't have taken advantage of the same deal, though I probably wouldn't have posted it if I KNEW it was a price mistake. I am sure the OP just wanted to alert people to a deal they found with no sinister intentions.

So in the end I guess it comes down to this. You as a consumer do what you feel is right (make the purchase, don't make the purchase, alert the retailer of the mistake, etc). I am not sure a cigar forum is the place to discuss karma and the human condition. Let's just put it to rest, and move on. I hope those that got the "deal" enjoy their cigars and hopefully those that decide to sell their cigars will feel compelled to donate their procedes to a worthy charity or pay it forward to a deserving BOTL.

Dave

 

[tsimonitis]

In defense of the OP I don't think he had any sinister intentions when posting his original message and as a result I would imagine that the actual number of orders that resulted from his post on BOTL are a small percentage of the total that were placed.

 

[Nickerson]

Funny how that many people said they wouldn't take advantage, but everyone was all over those mistakes.

I have some connections with the company and have ordered through them in the past. A good friend use to work for them as I mentioned. I had to give my friend the heads up when it got to the point where they were losing insane amounts of money. As I predicted earlier in the thread it looked like they were losing $4,000 to $5,000. Luckily Sam got through to him at about 9:30PM last night and he was able to fix the mistakes before more damage was done. Could just imagine if this hit other message boards.

 

[CheapHumidors]

Funny how that many people said they wouldn't take advantage, but everyone was all over those mistakes.

I have some connections with the company and have ordered through them in the past. A good friend use to work for them as I mentioned. I had to give my friend the heads up when it got to the point where they were losing insane amounts of money. As I predicted earlier in the thread it looked like they were losing $4,000 to $5,000. Luckily Sam got through to him at about 9:30PM last night and he was able to fix the mistakes before more damage was done. Could just imagine if this hit other message boards.

Thanks for making Sam aware of the situation. It is nice when not only a customer notices something like this, but an ex-employee cares enough to inform his former employer.

 

[jjon90]

As the retailer mentioned in this thread I'd like to chime in.

I would LOVE if people called up and cancelled their order so we don't have to take a $6882.02 loss. I am sure the employee responsbile would love it too for his job is at risk. Believe me, we are not a CI with 100+ employees. We are a small operation with 6 people who work hard to offer good prices and service. A loss of this nature hurts, and hurts big time.

But the way I see it is that we now have a new procedure in place to prevent similar problems. I could have just cancelled the orders and walked away and let everyone yell and scream at us till they were blue or I could honor the price and hope people purchase from us again in the future, but the reality is that only a few % will, and a loss is a loss and you have to just eat it and move on.

I am sure some people saw the price and figured they could sneak an order in, some people saw the price and might have thought it was a loss leader, and others might have just figured that was the normal price.

I am not sore, upset, disgruntled, etc at any customer. I can't say I wouldn't have taken advantage of the same deal, though I probably wouldn't have posted it if I KNEW it was a price mistake. I am sure the OP just wanted to alert people to a deal they found with no sinister intentions.

So in the end I guess it comes down to this. You as a consumer do what you feel is right (make the purchase, don't make the purchase, alert the retailer of the mistake, etc). I am not sure a cigar forum is the place to discuss karma and the human condition. Let's just put it to rest, and move on. I hope those that got the "deal" enjoy their cigars and hopefully those that decide to sell their cigars will feel compelled to donate their procedes to a worthy charity or pay it forward to a deserving BOTL.

Dave

I will take the lead. Done the cancel! Thanks for chiming in. I want to see how fast the refund is processed! (Refunded within minutes, great job, thanks!)

 

[Bsneed51]

I apologize for lumping you in with CI. I assumed based on the amount of business ghat you guys were a bigger operation. I have purchased from you multiple times in the past, and have referred many new cigar smoker to your site for their humidor purchases, and I will continue to do so.

 

[rabbgp]

I will take the lead. Done the cancel! Thanks for chiming in. I want to see how fast the refund is processed! (Refunded within minutes, great job, thanks!)

:applause::applause::applause:

Well done!

 

[Vegan702]

Douchebaggery at a low. Even worse, on a forum member!

 

[Craig Mac]

I will take the lead. Done the cancel! Thanks for chiming in. I want to see how fast the refund is processed! (Refunded within minutes, great job, thanks!)

Atta boy! :thumbsup:

 

[Nickerson]

As I told Dave, what I would have done is Refunded all orders and send out some complimentary 5ers or 10 packs. Would keep everyone happy and minimize losses to around $500.00 or so.

 

[topher]

Canceled my order for the mis-priced boxes, but kept another box in the order that was at its normal price.

 

[veeref]

I tip my hat to those that take the high road here 'do the right thing.' Karma will reward you I'm sure.

Regards,

Randy

 

[Greg]

It's good to see that some are doing the right thing. :thumbsup:

 

[La Chupacabra]

I too just cancelled my order.
After much personal debate, I came to the conclusion I just could not do it.
The deciding factor was the site owner’s last post of having only 6 employees and running a very small business. When I made the purchase you don’t think about people on the other end.
Don’t get me wrong if this had been a price mistake from Wal-Mart, Best Buy or some other publicly trade conglomerate I would have stuck the knife in deep, hard & with a twist. But I will not screw a working man.

 

[hdroadglide]

if it was YOUR small business that had made the mistake, what would YOU do?

it's easy to sit back and say," well, it's their fault, they screwed up. i'll teach them to be more careful."

hope the same thing doesn't happen to YOU someday. and no one is trying to make you more moral or ethical. you should have learned that from your parents long ago.

 

[smelvis]

Douchebaggery at a low. Even worse, on a forum member!

+ 1 kinda sad,

 

[lakeside toker]

I did not see the item for sale nor do I know which merchant had to sale. There is one thing that I was taught a long time ago...." if your going to be stupid you better be tough". In this day and age with computors , something like this should not happen. Granted we all make mistakes, but sometimes that is the only way people learn is from those mistakes. If it was advertised at a price it should be honored as a sale. But , it is more commendable to do the honorable thing such as cancelling your order to save a man some money. My hat off to those of you who showed some good faith.

 

[Starz26]

Don’t get me wrong if this had been a price mistake from Wal-Mart, Best Buy or some other publicly trade conglomerate I would have stuck the knife in deep, hard & with a twist. But I will not screw a working man.

Why? Whats the difference? It is a loss to the business either way. Just because they could absorb the loss easier does not make this any different...

Why do you think we pay the prices we do. A part of it is to cover losses due to various things.

 

[La Chupacabra]

After I cancelled my order, Cheap Humidors refunded my money in 1 minute. Bravo !