Colossal Bait & Switch

[orbital]

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Most of us have 'subscriptions' from a giant online retailer.

Just today I noticed that they changed the price within an Order recently placed in my account,, thought they can't do that,
so I cancelled the order and subscription and reordered at the lower subscription price.
Logged back in and see they changed the price on my already placed order,,,, again!
This is Orders placed, not web page price.

People think that the great price they do a subscription for is the price they will be charged,, IT IS NOT
**** You don't necessarily get that price even for 'that order' ****
they literally told me that the price can change (and what you are billed for) at any time.

They count on you not noticing the price change and it getting lost in the shuffle of your account or bill. Very intentional & borderline illegal.

Good lobbying lets them get away with this

 

[SYZYGY]

interesting. i've never used the subscription feature, but it says 'save 5%' or whatever – i assumed that meant you'd be charged 95% of whatever the current price is at the time of shipment each time.

 

[Monocrom]

So whose the retailer who tried to cheat you?

 

[boo5ted]

So whose the retailer who tried to cheat you?

I would think the company that stole the name from the forest in South America.

 

[SCEMan]

I've always been notified beforehand of a subscription item price increase.

 

[DaveTheDude]

If you paid via PayPal, the price shift is quite possibly PayPal's habit of charging tax separately from the advertised cost of the item. PayPal does this for tax compliance reasons (a gazillion separate taxing jurisdictions all wanting their cut; separate tax billing makes it easier of PayPal, although a bit annoying for customers).

If this isn't the issue, then please forgive my intrusion (but do keep it back of mind for future purchases using PayPal's services).

[End of today's Public Service Announcement. 👨‍🏫]

 

[orbital]

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My opening post was overly wordy.

Placed an order, had a total (price) & order number.
Following day they had increased the price within that order.

Not sure what planet that's legal on,,


_____________________________________
no email update nor Paypal used

 

[ghostguy6]

I use the subscribe and save feature quite a bit. So far I have never been overcharged for the first order. What I do is set the option for every 6 months then after about 3 months I remove the subscription. When I need the same item again I will re-apply the subscription. I found the price always increased more if had an active subscription.
I also noticed that if you keep an item in your wishlist with the price written in the comments, that item will be on sale the next time you return to your wishlist. You must wait a minimum of 48 hours though.
Also it does not hurt to have two accounts. Sometimes regular members pay less that prime members do for the exact same item. So if you not in a hurry for shipping it pays off.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

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My opening post was overly wordy.

Placed an order, had a total (price) & order number.
Following day they had increased the price within that order.

Not sure what planet that's legal on,,


_____________________________________
no email update nor Paypal used

Remember their dash button? A physical button that you pressed to re-order your detergent or other consumables? They were forced to discontinue it because it violated the consumer protection laws, specifically that you didn't know if the price of your item had increased before pushing the button to reorder. If I understand your situation correctly, this is the same thing in a slightly different format.

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

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My opening post was overly wordy.

You're consistent. 😁