The Sham that is Newegg's "Iron Egg Price Guarantee"

marjamar said:

These are the reasons people sue. They are led to believe there isn't any reason for concern, only to find they were taken in by tricksters. It upsets people when this happens.

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And if the OP were to sue, he would lose because he didn't read the Terms.

There are clearly laid out and easily accessible Terms for the Iron Egg policy.
Every guarantee these days has similar Terms, its simply marketing.

marjamar said:

What your are saying is exactly the point. A statement made in broad strokes for all to see, should in fact take precedence over conditions that are often no place to be seen, and sometimes just as hard to find. When NewEgg choses to provide a drop-down further intensifying their ability and promise to match prices, they expressly did so to forgo any further "caveat emptor" on the part of the buyer. Trickery for sure, and not something that speaks well for any business or business practice.

These are the reasons people sue. They are led to believe there isn't any reason for concern, only to find they were taken in by tricksters. It upsets people when this happens.

I have owned a number of business over the years. I have made millions. I have spent most, saved some. What I have not done however is cheat, trick, or otherwise not deliver what I have promised -- Ever. I do not feel I am alone in this way of thinking and I certainly do not feel I am wrong in it either. Those who do, those who support others who feel it's OK, it's just business as usual, are the ones who are wrong here. Life will end for each of us at some point, and I for one want to go out with a clear conscience about how I lived it. I would think most will feel that way at some point along the way. Just hope it's not a false hope or one acted upon to late to make good.

Enough said far as I am concerned.

-Rodger

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Well, I'm concerned too...

Trickery for sure...

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Is it or is it just logistics?
Here is the thing... you appear to want ALL the details plain as day slammed right in your face. How is that possible? When is that ever done in the first place (examples please?)? Though I agree with your assertion that things should all be up front, the reality is that it is inherently difficult to make that happen, correct? How are you going to fit the rules/stipulations/conditions on the item's page in this case? Im sorry to sound like a smart ***, but do you shop ANYWHERE if those are your rules? I mean nearly every major company does things EXACTLY like this!!! Where did newegg lie? Can it be considered lieing if the person didn't read the easily accessible stipulations? Its not like you had to click and drill down 10 times to find that information, it is right in the button!!!

I am really not sure where you are going with the 'concious' thing I have to admit. If I was newegg, or Best Buy, I would sleep pretty easy with the policies I have in place regarding following the law/act (Truth in Advertising). For pete's sake, the 'fine print' is but a click away! What more can or should a company do? I just do not understand your point of view or how that can be implemented. You seem intelligent enough to earn "millions" as you said, so what is that answer? What would be good enough for people who have requirements like you (which, using this thread as a dataset are the minority) in these cases like Newegg and Best Buy? If this was as big a deal as you seem to make it, why are companies like newegg and BB not getting into frequent or class action litigation on this issue?

And if the OP were to sue, he would lose because he didn't read the Terms.

There are clearly laid out and easily accessible Terms for the Iron Egg policy.
Every guarantee these days has similar Terms, its simply marketing.

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+1

Actually he stated he DID read the rules. And rules are there for a reason. Every major company has terms and conditions regarding sales, promotions, give aways, returns, etc. But to read these rules, understand them and then expect a company to disregard them simply because you're the customer and you're always right is foolish at best.

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+1


EDIT: One thing I do know is that, we will have to agree to disagree in the end. Though I am open minded, I fear there is little one can say to sway my thinking that the method that newegg.com uses is in any way shady... try me though.

Well, I don't want to belabor the point ad infinitum, but when was the last piece of software you installed, or the last OS, or the last contract you signed, or just about anything that demands by law up front information being shown and accepted prior to some transaction? That online venders have the luxury (currently) of saying one thing, while doing another, simply because they said something differently someplace else, isn't a good way to fly a plane, if you ask me. This seems more a good way to crash and burn when all the mess created from things like this, comes home to roost. If we have a person or 2 here saying they feel they were taken advantage of, rest assured there are most likely 100's or 1000's or more never saying it, just feeling it.

As to the "how it's possible" question, simply put, make that click a check box saying you have read and understand the requirements to this (less then) "Iron Egg Price Guarantee" BEFORE THE SALE. Include a link to the full agreement right there. There is a check box in the actual checkout, so you are agreeing to it at the point of sale anyways. Why not simply be upfront with it? I'll give you one guess. It's because it's a "fast one". Making it too easy to click and read what this promise really is, would be disturbing to most. So much so, it would tend to cost sales, not incurage them. This is the way too much business is being done these days. This is the reason some may feel a bit cheated. Somewhere, sometime, someone once said, "Honesty is the best policy", I happen to believe that and what it takes to make it true. Sometimes it is an awfully hard thing to try and live by though. In business, having to isolating oneself from his/her fundamental beliefs is almost a given. Business comes first, something alot of companies live by. But still, I would prefer to know the truth going into any and every transaction. I have also preferred to make my business' conform to my fundamental beliefs. Just a better way.

Anyways, enough is enough.

Take care.

-Rodger

marjamar said:

Well, I don't want to belabor the point ad infinitum, but when was the last piece of software you installed, or the last OS, or the last contract you signed, or just about anything that demands by law up front information being shown and accepted prior to some transaction? That online venders have the luxury (currently) of saying one thing, while doing another, simply because they said something differently someplace else, isn't a good way to fly a plane, if you ask me. This seems more a good way to crash and burn when all the mess created from things like this, comes home to roost. If we have a person or 2 here saying they feel they were taken advantage of, rest assured there are most likely 100's or 1000's or more never saying it, just feeling it.

As to the "how it's possible" question, simply put, make that click a check box saying you have read and understand the requirements to this (less then) "Iron Egg Price Guarantee" BEFORE THE SALE. Include a link to the full agreement right there. There is a check box in the actual checkout, so you are agreeing to it at the point of sale anyways. Why not simply be upfront with it? I'll give you one guess. It's because it's a "fast one". Making it too easy to click and read what this promise really is, would be disturbing to most. So much so, it would tend to cost sales, not incurage them. This is the way too much business is being done these days. This is the reason some may feel a bit cheated. Somewhere, sometime, someone once said, "Honesty is the best policy", I happen to believe that and what it takes to make it true. Sometimes it is an awfully hard thing to try and live by though. In business, having to isolating oneself from his/her fundamental beliefs is almost a given. Business comes first, something alot of companies live by. But still, I would prefer to know the truth going into any and every transaction. I have also preferred to make my business' conform to my fundamental beliefs. Just a better way.

Anyways, enough is enough.

Take care.

-Rodger

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IIRC there is a check box when you order that says "I agree to Newegg's Terms and Conditions", with a direct link to said Terms.

Well, that is good thinking, I will give you that...(check box). But when does it end? When does the onus lay on the buyer to do ANYTHING? IN this case, the OP looked at it, and STILL bought the thing. He played with fire, thinking quite logically that he wouldn't get burned, and did, then came here and ranted away. My world isn't wrapped up in pretty bows with things made so easy I don't have to think... oh wait, I am an American.. a slightly overweight American... it is handed to me on a silver platter already! LOL!

Oh well.

I saw the Iron Egg price promotion and read it all when it first came out. I thought oh this is great. However I started comparing prices trying to find something that would apply and I could not. Sure there were cheaper items on the sites back and forth. Amazon cheaper on some Egg on the other. Whenever Amazon was cheaper my shipping cost with them more than made the difference as I was getting a free or very low cost shipping from New Egg.
I always use the standard shipping 5-7 days and it arrives in 3 from the Jersey location most times. So I eventually decided unless it was 20 or more dollars difference when all calculations were done I was still going to buy from New Egg because they have always been good to me. Even with RMA's, damaged shipments on my cases always has a case at my door overnight shipping and a prepaid label for the damaged case.

I never mind paying a few dollars more if I have to at New Egg because Im comfortable with them. I have never had issue with Amazon or Tiger either and I do throw them some bones as well here and there.

Anyway am I the only one who after reading all this would love to know

A. what the item was the OP was trying to price match
B. how much Amazon was charging plus any shipping
C. The price the item was at New egg they would not budge from.

We have all this debate here and we are talking about 1 instance of a denied price match. Must have been one hell of a deal at Amazon, which I would love to know how much cheaper it was that Egg could not touch it and what it was. In any business margin vary's from product to product. Some products have alot of wiggle room others next to nothing. What the item was makes a difference.

Lastly if this had happened to me I don't think I would have been angry, I tried to get it price matched so I could buy from my favorite vendor but they could not do it. I see myself shrugging my shoulders and placing the order with Amazon to get my part.

And I must reiterate I find it in NO way shady to not sell an item below cost. Now, it may be smart to chat with a CSR and ask what cost for a particular item is. Let them know you have an item that you imagine may be close to cost, and you want to make sure you get a straight answer before saying what the price match is. If they say they can't tell you, say "Ok, I'll just buy it from the other guys then". Maybe that will nudge them in the right direction and get you the price you're looking for. That was you don't have to worry about them just saying "oh that's below cost" for everything, which I doubt they do.

I'm curious about two things:

What was this mystery item?

And why did you not just buy from Amazon? Free shipping at Newegg? No sales tax at Newegg?

rogbur22 said:

Anyway am I the only one who after reading all this would love to know

A. what the item was the OP was trying to price match
B. how much Amazon was charging plus any shipping
C. The price the item was at New egg they would not budge from.

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Beat me

rogbur22 said:

A. what the item was the OP was trying to price match
B. how much Amazon was charging plus any shipping
C. The price the item was at New egg they would not budge from.

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This is what I'd like to know. If neweggs price happened to already be as low as they could go then I'd call that shady personally (not illegal but shady none the less) . If there is no way for them to price match due to cost then it shouldn't be advertised that way.

Now if there was a decent gap in prices that is another story.

Newegg said 80% of their items have this IE guarantee. Is it feasible to check that many items against any competitor none the less several major ones? How would Newegg know they couldn't pricematch unless they compared the item prior to it getting the IE gurantee? What seems more plausible... Newegg checked that many items and left the ones that were really close (which is shady), or perhaps offered this price guarantee not knowing because of the sheer man hours it would take to check that many items and remove them?

I stand my my original point that Ed was acting like a dush, which btw was misspelled on purpose. I had spoke with him in the past, and that may be his way of talking, but it's still annoying and abrasive. I couldn't care less for his post count, this was never something to advertise on OCF.

As to the child, who called me butthurt, you might want to pick your words better, this kind of talk will only work on the internet, real life will kick you in the teeth real fast. I had a problem the way ED was taking my issue and I told him about it, he even half way agreed to it. That's called having an adult conversation, not snapping back at someone.

I had a serious concern, but it's now obvious that it was falling on deaf ears, and people rather roll over. This use to be different, when newegg would advertise price after rebate in search results, there was a riot and they changed that policy.

Won't quote everyone in this tread, but will try to reply to all.

First off yes when you speak to CS person on chat, they can influence the price on the website, in fact almost instantly, which happened in the past, when I alerted them to an advertising error, additionally this chat involved a supervisor, it seems every price match first have to go trough one, if it wasn't approved for that item and price before. So yes after I told them about it, they had a very real ability to change it.

Iron Egg is still a Sham, and a waste of time, the way I see it. For me it was a very small waste of time, because I knew I could cancel the order on the spot, if they didn't agrea to match the price, I knew that going in. When I first posted this thread, I though that would be obvious. Guess not.

It was a Canon SX170 IS camera, Amazon had it for 99.99 and newegg for 149.99, Amazon also had a free 16GB SD card, but newegg ships faster, so that's why I wanted to buy it there, had plenty of SD cards.

Here is another person who had a problem, but he found cheaper price after purchase, the price difference was $240 for a total of 4 WD drives, they offered him a $30 gift card instead, a joke. He did not have a hassle free option of canceling the order, his only option was to tear down, return and the order elsewhere. But wait Newegg's Iron Egg Guarantee is suppose to protect you for 14 days after purchase ! Shop Worry FREE ! guess NOT. That's why it's a poor advertising practice, (one single person who posted in this thread seem to understand that) they won't honor any of these guarantees. He did eventually got the difference several days later, wasting untold amount of time, worry free my a**.

This post may come off very aggressive and it is, originally that aggression was only aimed at a poor policy, not even a retailer in whole, but since people rather idolize a retailer, than listen to reason, I have to make my point.

EarthDog said:

Newegg said 80% of their items have this IE guarantee. Is it feasible to check that many items against any competitor none the less several major ones?

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Yes, software can automatically do that, almost effortlessly.

Blaylock said:

Like the OP I'm walking away from this thread. It has run its course and I'm done with it. Problem solved IMO.


peace.

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You never offered anything of value to it. Personally, won't miss you.

CharlieCS said:

As to the child, who called me butthurt, you might want to pick your words better, this kind of talk will only work on the internet, real life will kick you in the teeth real fast. I had a problem the way ED was taking my issue and I told him about it, he even half way agreed to it. That's called having an adult conversation, not snapping back at someone.

I had a serious concern, but it's now obvious that it was falling on deaf ears, and people rather roll over. This use to be different, when newegg would advertise price after rebate in search results, there was a riot and they changed that policy.

This post may come off very aggressive and it is, originally that aggression was only aimed at a poor policy, not even a retailer in whole, but since people rather idolize a retailer, than listen to reason, I have to make my point.

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Don't worry, I would never call someone butthurt in real life. Unless I was standing idley by as they snapped at someone offering them advice and called them a douche. Then I would probably call them butthurt. But thank you for clarifying this is the internet. I was worried for a second.

Now that we have some more context, I do find it disappointing that Newegg wouldn't budge from $150. I would imagine if their cost is $110 they could afford to sell for $125 or something, at least make some movement in the right direction. However, attacking Newegg's policies on an Overclocking forum is a bit like attacking a policy from Wal-Mart in a trailer park: you will incite the masses.

Hope you enjoy your camera.

CharlieCS said:

... they won't honor any of these guarantees. He did eventually got the difference several days later...

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If you want to continue this discussion, CharlieCS, stop with the insults and actually have a discussion.

CharlieCS said:

I stand my my original point that Ed was acting like a dush

As to the child, who called me butthurt, you might want to pick your words better, this kind of talk will only work on the internet

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Calling people "dushes"(?) on the internet is so much better... Lol

Someone needs a taste of that is he carries on like that...just sayin...

Bottom line is that you expect a vendor to willingly sell an item at a loss to benefit you. If you had chatted with a couple different reps, and if you were polite to them, you might have gotten your way.

It's funny (and somewhat depressing) that people have such a sense of entitlement.