Baby, There's a Shark in the Water!

UPDATED:

Recently, the website www.deepdiscountdvd.com posted the complete "Batman Anthology" Blu-Ray set for the ridiculously low price of $12.75.

This price seemed too good to be true, and it was. Below is excerpted my email exchange with their customer service department. In the spirit of the season, I have posted their messages in a festive shade of vomit.

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Due to a pricing error on our website we have cancelled your recent order.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you and we hope
that you will replace your order now that the pricing has been corrected.

My first message, sent through their "Contact" page:

(This message was cut and paste from an email which I attempted to send in reply to your cancelation notice. Suffice it to say, it's being immediately bounced back did little to cheer me up. Please provide an email address that I can reply to.)

First and foremost, this "pricing error," so close to the holiday, comes as a particular disappointment. The manner in which it was communicated has left me scrambling to find a suitable alternative on rather late notice (the package would not have arrived by Christmas, but rather in time for the recipient's return from a visit home).

Furthermore, has my entire order been canceled? To quote your email: "we have cancelled your recent order." Listed beneath this is the "Batman" anthology, but not the "Kill Bill" films. Were these also canceled? I would like for them to be, and for the preauthorization for 49.94 to be lifted from my Visa card posthaste.

When a deal appears "too good to be true," it often is -- such is the case here. The difference between those businesses who retain clients, and those who do not, is a simple one -- the former business sucks it up, apologizes, and takes a slight hit, whereas the other sends impersonal, form emails, confusingly notifying their clients that their order has been canceled (whilst not listing the entirety of the alleged canceled order). This is particularly true when a first-time client is "snared" with such an overwhelming discount (and, incidentally, ends up buying even more; please Google "loss leader" to get some idea how you might have better handled this situation).

I expect I will continue shopping elsewhere. Please confirm that the whole of my order has been canceled, and not just the "Batman" anthology.

Best,
James Barry

Subject
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[DeepDiscount.com] - Cancel Order Request


Discussion Thread
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Response (Kristina) - 12/22/2010 04:38 PM
Thank you for contacting DeepDiscount!

ERRORS AND OMISSIONS POLICY

In the event a product is listed at an incorrect price due to a display or typographical error, or an error in pricing information received from our suppliers or store partners, DeepDiscount.com shall have the right to refuse or cancel any orders placed for product listed at the incorrect price. DeepDiscount.com shall have the right to refuse or cancel any such orders whether or not the order has been confirmed and your credit card charged. If your credit card has already been charged for the purchase and your order is cancelled, DeepDiscount.com shall immediately issue a credit to your credit card account in the amount of your original charge.


DeepDiscount.com makes every effort to provide accurate and current information concerning all products. However, information errors and omissions may occur in the data entry or transfer process or as a result of information provided from our suppliers, store partners, or other third parties, and except as set forth in this policy statement, DeepDiscount.com shall have no liability for any such errors or omissions.

which is found http://www.deepdiscount.com/error-omissions-policy/.

We are sorry for any inconvenience that you have experienced.

Again, thank you for writing DeepDiscount.com. We appreciate your business.

Regards,

Customer Service Department

DeepDiscount

Dear (Kristina),

I appreciate you taking the time to copy and paste a lengthy, broadly-defined "response" to my previous query. As much as I would have liked for the questions I posed to have been addressed in some specific or thorough fashion, I understand that it's the holidays, and it's very difficult to offer "good" service during such a busy period.

(Incidentally, I used to work for an online retailer, and freely admit that, when confronted with several hundred client emails, I sometimes used the same approach. Perhaps your experience is different, but I got called out on it so often, I started actuallyreading clients' emails as though they were individuals, with unique concerns and questions; ended up saving me a lot of time replying to the same clients!)

Thankfully, your automated message systems has just answered the question that you failed to even address: it appears that the "Kill Bill Vol. 2" Blu-Ray has shipped, so that's a wash. I will contact you upon receipt of it to arrange for you to have it shipped back to you. In order to avoid any further inconvenience on your end -- which is what I'm here for, after all! -- I request that you neither send, nor charge me for, "Kill Bill Vol. 1," from the same order. I might have gone to the trouble of canceling the order myself, had I not been assured at check-out that I did not need an account to make a purchase. Seeing as the cancelation method detailed on your site assumes that one has created an account, I thought it'd be more personal/possible to do it this way.

Someone messed up, and a lot of people jumped at what looked like a great deal -- I understand that this puts your company in a difficult situation. Barring the ability to offer the item (the "Batman" Anthology) at the price listed, I had hoped for at least some semblance of customer service. Here are some examples of replies that would have led me to reconsider my decision never to do business with you again:

-"We sincerely wish that we were able to offer the product at the price listed, but the overwhelming demand -- and the need to treat all of clients equally -- were simply too great for us to feasibly do so. To make it up to you, we'd like to offer you (free upgraded shipping/a slightly reduced price on the item in question/any gesture, however small, that shows that we are human being interested in establishing and maintaining a relationship with you). We look forward to hearing from you, and wish you the happiest of holidays!"

-"Warner Bros. Pictures has insisted that we not offer the 'Batman Anthology' at such a low price-point, despite our desire to do so. We apologize for this inconvenience, and hope that we can make it up to you with (see above). Please, do not hesitate to contact us if you've any further questions or concerns, and Happy Holidays!"

-"That infernal Julian Assange has been tampering with the prices on our sites, ever since we had to cancel his order of 'The Pelican Brief.' We apologize for any confusion that this may have caused, and encourage you to contact us if you've any further questions or concerns."

Of course, the first of these is preferable, but what company has never deferred responsibility in order to save face? Had I received a complete lack of reply, I might have at least convinced myself that a thoughtful, thorough redress of my grievances was being toiled over at the DeepDiscount home office, in much the same way that I keep telling myself that Daddy just "went out for some smokes." As it is, the promptness of your reply is betrayed by it's cold and impersonal style, to say nothing of the fact that it DID NOT ADDRESS MY QUESTION.

In my previous message, I indicated that I will not be shopping with DeepDiscountDVD.com again. In the spirit of the season, I shall henceforth share the joy of not patronizing you -- as you have me -- with others!

Best,

James M. Barry

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UPDATE:

I received a reply to my last message. While I'm still not entirely certain that my message was read in full, I do appreciate the effort:

I am sorry but we can have arrangements made on our behalf to have the item returned ourselves and I completely understand that this was just one of those things that seemed too great to be true but under the company policies I am directed to give our customers a copy of the policy of error and omissions. It is amazing how some people come out of their shells that can be revolting then there are people like you who just seem so real, people like you are more needed in this world. It is kind words that go much further in life and it becomes really appreciated and understanding and I so from the bottom of my heart wish you the greatest Christmas of all. I know we all need to be reminded sometimes what it is and you helped me be reminded in some small way, so I personally thank you :)

Happy Xmas, everybody!