Sales at Sears. They don't honor the sales price. Complain or just live with it?

[obbn]

@astro

Typically if the floor price is not a full retail price there is some indication on the sales tag or a sign posted near the merchandise indicating that it is a discounted price.

You’re saying there was no notice of this kind?

Not on the price placard next to the item. The placard read something to the effect of “Large Four Shelf Tool Cabinet $234”. As stated before, I had been in the store several times planning the purchase, this over several weeks. I knew that the special sale was coming up and discussed it with the salesperson each time. I made a point of telling him how happy I was that the sale was happening as it was going to save me several hundred dollars. Plus I mentioned that I had originally intended to go with cheaper plastic storage units and was incredibly happy that the 25% off would allow me to instead purchase the quality metal ones.

I guess my point is, the “regular” price in the store (at least over the several months I researched cabinets) was always constant, save maybe a single piece that would be on sale. I think that if you are a store and sell an item at a specific price and then advertise a sale based on a percentage off, that percentage should logically be off the everyday price you have for that item. To put something on sale and then say, yeah it’s on sale but not on sale of the marked price, but rather the “real retail price” is misleading and unethical. If you are going to do that why not make it so your store is packed with customers and have a 95% of sale. Just claim the full retail price of an item is 1000 times more than the in store marked price and move to step three, profit.

It was misleading because an average person would reasonably assume that the discount given would be off of the marked price on the item. In my case, even though I wanted the Craftsman cabinets I wouldn’t have planned to purchase them if the sale want running. Instead I would have settled for not so nice items that would have allowed me to stay within the budget I had set aside for these items. I ended up purchasing them anyway because by that time:

1. I had my heart set on them, thinking they were less than they were.

2. Had taken half a morning and several hours in the store picking out the items

3. I had driven over forty miles to the nearest Sears store.

4)I had rented a truck to transport all of the items home (cheaper than the Sears delivery charge)

So, I guess in the end I went ahead with the purchase because I had invested so much tine and effort. Also because the"bait"of the sale did exactly what Sears hoped it would do. Got me in the store, got me emotionally invested in the item so that when it came time to checkout the reasons above ended up overriding my anger at the difference in what was conveyed and what was given.

And there lies the problem, Sears used deception and it isn’t right. Complaining about it here among friends gives me a chance to vent and perhaps warns a few of my fellow Dopers to be aware of this. In the end I probably should have walked away, but I’ll admit that a shiny red cabinet was stronger than my willpower.

[Fubaya]

I would take back everything, go to Lowe’s and spend 1/4 as much on wood and build a workbench and cabinets. That might be the only way you’ll end up with a smile on your face. Even if you’re 100% in the right, dealing with Sears, the store manager, the corporate office etc will probably eat your soul.

[kayaker]

I would communicate with whoever you can at Sears (as high up the ladder as possible), telling them what happened. Then I would explain how you will never patronize Sears again, and how you will tell this tale to anyone who will listen. And I would follow through with this.

[Kimballkid]

@obbn

I plan on tomorrow making a verbal complaint to corporate and then finding out who handles consumer affairs here in Florida and make a complaint. I don’t think either will do much, but it will make me feel life I did something.

I think you should really do this in writing either through a letter or email so as to create a paper trail should you come to the point you want to escalate it. At least do it in writing initially and, if there isn’t a response, you could call them and inquire whether they received the letter/email.

[alphaboi867]

@RyJae

Not sure if it’s still the same but years ago I worked in a medium size store in Pennsylvania someone came in grabbed a manager then grabbed items off the shelves and scanned them to make sure prices where the same as on the shelves. We then had a little paper we hung up. For the life of me I forget the name of the state agency who did this.

It’s the Bureau of Rise & Measurement Standards. It’s a division of the Dept. of Agriculture and it also in charge of auding the scales retail stores use to weight things and fuel dispensers among other things (like amusement park rides).

[Cat_Whisperer]

@Rachellelogram

Is this really legally actionable? IANAL, but I was under the impression that store prices can say basically anything on the shelf, and the store does not have to honor them at the register.<snip>

I’m really not sure about this (and am certainly no expert), but I do know that if the register price doesn’t match the shelf price here, you can get the item for free (up to $10). I’ve actually done this more than once (at least once at Wal-Mart). I like to think that there are some standards that must be met by businesses so they can’t put any price they want on the shelf and charge anything they like at the till, counting on people not wanting to keep on wasting their time by prices always being different.

Here’s an interesting story about how Wal-Mart

literally banks upon these “errors” and has made the inefficiency of correction a model of corporate policy.

That has been my experience shopping; large chains don’t make a lot of effort to rip you off on purpose, but they don’t make a lot of effort to make sure things are always accurate, either. Sears, Safeway, and Wal-Mart are stores I shop at frequently, and I have to be very vigilant to make sure what I pay is what I thought I was going to pay. They seem to have found the line between accuracy and inaccuracy that people will tolerate and they can get away with.