topic Re: Bait and Switch in Electronics

Bait and Switch

Ray S — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 14:57:06 GMT

I ordered an "In Stock" Laptop computer, upon checkout they said delivery date would be between 17 and 18 Dec 2018. 4 days later I received an e-mail stating that it was backordered, I called customer service and they stated they did not have a ship date but that it would be in stock soon. It was suppose to be here prior to Christmas but now they won't say when it will be here. They clearly did a bait and switch prior to the Holidays. Now it is too late to find another vendor. My Experience at QVC stinks!

ATTN Lisa Norden, CPA, Global Vice President Customer Service & Experience at QVC

Re: Bait and Switch

jackthebear — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 15:00:39 GMT

not exactly a bait and switch but still annoying cancel and buy in person.

From Wiki

First, customers are "baited" by merchants' advertising products or services at a low price, but when customers visit the store, they discover that the advertised goods are not available, or the customers are pressured by sales people to consider similar, but higher priced items ("switching").

Re: Bait and Switch

glb613 — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 19:50:43 GMT

@Ray S wrote:
I ordered an "In Stock" Laptop computer, upon checkout they said delivery date would be between 17 and 18 Dec 2018. 4 days later I received an e-mail stating that it was backordered, I called customer service and they stated they did not have a ship date but that it would be in stock soon. It was suppose to be here prior to Christmas but now they won't say when it will be here. They clearly did a bait and switch prior to the Holidays. Now it is too late to find another vendor. My Experience at QVC stinks!

ATTN Lisa Norden, CPA, Global Vice President Customer Service & Experience at QVC

Every year we get first time posters complaining about QVC (there is another one complaining about selling older models) and how they ruined their Christmas. If 1% of these posts are true, I'd be shocked. Here is my message to everyone who waits until the last minute and wants to blame someone, look in the mirror.

Re: Bait and Switch

Kachina624 — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 18:13:25 GMT

@Ray S. This board is for QVC customers only so you're preaching to the choir. Lisa Norden will not see your message.

Your experience was not a "bait and switch".

Re: Bait and Switch

Cats3000 — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 21:29:40 GMT

"Bait-and-switch"? No. Bad management? Most likely.

Look. If I want to purchase a computer, I'll go to the source. I am an Apple fan. I purchase either from the Apple Store on-line, or from an Authorized Apple Reseller. If I was purchasing a PC, I'd go the same route; go to the manufacturers' webistes or a reliable retail outlet.

I would NEVER purchase a computer from ANY TV Shopping Channel. Others on these boards have said much the same thing.

You say it's too late to find another vendor? What about going to retail sellers and see what they have in stock or available for quick shipment? I'm not sure it is too late.

Re: Bait and Switch

ValuSkr — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 21:35:28 GMT

Yes, it's a bait & switch of sorts. They told you it would be available and shipped asap, when it actually wasn't available. Then they hope you'll be patient and hang on until more arrive in stock.

Re: Bait and Switch

nomless — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 21:38:40 GMT

NOT a bait and switch, but I am sorry the delivery of your product was my essed up.

Re: Bait and Switch

pupwhipped — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 21:58:02 GMT

@glb613 wrote:
@Ray S wrote:
I ordered an "In Stock" Laptop computer, upon checkout they said delivery date would be between 17 and 18 Dec 2018. 4 days later I received an e-mail stating that it was backordered, I called customer service and they stated they did not have a ship date but that it would be in stock soon. It was suppose to be here prior to Christmas but now they won't say when it will be here. They clearly did a bait and switch prior to the Holidays. Now it is too late to find another vendor. My Experience at QVC stinks!

ATTN Lisa Norden, CPA, Global Vice President Customer Service & Experience at QVC

Every year we get first time posters complaining about QVC (there is another one complaining about selling older models) and how they ruined their Christmas. If 1% of these posts are true, I'd be shocked. Here is my message to everyone who waits until the last minute and wants to blame someone, look in the mirror.

These kind of posts have become epidemic over the last few weeks. And you guessed it, it's always a brand spanking new poster here with problems. I'm with you @glb613, in that I find most of them to be suspicious at best. Here's an example of one awhile back where I questioned the validity and got called out over it. But ya know what, it's been over two weeks and did the OP ever come back and report any updates on their issue. Nope. Never even came back to say kiss my foot or nothin. Bull corn!

https://community.qvc.com/t5/Customer-Care/Under-Review-because-of-card/td-p/5093186/page/2

Re: Bait and Switch

qbetzforreal — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 01:12:12 GMT

@Ray S- QVC tends to over sell an item with the hope the vendor will bring more and fill quota. Kinda like airlines selling more seats than they have on a plane. QVC also lures customers in with Easy Pay, it's like layaway but you get the item up front and this also increases sales.

My advice is to cancel your order, because likelihood of that computer coming is unlikely. Although, there may a Christmas miracle.

Re: Bait and Switch

qbetzforreal — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 01:14:13 GMT

@glb613 wrote:
@Ray S wrote:
I ordered an "In Stock" Laptop computer, upon checkout they said delivery date would be between 17 and 18 Dec 2018. 4 days later I received an e-mail stating that it was backordered, I called customer service and they stated they did not have a ship date but that it would be in stock soon. It was suppose to be here prior to Christmas but now they won't say when it will be here. They clearly did a bait and switch prior to the Holidays. Now it is too late to find another vendor. My Experience at QVC stinks!

ATTN Lisa Norden, CPA, Global Vice President Customer Service & Experience at QVC

Every year we get first time posters complaining about QVC (there is another one complaining about selling older models) and how they ruined their Christmas. If 1% of these posts are true, I'd be shocked. Here is my message to everyone who waits until the last minute and wants to blame someone, look in the mirror.

We don't know if the computer was ordered at the last minute. The OP just gave the delivery date.

Re: Bait and Switch

glb613 — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 10:46:04 GMT

@qbetzforreal wrote:
@glb613 wrote:
@Ray S wrote:
I ordered an "In Stock" Laptop computer, upon checkout they said delivery date would be between 17 and 18 Dec 2018. 4 days later I received an e-mail stating that it was backordered, I called customer service and they stated they did not have a ship date but that it would be in stock soon. It was suppose to be here prior to Christmas but now they won't say when it will be here. They clearly did a bait and switch prior to the Holidays. Now it is too late to find another vendor. My Experience at QVC stinks!

ATTN Lisa Norden, CPA, Global Vice President Customer Service & Experience at QVC

Every year we get first time posters complaining about QVC (there is another one complaining about selling older models) and how they ruined their Christmas. If 1% of these posts are true, I'd be shocked. Here is my message to everyone who waits until the last minute and wants to blame someone, look in the mirror.
We don't know if the computer was ordered at the last minute. The OP just gave the delivery date.

How long have you been posting here? Every year a brand new poster comes here complaining about QVC ruining their Christmas. I don't believe a single post is true. You can believe what you want.

Re: Bait and Switch

qbetzforreal — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 00:08:47 GMT

@glb613 wrote:
@qbetzforreal wrote:
@glb613 wrote:
@Ray S wrote:
I ordered an "In Stock" Laptop computer, upon checkout they said delivery date would be between 17 and 18 Dec 2018. 4 days later I received an e-mail stating that it was backordered, I called customer service and they stated they did not have a ship date but that it would be in stock soon. It was suppose to be here prior to Christmas but now they won't say when it will be here. They clearly did a bait and switch prior to the Holidays. Now it is too late to find another vendor. My Experience at QVC stinks!

ATTN Lisa Norden, CPA, Global Vice President Customer Service & Experience at QVC

Every year we get first time posters complaining about QVC (there is another one complaining about selling older models) and how they ruined their Christmas. If 1% of these posts are true, I'd be shocked. Here is my message to everyone who waits until the last minute and wants to blame someone, look in the mirror.
We don't know if the computer was ordered at the last minute. The OP just gave the delivery date.
How long have you been posting here? Every year a brand new poster comes here complaining about QVC ruining their Christmas. I don't believe a single post is true. You can believe what you want.

Probably longer than you and thank you, I will.

Re: Bait and Switch

gardenman — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 13:13:53 GMT

While it's true we get a lot of angry posts in electronics from first time posters, especially around this time of year, they may be legitimate. Bad experiences tend to motivate people to post. QVC likes to promise "Delivery by Christmas" when they know it may not happen. It's been a long time, ongoing issue.

Companies tend to say that a product is "in stock" if they have five of them on the shelves, even if they have twenty orders. I suspect that's what happens with QVC on a fairly routine basis. They have them "in stock and ready for delivery" just not enough of them in stock and ready for delivery. They kind of leave out that part and hope the customer will be willing to wait while they get more in stock.

It's also true that bad-mouthing a retailer to try and drive business away from them is common at busy shopping times of the of year. You'll find posts on here criticizing Amazon, Walmart, and other major retailers around this time of year, that are solely intended to drive customers away from those retailers. If you're a rival computer retailer and you can convince consumers not to buy a computer from QVC, that's one less competitior you have to deal with. If you have posts up on various shopping forums attacking your competition, then you can help herd customers your way.

Retail is a cutthroat business. To many retailers, nothing is off limits. Rip a competitor on their own forums? Sure, why not? Rip them on other forums? Sure, why not? Use social media to try and harm your competition? Sure, why not? It's all part of modern retailing. The bigger a retailer is, the more likely the little guys will target them.

Now, I don't know if the OP was a rival trying to drive business from QVC, or just a really annoyed consumer, but the Q does have a tendency to make promises they can't always keep and then just keep the customer hanging for days/weeks, while they work out their supply issues, so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He could be a rival trying to badmouth QVC, but the Q does have some issues when it comes to promising delivery and not delivering on their promise.

Re: Bait and Switch

deeva — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 16:23:44 GMT

Where is the switch part? QVC didn’t offer to sell you another computer at a higher price. I would never wait until a week before Christmas to shop for a computer online.

Story sounds suspicious.