On the evening of December 24th to the 25th customers making online purchases received an additional 50 percent off at check out. Tina Tenneriello of CJAD news is reporting that The Brick has contacted customers to say the discount was erroneous and customers who want the item will need to pay the advertised price:
Big name retailer The Brick is being accused of trying to go back on an online Boxing Day offer.
On the evening of December 24th to the 25th customers making online purchases received an additional 50 percent off at check out.
Now, on their Facebook page and by email The Brick has contacted customers to say the discount was erroneous and customers who want the item will need to pay the advertised price.
“I purchased a kitchen table for $199, then I received an email saying there was a pricing error online and due to this we need you to email us back with a phone number so we can let you know what the correct price is, there wasn’t an apology or anything,” Shadia Han, one of the customers who was contacted said.
“Then, they want to offer us a 10 percent discount instead, which I think is rubbish.”
The Office de la protection du consommateur says the price at check out is legally binding and customers in this situation should send a legal letter to The Brick asking them to respect that contract.
Otherwise, they can file a complaint with the office and take them to small claims court.
The Brick would not comment on what constitutes a contract but specified that none of the purchases had been completed. It also suggested customers who are upset about the change contact customer service.
[Source: CJAD NEWS]
The Brick’s Announcement on Facebook
Deliver items and shut up The Brick’s.
I believe it wasn’t a error rather it was intentional. The Brick is notorious for its devious tactic to lure the customer. My experience was that they sell online something they don’t have stock but take the money and send email that they don’t have stock and ask to wait. Nothing happen for a month and I contacted. No apology. Just tell me they have no plan to get it and offered demo one instead. I purchase from many online store and the Brick is the only one take money upon order. All others are take monly upon shipping. That is big differnce and with search I believed it was their way of making monley.
I don’t shop at The Brick due to past experiences, however this was not an advertised deal, but rather a website error. I’m sure many realized the error and tried to capitalize, so I completely understand why the store would not offer the discount. People need to get over their sense of entitlement and stop their whining. If you still feel cheated, just don’t shop there. If someone left a wallet at an ATM by mistake, would you feel it was owed to you if that person realized his mistake and asked for it back?
The list of people satisfied with ANY experience at The Brick is a short one indeed .
So people knew the actual price, they agreed to pay it before the 50% discount appeared at the checkout and now they are complaining when told it was a mistake?? I don’t feel bad for them.
The Future Shop(or Best Buy) had this happen once and also told people it was a mistake. Where was the uproar then?
Watch your receipt if you buy anything from The Brick. They added furniture insurance to the bill after I had told them I didn’t want it.
Ahhh, I would be so mad if I bought something. I hope public outcry makes them stand up to their end of the bargain.
The Brick and Brault and Martineau = same crap with minimal customer service and prize nominations for Worst Businesses in Canada.
I now shop at Ikea and Costco for all furniture and appliances needs. They don’t hassle you, they’ll take the stock back when defective, they don’t try to push you out the door as soon as you pay. The only set-back.. You need to carry the stuff yourself. But it’s worth it just so I don’t get any headaches from them or their crappy delivery services.
A lot of people including myself go to the checkout to see what the actual price is with after taxes, shipping and environmental handling fee etc….with no commitment to buy…but if said 50% discount is offered at checkout then the incentive is there to click “confirm”…
I would say this was intentionally done by The Brick to make people hit confirm then back out on the deal later…I am sure these a-holes have the stats of how many customers go to the checkout page only to back out later on so they added the FAKE 50%.
It’s not worth all the bad PR they have gotten over it
I agree with Dug. As soon as word got out about the “error”, people jumped online to stock up on big screen TVs etc., in essence, taking advantage. A company shouldn’t have to sell stock at a loss due to a mistake. All that does is raise prices for future customers.
Why should the company not have to pay for their own mistake? If it were that big of an issue, somebody should have noticed much sooner and taken the discount off. Who’s problem is it that they weren’t able to catch that on time. Hellllo…all your orders are coming up at 50% off and nobody noticed until the day after?
*whose
I agree completely with Davy Jones. This is how I shop online too, by taking an item through checkout to see what the grand total with shipping charges taxes etc will be. The Bricks “offering to affected customers 10% of their affected online purchase price back as a credit toward their next purchase” is really slimy and reflects their true intention: to lure future business.
The “future credit” deal is why I agree with the posters who think this was an intentional “experiment” on the part of the Brick. Why not offer a discount right now? And 10% is truly chintzy when you were expecting 50%.
If you’re a retailer, whining “OOOOHHHH but we didn’t notice we had such a big sale going on!” is kind of ridiculous.
I hope the Brick isn’t allowed to get away with this. It will set a precedent for online bait and switch tactics to be perfectly acceptable for companies in the future.
I have dealt with the brick in the past and never again. I would never recommend it to anyone.
Just to clarify the Boxing Day sale signage specifically said “all appliances minimum 15 percent off” and in a grey bar that you need to proceed to checkout to see the actual discount on the product. I also looked at other products and they were not all discounted at 50 percent.
An airline in the U,S. had a glitch in their online service. Flights were being offered at $20 and $40. Pretty obvious there was an error in pricing. Said airline announced they will be honoring all online purchases made regardless of the price paid. Now that’s a classy organization. Need I say more.