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Report: #578845

Complaint Review: buy.com - Internet Internet

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  • Updated:
  • Reported By: Robert — New Orleans Louisiana U.S.A.
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  • buy.com 85 Enterprise Suite 100 Internet United States of America

buy.com Bait n Switch: Advertised out of stock item with instant rebate, then as soon as off sale back in stock Internet

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I've watched this company do these repeatedly! At 5am they send an email about a product at a very low price, in this case a Brother PT2430PC label printer for $27.99. A couple hours later it's "out of stock", and before the page updates it actually says it's "Not available from manufacturer". I suspect this is to prevent someone from ordering it on back-order at the advertised price. A few seconds later, that section updates offering to be helpful by sending you to other sellers at 3 to 4 times the price. Some help there... I believe buy.com is getting kick backs in the form of referrals for sending them customers.

Then as soon as the instant rebate is over, suddenly the item becomes back "in stock: ships in one to two days". This is pure bait and switch tactics. Bait you into clicking to their site with no intent to sell it to to you at the advertised price, and then send you to another seller (btw, buy.com works with many sellers via their "marketplace" in which they get a cut so it's not much of a stretch) where they get their cut. The first SEVERAL times, I gave them the benefit of the doubt, this is is a pattern with them. They know what they're doing. It's dishonest and illegal. Next stop: CA Dept of Consumer Affairs.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 03/05/2010 05:35 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/buycom/internet/buycom-bait-n-switch-advertised-out-of-stock-item-with-instant-rebate-then-as-soon-as-578845. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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