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David W. Speck wrote:
>
> My order for Amazon Ancient Ruins was also canceled today, however the on-line
> status still shows the item as BackOrdered.
>
> That's what bothers me. We just say "Oh well". Is that it? I find it
> upsetting to see items move from BackOrdered to Canceled. First it was the
> WBStore, then Wal-Mart and now KBKids. This seems to be a growing trend with
> on-line shopping, retailers can easily recover from "unexpected demand" by
> simply canceling orders or ending sales early. Another recent encounter was
> with E-Stamp software and a free HP printer after rebate. That's another area,
> I know, and it took a lot of calling and arguing to get the rebate honored (as
> they ended the sale a week early, but did not post the early closure on their
> website). But should we just accept this? Or is there something we can do
> about it?
>
> As Dennis Miller would say, "I don't want to get off on a rant here..", but
> this process seems broken. If the item moved from "OrderBeingProcessed" to
> "Cancelled", I would have more sympathy for the retailer. But when it is
> placed in a BackOrder state, does that not imply the company is working to
> rebuild inventory. Should they then still honor the sale when the inventory is
> received? Like a rain-check, or a lay-a-way item? Or can these be canceled as
> well (I've never dealt with them from a store)?
>
> Or is it just my recent Lego buying binges that have me upset to see the
> cancelations? Am I alone here? Is it something we should just accept?
There are two problems here. The first problem is that the ordering
system is not properly keyed into inventory, allowing people to order
items which are out of stock. The system should show you if the item is
out of stock, and then allow you to chose to place a backorder, or come
back later.
The second problem is the terms of the sale. The store should more
clearly indicate on the sale if it is limited to quantities on hand (I'm
not sure what the legal requirements are here, but customer relations
demand identifying when quantities are limited [and note that
"clearance" implies that quantities are limited - except in a certain
Target for 5978s...:-)]).
This raises and interesting question when examined with Libertarian
principles. Current consumer law demands that if a store advertises an
item at a price, that they actually have that item available for
purchase at that price. I think this law is actually unreasonable when
examined from a Libertarian perspective (note however that the property
owner renting the space to the store COULD make a condition of the use
of the space that the store actually have the items in stock - I would
see this most likely desired by malls who stand to lose reputation if
the stores in the mall pull tricks with sales which aren't really sales
because the item isn't in stock). The newspaper which caries the add of
course could also require the items to be in stock.
There may be legal recourse however if the store doesn't honor the
advertised price when they have the item in stock (i.e. they advertise
XYZ for $9.95 this week but when you get to the store it's actually
$19.95). Of course reasonable errors need to be accomodated. I suspect
legal recourse even in this case would be limited.
Of course on all of this I'll admit to a bit of laziness in not
examining the whole picture, so I may be missing something.
follow-ups to: lugnet.off-topic.debate
--
Frank Filz
-----------------------------
Work: mailto:ffilz@us.ibm.com (business only please)
Home: mailto:ffilz@mindspring.com
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Order Cancellations
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| (...) Thanks for the feedback. I believe I agree with your comments. And I doubt one could make a legal case at this time, because there are few regulations or laws (that I know of) regarding e-commerce. But this sequence of events is occuring more (...) (24 years ago, 19-Jul-00, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Order Cancellations
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| My order for Amazon Ancient Ruins was also canceled today, however the on-line status still shows the item as BackOrdered. That's what bothers me. We just say "Oh well". Is that it? I find it upsetting to see items move from BackOrdered to Canceled. (...) (24 years ago, 19-Jul-00, to lugnet.market.shopping)
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