Contact Forum Editor

Send an email to our Forum Editor:

PLEASE NOTE: Your name is used only to let the Forum Editor know who sent the message. Both your name and email address will not be used for any other purpose.

Tech Consumer Advice

It's free to register, to post a question or to start / join a discussion

View Forum Rules | Contact Forum Editor

 

Ebuyer marketing scam!

Autoschediastic

Likes # 0

Posted November 28, 2011 at 6:09PM

Hi all, today Ebuyer was advertising a mega sale! £1 super offer and some of the items on the offers was a Here at a shocking £1 price! however although they advertised it they took it offline almost straight away? there was other offers too & people have ordered their items like the above monitor to be emailed back "Out of stock" its happened to 100's of people ive been and had a look on their facebook page and ive never seen so many angry people!

There has been people told they will get the deals they bought online only to be emailed a bit later with the "Out of stock" message its caused them no end of angry customers and from the feedback i can see on the facebook page Ebuyer have lost a LOT of customers..what a mess was this just a marketing scam gone wrong? the website went down too...anyone with facebook have a look at Ebuyers page and read the Mammoth amount of comments on the page!..tut tut Ebuyer...

Like this post
spuds

Likes # 0

Posted November 28, 2011 at 7:37PM

"Ebuyer have lost a LOT of customers"

They will survive, but it may take a little repairing.

The company's official statement? blog.ebuyer.com/2011/11/ebuyer-1-sale-official-statement/

Perhaps it might be worth noticing, that in Ebuyer terms and conditions, a sale is not a sale until a confirmation of acceptance is given.

Like this post
interzone55

Likes # 0

Posted November 28, 2011 at 8:01PM

It's not a scam, they simply underestimated the huge number of people who would try to access the site on the day, which brought their servers to their knees.

I'd hardly say it was a scam, as it interfered with their normal trading, more like someone in their marketing department not quite realising just how many people can be diverted from their working day by the promise of a bargain

Like this post
spuds

Likes # 0

Posted November 29, 2011 at 12:47AM

With the advert that they posted, including all the emails to their regular subscribers and customers about the sale, they will need to look at their promise about the hourly bargain offers, and the promise of further more 1p bargain sales to come?.

Originally I thought someone had managed to hack the Ebuyer website!.

Like this post
ams4127

Likes # 0

Posted November 29, 2011 at 12:52PM

They hold a £1 sale and underestimate the number of people who might be interested?! With intelligence of that order behind Ebuyer, it's a wonder they are still trading.

Like this post
spuds

Likes # 0

Posted November 29, 2011 at 7:32PM

ams4127

You could have said the same about Kodak a few years back, when they offered their DX3700 digital cameras, then (tried to) cancelled all the orders, because of a supposed website error.

I also believe Hoover had a similar incident?.

Like this post
ams4127

Likes # 0

Posted November 29, 2011 at 7:39PM

Spuds

Yes, I remember both of those incidents. I think the Hoover one had something to do with a promotion which involved a free holiday somewhere exotic. If memory serves, they nearly went bust.

Like this post
QuizMan

Likes # 0

Posted November 29, 2011 at 9:07PM

"Perhaps it might be worth noticing, that in Ebuyer terms and conditions, a sale is not a sale until a confirmation of acceptance is given"

That is the legal position too. The appearance on the website is an "invitation to treat" and it is not until someone offers payment and it is accepted that a contract is in place. This is the legal case in question that first set out the law: Fisher v Bell

Like this post

Reply to this topic

This thread has been locked.



Check out PC Advisor's other tech forums

Send to a friend

Email this article to a friend or colleague:

PLEASE NOTE: Your name is used only to let the recipient know who sent the story. Both your name and the recipient's name and address will not be used for any other purpose.