Like with so many others, apparently, I was told of a "deal" at Target.com which turned out to be a "pricing error, " in my case for a Toro Snowthrower. I found several things interesting about this alleged "error."
First, when they sent an email saying they "could not" (aka "would not") sell it to me at the advertised price, they quoted the original, non-sale price as the price that the product was selling for. Since I know a bit about web design and ERP systems, I have to ask, how did the price get changed to ANYTHING, correct or not, if the product was not going on sale?
When I research on the web for other Target "pricing errors, " this seems to be a pretty common thing. What? Do they need to fire their web person for sloppy work? I mean, once is a mistake, but many times in the last year? That sounds like a plan to me.
Finally, contrast this with the experience I had about two years ago at Walmart. I was shopping in their store, and noticed some bath towels with a sign advertising a good price. So I picked up three, and took them to checkout. While checking out, I saw that the price on the sign was not what was ringing up. So I asked the cashier, telling her I had seen the price on a sign in the store. She called to verifiy, and then told me that the sale for that item had expired, but that Walmart policy was to sell the product at HALF the advertised price when they made an error. I got those three towels for about $3 a piece.
Not to tell Target how to run their business, but I think it's note-worthy that I'm still telling my Walmart story two years later. As I will be my Target story. I think it's also note-worthy that Walmart recorded a good profit and increased sales in this last dismal quarter, while Target... Well, seems they're bleeding red. Go figure.
And Target... I would say I won't shop at your place anymore, but I think that's probably almost a given, since I don't suppose you're going to be around much longer to shop at! Bye, bye Target. Thanks a lot for the memories!
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