Will Amazon Honor the Wrong Price on Their Website? (Even After I Hassle Them?)
I was laying in bed the other night doing some shopping on Amazon via my smartphone when I encountered a price that was SO good that I sat bolt upright. Yes, I may have a problem. I noticed a REALLY good deal on a new coffee maker directly on the Amazon homepage featured as a “Deal of the Day”. What happened next was quite surprising. Here’s how it all went down…
A Screaming Deal on a Coffee Maker
What would you think if you stumbled upon the Gourmia Pour Over coffee maker pictured above on the Amazon homepage?
Would you think the Amazon price was actually $17.99?
For obvious reasons, I definitely did. But then when I clicked on the coffee maker it took me to the product page with a price of $149.99.
I was like, what? They should honor the lower price, this is false advertising.
So I crawled out of bed and started investigating.
See Also: Stores That’ll Give You the Lower Price If Item is Stocked in Wrong Spot
It Was Late…So I Hit Up Amazon Live Chat
Seeing that it was almost midnight I went on my laptop and started a Live Chat with Amazon.
In retrospect, I should have called Amazon as live chat operators have ZERO authority to give me the lower price.
I politely explained the situation and even sent the operator a screenshot of the coffee maker with the $17.99 price tag.
The first operator I chatted with said the $17.99 was simply a reference to “some items in the coffee category being priced as low as $17.99”.
I called BS and asked for his supervisor.
The next 2 chat operators told me basically the same thing and neither one admitted to any mistake by Amazon.
They also stated that they had no authority to change the price from $149.99 to $17.99.
The “Wrong” Price Quickly Disappeared
While I’m chatting with Amazon guess what happened?
Yep, the powers-that-be removed the “Deal of the Day” coffee maker at $17.99 and replaced it with another item.
They clearly realized their mistake but were not about to admit it OR give me the lower advertised price.
What Does the Law State About This Situation?
Is a company obligated to sell a product for their lower advertised price, even when it’s an honest mistake?
I took this question to the Internet and discovered some interesting information.
From the San Francisco chronicle, “In general, there’s no law that requires companies to honor an advertised price if that price is wrong. But don’t expect customers to be happy about it.”
In other words, if it’s a simple mistake it is NOT false advertising.
This makes sense as a pricing error could be disastrous for a small business struggling to get by.
But I know for a fact that many big box stores and websites will give you the lower price if the price difference is not enormous.
Ask the Reader: What say you, should Amazon have given me the lower price?
Have you ever spotted a price, either online or in-store, that was clearly wrong? Did the store or website give you the lower price? Let me know in the comments.
By Kyle James
I started Rather-Be-Shopping.com in 2000 and have become a consumer expert and advocate writing about out-of-the-box ways to save at stores like Amazon, Walmart, Target and Costco to name a few. I’ve been featured on FOX News, Good Morning America, and the NY Times talking about my savings tips. (Learn more)
I have seen incredibly low prices on Amazon and it turns out they are put there by scammers in the part of the site where you purchase from merchants outside the Amazon “family”. Anyone can set up a “store” and advertise things. When I tried to buy these things…it happened twice….I just never received anything and my credit card was not charged so apparently there is some oversight from Amazon with regard to these outside businesses. It did look as though the sale went through as usual, however. I did receive a notice that the item was “no longer available” but that was after several weeks. I knew it was too good to be true and I didn’t give them any new information, just checked out through the regular Amazon cart. Amazon had my credit card; the scammer didn’t get to see it so no harm…this time. I’ve learned; if it’s too good to be true, run the other way!
I can take this a step further – I actually completed an order through Amazon AND received a confirmation with the incorrect price, but the next day, Amazon sent me an email stating that the advertised price was incorrect and that they weren’t going to fulfill the order. Then they unilaterally canceled the order. I have a huge issue with that, since this wasn’t just a special deal I saw, but an actual completed and confirmed order, so I escalated the issue (at great challenge from the customer service reps) multiple times. The result was that I was told that Amazon reserves the right to cancel any order for any reason and that they absolutely did not care about their mistake or keeping me as a customer. I’m a Prime member that buys a lot – for both personal and fit my business, but they couldn’t have cared less. I even advised them that I would be filing a complaint with the FTC, and the response was, “Do what you need to do.”
That is absolutely sad, I am currently facing the same situation and about to call Amazon, already chatted and the chat person pretended they did not understand and apologized and repeated the same thing on and on, as I was dumb… IT IS ON AMAZON website, I am a prime member, I do a lot of shopping… just like you… lets see… should I waste my time or not?? I will at least call them once and record and share here so you girls/guys will have a nice Amazon recording to enjoy… I will post also the chat transcript. Lets starts something, we cannot let Bezos and Amazon rule the world without us, the customers, being protected and well treated with dignity and respect and honored with what is advertised on their website, but even more, we deserve not being lied to.
Last night, I purchased three cedar flower boxes from Amazon, at an excellent price. I got a confirmation by email.
This afternoon, I received a call from an Amazon Rep and she said they would not honor the price as it was a ‘glitch’ in their system. (She wasn’t pleasant to talk to either).
I am a prime member (apparently, which does not mean anything) and purchase often.
Now, with the pandemic, I’ve been ordering more frequently and receiving a delivery, almost everyday.
We need a governing law to protect online customers!
“In general, there’s no law that requires companies to honor an advertised price if that price is wrong.
But there are laws which state that the price advertised or displayed with the product be the correct price. Depending what state or country you live in or buy from for that matter. Now here lies the problem that Amazon uses AI to constantly adjust prices for there own and third party sellers products as well. Which in turn also polices or supposed to police over and under priced items… They use the AI, they made the company what it is then they should deal with consequences of the situation… They could solve this by reverting to have more people manually check over the AI results, have less products, dont use third party sellers or just not be a business all together. If AI failed to send me an important document due to auto Gmail filters then who do you think is going to suffer because of that “error”…… Any price affixed representing the cost of product is an advertised priced….period… Whether in store, online or whatever it may be. Any public display of a cost for a product is in fact advertising a price. Yes, loss has occurred and damages were dealt. You lost the ability to have purchased the item at the advertised price and now deal with the emotional damages of not receiving the item and now everytime you see a that’s cheaper than what seems “normal” you don’t know what to do because big retail can just kick your concern to the side and get away with it. Do you try and purchase only to get shot away or do you not attempt and then miss out on some insanely good deal? Its not like these companies have never had deals like that before… Just because a law doesnt say they have to honor the price doesn’t mean that they aren’t breaking any either. Fight, don’t bow down.
Check out THIS mistake on Amazon on 3/19/21:
Starbucks Blonde Roast K-Cup Coffee Pods — Veranda Blend for Keurig Brewers — 6 boxes (60 pods total)
Price:$7.49 ($0.12 / Count)
No, I didn’t try to get it for the low price because I really don’t like Starbucks’ coffee.
When a price is obviously an error let it go people!!! Someone somewhere made a mistake and you’re trying to take advantage of that mistake. Let’s hope that you NEVER make a mistake in your line of employment that can be forgiven by someone on the other side simply not being a stubborn a.
Oh did I ever! I was looking for critter nation cages, the double is normally retailed at $652 on Amazon. I was checking them almost every day to tempt me into biting the bullet. The day before black Friday it came up black Friday deal $248. Umm yes please, placed my order, the next day it was back up to $652 but luckily the fulfillment and shipping went through same day, I’d imagine before they corrected the mistake or I was the reason they did so 🤣
I saw an item that was very expensive listed as a carton of 50, but had the single price listed. Paid for it and received an entire carton, several thousand dollars worth lol. They fixed and updated the listing after I received my item. It’s now listed at over 2k dollars 😉
I also have a problem with this. On Amazon I found a smartphone at a really reasonable price really cheap I ordered it they sent me the wrong product.
I then contacted them they said it was sold from Amazon warehouse which I looked up and Amazon warehouse is the same as Amazon LLC so I’m continuing my my fight to see if they will upon their standards and be true to their word.
This is something that should not happen. I realize that it is a mistake and it’s no mistake on my part so I believe that they should honor their price that was given to me no matter what. Not to mention the ad said new and then it said refurbished well it can’t be both so I’m trying to get them to honor their word and honor the price. I will let you know what happens.
I have been browsing everywhere looking for a electric tricycle for my 83 year old father. These typically start around $800 +.
While on Amazon, I came across one that blew me away. With all the options it had made it an easy $2500 item. But it was listed for $199! I did some research and found the same item.on ebay for $3000. What was odd was the same exact wording and pictures were on both sites.
I opened a chat and after being transferred 3 tines the chat supervisor thry confirmed the posting and pricing were valid.
As I looked at the amazon posting again I saw the item was #1 seller for e-trikes.
I ordered 2 of them. I got notification that they have shipped.
However, if I goto tgat posting now, it says its no longer available and ranked #17,000 something when earlier it waz #1.
So here I wait. What will be delivered? Will they be delivered or cancelled?
Going to be interesting.
Is there an update?
Well, was the item ever delivered, or did they cancel it?
I’m sure it was never delivered I also found the same tricycle advertised at $199 I ordered it for my girlfriend they charged my credit card and after a week finally sent me a notification that my order had been canceled no reason for the cancellation just that it had been canceled. Today I’m looking at electronic bicycles and found another one that’s listed for $29 this bicycle should be at least $4.99,600 $900 it’s listed for $29 should I buy it again?
Well I was looking for struts for my Cadillac I came upon this deal on Amazon both front struts and rear air shocks for $40.95.
I figured they were clearing them out and it is a reputable company called A1 automotive and I made the purchase they sent the item out and what arrived was a small package with two door handles for a Chevrolet Aveo which wasn’t even in the listing.
Contacted Amazon even the company they said there was a listing error or something well the listing is correct with the correct part numbers for the shock strut package and a incorrect item was sent I’m dealing with that right now with Amazon and what they call the third party vendor it is false advertising and it is also illegal it doesn’t matter if a person incorrectly listed it or if they’ve got some sort of computer doing it.
The purchase price is on the listing and everything went through properly. And absolutely they should take down the listing immediately but they should honor their prices even if somebody messed up because that would open up a lawsuit against the company
I have a situation right now with Amazon. I was looking for three E-bikes. I searched for a specific voltage and mileage range. I came across three e-bikes, (two of one style and one of a second style, but all from the same company). All three were were priced incredibly low.
I looked at the ratings and learned that other people had purchased these e-bikes from this seller. The ratings varied, but were mostly positive. I placed two of the bikes of one style into my cart. But then I went to Amazon chat to verify that the seller was in good standing with Amazon. I provided a web capture of the bikes which were in my cart.
The amazon chat person placed me on hold and then came back and told me that the seller is in good standing and that the e-bikes are in stock at a warehouse with Amazon. I copied the chat, which contained my web capture and then I purchased all three e-bikes.
I paid for expedited shipping because the live chat amazon employee said that I could do this because these bikes are stocked in the warehouse from the seller.
The day the bikes were due for delivery. My listing was marked as delayed, but will be delivered soon. Now, two days later, I checked my amazon order tracking and there is a message that these bikes are “Delayed and not yet shipped” And the item also states that We will email you as soon as this order ships. You won’t be charged until then. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.”
Then on the side, there is a message stating that this item is “Currently Unavailable and we do not know when or if this item will be available.” However, I just took web capture of the exact same bike, listed by the exact same seller on Amazon for sale and there are several listings of this bike.
Does Amazon support this fraud. I have already purchased accessories specifically for these three bikes (three back bike racks, Three cell phone holders and three cup holders)!!! Can I file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and place a complaint on their BPOL? Or who would I complain to?
Is this Amazon allowing fraud or is the seller trying to get rid of me by claiming that they erroneously listed an item for which they do not have stock and are continuing to list these bikes, even though they have told me that they are out of stock???