Amazon does really well when you are ordering something that qualifies or does not qualify for free shipping over $25 they have, so it can be done, but maybe Target's developers or management would rather defraud people.

Sounds like the sewing machine had "free shipping" separately and since the dress was so inexpensive you got to buy $50 worth of dress to get the free shipping.

Requiring an absurd amount like $50 for free shipping has always bugged me. At least amazon is reasonable.

@Oranges w/ Cheese wants it to be winter already: Target, IMO, is pretty clear on this. Target usually always specifies $50 in clothing qualifies for free shipping, so the one clothing item by itself doesn't qualify just because you added it to the sewing machine, which qualifies for free shipping regardless of dollar amount.

When in doubt, print out the order confirmation page. Unless there is some disclaimer that gives them wiggle room, this should be the final amount charged to your credit card.

If they added charges not included in your order total, that is an unauthorized charge and you have all the proof you need for a chargeback.

It makes me wonder what type of contract is being made when you click the "Confirm Order" or equivalent button. If you bought something at the Target store, and the receipt checker tried to shake you down for an extra $5 on the way out, I'm pretty sure that would violate some kind of law. *Maybe* they could cancel the order outright, but if they just charge $5 to your card without prior authorization, I'm pretty sure that's just plain theft.

@Oranges w/ Cheese wants it to be winter already: Not sure what the company's shipping costs happen to be, but even if it costs them $5 to send the product, the shipping costs on a $50 could be as 10% of the order.

That can eat quite a bit into a company's profit margin. Sure, Amazon may be in a better position to absorb a lower profit margin, but then again its fixed costs are lower - i.e., no brick and mortar presence.

Point is, I don't consider $50 to qualify for free shipping outrageous.

The policy is confusing and should be re-worded to "items over $50" rather than "orders," if that's how Target intends to roll.

Actually I'll bet ya that they do mean "Free Shipping on Orders of $50 or more."

You need to have $50 worth of items that qualify for... "Free Shipping on Orders of $50 or more." Items that qualify for free shipping are being considered as a different shipping offer. The two kinds do not count against each other.

Yes, it is insane, but I bet that's what they're trying to say.

To explain how quotes can indicate the quoted words are of suspect nature:

The Governor was seen leaving the nightclub with his wife.

The Governor was seen leaving the nightclub with his "wife".

This just in!!

Ben Popken announces Consumerist will only write stories criticizing Starbucks and Target.

"We will preferably focus on Starbucks that are within Targets, like in Atlantic Center," said Popken.

My experiences with Target both online and in-store have all been positive, despite my being difficult to please.

I really hope we'll be hearing some good news about Target fixing this, perhaps they'll take a cue from Netflix's understanding of customer care.

My expectation is, of course, merely that we'll hear that target is "taking this seriously" and we'll hear more of the Usual Corporate Crap.

@tereckkincaid: But when you go to the Target store, you're not paying any shipping charges, so there'd be no reason for anyone to charge you more than the listed price in store.

@twophrasebark: "LOL" before the disemvoweling

If you need to be a savant to understand the shipping policy, the policy is idiotic.

Whether their stated policies are presented clearly or not, make sense or not, or do not match what they actually intend to say, the fact remains that they made an unauthorized charge to your card AFTER the order was place.

If you had purchased the item in-store, gotten a receipt (or rather, been told a different total before swiping your card), and then been charged a different amount on your card after you left the store, there would be no argument that this was unethical, and almost certainly illegal.

@pecan 3.14159265: Ok, suppose I paid an assembly fee for a bike. Maybe it wasn't quite put together by the time I checked out at the register and paid the fee. The point is, once I pay the fee, I expect the bike to be put together. They can't up the fee later. It's the same here: once the website calculated the final price (with tax, shipping, fees, etc) and it was paid for, that's it, sale made. They can't just start adding on fees later, especially without prior authorization.

Finnally a story about a sewing machine, it's just what MostlyHarmless wanted!

And I'm willing to bet that it wasn't a Kitchenaid.

I would be pissed at this too, they shouldn't be allowed to add to the order after it's been placed and confirmed. Once you hit the "Submit Order" button it should be a final price amount. The only acceptable email after the fact would be something about a backorder.

@twophrasebark: Plenty of complaints of Best Buy around these parts.

@georgi55: Amazon runs Targets online presence. Thus making this whole thing even weirder.

@twophrasebark: It couldn't possibly be that those places deserve criticism, and since they are found just about everywhere there tend to be more complaints. That logic just wouldn't fit in with a conspiratorial worldview.

Um. Charge back the $5. If they didn't include it at the time of order, they can't charge you.

@YardanCabaret:
No, they don't anymore.

I walked into Target, but I missed.

RIP, Mitch.

@twophrasebark: I guess I imagined the two Best Buy articles and the Direct TV article from this morning then

Like others have said, they can't charge you that fiver after the fact - simply put, you agreed to a contract and if they intended for that charge to be part of it, it needed to be disclosed at the time of purchase.

They clearly need to clarify their policy here - the OP met their standard of "orders of 50 dollars or more". If they don't intend to include her sewing machine that needs to be clear - "orders of qualifying items of 50 dollars or more" except worded in a less shitty way. Amazon does this - not everything qualifies as part of your free shipping quota. And certain ways of ordering, no matter what, disqualify from free shipping, or at least used to.

@YardanCabaret: They used to, but Target has it's own site, and meanwhile still sells items via Amazon.com as well

@pecan 3.14159265: Huh? The issue is not regarding individual items, but what happens when you combine them into the same shipment. At the very least, she should have received an email asking her to come back and confirm the additional charges.

By your logic, a customer would have to pay shipping even if one item caused it to be free while another didn't, but they ended up in the same box.

@twophrasebark:
What about Walmart, Bank of America, Dell, Etc?

@CompyPaq: Exactly. This is a 100% guaranteed successful chargeback.

I ordered a big heavy UPS from costcentral.com a couple years ago. They offered free shipping on orders over $599 (still do). The UPS didn't quite reach $599 so I added on another item to bring it up to that level. I got the free shipping with no tacked on charges. I've ordered from them another time as well. They are in my list of four sellers I buy computer stuff from.

I wonder how this criticism affects my plan to spend a day inside the Atlantic Center Target timestamp documenting everything I see in an attempt to uncover why it is so dirty and shitty.

My mother use to order items from them online. The last 2 times she ordered she got back the reply that the item(s) were out of stock so I have finally gotten her to avoid using Target all together. I sorta felt she was trading with the enemy as I have had an anti-tarbutt blog for 4 years now and have even been sued by them to remove content or close it down. That suit lasted 23 months before it got tossed out of court. So now that I got my mom to stop dealing with them perhaps the rest of you will get the idea that: TARGET SUCKS!
[www.targetfiling.blogspot.com]

@mrm514: Yes, they do.

It's still under Amazon's system until the deal runs out in 2011. An announced departure but not yet departed.

[www.fool.com]

@SkokieGuy: Yup, chargeback. If it doesn't specifically say how this all works on your receipt, which is your contract, they've got nothing.

It's bad...but really do you expect them to throw a dress in the box with a sewing machine? It would probably get destroyed en route.

I don't like this free shipping nonsense...it just tends to raise prices (or keep them high) on the front end to make up for the lack of back end.

Fair shipping is fine with me; which means if they're sending something media mail or first class they charge me under 3 bucks for shipping. It just doesn't make sense to send light items via ups and fedex unless they're extremely important and/or expensive.

Still...the USPS needs to start pricing like ups and fedex (ie zones), a standardized price for shipping a package to new york or california from nevada is just a dumb strategy.

@twophrasebark: I will have to say this article is correct in its criticism of Target. However, I do find that on a general basis that Consumerist targets Target more than is needed and seems to have the same old pricing or placement errors when there is no way that Walmart, BestBuy, KMart etc don't have those same errors.

@watsuk: And where do you suggest I shop instead? Walmart? Kmart? Oh, I should waste gas crawling all over town to find it at 'mom/pop' stores that may or may not exist. I guess Macy's and JCPenny are angels compared to Target. Or should I choose Amazon (which itself works with Target.com and delivers some items).

Oddly enough I have only had good experiences with Target including online and returns.

And I don't feel any sympathy for you and your lawsuit at all. You did have confidential documents and I never found any wrong with their dealings with their employees. In fact I find the opposite true, as their employees seem more cheerful when I shop their as opposed to say Walmart. Also they are helpful, have on many instances gone to the backroom to get me an item that was not on the floor.

@SkokieGuy: while chargeback is a useful tool, it shouldn't be your first defense - contact the business that charged your card, point out the mistake, ask them to fix it. if they refuse, inform them (some would use the term "threaten") that you will issue a chargeback. if they still don't fix it, THEN contact your cc issuer about getting a chargeback processed.

@nstonep: I not only expect them to ship a dress with a sewing machine, I expect them to pack both items properly to avoid breakage.

What kind of low expectations have you been brainwashed into, dude?

@SkokieGuy: That's how I see it. If there was a problem with the order, Target should notify the customer of the change and give them the opportunity to back out or change their order, not ship the order and just charge something different than what was listed on the order.

If you click on offer details for the $50+

Offer available online only. Offer applies to purchases of $50 or more in the categories listed below based on merchandise subtotal. Merchandise subtotal based on each shipping destination. Look for the "free shipping when you spend $50" logo on qualifying items. GiftCards, e-GiftCards, gift wrap, tax and shipping and handling charges will not be included in determining merchandise subtotal. Items purchased from other categories are subject to shipping charges. Offer valid on orders shipping to the 48 contiguous United States only and does not include 1-day or 2-day shipping and handling charges or previous orders. Offer expires October 24, 2009

Qualifying Categories:

Apparel

Shoes

Jewelry

Handbags and Accessories

Cosmetics and Fragrances

Luggage

Technically Target lists them as separate offers and from what I read it says you can not combine the 2 offers. All items need to be marked in the deal. This is really stupid though.

"And I don't feel any sympathy for you and your lawsuit at all."
=================================

Not really 'my lawsuit' and the 1st Amendment is what Tarbutt probably felt that they could not get overturned. Of course they wasted 23 months and probably 250k before they let it go, my costs were $0 and the information has never been removed and never will be.

@twophrasebark: Well... if those companies keep messing up, they're going to continue showing up in stories, I'm sure. It doesn't seem to me as if Consumerist is specifically targeting those companies, it's just that's what they get tips about, most likely.

@SkokieGuy: Agreed. It seems the OP has made a reasonable effort to fix the error with the merchant and has a receipt. Time to escalate to a chargeback.

@zimmi88: Actually, to charge this back, the customer would have to return the item (possibly at their own expense). For MOTO (mail, telephone, internet) transactions, wrong amount is a really weak chargeback and the isuer (The customer's bank) will most likely lose, also the bank would spend more $$$ on keying out the chargeback and the rep's salary to actually take this on. Remember, Reg E (for debit cards) and Reg Z (for credit cards) does not require the bank to assist the customer in a non-fraud situation, and this certainly is NOT fraud.

Confirmed Prices and Pricing Errors
We cannot confirm the price of an item until your order enters the shipping process nor will we charge your credit card until your order enters the shipping process.

Please note that your Order Acknowledgment means that your order request has been received; it does not mean that your order has been shipped or that the price of an item has been confirmed.

This is right from the target.com website, which makes this a valid charge. Remember to read the 'terms and conditions' or the 'pricing policy' before you buy...

This is probably a violation of your credit card company's merchant agreement. File a dispute and get your $5 back.

I have a feeling it's completely NOT illegal for a merchant to charge you freight after the fact... I order daily from many electronics supply companies (Mouser, Newark, etc) who don't state the freight charge until they've already sent it and charged you. You pretty much agree to pay whatever price they feel like charging, which has proven to be reasonable so I don't care.

Annoying, yes, but I'm pretty sure these people wouldn't be getting away with doing this on huge orders if it were actually illegal.

Well, I sort of had my tongue firmly in check. I thought the comment about the Starbucks within Targets made that kind of obvious.

But I do kind of think that Ben must be obsessed with that Starbucks. It's in a Target!!! That must be some kind of Consumerist dream, no?