Gerry and his wife tried to buy a pair of sneakers that the JCPenney website had listed on sale. While other products were marked “online only,” this particular pair of sneakers was marked “also in stores,” so the couple assumed that the price would be the same. Naturally, the store’s employees refused to see the logic of this argument.

My wife found a pair of athletic shoes she wanted to purchase on the J.C. Penny’s website. She found that the site was out-of-stock. Disappointed, at first, she called the local J.C. Penny’s store and found that they did have stock of the same shoe. So, off to the store we went. Upon arriving we headed to the woman’s shoe department and found the shoes which were placed on hold for my wife. She got the last two pair because of the out-of-stock issue, thinking this might be her last chance to get this specific shoe. When she paid for the shoes, they were $10 higher than the ‘advertised’ web price. They said this is what the price is and they could do nothing to change it. She completed the transaction and we walked over to the catalog counter to ask why the prices were different.

The shoe in question is the New Balance 411 Woman’s Running Shoe, listed for Sale $39.99 on the web with ‘Also in Stores’ plainly under the price. Other shoes show “Online Only”. So, we both were under the impression that this price was ‘Also in Stores’.

The staff at the catalog counter insisted that they have web pricing and in-store pricing. However, she could not prove to me where it was clear to us that the store had different pricing. After a lengthy chat, a supervisor arrived and said the same thing. I pointed out the web price on my smart phone and said “Also in Stores” leads me to believe that this was available at the store for the same price. She could not deny this and after struggling to prove so, she reluctantly refunded us the difference between the web price and what we were charged at the store.

Please be careful of these deceptive practices. They continue today around every corner.

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