Amazon called up the man who successfully bought a nearly $3 billion CD-ROM on a lark. They made sure he got his cancellation email and were reportedly very nice. It turns out that while Amazon has several procedures in place to catch prices that are too low, they have nothing to catch prices that are too high. Thanks to this incident, they’ll be working on fixing that. [Network World] [More]
PRICE ERROrS
Man Buys $3 Billion CD-ROM On Amazon Just To See What Would Happen
By 1.4.10
To see what would happen, Brian Klug tried to buy a CD-ROM on Amazon of an instructional science program mispriced at $2,875,934,133.57 (plus shipping). What happened is that he bought it. Sounds like something similar as to what happened with those $23 quadrillion Visa errors where binary zeroes became hexadecimal spaces instead. [More]
Target Charges You More For Free Bonus
By 8.11.09
Reader Michael sent us this picture of a 16-ounce bottle of Crest whitening rinse and a 32-ounce bottle that says “BONUS 100% MORE FREE.” Turns out by “FREE” they mean “$1.15 more.”
Quick! Stock Up On Ben & Jerry's Before This Sale Expires!
By 8.10.09
We were going to list this in tomorrow’s Morning Deals, but decided the bargain was just too good to hold off posting: Harris Teeter has reduced the price on all of its Ben & Jerry’s pints, from $3.99 to $3.99.
Sears Fails Third-Grade Math
By 5.2.09
Quick, what’s 2 x 15? Did you get 40? No? Then you’re apparently overqualified to run Sears’ website.
Sports Chalet Treadmill SALE!!! Save Two Cents!!!
By 7.7.08
Reader Lindsay spotted this sticker on a treadmill on SALE SALE SALE (for only two cents off) at Sports Chalet back in May. Probably a typo, or possibly an elaborate scheme by the Sports Chalet into convincing customers that he thinks they’re morons.
Greg's Office Max Freakout
By 6.5.08
This guy on San Fran’s “Woody Show” goes into Office Max, twice, and loses his shit after every item he brings up to the counter rings up higher than its shelf-price. Not only does no one seem to care, one employee even insinuates that the complainant might be partially at fault for Office Max’s inability to shelve things in the right place. Neither disc jockey, producer, crazed customer, Office Max employees number 1 and 2, nor Office Max Manager seem to realize that if the item is found on the store shelves under a certain price, as long as the description matches the product, the store has to honor the price. It’s the law. In addition to a an amusing radio clip and animation, The Woody Show also has material here for a complaint to their state’s Attorney General. Video, inside…
Best Buy Charges Wrong Price, Lies When Confronted
By 1.7.08
Chris writes: “I had been last minute Christmas shopping on Saturday morning with my younger brother and sister and we happened upon Best Buy where we were looking for a digital picture frame for my Dad as a Christmas present. We got to the section near the digital cameras and noticed a decent deal. “7” Digital Picture Frame Touch” 79.99 was the label. A whole slew of product (NuTouch 7″ Touch button Frames) were neatly stocked on the shelf. Note: STOCKED not STACKED. I quickly picked one up and proceeded to the register. At the register- the product rung up for the incorrect price (179.99)- here in CT, when that happens, so long as the item is labeled as such in the store (mistake or not) the retailer is legally supposed to give you the product for free (if food items) or at the marked price if it is any other type of consumer product…”
EB Games Charges Two Different Prices For Same Game
By 1.4.08
A copy of “Digital Devil Saga 2” will cost you $19.99 at EB games. Or maybe it will cost you $29.99. Who knows! Depends on which one you’re lucky enough to grab off the wall. Price mistakes like this happen all the time and there’s not enough Weights and Measures people to catch them all. Maybe we can turns all these various price errors into a hit new gameshow. We’ll call it, “The Price Is Wrong,” and Kevin James, from “The King of Queens,” following the same career path as Drew Carey, can host.
Sale! Save $0.00!
By 12.7.07
You can get a great deal on this GE cordless handset and answering machine system. Regularly $79.99, now, yours, for the low low price of $79.99! This deal is too good stick around. Run, don’t walk. Don’t run, sprint. Crash your car through the store windows and have a passenger riding shotgun to grab this deal as you careen by, this will simultaneously distract and outpace other shoppers you may be competing with. Supplies are limited. Act now. Buy today.(Thanks to Chris!)
Explanation For The $307.06 Harry Potter DVD
By 11.30.07
On Wednesday, we posted a picture a reader sent us of a Harry Potter DVD priced at $307.06. Not only was it not Photoshopped, several CompUSA employees chimed in to let us know there was actually a very good reason for it to have this huge price. Whenever a movie is supposed to be held until a certain street date, the price for that item is set to the release date. In this case, Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire came out on March, 7th, 2006, 03/07/06. By mistake, this tag was moved out to the floor when it should have been kept in the backroom. Mystery solved!
The $307.06 Harry Potter DVD
By 11.29.07
We’re guessing that this DVD came bundled with a carved, solid-wood goblet. (Thanks to Chris!)
