So, I talked to Don Butler, the District Manager, again yesterday afternoon. He offered to take $100 off any other monitor they sell. The offer would hold true for any 2 monitors, as that is what I ordered.

I know he is probably doing the best he can, and I am sure he considers it to be a reasonable offer, but he has got to be aware that an offer like that is not a good deal at all!

Let’s look at their three cheapest 19-inch monitor prices:
KDS K-917S – $369.99
Samsung 930B – $429.99
ViewSonic VX910 -$449.99

Alright, so if I buy the KDS, I spend $203.98 more for each monitor than my credit card was charged for the original order. If I buy the Samsung, I spend $263.98 more per monitor than my credit card was originally charged. If I buy the ViewSonic, I would spend $283.96 more for each monitor than my credit card was originally charged for the original order.

What a joke! They want me to spend a minimum of 123% more— not just 23% more— but a full 123% more to get similar monitors to those that I originally ordered! If I were to buy their third most inexpensive monitor, that figure jumps to 171% more than the product I ordered!

So, digging deeper, I find this 17″ monitor (smaller than my original purchase):
KDS K717s – $279.99

Alright, so, $279.99 – $100 = $179.99.

So, they want me to pay over 8% more than my credit card was originally charged so I can get a smaller monitor! Sure, it doesn’t seem like the size difference between a 17″ and a 19″ monitor is that large. But, when you do the math, you find that a 19″ monitor has 22.8% more screen area than a 17″ monitor!

I did some more digging.

It turns out that Amazon has the KDS 19″ for $269.99. If Office Depot were to pricematch this, my final price would be $169.99. That is a mere 2% more than I originally agreed to pay and was subsequently charged for an item that I was told was in-stock.

Of course, the KDS has lower specifications, but I am not particularly concerned about that. I just need two new monitors for Jaime and me at a good price. We spend a heck of a lot of time sitting at our computers to run America’s Debate and our old 17″ CRT monitors are just not cutting it. They hurt your eyes, and they put off an incredible amount of heat. Jaime’s (which I believe was actually bought at Office Depot) is pretty messed up.

So I call the store and speak to the manager (I believe his name was John) about the pricematch and $100 price reduction. He was aware of Mr. Butler’s offer to give me $100 off on each of any two monitors. I asked the manager if the monitors were in stock, and they were. I asked him if they would match the Amazon price in order to fully rectify the situation in my eyes, and the manager declined. He claimed that they do not match Amazon prices

That was flat-out wrong. I just called Office Depot customer service. According to the gentleman with whom I spoke, Office Depot WILL match Amazon’s price. He said they charge overnight shipping, which seems odd, but fine. I would have no problem paying overnight shipping, if I actually got the items overnight Since I ordered on Tuesday, they were due Wednesday. It is now Thursday. The shipment is overdue– shipping charges should be refunded anyway.

So, now I know that the store manager either does not know his company’s policies (highly unlikely), or he doesn’t like the fact that I contacted Mr. Butler and is intentionally giving me bad information as a result.

I try to call Don Butler— it was busy for about 20 minutes. I just left a message with the friendly lady that answers the phone on his line, and she will ask him to call me back.

The title of this entry is “Office Depot – Unethical – Scam – Bait and Switch – Take your pick…”

I may have to change it to “Office Depot – Unethical – Scam – Bait and Switch – All three?”

<scam class=”bait_and_switch” style=”unethical”>

Bait: Sure, come on and pickup your monitors. You paid for them, and they are in stock.

Switch: Oh, you’re here? Sorry, we don’t have your monitors. But, if you raise a big enough stink, the District Manager will give you a discount that you can use on another product.

Unethical: Oh, you got a discount? OK. Can we match Amazon? No, we can’t. <mumble>yes we can</mumble>

</scam>

Given that they deducted money from my account, and that I spent time to go to the store, and time to research other products, and time to go back and forth with them in order to figure out their policies, I think it is safe to wrap the whole situation in a couple of <scam></scam> tags.