Office Max "price match" scam
 

I was shopping in the NorthWest World Perks Mall and came onto the OfficeMax.com site. (NW is offering double miles through December with all OfficeMax.com purchases). OfficeMax offers a "price guarantee" that they will match a competitor's price, so when I found software from BestBuy.com at $89.99 and OffieMax.com at $99.99 (same exact product, same free shipping) I ordered from OfficeMax.com (to get the NW miles) and filled out their "price match guarantee" form. The very last bit of information I filled out was the tip-off: "Competitor's Next-Day delivery charge" (can you see this one coming?). I type in $0.00--BestBuy.com offers FREE delivery, but not "next day".

A few hours later I get an e-mail from an OfficeMax customer rep, informing me that the price match guarantee request was denied because BestBuy.com does not offer "next day shipping". The $99.99 price stands.

I e-mailed back that, in effect, I was paying $10.00 (the difference in price) for their "next day delivery". I advised them to just send it out in a few days, as BestBuy.com might, and give me the $10 price match guarantee. Their response--we ONLY ship next day, and the competitor does not match that. The "guarantee" does not apply.

The bottom line: OfficeMax.com does NOT match competitor's prices, although their banner proclaiming it on the homepage of their website certainly makes wanting to shop there reassuring. No other online store is shipping with next day delivery. OfficeMax ships from regional warehouses, the others online merchants, by and large, do not. But this is NOT a price match guarantee--it is a service match guarantee. If you are shopping for the lowest price and do not need it TOMORROW, stay clear of OfficeMax--regardless of what their website proclaims.

That ends my rant. Thanks for listening. I feel better.

Yes thats a problem with Officemax. However they make that very clear in the pricematch policy.

I have never had any problem with them pricematching staples or office depot which offer the same delivery schedule as officemax.

You are not comparing the same thing. If you had the software with next day delivery (which is different then next day shipping, you specify both) they would have matched it probably.

It's not a scam, you need to compare apples to apples.

But then OfficeMax should offer various delivery options. Basically if they charge $10 extra, they're building the next day shipping charge into their price, making consumers pay higher prices even if they don't need the items the next day.

They don't charge for shipping. They charge $99 and ship it free. It's probably not $10 less if you go into one of their stores.

If you want to pay a lower amount and get it in a week or two, then shop someplace else.

If you want them to match the price, then it has to be delivered overnight to your door or it's not a fair comparison.

Well put, cordelli: It IS a shipping match, not a price match. Please be clear--we are NOT matching pricing--we are matching pricing with next day dleivery, whether you want it or not.

The headline "Price Match Guarantee" is misleading--at best.

Same BS with staples. Circuit City is free and actually comes the next day. They didnt care and wanted to add $25 to the order.. Someone should go after them with the BBB

I personally think the BBB is a joke. Does anyone know of anytime that they acomplished more than the same amount of time spent contacting the company.

They pulled Priceline's membership for a short time and they straightened out their customer service.

The value of the BBB isn't in their enforcement, but in their database of complaints against a company. If I check a company and see that they have 33 complaints in the last year, of which 32 are unresolved to the customer's satisfaction, and check another company that has 2 compalints against them in the last year and both were resolved, don't care how much cheaper the first company is, I'm not dealing with them.

It's a shame more people don't check first.

Just because you don't like the restrictions of a price match doesn't mean it isn't valid.

Correct: I don't like the restriction of the price match. But what I don't like even more is the "115% PRICE MATCH" banner that OfficeMax.com floats over their homepage. Not to beat a dead horse, but it is NOT a price match--they are including shipping to muck up the equation and get out of matching mostd prices. I posted this so others, hopefully, will not be snagged. Their headline is a deceptive lure--yes, sadly, you DO have to read the fine print.

Actually I was fighting with Gateway on my wife's computer fought with the store about when it was going to be faixed since it was labeled " rush " since it was 2 hard drives that blew in 2 weeks fought with the store for 2 weeks and then they said they ordered the part after a week of waiting again filed complaint to BBB got a call from Gateway corp office and found out the store never ordered the hard drive. After the call from corp. the hard drive was there the next day and the computer was done in 2 days.

So no it is not a waste of time.

Best price match guarantee for me has been Sears. We found a compaq computer on compudirect.com via mysimon.com for $600 less than Sears. We bought in a printout and a manager verified it and we walked out with our price matched computer. It was great not paying for shipping or waiting for it to arrive.

Not to get too far off topic, but the BBB worked great for me. I was having a problem with Continental Airlines. I emailed them and got a totally idiotic response from the President's Club Service Center. I filed a compliant online with the BBB of Houston and received a phone call from CO Headquarters the NEXT DAY that straightened out my problem (resolution: they extended my PC membership one month.) So I think that certain companies probably take the BBB more seriously than others.