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Walmart has bad customer service?!?! Say it ain't so!
3 replies
Walmart has bad customer service?!?! Say it ain't so!
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Typical high-quality customer service. I was talking to a Walmart employee in PA and asked him if they matched their online store. He said no. I asked him why. He said \"why would I be willing to make my store lose money?\"
I don't understand why these stores have online counterparts with the same name. I do understand that some of them are not even related, except by name. That's not my problem. If they carry the same policies throughout their stores, online should be no different.
Newegg, enuf said.
@Nighthawke: Newegg rocks! First item I bought, they shipped the wrong item. After having to pay shipping for the return, I wrote them a letter describing my dissatisfaction on my first purchase with them, and they made it right by shipping me the right item as well as crediting my account for the purchase price of the item. I've now made about 25 purchases from them, and they've been great. Their shipping is fast, their prices are usually the cheapest out there, and you really can't go wrong.
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@EdnaLegume: Lucky for you then, that Newegg frequently offers stuff at cheaper prices too! So it's like the best of both worlds.
Newegg for life! :P
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@Cyberxion101: Yupp! And you can sort by free shipping. :) Their reviews always seem to be more helpful than most, too. I found the best wireless card I've ever owned on there, and it was cheap, too!
This is Walmart after all. I only shop there when I have to, in-spite of their customer service, certainly not because of it. You go to Walmart when you need something cheap, quick, and don't expect anyone to help (or smile at) you. The employees are just decoration.
@henrygates: In Walmarts defense though, the employee let him use an Internet kiosk, which means they were talking to the customer (instead of another employee) and knew what the Internet was. This Walmart must be more upscale than mine.
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If you ditch Wal-mart for life for that, you'd be ditching so many companies, that eventually you'd have no option left except to live in a cave and hunt bears.
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Colour me not surprised about Walmart and bad customer service. I don't understand why anyone who has a choice (and I do recognize that due to their predatory practices, not everyone does anymore) shops there anymore.
Not that I'm blaming the OP, because he should have been treated better, but I'm happy for him that he'll choose elsewhere next time!
@TheUncleBob: No, there are actually now entire areas where Walmart is the only business within reasonable day-drive distance. They are the grocer, the gas station, the medical clinic, the pharmacy, etc. And aside from basic services like fire and police, they're then the only employer. It's creepy!
But yes, most people do have a choice. I just like to pre-acknowledge those who don't so I don't get snarked.
@kaceetheconsumer: Show me a town where a Walmart is the only choice for stuff that can't realistically be purchased off the internet and delivered to your home. I'd be interested in seeing it.
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@TheUncleBob: Not everyone can plan all their purchases 4-10 days in advance, and for inexpensive items, the shipping charges can double the price. I'm not saying that people should shop at Wal-Mart, but if there is no reasonable choice in their immediate area, I can understand why they do. In my area, Target is just as convenient, and a heck of a lot better shopping experience than Wal-Mart for most household items.
@TheUncleBob: You're assuming everyone has a computer, internet, and a credit card, three things necessary for online purchases that many poor people do not have.
@TheUncleBob: Hahaha, you don't seem to get it...the areas where Walmart has taken over are also areas that have very poor (if any) libraries which may or may not even have computers.
Look, the point is, there are a handful of people out there who need groceries tonight and it's not feasible for them to jump through internet hoops to get them. If Walmart is the only place to buy food within a day's driving distance, that's where they're gonna go, period.
The vast majority of the people who shop at Walmart have a choice, but it doesn't cost you anything to sympathize with the few who don't.
@kaceetheconsumer: \"it's not feasible for them to jump through internet hoops to get them\"
That means they have a choice. Sometimes, things don't always come easy. It doesn't mean you lack options. It just means you have to work harder.
I had the same issue with a PS3 controller a few weeks ago. The online price ended up being $12 cheaper than the in-store price. They refused to price match their own website, and recommended I either pay for shipping to ship it home, OR, I have them order one and deliver it to the store, which would take nearly a month. All of this, to get the very same item I had in my hands, and would have purchased on the stop.
Fear not, I went on amazon and got it for the same price and had it within 4 days. Screw Walmart!
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Lloyd will be back shopping at Walmart. They always are.
The vast majority of brick and mortar stores will not match their online prices...the point of selling things cheaper online is that you are not going to receive the same type of in person customer service, pretty product displays, the assistance of real people, electricity and air conditioning, etc. etc. That's why things are cheaper online!
@morganlh85: I'd pay a little more for the air conditioning, but their customer service (at least in my area) should be a refund. Don't need pretty product displays if I already know what I want. And it costs time and money to drive over to their store.
I don't see it that way at all. I think of an online store the same as I would a catalogue. Remember when department stores used to send huge, glossy catalogues to your home for free? The online store is more for advertisement than cost savings. Ordering online is no different that ordering from a catalogue and catalogue prices were always the same as in-store prices.
@sirwired: That's only after people figured out that they had the \"secret\" in store Best Buy site that had different prices, and bitched them out for it.
I think more to the point is they jack it up to whatever the price for shipping and handling would be if you were to order it online. ...Say the item I want is 10lbs. and costs $200 and $20 to ship, well it's going to cost at least $220 in the store. Not that I agree with it but it makes sense.
@morganlh85:
I've heard many arguments for and against why companies do not have the same price online as in the store but frankly I don't care. When i'm searching for something, i do my window shopping online, compare features along with price. I find the place that has it and i go there. If online gives the option to pick it up in the store then the store should price match...no...BE THE SAME PRICE as online.
it's like bait and switch i think if a deal is online but pretty much permanently 'out of stock' but the store has overflowing stock and is more expensive.
@bravo369: Its not bait and switch. Bait and switch requires them to lure you into the store with a given offer but no intention of selling it to you and only offering you to a more expensive or lower quality unit in its place when you get there.
@bravo369: Just try to get one Wal-Mart to match another Wal-Mart's price. It can be a hilarious endeavor. I did it once. Man, were those idiots lost, LMAO.
WalMart has always had the policy of not matching their online prices. To me, it's a funny policy. But I just order what I need, select the site-to-store option and pick it up in the store.
Lloyd should have just paid the extra $20 to get it the same day from the store. Then ordered it online, select site-to-store, pick it up when he came back from vacation and returned it for full price using the first receipt.
@tundey: GPS systems have serial numbers - which are likely scanned at the register at the point of sale. The first receipt wouldn't match the second GPS.
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@tundey:
Sometimes that doesn't work if a receipt is tied to a serial number. Often when buying electronics, the cashier scans the UPC for the price/SKU and then the serial number bar code. But your idea is still worth a shot.
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Yet Another reason NOT to shop at Walmart. With the boilerplate response out of the way...
My wife thought she *had* to have something from the retail Anti-Christ. They would not sell it to for web price. Going to the front of the store in a highly visible area (say the entrance) and asking for the GM or MoD (Manager on Duty) got the issue resolved.
At one point the MoD tried to move her away from the high traffic area as he did not want to do conflict resolution in front other potential customers but she held her ground. She got the item at the web price (same company, should be the same price if you want the business....) and is loathe to go back to Walmart again based on the hassle factor and shadiness of it all.
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@NTC-Brendan: Sounds like you and your wife are the types to get all huffy when not every little thing goes your way.
same company, should be the same priceI don't think you understand how business works. A B&M Wal-Mart in middle of nowhere Idaho is the \"same company\" as a B&M store in downtown NYC. However, the have vastly different operating expenses, and thus may have different prices. Likewise, the online store is completely different from your particular branch -- different inventory, expenses, items, etc.
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Just buy the GPS in the store...Have a nice vacation and return it when you get back...
If they only want to give you Walmart credit, use it for the online GPS and you have $20 left...
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What's the rest of the story???? Did he show the manager that he ordered in-store pickup of an item they had in stock? Or did he get dizzy and retreat?
@Hoss:
Walmart doesn't do in-store pickup like most other retailers. They do \"site to store\" shipping, meaning you have to wait until they put your item on the next truck that's going to your local store, and then you can pick it up. It doesn't matter if they already have it in stock.
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Tht's wht y gt fr shppng t Wlmrt!
BINGO!
How many times must this be rehashed? There most definitely is a reason; the store must pay to ship it, store it, and handle it. When you purchase something from the Wal-Mart website, and order it site-to-store, it bypasses all of the normal inventory procedures (which usually involves being handled by no less than 5 employees, all of which must be paid) When shipped site-to-store, 2 people touch it, and it doesn't enter the stores inventory stream. Most major retailers do not match online pricing for these reasons.
I believe Walmart's reasoning is that they don't want an online deal to cause inventory problems for their local stores. I obviously don't like it, but I am aware of it and I weigh my desire for instant gratification against my desire to get a good deal. I rarely buy from Walmart.com unless it's a really good deal.
Also, this whole deal isn't any different than walking into a store vs. buying on Amazon.
Why shop at walmart period. Quit giving money to corporations that by their very nature are ruining the local economies as well as forcing people to live of welfare for a living to work there just so you can buy a gps for $10 less than someplace else down the street.
Try Besy Buy instead. My mother just herself a laptop only they were out at the store. They told her to go online and buy it because they weren't getting anymore. She did and to our suprise, they paid for the shipping and it arrived in 2 days UPS...
Screw Wal-Mart.
Walmart's hardly the only place guilty of this. Verizon Wireless also has a nasty habit of not matching their online prices in-store. I went with my wife to pick up a new cell phone last night, they wanted to charge $170 for a LG Versa, and then we'd get a $70 mail-in rebate in the form of a debit card. I asked the sales associate if they could match the $100 straight-up online price and skip the rebate, she said no, and we walked right out the door, her commission in tow. Went home and ordered the phone online an hour later, with free 2-day shipping.
I had the same thing happen to me when shopping for an iPod. After getting the same exact runaround at Walmart I went to Best Buy. I was getting ready to buy my iPod there when I mentioned to the salesperson that it was cheaper on Walmart's website. They pulled up the site, checked the price and then sold me the iPod for Walmart's online price. This alone is pretty great on Best Buy's part but the story doesn't end there... My nice new iPod Classic completely died exactly one week later. Went back to Best Buy and ended up replacing it with an iPod Touch (with another discounted price). Best Buy didn't blink, they were extremely helpful and the salesperson said if I wasn't happy with the the Touch I could bring it back for any reason in the next 30 days. Needless to say in the future if I need anything that is sold at that Best Buy I'll be right back over there.
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What's with the selective demonization of Wal-Mart?
They usually offer the lowest prices around and that matters to many people. I am surprised that no one yet has said, \"Well, I shop at Target and that ain't so bad...\" As if target is really different from WM.
That being said, even Best Buy will price match to their own website if you ask. I've never used to site-to-store, but when I go to my local Wal-Mart, many people do seem to use it.
It must be an American thing. Canadian WalMarts are apparently run entirely differently, because I go there for the service, never mind the lower prices.
Canadian WalMarts are also, oddly enough, well known for offering at least half-decent benefits to their workers (for the payscale, that is). I understand this is a total 180 from the US WalMarts.
Maybe we're a test market for a new and improved kind of WalMart. Because these stories just make me wonder what kind of WalMart this is.
@shepd:
I often think the same thing when reading here. Same goes for Best Buy, I have no problems at Best Buy here and often get great customer service.
Maybe it's just the Canadians running/working at the stores.
This has always been walmarts policy. This fact is stated clearly (though sometimes near the bottom of the page) on the website. It's set up so that customers who want the instant gratification of an in store purchase cab absorb the overhead of the brick and mortar stores, while those who can wait get the better deals. Also, the quoted site to store shipping times are usually very long, but in reality the product usually comes a bit faster - all of mine have come in under 5 days.
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To be fair, they do spell out their policy on their website - that they don't match internet pricing. Presumably so that their web prices are competitive with other web retailers who have less overhead, without cutting into margins at their stores, where they have to pay retail store overhead.
They do also offer - for an extra fee - \"express ship to store\" that doesn't take 2 weeks.
I don't usually shop at Wal-Mart, but I did recently buy a 42\" Vizio lcd tv from the site and have it shipped to store. Love the TV, although I had to stand around for like 20 minutes before someone actually came to the counter to ring it up. But it was worth dealing with Wal-Mart to get a 42\" 1080p LCD for $598 plus tax.
This is clearly stated in their web site policies. They also offer free site to store shipping. They do not have store pickup option. The in store prices are generally higher. Why would anyone think they could simply order it online and pick it up at the local store if they don't have that option?
And the two week wait is for a reason. THEY HAVE TO SHIP IT TO THE STORE. If you want it faster you can pay for faster shipping.
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@AgitatedDot: Wait... are you saying that if I want a service, I have to pay for it?! Scandalous! How could such an evil corporation get away with such a greedy tactic?!
Yep, it's even on the website's terms of use page:
\"We do our best to provide you with the lowest prices possible on Walmart.com as well as in our stores. However, sometimes a price online does not match the price in a store. In our effort to be the lowest price provider in your particular geographic region, store pricing will sometimes differ from online prices. Our stores do not honor Internet pricing or competitor advertisements from outside of a store's local trade territory.\"
But we shouldn't expect people to read contracts should we?
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Not to be a jerk or anything, but it seems the quality of writing at Comsumerist has really dropped recently. I'd be embarrassed to write, \"Lloyd wanted a GPS to guide him on his vacation, so to make sure he'd have it in time, and the best deal he could find was online at Walmart.\" What does this sentence even mean? Perhaps an editor should be hired. Perhaps the authors should at least read their own words before posting them. Thank you. I'm done with my obviously off-the-topic rant.
@pgh9fan1: Oh jeez. It's a blog, not the New York Times. They're going to fuck up ocassionally. Just take those screw-ups in stride, or maybe consider using any one of the number of handy staff e-mail addresses to give 'em a head's up next time it happens. There's no need to act like an upitty prick about it. ;)
I guess I'm just lucky living in AR, but I would not hesitate to eat off the floor at any of the two Walmarts I go to. I've never once had bad service, never once had my receipt checked, and unlike many of the posters here, I go there at least once a week. In fact, got some car work done and they told me an hour. Exactly one hour later I was driving away.
And even though I work for a competitor, dot com and brick stores have different overheads, different service models, and different clientele for the most part. I think the problem here is with in-store pickup. If retailers truly want to keep things separate, there should only be a delivery to home or to store option when you shop dot com.
The reasoning here is that if my company advertises a lower price online, why would I make the customer have to go through the silly formality of whipping out his iPhone and placing and order or going to a kiosk in store... I can just price match it right on the spot. But, if only delivery is available, the customer understands that he pays a premium for instant gratification.
@wellfleet: To be honest...I couldn't focus on reading anything you said after you said you would eat off the floor of a Walmart...that's just crazy talk.
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You get what you pay for...and you don't get what you don't pay for. If your sole criteria is getting the lowest price, is it reasonable to expect top-notch customer service and consumer-friendly policies?
Give up Walmart for life? Yeah, good luck with that.
plan ahead
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A similar thing happened to me at Walmart. I bought a GPS on their website, it arrived broken. I tried to exchange it in store, but they said I would have to pay the difference between the online and store prices. They would, however, allow me to simply return it. Which I did - and then subsequently repurchased it on amazon.
So order the GPS online. Buy the one in the store. When the online GPS arrives, return it with the in-store receipt. Kind of a pain to go back, but probably worth $20.
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...why are people still amazed about retarded shenanigans at Wal-Mart? Let alone the ovbious question of why anyone deems W-M to be worthy of your dollars in the first place.
However, to the point of this article, I did this at Best Buy a couple of times. Looked on their site to shop before going to the store, only to find the item more expensive in-store than on their website.
So I plod over to the computer section, go to their website from one of their own computers, and order it online. A few moments later I get the email confirmation, which I can view on my phone...then plod over to the customer service desk and pick up my item.
W-M clearly doesn't want people doing that, so they put this policy in place. Reason # 8 billion and 2 for not patronizing W-M.
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I despise Wal-Crap. I finally got my 2 cousins I live with to stop shopping there.
I had the same experience with them on a different electronic device a year ago and I was not happy.
Target>Shopko>Anything else>Wal-Crap.
This was a fight I would have with customers EVERY DAY when I worked in Photo at Wal-Mart.
Yes, technically Walmart.com is a sperate division of the company. That's the excuse I was told to give customers......however, I think that's crap. It's got the Wal-Mart name on it, so therefore we represent walmart.com.
Find the right manager, though, and you can probably get him or her to approve a price override at the register. Tbe photo/electronics area manager at my store was a transplant from Walgreens and hadn't been sucked into the walmart mindset....so as long as we were still selling it at a reasonable profit, he'd OK the price match (and yes, even peon salespeople have access to the wholesale price and markup of every item)
It is probably cheaper to buy from Newegg and have it shipped overnight. No tax, lower prices and not having to drive to Walmart.
Of course, you would lose the opportunity to see 350 pound women riding electric scooters so they don't have to burn a calorie by walking.
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Old hat. This has always been Wal-Mart's policy. It's dumb to say the least but either ship to store and save $20 or pay more and get instant gratification. I doubt he is going to find the GPS at retail for cheaper somewhere else..otherwise Wal-mart would just match the price.
Pah! Same thing happened to us! My son wanted Call of Duty 4 for Xbox 360. We looked online and saw a great price. Went to the store and was shocked that it was about $6 higher in store. The rep had no idea why, but says it happens all the time.
So went back home and ordered online (also ordered 2 bookshelves at the same time).
2 weeks later bookshelves are at store for pick up, but game is not.
Waited another 5 days and received an email from Wal-mart that my order for the game was cancelled. No explanation whatsoever!
WHAAAT! My son is waiting anxiously for this game. I look online to see if it's available and of course it is at a higher price.
Sooo....I shoot of a really irritated email to Wal-mart. Reply is some bogus crap about the distributor failed to meet their quantity and they couldn't fulfill my order. If I wanted to re-place the order online I could at a now higher price. Whaaat??? What about backorder?? At least an email stating it would take longer than promised (if that was really the case) and would I like to keep or cancel my order!
Oh I so hate Wal-mart....it is one of those necessary evils (sometimes anyway).
The OP was not \"lead to believe [he] could pick it up right away\"... he assumed he could get around the store policy by these shenanigans. It doesn't sound very credible that he asked the employee who just told him that they couldn't price match their website \"if I could use an internet terminal so [he] wouldn't have to drive home to place the order so [he] could pick up the unit now\"... that would be a pricematch. I am sure that the customer simply asked if he could use an internet terminal.
I don't feel too bad for customers who try and game the system and end up with egg on their face. I didn't know they blogged about it though.
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Variation of \"price match\" guarantee: I went to CC once to buy a TV that was on sale at a different store, but out of stock. CC refused to honor the price match because they knew the store that had them on sale was out of stock. So, if I really wanted that TV, I'd have to pay their price. I opted to wait for a different sale rather than bow to their tactics.
@vastrightwing: Thats pretty standard practice at most retailrs... only match competitors that have them in stock.
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Thats easy to fix. As long as it is in fact the same exact unit, buy it today at Walmart and order it for store pickup and make sure you keep the store receipt. Keep the one you bought in the store and return the one you ordered online to the physical store with the receipt from the store purchase to get the higher price refunded. If everyone does this maybe they will pricematch to avoid losing money on double orders.
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Heh I literally just bought something from Walmart online not more than 15 minutes ago. Checking my receipt this is true. The \"processing\" takes forever and the in store pickup date looks like it will be later than if I had the product shipped. I too was under the impression of a 1 day turnaround time for in store pickup items.
I've been boycotting the Devil store for years. The few times since then that I've let myself lapse and wander into one I have been disappointed. The online vs store price issue; crowded, dirty stores; incompetent staff... the list goes on and on. What makes this all worse is how they manipulate their suppliers into having specific items that are only allowed to be sold in their stores and now requiring that their product marketing must include the walmart name. They're doing everything they can to develop a monopoly. And if you really thing you're saving money... you're not paying attention.
I believe that most brick and mortar stores will not honor their online prices. So lets not single out one retailer.
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Now, I feel for the OP slightly, but I'm taking Wal-Marts side on this. Their online price is advertised as lower because its a seperate entity than the store, and has a much lower overhead from the fact that they have to use less people to for \"customer service\". The item is shipped to the store as a convienience, and is lumped together witha bunch of orders to the distribution center that services the store, not like its FedEx or UPS. That alone is a 3 day wait just from the DC to the store. You want the item TODAY, you're gonna have to pay the in-store price, which is competitive with other stores who have to pay for the building.
I do feel for the OP for the incompetent person who told him he could order it online in the store and pick it up right then and there.
Wal Mart DOES NOT price match its online price nor will it match the price at another Wal Mart. They do not compete with themselves. Also, the price online is for what Wal Mart calls \"site to store.\" I hate blaming the OP but this time, Wal Mart is in the clear.
For a long time, Walmart online was a totally different division from Walmart brick-and-mortar.
I can't remember for sure if the online side was another retailer that Walmart bought. But the point is, inside the company, the online side is NOT the same as the retail stores.
So I can see why the store would not honor the online prices. The price-matching issue is stupid though. They should do that as if the online side was unrelated. Simple price match in that case.
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I'm so tired of you people bagging on Walmart employees all the time. I won't explain the policy because I feel other posters have done a pretty sufficient job but just leave the employees out of your Walmart rants. I work for Walmart and they're not one of my favourite corporations, but they were the first ones to give me a job when I had no experience and they pay me more than most other jobs for my education level which is pretty important when you're trying to put yourself through school and pay bills. You guys always talk about how unsmiling and rude we are, but how are you approaching us? I'm one of the friendliest people I know and the people I work with a group of merry pranksters, but the way people talk to us sometimes makes it hard for us to smile at them especially when they're the 7th person in two hours that apparently forgot we're not robots and I'm sure most people don't want to be around people who are unpleasant to them. When customers approach with friendliness and respect I will go that extra mile to make sure their taken care of as well as I can, that's just human nature. We're all ready stressed from the way management and other customers have treated us, tired from the ridiculous swing shifts and split days, just a little bit of understanding on your part can change the interaction, it's a two way street. And no, even so we're not going to violate policy to help you get what you want. A friend of mine was recently fired for bending the rules in that respect.
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This has been Walmart's policy for years, if not longer. It's pretty clear on their website too. While other stores might match their online prices, there's no law that says they must, and Walmart makes no bones about it.
This one ain't Walmart's fault.
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The reasoning behind the pricing and policy has been explained to death, here and in every other post Consumerist has done about Site to Store, so I'll just say this:
Employees hate it just as much as customers do - especially electronics employees, who will almost certainly get bitched at at least once a day over pricing policies they have no control over. At every point of connection between B&M stores and the website, there is some new hassle for employees because the integration between the two is half-assed.
The website is a neverending source of irritation. For my part, every time a customer calls to ask if we've got something in stock and mentions the website, I make sure to point out that the price could be different in the store.
did you ask a manager for a price adjustment? once i went to buy a minifridge they had in their flyer i get in my mailbox every week with the grocery store coupons. got there and it was sold out, found manager \"oh yeah we only got two, sorry\" but then he gave me $50 off the other one they had it in stock to make it the same price as the one in the flyer.
I had this happen when I went to pick up a Kodak ZI6 camera - I saw the price on the web and located the only store within 50 miles that had it. After chasing all the way up there they gave me the line \"we don't compete with our web site\". WTF? It's the same blasted store! As much as I hate Best Buy I went back home and purchased it for the same price at BB. As far as I'm concerned Wal-Mart lost a customer in me!
whats new? it takes two weeks just to get through the check out line.
Same exact thing happened to me once. XBox 360 game was priced at 40$ online which surprised me since it was a new game but I was excited to get it so cheaply. I went into the store and saw the price was 60$ in store. I brought up the Walmart website and item on my phone and approached a sales rep and she told me that the Walmart online store is an entirely separate store from the one you can walk into and buy right there. I was shocked and wondered what the point was of having a website if the prices on there are completely different from the ones in the store.
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Wal-Mart near Palm Springs, California, pulled this same \"stunt\" on me about 10 years ago and I haven't stepped foot into a Wal-Mart since!
They had a name-brand VHS (or DVD) player online and the online price was more expensive in the store. Aside from my plan to purchase the electronic device, I had a cart full of $100 worth of other stuff to purchase.
I demanded to see the store manager, and the person on duty refused to honor the online price. She said, \"We don't honor our on-line store prices in the actual store and we do not honor lower prices from other Wal-Mart locations.\"
I wrote a lengthy letter to the CEO of Wal-Mart (which was a complete waste of time), obviously, since they are still following what I believe an unfair practice to consumers.
Only one way to fight this. Stop shopping Wal-Mart!
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This is quite common with Walmart, especially with electronics. They do the same thing with all their iPods, digital cameras, etc.
@trellis23: The silly thing though is their \"site-to-store\" policy if something is already in stock at the store. It should be \"In-Store Pickup\" like Best Buy and formerly Circuit City. You already have the fucking product, why do I have to wait for shipping to your store?!
And why would I ever do that feature anyways?! Why wouldn't I just ship to my damn house!
@trellis23:
They do however, actually have a disclaimer on their site stating this happens. (I checked the first time the \"bait and switch\" happened to me.)