Customers, Buy.com come to terms on lawsuit __________________ I do not think it was an honest mistake....FOUR DAYS!!!! that's rediculous... One of my friends emailed them after they put the price back up to what it was supposed to be, He asked if he could order one at the $100+dollars. They emailed him back saying that the "SALE PRICE" for that item is over. They didn't say it was a price mistake, but a SALE PRICE. I honestly do believe that they were trying a bait and switch manuver. I personaly ordered ONE monitor...I figuerd it is worth a shot...I got a confirmation email and an email saying that it was going to the wherehouse for shipment...and I NEVER GOT ANYTHING saying that the order was going to be cancled. There customer service at the time was horrible and ass backwards. I think that this lawsuit may be a bit extreme, but they should have handled it better. I had to call a million and a half times before I got a 'real' answer... The first time I called they said "We cannot discuss this order yet, call back later" .. what kind of BS is that?? Hey, if I get to sit on my behind and make $50, so be it. I wasn't expecting anything so it's an added bonus. __________________ Well.. This lawsuit definately made sure that buy.com never will put a wrong price on an item again. I think by letting this thing be, it would have made us a lot more that 50 bucks a person in the long run.__________________ If you saw a 1Ghz Athlon for $100.00 wouldnt you think its a mistake? The Lawyers got $190,000.00 for sitting on their asses(case was settled). I wonder if this will affect future prices... Remember if buy.com or any other .com store goes under there is less competition. Less competition means higher prices.__________________ I have not posted anything in a long time here because I dislike the way people's mentality changes when buying items over the internet. People become fully convinced that buying over the internet is their god given right, rather than a convenience. People become fully outraged and haughty whenever an error occurs and they cannot benefit from it. How dare the company disrupt your day so horribly because of an error, you must have wasted about 3 minutes to check a deals page and click (it must have been such and inconvenience for you). Why can't internet companies always have perfectly priced items just like B&M stores always do, right? Why can't their customer service be perfect just like B&M stores always do, right? It truly is unfair when you can't rip off the company also, I mean, if a few hundred get to benefit from it, I rightfully should too and everyone else who shops on the internet. Just because thousands of people tryed to do the exact same thing as you did (rip off a company) doesn't mean that it makes your side of the story right. And even if the company for some reason "intentionally" mispriced the item for a period of time to get people to surf to their webpages, will you be willing to go back to shopping at B&M stores (i mean, they are perfect and have never done anything like the blasphemous and unruly internet shops that are conspiring to make your day truly ruefull.)__________________ I don't understand how anyone can possibly be upset over a company intentionally pricing an item "wrong" as long as they honor the price for what they have in stock (which buy.com clearly did).If someone is so damn gullible that he buys a 800 dollar monitor for 800 anyway, just because the company changed back to the real price, well, then that's his problem. Mispricing, intentionally & unintentionally, rules! __________________ I didn't even know that until they sent me multiple emails...very odd. I didn't get the monitor, so I was like "Oh well, who cares, must be a mistake". When it came down to it, I don't care...but I guess i'm gettin' 50 dollars in a lawsuit that I never filed...nor never knew about... __________________ [TIRADE] Moderator may delete my tirade as desired with no hard feelings.That $190,000 PLUS expenses fee the lawyers got out of the $575,000 settlement seems to jive with how lawyers make money. They take none of the genuine original risk, put up none of the original capital/money/property that was lost, suffer none of the genuine original hurt/injuries, and still wind up with award fees for themselves plus all expenses that can be 50% or more. I'd like to point out that a transient who had been permanently injured to a limb won approximately $40,000 settlement of some sort. The news article indicated that the lawyers got like $36,000 of the fee or something like that. I could tell the reporter was pissed off at the situation by the way the numbers and data in the article was presented about the lawyers taking such a huge bite of the fee. There are other similar cases in the greater seattle area as well. __________________ $50???!@$!#%That's it??? The lawyers didn't sit on their asses, they actually got us something. Even if it is a lousy $50. Most class actions end up with a coupon. Which in this case wouldn't be so bad . . . I'd prefer a bigger coupon from buy.com to cash. __________________ There's a fine line between taking advantage of an honest mistake, and taking it too far once the vendor catches it. I extend congratulations to anyone who was fast enough to score the low price before the in-stock supply ran out. But anyone who thinks they're still owed something even though they were too late to get in on the original deal is just a greedy bastard. So you made fifty bucks - you must be so proud of yourselves. Meanwhile the company is out more than half a million, and the scumbag lawyers are the only ones who are really laughing all the way to the bank. Some people will never learn how to play fair I guess. Greed. It's the American way __________________ What scares me is the people who would rather fight on the phone for 10 hours when they could be working a job and make that $50 quickly.I've got stuff to bitch about everyday, but if I dwelled on it I wouldn't have time to get into the trouble that I need to bitch about the day after  __________________ Quote:
As an ex-lawyer who got out of the practice because of shady and unethical practices, in addition to being suicidally bored, I'm hesitant to reply to posts like this, because I see where you are coming from. But somebody has to set the record straight. If you are so pissed off at lawyers that you will immediately gainsay anything I have to say, then stop reading now. "Put up none of the capital risk." Risk is all that lawyers do. When you go to a lawyer, and you say "I want to sue Buy.com, but you only get paid if we win," do you understand what you are asking? IF THEY WIN. If they do not win or settle, then they are out massive expenses in addition to opportunity loss. Lawyers have families, they have to eat. Not all lawyers are rich, or even close. Most are middle- to upper-middle class. Sure, they made a bundle here, but you do not know how many hours they put in, you do not take into account the loser cases they ate: this one makes up some of the difference. You think settling a case with a large corporation that has endless resources is easy work? Try it sometime. Research, interviews, travel, court expenses, depositions, expert witness depositions: all this BEFORE a trial, which takes so much time you would be shocked. What is the alternative? "Mr. Lawyer, I'd like to sue Buy.com" "O.K. My hourly fee is $150/hour. I estimate it will take 100 hours to settle or prepare for trial. I'll take half as a retainer." "But I don't have $7,500. If I win, I'll get some money. Then I'll pay you." "I can't take the chance that we'll lose. If we lose, how happy will you be at shelling out $15,000 to me? I have to eat, too." As an aside, this is why "loser pays" is the worst thing that could come down the pipe. How many poor people will be able to sue Ford over the Pinto, or a baby clothing company that made flammable children's sleepwear? NONE. Rich people will be fine, as usual. Poor and normal people get the shaft. I agree that class actions give a lot to the lawyers and little to the plaintiffs. I think it stinks. But there are 1000s of plaintiffs and a few lawyers. The alternative: pay them by the hour or sue Buy.com yourself. As for your example, reporters often get pissed at lawyers because they are not lawyers themselves. Articles are how reporters can stick it to people. The lawyer did NOT get $36,000 of a $40,000 settlement. That is per se unethical and would not happen. Here is a more likely scenario: He got a $108,000 settlement. Lawyers took $36,000, leaving him $72,000. THEN he has to pay his medical bills and the COSTS of the suit ($36,000 is the lawyers' fee, not profit: lawyers have HUGE overhead -- he shouldn't have to pay for depositions, expert witnesses, etc.), which could easily have totaled $68,000, leaving him with $4,000. Whe medical bills and costs are taken into account, I often wound up with more money than my clients. But they got their medical bills paid for, which was the basis for the suit. Anything over that is gravy (pain & suffering). After my overhead, every $1 in PROFIT cost me $2. I had to GROSS $3 to EARN $1. That is why hourly salaries are so high: $150/hour translates to $50/hour, which is less than some plumbers and electricians make. If you would like some more information on how attorneys work, I wil be happy to provide it. If you do not believe me, please go ask a lawyer that you know. Lawyers may have been reviled since the middle ages, but that doesn't mean they ALWAYS screw people. __________________ This lawsuit against Buy.com is indeed a good thing. Hopefully, this will discourage other bait & switch tactics (ie. Scamazon). This settlement against Buy.com should at least serve as a warning to other dot-coms to obey consumer protection laws.One law being that all retail stores (B&M or online) must honor prices as marked on the product. Now that they've seen that lawsuits may be a potential loss for their company, maybe they will be more hesitant before sending out those cancellation notices. In the end, this result of this lawsuit will aid in consumer protection against the gigantic corporate scam artists. __________________ Under California law, a store does not have to honor a price unless the price is directly printed on the product. So, if the items they sell/ship to you don't have the sale price on them, then the company has legal right to refuse sale at that price. Last 13 times I've bought stuff from Buy.com (sale or otherwise), they have never put a price sticker on the item. Everything is scanned by UPC, SKU, etc. So unless that diamond ring has $2.95 stuck on it, don't plan on buying it for under $3 The store probably meant $300 and the BBB will concur. I can't speak for other states however. This brings up the question of internet sales/rights and regulations depending on site of operation and places of sale. Blah blah blah.Next deal... __________________ In support of sjshaw's refutation of my generalistic tirade against lawyers, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...13/ED56322.DTL has a nice explanation of how lawyers are beneficial in forcing problems to be mediated where solutions might not have occurred. Essential to the process is having a carrot big enough to get lawyers to take on the case. So, there is justification for the large fees that some of the class-action lawyers get (because otherwise the lawyers might not bother with the case).In this case, buy.com purchasers (of record) benefit from a $50 cashbate. <-- a new Got|Apex word? [Edited by Startide on 10-16-2000 at 08:30 PM] __________________ I would like to introduce a controversial and unpopular conept; KARMA. I think that those who manipulate the law, in order to make a monetary profit without regard to ethics, will definitely have it come back to them. Lawyers without ethics suck, people without ethics suck. Those who believe that the most important thing in life is "getting paid" suck most of all.[Edited by SanDiegoLocal on 10-18-2000 at 02:26 AM] __________________ first of all, there have been SEVERAL legit deals such as a 19 inch monitor for $169 posted here and elsewhere, so if you dont think its possoble keep reading this forum....second, its funny how the people who crap on the lawyers and preach dont "rape" these companies over a typo (especially a company with "good" deals like buy.com) arent the people who were involved or even know ANYTHING about this issue... the people who were affected KNOW this was much more than a typo on a price, and buy.coms business practices were crapola...they used to charge ccs instantly and hold peoples money for months until an out of stock item was shipped, among other things and the only reason buy.com is a reputable company today is because of this lawsuit and the changes made and made buy.com a safer place for all of us to shop today. At least now we dont have to worry that if we order something and its oout of stock theyll charge us immediately and not ship until months later (thats what they used to do!) quit crappin on the lawyers, the former attorneys post is very informative but wont change a single small minded persons opinion if they cant get over the fact a jury awards an injured person $100k and the person only sees $4k, or the attorneys made $150,000+ in this case and people will be getting a $50 cashbate...the numbers paint a different picture from the realities of lawyering... __________________ For the record (lawyers love saying that), I want to thank Startide for his cordial and reasoned response to my post. Many people would have flamed me, but I appreciate his attitude. I certainly meant no offense towards him in my reply. Like I said, I understand where he's coming from.__________________ Mr. Sandiegolocal, if you really believe in KARMA, you should think about what's going to come back to you after throwing around all those very negative, uncivil words.__________________ I was also named on the lawsuit. I got an email last week, and frankly I don't really care how much I get, I never expected anything from Buy.com when I first tried to buy the monitor. When I didn't get it, all I said was oh well, it was too good to be true anyway and went on with my life. The people who filed the lawsuit and the lawyers involved, they probably don't have anything better to do with their lives, so let them. How many of you can honestly say that you'd refuse 50 bucks if someone offered it to you, and you didn't have to do crap? Its almost like the Microsoft deal...gaining at corporate expense. I definitely am not an idiot. The idiots are the ones accusing everyone else of being stupid for taking free money. Buy.com f*ed up, and since then I think they've become a way better place to buy online...the way I see it, online stores need to be held accountable one way or another for their mistakes, and if this is what it takes, then so be it.__________________ Quote:
Ken, you've got to be ****ting me. If you think my words were negative, then you got my point. They were negative towards the people I mentioned. Don't pretend to be offended by the terminology I use, and don't try and make it seem as if we all need to be speaking the queens English to make a point. We all express ourselves differently, and since I have many friends on this site, I chose to speak candidly. That's what is great about these threads; the ability to speak freely with people all over the states. I suggest you read the following URL since you obviously have no clue what Karma means. http://members.home.net/lumiere/karma/mystknow.htm I stick to my story; unethical lawyers suck, and unethical people suck. No offense. __________________ everyone who's mixing words here.get a life. a) this isn't a "Got Deals" discussion b) this isnt even a discussion, debate or any kind of correspondance, more like 20 people yelling at each other over thier own opinions that are.. unoriginal to say the least __________________ Quote:
hey, i was going into a whole rant about how lawayers are not the scum of the earth, and no matter how things may be angled throughout our society, they do not make incredible amounts of money all of the time. They make what they deserve to make (most of the time; there are extreme examples where the lawyer makes too much and extreme cases where the lawyer loses too much, but oh well). Thanks for saving me the time of ranting and raving, dude. ProMinx __________________ Got my $47.xx check Saturday  __________________ I just spent my $50 at buy.com it was the least I could do. it was that or not cash it and then the lawyers would get it so I cashed it and spent it there. I think it was an honost mistake. Ohwell.Greg __________________ "If you saw a 1Ghz Athlon for $100.00 wouldnt you think its a mistake?" Nope I'd be wondering why it costed so much.  __________________ When I ordered that monitor I didn't know if it was an old model getting closed out or what, and I've seen some amazing deals before, some things even for free after rebate, so I don't assume anything is a mistake, unless its something like a huge TV that's free. But when thousands of people start ordering one item and its not in stock anymore (after the 143 were ordered), you would think their system would raise a flag and stop taking orders. Then to make matters worse they didn't even notify anyone for days, which made it look like a suspicious situation. I think its ridiculous that they had to pay anything to these people that only sued because they were pissed off, but in the long run maybe it will help them. I'm sure now they have a better system so this won't happen again.Buy.com probably could have saved a lot of money and time if they would have just mailed out a $15 off $75 coupon to every person who ordered, IMMEDIATELY after they saw the error. I was pissed off that I had placed an order for an item and had to wait nearly a week to get a status update. I've had a lot of problems with buy.com shipping things when they say they'll ship, and showing things in stock when they're not. Mavi forum |
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Buy.com posts wrong price=IDIOT customers get $50/Lawyers get $175,000.00+
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