Tek Tok Canada Canadian Technology News & Reviews
Well one of the best deals to come across our inbox from Lenovo happened today as they were offering up to 79% off of selected models. The Y410P, was being offered for $279 from $879.
As quick as we could, we did get to order one and received email confirmation but the website has since changed and now shows the laptop at $799 with no further discounts.
Another site, also confirms they spoke to Lenovo and Lenovo will be cancelling the orders.
Pricing Error? Publicity stunt? After speaking with a Lenovo representative, it was confirmed all orders will be cancelled as they indeed had a pricing error that was tripling the expected $200 discount. Should companies have no recource for these sort of mistakes? With millions of hits/traffic to their site and great publicity for the Y410P, what punishment should Lenovo face for this sort of action? Boo Lenovo!
Source: Lenovo
UPDATE – One of our readers did receive an email from Lenovo confirming they are doing nothing more then cancelling the orders. Here is the email he received. Bad news isn’t supposed to be delivered on Fridays @Lenovo ! (thanks for sending this in Mike!)
From: Lenovo Customer Service [mailto:XXXXXX@lenovo.com] Sent: Friday, May 23, 2014 5:22 PM
To: XXXXXX
Subject: Important Information About Your Lenovo OrderIMPORTANT INFORMATION
To:
Re: Lenovo Order XXXXXXXXXX
Ref:Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you for your recent Lenovo purchase. Due to a pricing error on our website, we will have to cancel your order. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused, and would like to help you place a new order.
We invite you to visit our website at http://www.lenovo.com or speak with a Product Specialist at 1-855-253-6686 opt1, opt1 as we have updated all current pricing and configurations.
Thank you for your time and patience. We look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
Lenovo Customer Service
This email was sent to xxxxxx@xxxx.xx
Lenovo International.
1009 Think Place, Morrisville, NC 27560 United States© Lenovo 2013. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy
UPDATE: Looking at redflagdeals, it looks like this has been making traction and may get some more media attention tomorrow night. Here is an excerpt that may help anyone that purchased the deal.
** TODAY IS #MEDIAMONDAY! **
Take just 5 mins, contact your favorite news media: Web, TV, Radio, Newspaper. Tell them about #LenovoSucks fiasco.
“WHO SHOULD I CALL/E-MAIL?”
– Your favorite news outlets. Here are some suggestions (long distance charges may apply):
**** ATTENTION! URGENT! ****
Global News – SOS@Globalnews.ca **** They are doing a story TONIGHT 05/26 theywant to hear from customers affected by this. Please e-mail them right away!
Canadian Press – editorial@thecanadianpress.com by phone: 416-364-0321
Toronto Star – city@thestar.ca by phone: 416-869-4300
“WHAT SHOULD I SAY?”:
– Tell them your experience; how you’ve been affected by the @Lenovo fiasco.
– Tell them that numerous complaints have been filed to The Competition Bureau, 2200+ customers sign petition over the weekend.
– Tell them about @Lenovo’s history of questionable pricing practices incl. $16M tablet error 2 months ago in China.
– Tell them to look at @Lenovo’s Official #Facebook page and the flood of angry customers.
Most of all, tell them you want Lenovo to honour their advertised prices and feel that you’ve been victim of Bait and Switch tactics, prohibited by law. Tell them if you have complained to The Competition Bureau (which ALL of you should have by now).
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
(1) ***IMPORTANT*** FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE COMPETITION BUREAU (IT’S QUICK AND EASY!)
(2) JOIN the 2,200+ who have signed the Change.org petition demanding @Lenovo @Lenovo_Canada honour their advertised prices. Add your name and share on social media!
(3) ALSO, FILE A CASE/COMPLAINT WITH LENOVO WITH A SIMPLE E-MAIL
Given the unusual amount of disclaimer language protecting themselves from being held accountable, I think this was a marketing stint. It would be interesting to see if the increased publicity they gain from this is worth the number of unhappy potential customers.
I ordered 5 of them for family and friends and just received an email saying it was cancelled. I get it, Lenovo had a pricing error which they were fairly quick to fix, but shouldn`t they legally have to honour transactions that have been paid for? I certainly think so. I wouldn`t be surprised if the $279 is close to their breakeven point too. If it`s close then it`s good business to honour this type of deal. Not only does it generate revenue which then helps keep jobs when the economy is bad, it also builds faith in it`s customer base. If they had honoured this deal I would certainly have bought some accessories from them as well. Does anyone here have any idea how large of a margin there is on things like mice, speakers, headsets, bags, extra batteries?
ps. my question mark key is not working. My apologies for the improper grammar grammar (we added question marks for you Jordan)
The price is still not changed. The rep points to the disclaimer, but they still haven’t fixed the price on the website and it still appears as $279. I placed the order in the morning. If you still can’t fix the price, how do you still hide under the disclaimer? Isn’t this almost like Bait N Switch? Now they say I can buy it for $799 price. If they had corrected the issue right away, then I’d understand. They’re not shutting down the site, and they’re not honoring the price.
It is our understanding the $879 should be reduced by $200 to $679 (still a far cry from $279), so not sure where the $799 is coming from. They are definitely not handling the situation very well so far. I would really like to see the email they are sending out. We got any class action lawyers in the house? 🙂
Hello Jamie,
I have the email they are sending out as well as screenshots of the website after I received the email. Please let me know where you would like me to send you copies of the same.
Cheers
Michael
I am INFURIATED. This company is very unprofessional. When something like this happens they need to honor what their sold price was. Lawsuits are coming because this is bullshit and not professional at all.
I STILL see it saying 279 dollars. I am taking pictures of this.
You know what’s really strange?
a. The website with the $279 price is still up as of Friday, 8:30 PM.
b. You can still purchase for $279 price point.
c. My credit card was charged $279 + environmental fees + taxes after I ordered Friday morning.
d. I received a cancellation email notice.
What do you call when someone offers you a product at X price, takes your money but does not give you anything in return? I am not amused at all.
Local time is about 9:20pm
I just put in an order for a laptop at an amazing price!
$316.74, taxes, fees, and shipping inclu.
Looks like they are keeping the price, since they’ve made updates to pricing and configurations at 5:22pm
Same here, got a confirmation email from Lenovo timestamped 9:53 pm on May 23rd.
Class action lawsuit indeed.
This is bullshit.
I’m taking this matter to a small claims court as this is a Bait and Switch Selling violation.
I had received the EXACT same email this blogger posted and if you read it fully it says: “opt1 as we have updated all current pricing and configurations.”.
They have not updated their pricing. I’m looking at the Y410p for 279.99 with Ediscount (TWO HOURS AFTER THEY CANCELED MY ORDER). I recorded a video and Lenovo will be receiving a letter from court for a hearing.
The agreement was also stated at the end of the transaction. They cannot cancel their product as provincial laws override their loopholed disclaimers! I suggest you guys open up this link: ” http://shop.lenovo.com/workperksca/ca/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y410p/?sb=:000001CA:00003BAD:&PID=749547&SID=rfdcb-d723#features ”
in INTERNET EXPLORER as it shows sale price!
I ordered the goods, Lenovo charged my credit card in full. I have everything on photo. They made an offer for sale, I accepted the offer with money as consideration, they accepted my money by charging my credit card in full, now Lenovo is obligated to uphold their side of the agreement by delivering the goods. If they do not deliver the computer, we’ll go to small claims court. Small claims is peanuts, but the PR will be their worst nightmare. Imagine this, “little customer is being harassed by big international giant”. Look who’s going to lose here and I haven’t even gotten into their loss of goodwill in the brand and the company name.
In their first email it reads, “Thank you for your purchase from Lenovo. Your order has been received and is processed.” This alone confirms that my order has been received. They are now obligated to deliver as it is being processed.
Their second email reads, “Thank you for your purchase from Lenovo. Your order is being processed and no updates can be made at this time.
Lenovo accepts your order by 1) shipping the hardware product or making the software product available to you, or 2) providing the service. This email does not constitute Lenovo’s acceptance of your order.”
The last sentence cannot and does not strike out what they have previously said. Their first email already constitutes Lenovo’s acceptance of my order.
i got the cancelation order YET THEY HAVE CHARGED MY VISA WTF LENOVO, i ordered at 8:30 friday night and got a confirmation email, i am calling now and i will make them honour their price stated. or a law suit will be filed
I ordererd one and havent received a cancelation email. Only confirmation… I really dought it’s a marketing scam. People with this argument are just pissed off they didn’t get the deal of the century.
When I ordered I was well aware it was a mistake and just gave it a try like many others.
One thing that is weird is the pricing wa wrong foe 2 days ? I am sure someone got fired for this or the site was hacked.
Well I am sure this won’t do Lenovo any good business in the end so the marketing conspiracy is really far fetched.
My wife, brother and father-in-law purchased this product at the reduced price and I am trying to see what the terms and conditions state to determine if Lenovo has any legal rights protecting them for their perceived breach of contract and when trying to access the terms and conditions on the ordrering website I am being first re-directed to the main Lenovo.ca website and then on second try only moments later it is telling me I am being timed out.
When others purchased the laptop at the reduced price, were you able to view the terms and conditions?
I have also been reading the twitter account for Lenovo Canada and it seems as though there is at least one response to someone who questioned the price and Lenovo Canada replied that the price was correct at Check Out. For those looking to bring a claim for this, I feel that this will be an important piece of information in asserting your claim.
I am a lawyer and will be looking into this issue, not necessarily as a class action however certainly for friends and family who have seemingly been wronged. Any other information people can provide me would be appreciated.
My last order was placed successfully on 10pm May 23rd, if there is a class lawsuit, I am happy to join and provide the evidence.
This type of deceptive practice -bait-and-switch is prohibited in Canada. Fight back by reporting them to the Competition Bureau and Consumer Protection people.
“The Competition Act contains criminal and civil provisions to address false or misleading representations and deceptive marketing practices in promoting the supply or use of a product or any business interest.
Under the criminal provisions, the general provision prohibits all materially false or misleading representations made knowingly or recklessly. Other provisions specifically prohibit deceptive telemarketing, deceptive notices of winning a prize, double ticketing, and schemes of pyramid selling. The multi-level marketing provisions prohibit certain types of representations relating to compensation.
Under the civil provisions, the general provision prohibits all materially false or misleading representations. Other provisions specifically prohibit performance representations that are not based on adequate and proper tests, misleading warranties and guarantees, false or misleading ordinary selling price representations, untrue, misleading or unauthorized use of tests and testimonials, bait and switch selling, and the sale of a product above its advertised price. The promotional contest provisions prohibit contests that do not disclose required information.”
i had placed 2 orders (qty 4 and qty 2), for the qty 4, i have received a cancellation email! for the other order i haven’t received an email yet (current time 1:25 PM May 24th, 2014)
This is BS, falling for this promotion i ended up giving them my credit card information… isn’t there something that can be done?
Lenovo should honour their pricing! I ordered on Friday and got a cancellation email today. WTF?! lenovo you got my personal info, my address, my credit card and that’s it?
I suggest we all file complaints against lenovo for this breach of trust. Lenovo forum is here:
http://forums.lenovo.com/
Voice your concerns!
Hmmm so I called Lenovo customer service, and when it prompted me to enter my order number, I heard a message that stated: “We are experiencing system errors, please try again later”… I wonder if it’s because my order was one of those that has been cancelled.
Also, I found a petition over here to get Lenovo to take action:
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/lenovo-canada-please-honour-the-pricing-on-your-website?recruiter=59097269&utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition#share
http://www.opc.gouv.qc.ca/en/consumer/good-service/goods-consumer/en-ordinateurs-et-tablettes/publicite/prix-different/
I think Lenovo might have to answer to this, Quebec has tough consumer protection laws.
They’s lose $16M overall – I bet it’s less then their weekly morning cereal budget. Shame on Lenovo!
Hi
I placed in my order may 23th morning (at the time i was thinking if it was a error they would had fix it) but my order went it and i got confirmation (if needed i i can send he screen shoot or even the confirmation that i got via email). Late in the afternoon i got an email from them saying nothing but that they will cancel all orders.
I live in Quebec and we have a consumer protection act. i was wondering if this can be apply to our situation?
the law goes as follow:
“1. For each establishment in which the merchant intends to use the exemption prescribed in section 91.4 of the Regulation respecting the application of the Consumer Protection Act (chapter P-40.1, r. 3), the merchant shall adopt and apply an accurate pricing policy offering consumers compensation in the case of an unfavourable error corresponding to the following minimum standards:
(1) where the price of the good rung in at the check-out is higher than the price advertised, the lower price shall be honoured and:
(a) the merchant shall give the good to the consumer free of charge, if the accurate price of the good is $10 or less; or
(b) the merchant shall correct the price and grant the consumer a discount of $10 on the corrected price, if the accurate price of the good is higher than $10;
(2) where the same error occurs in respect of identical goods during the same transaction, the merchant shall correct each of the errors but compensate the consumer in accordance with paragraph 1 for only one of those goods;
(3) the accurate pricing policy shall apply even if the error is noticed before the transaction is completed, on the condition however that the consumer buys the good;
(4) the accurate pricing policy shall not apply in respect of a specific good if its application contravenes an Act or regulation.
O.C. 11-2001, s. 1; O.C. 608-2001.”
(source: http://www2.publicationsduquebec.gouv.qc.ca/dynamicSearch/telecharge.php?type=3&file=/P_40_1/P40_1R2_A.HTM)
http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/00522.html#false
Civil Liability in Canada: first timer max => 10Million, Second time max => 15 million. You should call your lawyers for them to make some $,$$$,$$$ from you. I guess you don’t need to pay most of time.
Case: http://www.thecompetitor.ca/2012/04/articles/competition/deceptive-marketing-practices/supreme-court-of-canada-average-consumer-is-credulous-and-inexperienced-for-misleading-advertisement-purposes/