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ReplayTV Price Drop Bait-and-Switch
jkeyes writes "Last week on 12/17 DNNA (new parent company of Replay TV) decided to drop the Replay TV 5504 model down to $149, yet the boxes and website said that it came with three years free service. So immediately it appeared on deal sites like FatWallet with Replay telling people on the phone who called that yes all 5504 models include 3 years of service so immediately Circuit City & Amazon sold out. Then on the 12/22 DNNA released a press release annoucing the new price and claiming that the 5504 models NO LONGER have 3 years free with them and blamed the retailers for dropping the price too soon. Even though their own Customer Service Reps were saying when it first dropped that you got 3 years free. Also to add to the issue the actual devices have giant green stickers on them saying Three Years Free AND a paper inside telling you this. Replay went on to say that if you had a problem with this or your replay was deactivated to just return it to the retailer you purchased it from."
This brings up an interesting philosophical point on the use of deal sites like FatWallet and such.
/.) stores like Wal-Mart were particularly irritated by these types of sites. Specifically because they pulled back the proverbial curtain to soon. I mean let's face it some of this type of information is strategic sales and marketing information that merchants don't want let out early. For some strange reason, I vaguely remember discussion about a lawsuit... I could be wrong on that point, so don't quote me.
In the past (if you've followed the stories on
Which brings me to my point. Just like Google's indexing, it looks like some vendors are finding ways to "bend" the rules to their advantage. The benefit of sites like FatWallet is that they provide useful information to the shopper. Once that information becomes manipulated or suspect will the benefit of this type of deal site be marginalized? I think to some degree yes.