Looking to buy a new frame and bits. started the search in early May. a large internet bike shop had some good deals on an Intense Tracer VP.
here’s how the saga has played out:

email from me (May 8): I’m interested in the Tracer VP, how long with the sale last? is there any chance of a discount on other bits if I buy with the frame?

from them (May 8): We’ve not been told how long the sale will last, any further discount depends on what you buy.

from me (May 9): here is my current cart (totaling £1669.99) including frame (£1331)

from them (May 9): sorry, the bits are already discounted

*after much debating and research I finally reached the decision to purchase the frame on May 18. checked my cart in the morning, the price was still £1331. had to do a few things, went back at lunch and price was up to retail: £1848.99

email from me: I’m ready to buy the frame, but the price has changed, would you honor the price we discussed?

from them: no the sale price is tied to limited stock so there is nothing we can do

email from me: but I specifically asked how long the sale would run and wasn’t told anything about limited stock

from them: I didn’t know that until I asked if we could honor the sale price which we can’t.

I feel a bit hard done to miss out by a couple of hours seeing as I wasn’t given all the information I requested. I fully realize that I missed the sale, but having asked specifically about the length of the sale and not being told about the limited stock, do I have any sort of case with them? I’d have thought most places would honor prices discussed in correspondence. Am I crying over the proverbial spilled milk?

i don’t think you’re crying over spilt milk, more shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

tbh you don’t know if they’d have stuck to the price even if you’d put the order in earlier. They may only have had one frame at that price which had already gone or it was sold between times, is possible).

Maybe they just sold out of the stock they had at that price? That would explain why they couldn’t tell you how long the sale would last.
Unlucky

they still show plenty of stock, just no longer at the sale price. I think they sell X number of frames at the sale price and then it reverts back to RRP. I’ve no problem with that, I just wish I’d been told that’s how it worked when I asked.

Yes.

They told you that the duration of the sale was unknown.

Shops can’t set the prices they pay with their supplier, and so if reduced price stock for them dries up, then so does reduced price stock for the likes of us.

the early bird…

Vote with your feet!

you can lead a bird to water but a stich in the hand is mightier than the broth.

I have changed prices mid conversation before. Customer has asked for a price, which i have given, then he has tried to play hardball with me. I just raise the price a few hundred pounds every time he asks.

When the customer asks me to explain myself i just point out that he had the oppertunity to accpt my previous price at anytime untill he asked again.

Why bother asking for a price unless you are willing to say yes to it? If you dont take the oppertunity, i dont believe you have any right to complain if that price changes.

seriously? how many £1800 frames do you think most shops have in stock?

just get a Giant for about half the price, at least it’ll be straight. 😉

Stif have probably got 20 odd Ibis and SC frames in stock! they also have a carbon Blur frame, it’s quite tasty.

TheLittlestHob – I know customers can be arsey, but surely you are only going to put them off for good like that?

*sniggers at GW*

Poppa – that’s probably his aim – or at least to show the **** how irritating he is.

ORANGE 5

You snooze, you lose…

If you looked a bit closer, you will find that there are still reduced frames in various colours and sizes. Not to £1331 levels, but still a couple of hundred quid less than RRP.

Be quick!

infradig – that was an expensive mistake, try ringing up in a week…

Happened to me too. I was after a pair of Fulcrum Red metal Zero wheels and Chain reaction had them at a decent price in their sale. I was just waiting until I had sold some stuff on fleabay to pay for them to find that when I went to order they had gone up by £200.

Waltz into the shop with cash in hand and see what they do.

I emailed them about the tracer frames and they replied explaining that the price of the frames was dependent upon the price they paid for them, hence the slightly random assortment of reductions on different sizes and colours. Thus when they sold out of cheap ones the price went up.

(Never actually bought a tracer, would be overkill for most of my local rides, if only they had reductions on the spider 2 frameset….. ho hum).

I feel sorry for the guy and I reckon most shops would give you the deal.

I ordered an older model online at De Ver cycles in London but even though it accepted payement they rang me the next day to say the sale bike had gone but they were sending me the current bike for the same price.

Great customer service.

I guess the recession has taken it’s toll on your online shop.

I missed out by waiting on a spesh road frame E4 from Evans -if only I was the early bird/biker.

Do what Spongebob said if you have spoken to the owner and have the same reply instead of some spotty assistant.

£1349 from Stif at the moment

None in “large” though….

Littlest Hobo I applaud you. I’ve so often wanted to do that to the tightar5es who come in obviously begrudging you making enough money out of them to feed your kids.

I have changed prices mid conversation before. Customer has asked for a price, which i have given, then he has tried to play hardball with me. I just raise the price a few hundred pounds every time he asks.

When the customer asks me to explain myself i just point out that he had the oppertunity to accpt my previous price at anytime untill he asked again.

That’d be the ‘I’m doing you a favour here’ sales pitch
Tell me – do you retain many leads?

I’d be interested to know if you lost out on a sale there littlesthobo – cutting your nose off to spite your face?

That sort of behaviour (however tempting – I’ve worked in bike retail too…) is pointless unless you’re more interested in your ego than actually running a business. It’s no wonder that internet shopping is so popular, really, is it…

Chris S, wish I had been given that information as it would have prompted me to act faster. I got the impression from “we’re not told how long the sale will last” that the Tracer pricing would run concurrently with the May sale, nothing about being tied to stock. Naive on my part, probably.

they’ve offered me a 10% discount which is something.

TheLittlestHobo – Member
I have changed prices mid conversation before. Customer has asked for a price, which i have given, then he has tried to play hardball with me. I just raise the price a few hundred pounds every time he asks.

When the customer asks me to explain myself i just point out that he had the oppertunity to accpt my previous price at anytime untill he asked again.

It’s a good way to avoid getting a customer who probably was going to be a PITA anyway. It’s much better if those guys go and annoy your opposition 🙂