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View Full Version : Cheap sucker trick!!!!!!



oldred
08-07-2015, 10:05 AM
I got an Email from Sportsman's Guide proudly proclaiming,

Guaranteed Lowest Price on 325 rounds Federal Ammunition Auto Match
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/325-rounds-federal-ammunition-auto-match-40-grain-22lr-ammo?a=1305481&ecid=Email-brse&em_id=dwm1804%40yahoo.com&utm_source=internal&utm_medium=brse-email&utm_campaign=prodbrse

$16.33 for 325 rounds BUT there's one small detail they are leaving out -they don't have any at that price and have not had any since the panic started!


Of course you will notice when you click on the link you can find the usual INFLATED prices that everyone else has on other RF rounds, 50 rounds for about the same price as that mis-leading sucker ad for the 325 rounds!


That was a cheap lowdown trick, what they are advertising as the "Guaranteed lowest price" is nothing more than the pre-panic price for a product they don't even have in stock and have not had for many months! This is clearly false advertising but I suppose they can and will get away with it, personally I have bought my last from them!

dakotashooter2
08-07-2015, 01:29 PM
Play a trick back and order 100,000........................

oldred
08-07-2015, 01:56 PM
Play a trick back and order 100,000........................


Believe it or not I tried that, sort of anyway, I attempted to order some despite the notice that none were available but of course the site would not accept the order.


I did at one time think that Sportsman's Guide was at least a notch or two above Cheaper Than Dirt (Cheaper than no one would be a more apt name!) but looks as if I was wrong. I have bought from SG since they were just barely a fly-by-night outfit and back then they were a decent outfit with some real deals but with success comes indifference and even arrogance I suppose and SG has hit bottom, they are right down there with the CTD bunch!

EOD3
08-07-2015, 04:53 PM
You know... It's against the law to do **** like that. MANY years ago, it was a common enough practice that laws were passed to prevent it, it was called "bait and switch". If it can be shown that they never had any ammo at the advertised price, somebody is up to their *** in alligators.

oldred
08-07-2015, 06:15 PM
You know... It's against the law to do **** like that. MANY years ago, it was a common enough practice that laws were passed to prevent it, it was called "bait and switch". If it can be shown that they never had any ammo at the advertised price, somebody is up to their *** in alligators.


That's what I thought too but what can be done about it? How would anyone lodge a complaint that would get noticed? Not even sure who to complain to but just for the principle of the thing I think I will try and lodge a complaint, for what little good it will do, but then who knows?

xs11jack
08-07-2015, 07:46 PM
I believe SG is based in Mn. Get in touch with the Mn Attorney General's office and file a complaint.
Ole Jack

Uncle R.
08-07-2015, 08:47 PM
Sportsman's Guide has at the least skated close to the ethical line ever since I've known of them - and that's probably 30 years or more. Their catalogs were then and still are masterpieces of barnumesque hucksterism, excelled only perhaps by the great George Leonard Herter himself. Even so I did business with them many times.

Not all of their merchandise was junk. Their Chamois shirts were excellent quality at a good price, and were my favorites for years. I wore them and wore them out through a lot of cold Wisconsin winters, until they shipped me a batch that were the wrong size and didn't respond to my complaints until months had gone by.

They still send me catalogs now and then, and I've been known to flip through them in the - er - reading room. Many of their wares are overpriced when compared to other on-line sellers with good reputations. Their ammunition certainly would be on that "overpriced" list. I've also noticed that the quality of at least some of their merchandise appears to be pretty low.

Some months ago I responded to an internet ad from The King Size Company. I had done business with them many years ago, and although their prices were a bit high they sold high quality items back then. This ad showed flannel shirts marked down for spring clearance from roughly $40 to roughly $15. I could use some winter shirts, so I ordered a couple. I was tempted to order a bunch and "stock up" because the price looked so good, but thankfully I listened to that little voice that said "If the deal appears too good to be true..."

When those shirts arrived I discovered they weren't even worth the $15 I paid. They were little better than rags. If those were forty dollar shirts I was Rip Van Winkle. Only then did I do my research and find that The King Size Company was now owned by (Drum roll please!) Sportsman's Guide.

Sportsman's Guide certainly didn't begin at a very high level, and I think they've gone downhill from there over the years. I no longer care to do business with them in any way.

Uncle R.

waarp8nt
08-07-2015, 08:57 PM
e-gunparts once done an April Fools flyer....

nicholst55
08-07-2015, 09:26 PM
That's what I thought too but what can be done about it? How would anyone lodge a complaint that would get noticed? Not even sure who to complain to but just for the principle of the thing I think I will try and lodge a complaint, for what little good it will do, but then who knows?

Internet Crime Complaint Center: https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

EOD3
08-07-2015, 10:39 PM
Some pretty good notions in these posts. You might have a look at https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/bureaus-offices/bureau-consumer-protection

runfiverun
08-08-2015, 01:59 PM
and many of those 50 round boxes are now 40 round boxes at that low 4.99 price.
look everything over, nobody is out to not make maximum profit anymore. [tear nearly rolling down my cheek]

oldred
08-08-2015, 02:24 PM
and many of those 50 round boxes are now 40 round boxes at that low 4.99 price.
look everything over, nobody is out to not make maximum profit anymore. [tear nearly rolling down my cheek]

This is not about maximum profit and if they had of been advertising those rounds at current prices even if they were backordered it would not have been so bad. Instead the ad said this was the absolute lowest price anywhere on these rounds and then linked to an OLD listing at pre-panic prices that CLEARLY said "Product not available for order"! Lowest prices???? Well Duhh,, maybe someone else has an old price listed somewhere that's lower but they don't have them either!

Plain and simple they are playing the customer for stupid, link to a product they don't have in a 2 or 3 year old ad at 3 year old prices and claim to have "the absolute lowest price", then below that are products they DO have at currently inflated prices!

brtelec
08-08-2015, 03:11 PM
So when you see this ad and then go to the site and find they do not have it available, do you automatically start buy the higher priced item without thinking? If so, I can see your problem. If not all you are out is the time you spent looking for something online. Get over it. Thousands upon thousands of companies do this day in and day out. I am not sure why anyone thinks that firearms related companies should be held to some imaginary standard. If you do not like the way they do business for one reason or another vote with your wallet.

shooter93
08-08-2015, 06:14 PM
My sister managed a chain discount store years ago. This was when antifreeze was high in price. She was labeling the jugs at something like 5 bucks a gallon. A customer standing near said....so and so....the other big chain store in town....had it listed for 2 bucks a gallon. My sister said...of that's good you should buy it there. The guy replied....oh....they are out. My sister said....oh....well when we are out ours is a buck a gallon.......lol.

ShooterAZ
08-08-2015, 08:55 PM
Sportsman's Guide has been on my "Do Not Buy From" list for years. They burned me one time on "USGI" stuff one time, and that was all it took...never again.

WILCO
08-09-2015, 08:56 AM
there's one small detail they are leaving out -they don't have any at that price and have not had any since the panic started!

The way I understand it, you can sign up to be notified or have it added to your "Wish List". When clicking the "Notify" button, this is what I saw:

Notify Me!WX2-237386
325 rounds Federal Ammunition Auto Match 40 Grain .22LR Ammo

Note: As soon as the item is available, we'll notify you. Orders will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Prices are subject to change. Please provide your name, address and email address below and we will notify you when this item is available.

- See more at: http://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/325-rounds-federal-ammunition-auto-match-40-grain-22lr-ammo?a=1305481&ecid=Email-brse&em_id=dwm1804%40yahoo.com&utm_source=internal&utm_medium=brse-email&utm_campaign=prodbrse#sthash.bh7QRlzj.dpuf

Seems pretty cut and dry to me.

Uncle R.
08-09-2015, 09:51 AM
I prefer not to do business with companies that begin our relationship by trying to deceive me. It may be true that thousands of companies do it but there are still some that don't and doing business with honest people seems like a better plan to me. When I realize that I'm being deliberately misled on one issue it makes me wonder what other areas they're working on the same way. Sooner or later they'll manage to slip one past my guard. Why should I stick around long enough to offer them the opportunity?

Loudly advertising product they don't have at a price too good to be true, and then asking for name, address and email for notification strikes me as nothing more than a sneaky way to get your contact information. That information is valuable. It can be (and often is) sold to other retailers. That kind of data trolling as a business practice is about what I'd expect from Sportsman's Guide.

I still consider them at best on the borderline of ethical, and I don't care to do business with such companies.

Uncle R.

oldred
08-09-2015, 10:05 AM
The way I understand it, you can sign up to be notified or have it added to your "Wish List". When clicking the "Notify" button, this is what I saw:

Notify Me!

WX2-237386
325 rounds Federal Ammunition Auto Match 40 Grain .22LR Ammo

Note: As soon as the item is available, we'll notify you. Orders will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Prices are subject to change. Please provide your name, address and email address below and we will notify you when this item is available.

- See more at: http://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/325-rounds-federal-ammunition-auto-match-40-grain-22lr-ammo?a=1305481&ecid=Email-brse&em_id=dwm1804%40yahoo.com&utm_source=internal&utm_medium=brse-email&utm_campaign=prodbrse#sthash.bh7QRlzj.dpuf

Seems pretty cut and dry to me.


Except that's the very same ad they have had listed for the last three years at that very same price and all that time it has had that same "notify me" line! They also have a BUNCH of other old listings at the old price, listings no different from that one so they could just as easily have used any of them! No it's quite clear what they were doing but some folks apparently don't seem to see anything wrong with this kind of deception and that's how outfits like Cheaper Than Dirt can remain in business. It's true that no one is forced to buy anything when they arrive at the site but that completely ignores the point, If they are willing to stoop to underhanded tactics like this and resort to thinking the customer was dumb enough to fall for it then what else are they willing to do? Some of you seem to be alright with a company playing sucker tricks on you, that's fine if it doesn't bother you but to me it says a LOT about what a company thinks about it's customers (and is willing to do to them) and that was my point.

WILCO
08-09-2015, 12:29 PM
Except that's the very same ad they have had listed for the last three years at that very same price and all that time it has had that same "notify me" line!

I guess my next question would have to be, how do you know that's the same ad from three years ago, and do you know what other folks have paid for that product once they signed up and were notified? Is there any proof that the stated price isn't what is being charged? Lastly, what's wrong with having a system or procedure in place for dealing with the sale of items with availability issues? Should the Sportsmen's Guide not carry the product or list it until there's an ample supply to meet the demand? Last thing I wanted to mention is there are two prices listed. One for their "Buyers Club" and one for non-members.

oldred
08-09-2015, 12:47 PM
I guess my next question would have to be, how do you know that's the same ad from three years ago, and do you know what other folks have paid for that product once they signed up and were notified? Is there any proof that the stated price isn't what is being charged? Lastly, what's wrong with having a system or procedure in place for dealing with the sale of items with availability issues? Should the Sportsmen's Guide not carry the product or list it until there's an ample supply to meet the demand? Last thing I wanted to mention is there are two prices listed. One for their "Buyers Club" and one for non-members.

First I have watched the 22LR ads there regularly since the panic started, as I have several other sites, so yes I KNOW it's the same ad that's been on their site all along besides do you honestly believe ANY of these sites have been "notifying" customers and selling at pre-panic prices -especially one such as SG!


There is no doubt what they are doing with that ad, none!

tward
08-09-2015, 12:59 PM
Just as an aside, I just bought a box of the Federal 325 at the local Dick's for around $25. Had lots in stock, 1 per customer. Nice ammo. Tim

oldred
08-09-2015, 04:20 PM
Just as an aside, I just bought a box of the Federal 325 at the local Dick's for around $25. Had lots in stock, 1 per customer. Nice ammo. Tim


The local Ace Hardware (of all places!) here has 325 round boxes for $24.95 and the surprising thing is they didn't sell out. Both the price and the stock-on-the-shelf are encouraging signs that just maybe it's about over, a year ago those 325 round boxes wouldn't have lasted the day out at twice that price!


BTW, nice looking cat, is that a Main Coon?

Hickok
08-09-2015, 06:17 PM
Sportsman's Guide has been on my "Do Not Buy From" list for years. They burned me one time on "USGI" stuff one time, and that was all it took...never again.+1. Most of the descriptions they give are pure lies, about worthless junk. They will say they have an item in stock when you order, but then email you to say it is out of stock or on backorder.

I don't do any business with them anymore.

andremajic
08-09-2015, 06:38 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1BScRZIZJo

Here's a cheap sucker trick.