Did Anyone Get the $1199 T42 Deal?

Message

treker · #1 Post by **treker** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 4:48 pm

I placed my order for the T42 at $1199.20. Received order confirmation with shipping date 1/10/05. Began checking my order status the next day. Shipping date was moved out 1 day. The today I checked again and date was moved out another day to 1/12/05. I called IBM and they said that this was a web site error in pricing and the current price is $1349. They refused to honor the lower price and cancelled my order. I am trying to speak to customer service supervisor. Just voice message so far. Pretty shabby service. I would not have expected IBM to treat customers this way.

Did ANYONE get their T42s at the advertised $1199 price?

rocketman · #2 Post by **rocketman** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 6:11 pm

Did you mention the price to the person you spoke to or did they tell you on their own that the order was cancelled? The reason I ask is because you say that the shipping date was moved out a day so according to IBM's web site your order wasn't cancelled.
IBM's online shipping date's are all screwed up, my scheduled delivery date was all over the map.

Thinker · #3 Post by **Thinker** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 6:17 pm

treker,

I am sorry to hear that. It does sound like IBM made a typographical mistake. In a perfect world IBM would honor the deal. I am afraid that they have some tiny print in their site that specifies exactly that they are not obligated to accept a price that has been misprinted due to typographical error though, so I unfortunately wouldn't expect much from the situation.
That being said, if I were IBM I would be feeling now guiltier than Hitler's nanny, and I would send the laptop right away.

If the deal doesn't work out, just try to save a couple extra bucks and if you can order from Bill (even if he couldn't for some reason beat IBM's price, you have the guarantee that you will be getting a perfect laptop with no dead pixels, which can't be beat in my opinion).

Good luck,

Ruben

treker · #4 Post by **treker** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 6:54 pm

I talked with customer service, trying to get them to honor it. I left a message with supervisor. No feedback yet.

I then went online to check my status again and the order was evidently cancelled and I now have an invalid order number and of course, no status.

I queried Bill but he does not have any of these low end models. Curious as to your statement that I would not get one with dead pixels...??? How can Bill do that? Does he open each one and run some kind of quality check? Is he an official IBM distributor? Does IBM honor its warranty for products sold by him?

After this shabby treatment...well, I am not overly impressed with IBM. I know the laptop would be better than my current Dell 600M but they stand behind their products and I got a real Microsoft XP disk for easy re-install.

I guess I could just order it again at the increased price of $1349 but still less than their normal price of $1499.

treker

califas · #5 Post by **califas** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:12 pm

#1 mistake people make when getting an IBM or any other "price error" is calling in to check on the status of the order. Never do that.

I've purchased two T42 during two different "price errors" by IBM and have gotten both deals. BTW, the deals I got were much better then this deal. They were both delayed but I didn't even think about calling in to check. After 2 weeks they were both delivered.

Thinker · #6 Post by **Thinker** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:18 pm

treker wrote: I queried Bill but he does not have any of these low end models. Curious as to your statement that I would not get one with dead pixels...??? How can Bill do that? Does he open each one and run some kind of quality check? Is he an official IBM distributor? Does IBM honor its warranty for products sold by him?

treker,

Yes, if you order a ThinkPad from Bill you can request that he perform a dead pixel check (contact him for details). The IBM warranty absolutely applies (1 or 3 years depending on model), just as if you had bought direct from IBM. Regarding whether he is an official IBM distributor, I don't know. Just email him if you have any questions.

rocketman · #7 Post by **rocketman** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:35 pm

Yes, if you order a ThinkPad from Bill he will check that there are no dead pixels before sending it off to you. The IBM warranty absolutely applies (1 or 3 years depending on model), just as if you had bought direct from IBM.
Regarding whether he is an official IBM distributor, I don't know. Just email him if you have any questions.

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't Bill have to charge something for the pixel check on a new Thinkpad?

db · #8 Post by db » Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:59 pm

I'm the one who first posted the deal. As far as I know I'm still in the queue, but they've pushed back my shipment date by two days so far. I am afraid to call re: the order status for obvious reasons.

While I am sure that there is fine pint regarding typographical pricing errors, I do not see how this would fall under that category. The general thinkpad products page, which describes the prices "starting at" a certain price had been changed to reflect the reduced $1,199 price of the model, and the model description had been moved so that the r4u was the first listed when the models were shown from lowest to highest price. It's likely that whatever disclaimer they have on their site is broad enough to cover their butts, but this ain't no typo. I'd think that they'd try to appease you for a lousy $150. I'll post later whether I got the computer as advertised.

DB

Thinker · #9 Post by **Thinker** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 8:03 pm

rocketman wrote:
Yes, if you order a ThinkPad from Bill he will check that there are no dead pixels before sending it off to you. The IBM warranty absolutely applies (1 or 3 years depending on model), just as if you had bought direct from IBM.
Regarding whether he is an official IBM distributor, I don't know. Just email him if you have any questions.
Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't Bill have to charge something for the pixel check on a new Thinkpad?

I am not sure. I hope I didn't post any erroneous information. If so let me know so that I can correct it.

Kenn · #10 Post by **Kenn** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 8:40 pm

Thinker wrote:
rocketman wrote: Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't Bill have to charge something for the pixel check on a new Thinkpad?
I am not sure. I hope I didn't post any erroneous information. If so let me know so that I can correct it.

I believe Bill charges about $100 or so for a dead pixel check. Bill even says he personally wouldn't do it because of generally good LCD yields, but some people demand perfection, and if that's what they want, that's what he wants to give them.

Marc_G · #11 Post by **Marc_G** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 9:35 pm

IANAL, but I believe that while vendors are not required to honor prices that are the result of typos, their protection ends when the order is booked.

So, if the computer was mistakenly advertised at $1150 or whatever, they don't HAVE to take orders at that price. But if they do accept the order, that then represents a contract and they are obligated to make good on it.

Definitely escalate this as far as you can. It will probably eventually be resolved in your favor. Good luck.

Marc

treker · #12 Post by **treker** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 12:59 am

I agree with DB. This wasn't any typo. And then they followed up with an official email with confirmation number and estimated shipping date for 1/10/05 and the price of $1199. I intend to push this as far as I can. Just for the sake of principal. There is a matter of honesty here and treating people fairly. I REALLY want an IBM. And it's only 150 bucks!! Iin the long term that will seem inconsequential. I just want them to acknowledge that this was a legitimate offer and honor it. It would make me a satisfied customer. Maybe even a REPEAT customer. And I would tell a hundred people how fairly I was treated.

treker

Champ · #13 Post by **Champ** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 1:03 am

lol i don't know why you verified your shipping stauts.. bad move

treker · #14 Post by **treker** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:28 pm

Update 1/10/05:
Just got off the phone with IBM customer service supervisor. She sounded pretty positive about re instating my order if I could prove I had confirmed order. I immediately sent a copy of the confirmation. We'll see shortly how good IBM customer service is...

I may get my $1199 T42 after all.

Champ · #15 Post by **Champ** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 8:47 pm

if i'm not mistaken ibm only sends out order receipt confirmations and not order confirmations. the former just saying they have received it..

treker · #16 Post by **treker** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:04 pm

I don't know about the difference... but it sounds like a confirmed order to me. Order Number... IBM Confirmation Number... Estimated Ship Date... Price... Method of Payment...

Here is the email :
Dear ____

Thank you for purchasing from ibm.com. Your order information is
included below for your reference.

To get order status, visit our website:
http://www.ibm.com/shop/orderstatus

On-line Order Status Customer Number*: XXXX
On-line Order Status Order Number: XXXX
Estimated Ship Date: 01/10/2005

Order Information:

ibm.com confirmation number: XXXX79
Order date and time: 01/05/2005 7:19:00 PM GMT
Your payment method: MasterCard Credit
Card

Qty. Part no. Description Item Price
Line Total
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Individual Items
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2378R4U ThinkPad T42 (IBM Think Express
$1,199.20
Program)

===============================================================================================================
Your savings
$299.80

rocketman · #17 Post by **rocketman** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:07 pm

treker wrote:I agree with DB. This wasn't any typo. And then they followed up with an official email with confirmation number and estimated shipping date for 1/10/05 and the price of $1199. I intend to push this as far as I can. Just for the sake of principal. There is a matter of honesty here and treating people fairly. I REALLY want an IBM. And it's only 150 bucks!! Iin the long term that will seem inconsequential. I just want them to acknowledge that this was a legitimate offer and honor it. It would make me a satisfied customer. Maybe even a REPEAT customer. And I would tell a hundred people how fairly I was treated.

treker

To be honest IBM should even compensate you with a little something for your aggravation, an extra 512mb ram should do nicely. If it is a legitimate offer and not a typo it's the least they cam do.

Daver · #18 Post by **Daver** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:25 pm

treker wrote:And it's only 150 bucks!! Iin the long term that will seem inconsequential.

Well, that argument really does work both ways.

-Daver

eriqesque · #19 Post by **eriqesque** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 12:07 am

Daver wrote:
treker wrote:And it's only 150 bucks!! Iin the long term that will seem inconsequential.
Well, that argument really does work both ways.

-Daver

Yes but it was it is their mistake not his.
And they should therfore honor it.
I am sure the $150 is much more important to treker as a consumer than IBM as a company to make a happy customer.

#20 Post by **erik** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 12:47 am

eriqesque wrote:Yes but it was it is their mistake not his.
And they should therfore honor it.
I am sure the $150 is much more important to treker as a consumer than IBM as a company to make a happy customer.

true, but if 1,000 people catch this typo and place orders than the impact on big blue is $150,000, therefore becoming a significant impact due to a seemingly insignificant "typo." i'm not saying that it's morally correct, but it is the entire reason for the 'terms and conditions' agreement that you agree to when clicking the submit button.

contracts have saved my butt time and time again and IBM is no different -- only much bigger.

-erik

Steve007 · #21 Post by **Steve007** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 4:41 am

Kenn wrote:I believe Bill charges about $100 or so for a dead pixel check

$100?!

#22 Post by **JaneL** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 7:00 am

>$100?!
>

Why the shock? It's an optional service for him to cherrypick a perfect screen out of his stock, you know.

egibbs · #23 Post by **egibbs** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 7:15 am

On the subject of pricing errors...

I am the proud owner of a new T42p 2373-HVU (1 GB, 1.8 GHz, 128 MB video) that I snagged during a web sale in late December for $2299, a discount of $1080 off the current list of $3379.

I couldn't believe the price at the time but I went ahead and placed the order and it was accepted. I was even more shocked when my original estimated ship date of 1/13/05 came IN two weeks and the machine shipped on 12/30/04, it was in my hamds on 1/4/05.

I wonder if this was another error, or if they were they just trying to pump up their sales at the end of the year? Did anyone else get in on this?

Ed Gibbs

Steve007 · #24 Post by **Steve007** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 8:16 am

nonny wrote:>$100?!
>

Why the shock?

In my opinion that price is an extortionate amount for such a trivial task.

My comment in this post isn’t a cue for someone to say “You don’t have to buy from Bill!” or “You don’t have to pay for this optional service!” I know this, but I am aloud to express my opinion.

rocketman · #25 Post by **rocketman** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 9:08 am

egibbs wrote:On the subject of pricing errors...

I am the proud owner of a new T42p 2373-HVU (1 GB, 1.8 GHz, 128 MB video) that I snagged during a web sale in late December for $2299, a discount of $1080 off the current list of $3379.

I couldn't believe the price at the time but I went ahead and placed the order and it was accepted. I was even more shocked when my original estimated ship date of 1/13/05 came IN two weeks and the machine shipped on 12/30/04, it was in my hamds on 1/4/05.

I wonder if this was another error, or if they were they just trying to pump up their sales at the end of the year? Did anyone else get in on this?

Ed Gibbs

If I remember correctly and I caould be wrong it specified that this was a sale on the web site.

egibbs · #26 Post by **egibbs** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 9:33 am

Yes it was - but so was the $1199 T42 that IBM is claiming was a typo.

On the one hand it is one of the last T42p models without a fingerprint reader, so maybe they were trying to clear out the inventory. On the other hand, I don't think I've ever seen IBM discount a current model 30% for a sale. Just curious.

rocketman · #27 Post by **rocketman** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 10:29 am

The T42 2373-HVU was listed for sale on IBM's site for at least a couple of weeks, maybe more. I doubt a typo would be left unfixed for that long a time.

#28 Post by **daeojkim** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 11:06 am

When I ordered my 2378fvu I got this at about $150 below the actual price. The sales person admitted that it was a mistake in the website but he was able to get permission to give it to me at that price. He also added express delivery and I got the laptop in 5 days from Hong Kong.

I guess I lucked out.

Well i am having so much fun with this laptop... I am sure you will too when you get yours.

#29 Post by **erik** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 11:21 am

Steve007 wrote:
nonny wrote:>$100?!

Why the shock?
In my opinion that price is an extortionate amount for such a trivial task.

My comment in this post isn’t a cue for someone to say “You don’t have to buy from Bill!” or “You don’t have to pay for this optional service!” I know this, but I am aloud to express my opinion.

you're allowed an opinion as long as it conforms with the senior members of this forum. just kidding

seriously though, $100 is reasonable when you consider that bill has to open a factory-sealed box with the risk of being left with a thinkpad which has one or multiple dead pixels. he then has to find another identical model without any flaws. after one or two systems have been checked, he is left with one or two systems that have been opened and are no longer factory-sealed. the next option is to send them back (if that's even an option?) or to sell them at a discount to customers willing to put up with a few erroneous pixels.

in my opinion, $100 is not trivial but you are still entitled to whatever you wish to think.

-erik

leesiulung · #30 Post by **leesiulung** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 2:16 pm

IBM website clearly state that they are entitled to cancel an order if it is mistakenly priced. I think this is reasonable of IBM to do, if the price is deemed mistaken. Humans do make mistake, and the function of a corporation is to make a profit. People tend to think that because they saw it at a certain price they are entitled to the product. What if a disgruntled employee at your local store decided to put up a sign for a new
T42 laptop at $100, would you still be entitled to it?

In addition I remember when I ordered my laptop I saw some note about the order not being a contract, but rather a confirmation that IBM received my order.

I am glad you got your deal treker and in the past I believe IBM have been honoring price mistakes although they don't have to.

Price mistakes are nice, especially if they are honored! This rather than seeing as a entitlement, should be seen as great service from IBM.

I am in no way affiliated with IBM....

Did Anyone Get the $1199 T42 Deal?

Did Anyone Get the $1199 T42 Deal?

Who is online