Overstock.com engaging in pathetic marketing ploy to get customers to shop

Okay, now even the web corporations suck. Corporate eBay has gone rapidly downward since becoming a publicly traded company, & now overstock.com. (I still like eBay, the private sellers are very good, it is the corporate policy that sucks).

We buy from them once or twice a year, & I have never had a problem. But, today, I decided to splurge on a present for my son. A new down comforter. The front page has a coupon (up if you go there now) for 10 percent off, not huge, but enough to make a difference on an expensive purchase. I click the coupon, & it states it is activated. So, I proceed to go to the first check out, & it shows the discounted rate. I proceed to the final page, & the price changes to the full price mode.

After much searching & finally chatting with a online person, they tell me that it is valid for new customers only. And, the frosting on the cake is that they state 'we are sorry YOU missed this information', info hidden in a page that it is nearly impossible to find. Not only do they scam people with this pathetic marketing gimmick to get people to shop & hope they don't notice they won't get the discount, they INSULT the person for not seeing hidden information.

So, needless to say, they lost a purchase of an expensive item from a repeat customer who now will not shop there anymore PLUS they have created negative advertising with my post here and at other sites.

I am angry over the principle, not the money. Instead of treating their customers fairly, they try to screw them at every turn. This is only a very small example of a much larger pattern.

Recommend to expose a unfair marketing practice. I am going to find a private decent seller on eBay (the corporation sucks, but the individual sellers making a living are great) & buy my gift there.

Screw Overstock.

return customers. It's not as if they're the only game in town.

about DUers ordering online merchandise receiving double orders. Apparently this was not an isolated incident. The speculation is that retailers are so desperate to boost sales, they're turning to less-than-honest tactics.

And, obviously on-line shoppers must be at least modestly adept on the internet. It doesn't take but a few disgruntled customers posting until the site gets a reputation to avoid it. The thing that frosted my muffins is that they put the caveat to the discount in a little teeny tiny link at the VERY BOTTOM of the page, if you don't scroll all the way down, you will not see it.

All they had to do was put a little asterik in the coupon box stating 'applies to new customers only'. It is a deliberate scam to draw people in & the discounted price even shows up on the first check out page.

I only posted this because I think it is important for dishonest corporate practices to be exposed. If everyone spread the word, they would cut the b.s.

Here's one: http://www.tpmcafe.com/node/28038

when I called to straighten it out, the person could not help me, then proceeded to try and sell me a movie that I did not want and did not ask about.

They lost me then.

And, now you have to dig to find live customer help & they use deceptive marketing practices.

Screw em.

or something like that. They also even bundled the Fahrenhype 9/11 book together for the same price. Probably lost a lot of money with their "overstock" there! :)

Their coupons show up in my mailbox every day and I ignore them now. I'm primarily interested in getting DVDs if anything from them, and if you read the fine print of every one of their newer coupons, it is one of a number of category of products that aren't used to calculate their discount (aka useless to buy DVDs).

They are headquartered in Utah. That says a lot.

Make sure you read the fine print before trying to use any of these coupons. Most of them are pretty useless.