[Price Error] 1000 Litre Composter $25 Delivered (Was $345) @ GardensOnline (Free Membership Required)

Moved to Forum: Original Link

Maybe an error but my girlfriend ordered one and was charged $25. Signing up to the frequent flower club automatically took $320 off the price at checkout.

Copied from the site:

Thermo-Star composter are designed and made in Germany to the highest standards to create optimum conditions for efficient composting.

The materials used are a unique, foamed recycled polypropylene product called Thermolen.

Thermolen is an innovative, quality material developed specally for use in composters. Because it is foamed, Ther-molen makes highly insulating walls. The heat produced is retained more easily inside the composter, which accelerates the composting process.

Thermo-Star composters are very easy to assemble and extremely sturdy in use. The unique securing rods slide in/out easily to allow access to any of the panels to remove fully composted materials from the lower levels. Plenty of air holes allow the compost to breath - air being a vital element in efficient breakdown of contents.

They are available in 400 litre, 600 litre and 1,000 litre sizes.

An optional soil fence is available, sold separately - as listed on this page.

This product is shipped free of charge to the following zones NSW, ACT, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland zones 1 and 2 and WA Zones 1 and 2. Please call our office for a shipping quote to all other areas.

Details
Dimensions: 1300mm long x 1300mm wide x 1020mm high

Weight: 20kgs

Thermo walls + ventilation slots: ideal climate for accelerated composting

Removal: possible on every side of the composter

Filling: Through lid integrated into the cover

Long service-life: UV- and weather-resistant

Saving household waste charge

Saves fertilizer, compost is nutritious – the best humus soil for your garden

The Thermo-Star is made of the quality material Thermolen®

N.B. Please provide a street address as this will be delivered by courier who cannot deliver to PO Boxes.

Mod: Price error (or 'hacking' as the store calls it), orders are being refunded. See comments.

Related Stores

gardensonline.com.au
gardensonline.com.au

Comments

  • +4

    As you say, very likely a pricing error, and a big one at that. Can't see them honouring it, but best of luck

  • +1

    Great price!
    I don't think I need this, so I'm going to skip it and let another OzBargainer grab one or two.

    • +1

      I don't think I need this, so I'm going to skip it cleanse my Ozbargainer concious and let another OzBargainer grab one or two.

      There we go.

  • -1

    Must be price error. It shows now $345

    • +2

      Did you do the sign up first?

      • -1

        same $345, sign up first and then closed the browser, reopened the browser and then worked.

  • Do you first need to sign to frequent flower club or you need to buy first

  • signed up for the frequent flower club and the price was reduced to $25 and free shipping. ordered 1.. fingers crossed =D

  • +1

    Ordered! Fingers crossed! :)

  • +29

    Yeah feels like they left off a zero. $250 would still be a large discount.

    I’d feel bad about ordering this. Seems like a smaller company not a faceless corporation like Amazon.

    • +3

      I ordered one on the off chance they are just getting rid of them at shipping cost, although given it weighs 20kg you'd think $25 wouldn't even cover that.

      It does say this under "member benefits", so perhaps not an error after all?

      Thermo-Star 1000 litre Composter: $320.00OFF

      If they cancel the order no hard feelings.

      • +3

        Yeah could be a win. 1000L is a big bastard of a compost bin. That $320 off field feels auto calculated.

      • +15

        I'm always apprehensive posting this stuff. There's always gonna be some pricks who get pissed when a small Australian business doesn't cop a loss in the tens of thousands, just because they wanted to add more junk to their storage shed.

  • +28

    I want to get one. Been in the market for one but will let it slide, can't take advantage of small seller like this.

  • Can't be delivered to my address. Ah well.

  • +2

    Thanks Op

  • +2

    Seems not to be a pricing error as when you click to sign up under Member benefits it says: Thermo-Star 1000 litre Composter: $320.00OFF

    • +7

      I think it’s meant to be $25 off the original price of $345 so should be $320. They must have got it the other way around. Most likely a price error.

      • +2

        Agreed. On the next page it shows all other member pricing as 1 to 10% off. This one shows as $320 off which equals almost 93%

  • Thanks OP. Ordered one. Hope it will get filled.

    • +3

      1000L is pretty big, might take a while to fill.

  • Wow … was looking for a composter. Thanks. Ordered. A bit bigger than I wanted it but for this price I get it.

  • Thanks OP. Bigger than what i was looking for but for $25 why not

  • +7

    They not going to honour that, a small business can't lose $300 an order

  • +9

    Will this fit a human sized object? Asking for a friend

    • -1

      Depends how fat your ‘friend’ is - will they fit through the lid opening?

    • Just add lye

    • Looks like Davros would live in it…

    • In South Australia?

  • Thanks. Just ordered for my left hand

  • +12

    Those poor buggers are going to have a rough start to the Monday morning processing all those refunds

    • And then there are those who, Hopefully it goes through

  • Signed up & order placed,
    Wife has wanted me to buy a composter for for the last 12 months,
    Hopefully it goes through.

  • +2

    Big indeed. Don't need that big a composter. If they honour it, it's a good deal. However there isnanother way to think about it. It is unlikely that purchases will be honoured. The company would have signed up many member to send them promotional material. Clever marketing strategy

    • Which is why I used my 2nd / spam email account, just in case )

    • My thought too data collection and easiest method for surging membership numbers .
      Govt regulations is weak and doesn't deter the grubby tactic that seems to be happening frequently nowadays .

      My odds I give .5 % chance of honouring and 99.50 % against .

    • +2

      The company would have signed up many member to send them promotional material. Clever marketing strategy

      No it isn't.

      Denying people something they want (even when it is a genuine mistake) is not a good marketing strategy.

      • Given the number of orders they are receiving after this post on OzBargain I don't think they would want to make a big loss. $25 for that composter seems much lesser than the cost price of this thing, leave alone shipping. Plusbits made in Germany so shipping cost to get the products to Australia would have increased the cost price anyway.

  • +1

    Only top opening?
    Would make turning very hard/awkward.

  • +1

    What payment would cost less to refund, card or paypal?

  • +6

    As a compost enthusiast, I reckon this would be nigh usable. At best, very difficult to work with.

    • +1

      I'm guessing the entire top can be shifted off easily. Then you could turn it easily with a garden fork.

      • +4

        It does say any side can be removed for access, but I guess then you risk a compost avalanche in a thing this size!

  • bought one, Thanks.

  • -1

    Got one . Cheers! Finger crossed they honor it !!

  • +1

    signed up to frequent flower club

    still showed 345. had to reload page

    got one. lets see if this gets cancelled

  • Thanks OP. Great find. Ordered one.

  • +1

    My order went through on PayPal but not showing as any orders on frequent flower “order details”

  • Can't add to the cart.

  • +7

    it will be a Monday morning hell for someone…

  • How many bodies will this hold for “composting”.

  • +1

    I just tried and it says no discount if you look under Current Specials…

    Signed up for no reason lol

    EDIT: They fixed it, now it says save $25.. for total price of $320.

    Orders that went through will likely be cancelled now.

  • +3

    Looks like they have corrected the price. Should have been a $25 discount. Good luck to the people that have got it cheep.

  • +2

    Now it is showing as $25 discount, the price is $320 :-(

  • +1

    For that price I would've been happy for 100 or 200L! Even those cost like $70 from Bunnings. Curious to see if this gets honoured.

  • Cannot even add in cart.

  • Any discount on the smaller ones? 1000 litres seems too big for my small garden

  • Guessing there will be a lot of cancelled orders tomorrow.

  • +3

    Kudos to OP if he kept this to himself it might have slipped through!

    • +2

      Right? Clesr price error and p has just screwed any chance for his gf to have let it slip through. Op was probably against the composter

  • Please let us know what's going to tomorrow

    • +7

      The sun will rise…

    • Refund.

  • +37

    They sent my missus am email saying they were hacked and the link was maliciously posted here. Geez I wouldn't have minded if they cancelled it and told the truth that they made a mistake.

    • +7

      username checks out!

    • +4

      Well, i wouldn't blame the company. Blame the guy that made this error and then told the company to save his own ass.

      • Of course, I don't blame the company at all, we were never gonna get it.

    • +13

      Which hackers? The OzbargainCompostCrew?

      And if that were remotely plausible, why would they have set at $25, and not $1, or even free?

      No integrity there.

      To add, the sad thing there is that lie is going to be believed by some, then spreads to misinformation and rumours in the wider community, and then you get false accusations e.g. ozbargain is a hacker site, or dodgy, and so on.

    • +1

      For most people hacked=something went wrong on the internet.

      Cop out from them for sure but easier than going through logs and confirming old mate covering the ecommerce guy who's on leave filled in the wrong fields last week.

  • +2

    "Hacked"? It would just be as easy to assume they made this mistake on purpose to get the personal details of customers and get email subscription numbers up…
    They should just admit they made a mistake (and then fix their janky circa 2001 website)

  • +4

    You guys know you can get free compost bins if you attend a worm farm workshop from your local council?

    Edit: it might be just up to 80% rebates now. But they were definitely free before.

    • Thanks good plan b. Pity they have the words up to though. Mine is 50%.

    • +1

      Mine is only 40%

      • Mine too and the item is cheaper at Catch.

  • My Order cancelled and refunded.

    Received this as the message.

    Yesterday GardensOnline was hacked and a product price was changed within our system. The link was then maliciously posted on OzBargains. We are therefore sorry we cannot fulfil this purchase and your money has been refunded in full. GardensOnline

    • +4

      Lol hacked and maliciously placed on ozb = system error. They're shooting themselves in the foot really by saying you're data is not safe on their platform.

    • +3

      Should just say they made an error. Shame on them.

      • +7

        Some hacker in Russia: "Today I want a compost bin for exactly $25"…. starts typing

    • +4

      They are making it seem like OzBargain was responsible for the hack and accusing the OP of malicious behaviour. It's like a classic Trump CNN rant

    • So I’m guessing they should either self-report or be reported to the ACSC.

      • +4

        They might also need to inform all registered customers of a potential notifiable data breech.

        I think this business is digging themselves a hole that even 1000L of composite can’t fill.

  • +21

    Clearly a worm attack

    • +4

      This comment is worth many more +’s.

    • +3

      You win the internet today.

  • +3

    Google Reviews of the business tend to reflect the blame game this business plays. It's Australia Posts fault. It's the Customer's fault. The customer is being negative. OzBargain hacked my web site. etc.

    • +7

      So true. A simple, "Whoops, we accidentally put an extra 0 in the discount code you typed in. It should have been $32 off and not $320. We are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused, your money has been refunded, and if you still wish to purchase the product here is a code WORMATTACK for $40 off with free shipping"

      Credit to digitalbargain for WORMATTACK comment 🤣

  • Refund this morning

  • +2

    My order cancelled as well. They should at least admit their mistake. Putting blame on Ozbargain is not the way. How can i delete my account from their website now.

    • +1

      Come on, it was obvious it was a pricing error. Fair enough to try, but to complain after is a bit much …

  • +1

    I didn't even order one but wrongfully claiming hacking is wrong on so many levels. I'm tempted to make their lives difficult and report them to ACSC. It will cost them a lot of money and teach them not to blame tech for human error.

  • +7

    I raised a concern with them this morning about how we be assured that our data is safe and has not been compromised by this hacker; and that the need to report this to the Cyber Crimes website who can assist with the investigation and ensure/notify users if their data has been compromised.

    I got a response from their Managing Director.


    "Yes a valid comment, however we issued the refunds and the emails ASAP after discovering the problem and on initial inspection it looked as if we had been hacked. However when I got our developer to delve more deeply - in order to patch any holes - he advised us that there was no sign of a security breach after all.

    So it seems to have been a human error after all.

    Your data remains safe and we repeat our policy of never sharing personal data with anyone for any reason.

    However if you prefer we delete yours from our system then we are happy to do that - unless you are in fact interested in any garden related offers we may have in the future (that are priced correctly !!)"


    Hope this helps clear everything up.

    • +7

      Then they need to make a public apology to ozbargain and the OP

    • +7

      Talk about back peddling… Guess they found out that a fake security breach is going to cost them much more than coming clean and admitting it was their fault.

    • +4

      Nice play sharepoint and it just shows how scummy and grubby this company is !
      Too dumb too realize the initial lies can easily be called out .
      Yes I know folks from the company will read this so I highlighted the keys words for youse .

      • +2

        thank youse

  • +1

    This business would have gained so many supporters by being honest and forthright with what happened.

    it sounds like it was a spur-of-the-moment emotional decision to message customers about the refund with a piss poor excuse without understanding the gravity of the communication sent out.

    if you prefer we delete yours from our system then we are happy to do that - unless you are in fact interested in any garden related offers we may have in the future (that are priced correctly !!)"

    The MD should be able to conjure up a better response to the user above and shows a lack of professionalism with the snide remark at the end. 0/10 how not to manage a business.

  • +1

    I knew the order was a long shot and am interested in some gardening products howevee they should update each person who ordered to firstly correct the email that was sent regarding a hack and secondly offer to delete ALL data submitted and remove from any lists?

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