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Found this whilst browsing the site. It seems a lot cheaper than all other retailers so it seems like a good deal.
[PRICE ERROR] Asus Eee Slate Ep121 Windows 7 Tablet - $122 Harvey Norman
LSuperCow on 26/12/2012 - 02:23
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i'm surprised that a company that large does not have a system in place to make sure errors like this does not happen or they love making errors for some reason?
totally agreed
they didn't even have live stock feed, i think something like this is way beyond them
has anyone noticed thier "My Orders" page on harvey norman has been wiped?
My Orders
You have placed no orders.I know ive bought atleast 5 things online from harvey norman this year…
this is the first thing i've bought from HN online. The order's still there but it's labelled 'closed'
Ok so it has been 48 hours now, two full days since I ordered this tablet.
My money is still out of my account, i used a debit credit card. (im pretty poor at the moment so $122 is a big deal and means i cant buy other items i might have bought etc)
After purchasing i received the receipt as so many of us did, and I have an order number, and according to my account with them the order is still there and still "pending". Pending is what they put after the transaction is completed but before it is shipped.
If i did not know of ozbargain, I would still be assuming I am getting the tablet, as why the hell else would i assume otherwise?! It is not as if there has been an email or refund to me or anything at all to suggest I will not receive my purchase.
In fact given that, I actually still expect to be sent the tablet, obviously Im not sure.
If I do not I will also lodge with the ACCC, but i have no reason to as yet since have not said that they will not send it to me nor have they refunded my money. At this point they have not broken their contract with me. I hope they don't.
If they dont honour their transactions remember that THERE ARE LAWS AGAINST this sort of bait and switch type advertising. Imagine if there wasn't!? You could put up a fake deal and get shitloads of traffic and publicity to your store, people buying other things and such. I remember when they first made those laws.
As if it wasn't intentional, the price they claim it was meant to be is not worthy of being called a EOY clearance item at all, being much more expensive than the newer windows 8 tablets…
Why is it some of you say you have been sent cancellation emails but most of us have not been sent any? Strange, maybe it is because you contacted them..?
If you have been wronged by them, for instance holding your money or just them refusing to honour their transaction contract, I think you should file with the ACCC. The more people that do it the more likely we will get our tablets, but beyond that it will send Hardly Normal a message. Companies HATE dealing with the ACCC.
P.S. can someone please post a pic of the original price and item from their website? I print screened my order confirmation and so on but not that.
now wouldnt it be hilarious if they are simply waiting for as many people to cancel their orders, then finally decide to dispatch the rest which have been sitting on pending/processing
im in no rush to get a refund… just really curious to see how this plays out
tbh i think that might be the case…
I am counting on exactly the same miracle. Good luck to us :D
they are just going through the process, you will be automatically refunded. I did not request a cancellation but yesterday afternoon, they refunded me automatically. Note, I did NOT request a cancellation and refund. it was automatic
dream on mate
I ordered one, paid by paypal and got the confirmation email. I didn't contact them, but Thursday afternoon I got an email from Paypal telling me HN had refunded my money. That was followed by the email from HN confirming my refund. Nowhere was there any mention of my order having been cancelled, a pricing error being made or an apology for their mistake.
Instead I got the automated email line - "While we are sorry to hear that the purchased goods were not suitable for you, we would like to thank you for your business and look forward to future transactions with you".
I emailed them in reply asking why my order had been refunded and could they please explain their actions. As far as I was concerned I had ordered and paid for a product and had not been contacted about any issues with my order. I realise I'm wasting their time by emailing them, but I think they need to know how poorly they have treated their 'customers'.
They know but they just don't care
"being much more expensive than the newer windows 8 tablets…"
Are you talking about the Microsoft Surface RT with Windows RT (not Windows 8)?
The Asus Eee Slate Ep121 is an Intel Core i5 notebook / desktop spec which means you can basically do anything you can do on a PC or laptop, on this tablet. An equivalent (albeit better model) to compare to would be the Samsung Series 7 Slate (no longer listed on the Harvey Norman website - but are $900+ in stores that still have them).
The Microsoft Surface is an ARM-based tablet, comparable to an iPad / Nexus 7 / Most Android / Windows Phones, with a bit more RAM to suffice Windows RT. These are your sub-$600 tablets.
When the Microsoft Surface Pro comes out next month, then you'll start hitting the specification of the Asus Eee Slate Ep121.
No refund so far. Just an automated email from HN saying that we will refund you. How incompetent some businesses can be.
If I can't get a refund today, I will start protesting in front of my local Harvey Norman.
I didnt get any such email yet.
This should be in ACA and TT !
Sent it to Herald Sun. Let's see if they run the story.
Over two days and no word yet.
Harvey Norman have lost a whole lot of good will with this screwup.
Like others I thought it might of been a legitimate deal, it was old stock, not fully compatible with windows 8, it was boxing day and it said end of year clearance sale. It didn't look like the price was missing a number. So I purchased 1 tablet. After receiving a confirmation of my order and seeing the money was taken out of my account I went on to buy a new keyboard and mouse to use with it, a cable to hook up my audio interface to it and some software (drawing/scetching, antivirus etc.). All up I spent about $300. So not only did I not have that money to spend on legitimate boxing day sales, I have no premise to get a refund on all the stuff I bought for this tablet.
I haven't contacted the ACCC or HN as I haven't gotten any indication that my order has been canceled. If I do not get a tablet, I will be contacting HN and explaining how they have wasted my money and give them a chance to redeem the situation. If this fails, I'll contact the ACCC. I am not very optimistic about getting my order filled given others who got the confirmation email have already had their money refunded but I'll wait none the less. What I am most annoyed at like others is the lack of communication. I shouldn't have to come onto oz bargain and read through 9 pages of posts to get an idea of what is going to happen.
Chatted to a CS rep, and they have said that the remaining people will all receive refunds by the end of today. Skeptical about that.. but we'll see.
They are so bad when it comes to customer service.
When are they going to officially admit to the fess up? They can't just refund the funds and pretend life is all rosy again.
Regarding getting Harvey Norman's attention, and a quick email and explanation…
I took the advise from someone on page 6 I think.I filed a Resolution action in Paypal for both of my purchases.
I got a response email, AND statement from Harvey Norman within an hour, that both of my purchases' REFUND were now actioned.Also as mentioned before, there is a wierd "Adjustment Fee" (about $1.50 per Tablet), added because they consider I cancelled my order. Bullshevang!
I wrote back and lost it, didn't get a reply to that email.Harvey Norman, like Dick Smith will never get my business again. There are well run companies to buy from.
Should be sorted next week.
At $121, the value derived offsets the fact that it is a near obsolete product.
I have quite a few Pentium laptops lying around - care to make a trade? Put your money where your mouth is.
Sandy Bridge Pentiums. Google it. They are fast, much like the G540 is a fast Celeron desktop CPU for only $40. You were saying?
OH so it's a Sandy Bridge Pentium now, is it? OK, show me where you can get a new Sandy Bridge laptop for $350.
Wow - I thought the Nigerians were bad, but they were only after a few hundred dollars or I would be deaded by noon.
Wow, you are going to get nowhere with that, if not digging yourself a deeper hole.
Whoever said the Paypal transaction is put on hold prior to despatch. I hope you are right.
Because my Paypal transaction just got processed through my bank account.
I am confused, are they refunding or not?
Why accept the Paypal transaction in the first place?
Not happy…
fairly certain that process for paypal is 100% automated, moment you complete the transaction the money is gone (whether or not the item is dispatched)… simply takes a few days to reflect that
Anyone still studying at university first year can confirm if there are a new set of business law for online trading? Will the T & C be deemed invalid if they are against the business law? And most importantly if in our case if there is a binding contract when our credit card is charged and HN is obliged to supply the product? If a pricing error excuse can get them out of a binding contract then i think in future no contracts are worth signing.
The law is Australian Consumer Law which is derived from the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
T&Cs will be deemed invalid if they breach ACL.
There is no binding contract when you're charged. As outlined in Harvey Normans T&Cs (which don't appear to breach ACL) the offer is only accepted when you receive a tax invoice and receive receipt of the goods. Until that point it is only an offer. Customers agree to this term when using the web site and making a purchase.
Your last point is ridiculous. How has this advantaged Harvey Norman? This has been bad for them and I don't see any companies doing this deliberately for the backlash it causes. Think about how many product lines they run and the % of errors which occur.
Are you sure contracted only when we receive the receipt or goods is not in breach of the law? They have taken our consideration i.e. our money!
You think it is ridiculous because your thinking is too narrow. I can enter a contract to build a house or make a power plant to your specification. After signing the contract noted some of the material prices gone up and seriously affect my profit or even making a loss then I just simply stating the sum of the contracted amount consists of typos or errors which should be $xxx higher than originally agreed $xxx. In any events that might cause me to make a loss I will simply use typos or errors excuses to make sure my business will never make losses due to my own miscalculations or mistakes.
My thinking is narrow, I've narrowed it to take into account the current acts and law. Not using specious examples from contract law.
You ask if I'm sure, then yes.
These are the terms which were agreed to. Try and find anything in ACL, or C&CA and there's your smoking gun. Morals and other examples are not laws which will help you win a case.
(3) You and Harvey Norman Online may enter into a contract for the sale and supply of products by you making an offer via the website to purchase a product at the price advertised on the website by:
(i) placing an electronic Order for the products using the website;
(ii) you confirming the Order details in accordance with the procedure on the website;
(iii) you making payment in full (plus any applicable delivery charges) on the website; and
(iv) the acceptance of that offer by Harvey Norman Online.(10) Harvey Norman Online will be deemed to have accepted your Order on the first to occur of issue to you by email of a tax invoice for the sale and the fulfilment of your Order.
Let me give you an example of how am I going to abuse pricing errors. I am opening an online store to take orders of the same tablets at unlimited quantities with ridiculously cheaper price than everywhere else knowing I don't even have the ability to fulfill the orders. After taking thousands of orders I simply email those who place orders will refund their money a month later after deducting the processing fees and other adjustment costs. Within the month I just put them into a term deposit account to earn interest.
Good luck with that. I'm not even going to dignify that with a response saying why that's ridiculous.
Yeah this guys a joke. Comparing a con artist to a human price error. I needed a laugh
Human mistakes or con artist I don't care to know. All I know is HN is running its online store with lack of "duty of care" to prevent events i.e unlimited qty orders like this from happening.
you can sell the client database to third party to make more profit
You guys make me laugh sometimes.. Seriously
Imagine you owned an online store and one of your employees accidentally put the wrong price. Would you honor a possible $600+ loss on each item HELL NO! You're an Ozbargainer!
For once put the shoe on the other foot and think about what you are saying. Yes HN suck and I'd give my left nut to slap Gerry Harvey across the face but in all serious just move along and live your life, I can't understand why people get so worked up about nothing.
If it's nothing to you, then why are you here? Why bother posting if you have no problems? Those of us who see a problem are allowed to follow through, it's our money.
Sounds like jealousy to me
Why am I here? I'm an OzBargainer of course! Hell I've been 'here' since 2008 I could be asking you the same question ;) I just think people need to see things from the other persons perspective. Thinks seem to get out of hand VERY quick.
Everyone reading this comment ask yourself this question;
If this was my store would I take the hit and make a massive loss thanks to a mistake? I can pretty much guarantee 99% of you would say no. Remember too people are buying 5+ just to resell it again to make money off you.
If you still answer yes to that please open an online store so I can trawl it every day till you make a mistake :D
If this was my store would I take the hit and make a massive loss thanks to a mistake?
Yes, because I'm an ethical person.
Pricing error deals occasionally get honoured: an example is DSE deal on Telstra 4G pocket wifi + $180 recharge voucher - they honoured ones purchased before they informed OZB; people tried to take advantage after it is officially announced to be a pricing error have them cancelled.
Harvey Norman, unfortunately, is a totally different company. A company which claims to have "lowest prices" and yet regularly refuse to price match MSY. A company which agreed to hold an item for me, but by the time I arrived (30 minutes later) have the nerve to tell me they sold it to another customer without saying sorry or apologise.
Harvey Norman care more about $$$ than reputation, customer satisfaction. No point trying to get HVN to honour the deal. Also, don't expect any e-mail saying they are sorry.
This is not the first OZB pricing error deal not being honoured… Just get the refund back and spend your time hunting for more real bargains.
Yes, because I'm an ethical person.
Ethical? I think you have lost the meaning there. If you were an ethical person you would acknowledge that the the price error was due to human error and accept your refund.
Ethical? I think you have lost the meaning there. If you were an ethical person you would acknowledge that the the price error was due to human error and accept your refund.
I said I would honour my mistake because I'm an ethical person, but according to you I'm not entitled to expect the same in return?
You posted in here to tell everyone to move on with their life, but now you're in here yourself arguing over silly hypothetical scenarios. Seems you just want to attack people and be negative about everything. I feel sorry for you.
THE DSE pricing error was covered at page 8. That error would have been at very little and possibly nil cost to DSE and therefore not difficult to honor.
Here's the formuals for actions from a pricing error.
No cost: will honor
Low to moderate cost: may honor if good publicity
High cost: won't honorIt's pretty simple. You comparing DSE error to this error is like comparing apples and oranges.
Lol if im so negative why do I have people agreeing with me? Its funny that the ethical thing always is in the favour of the person complaining never the reverse, im not specifically talking about you but people in general. Looks like we will have Agree to disagree.
in a situation such as this 1 per customer sounds more reasonable. I think most people would be happy with this outcome, except for maybe those that ordered more than one.
"If you still answer yes to that please open an online store so I can trawl it every day till you make a mistake :D"
The difference in this situation is HN isn't just a random small business, it's huge.
Unfortunately it would make no difference if it was HN or Joe Bloggs computers you would still get the same ACCC comments here.
The difference in this situation is HN isn't just a random small business, it's huge.
When it comes to the law it's not supposed to discriminate. With that thinking you could shoplift from Coles/woollies because they are a large company the same rules don't apply. Not trying to have a dig at you personally
Lol if im so negative why do I have people agreeing with me?
so you get 100 people at a rally, do you marvel at the fact you got 100 to come, or put it into perspective about how many people didnt come?
It's true. This error price the item at approx $700 loss for us.
The volume of sales meant that it would cost us $millions to honor. If this mistake was done by a small business and honored it would put them out of business
We happily honored a voucher last week that was not attached to a minimum spend and allowed smart Oz-bargainers to get free stuff.
If anyone has any specific issues then please DM or contact us via our website
Thanks
HN Social team
You mentioned that you would have lost ~$700 per unit from this error. Given this comment:
Just in store now: $877 which is save $122
Are you're implying that you intended to sell this unit at pretty much 'cost price' ($877 - $122 = $755)???
No offense, but I find that a bit hard to believe…
@greenguava.
Happens all the time. Lots of catalogue items are at or under cost. The point of specials is to get people in the door. Money is made on add ons.
Ah this is the Telstra thing about it being free and printing money i saw earlier.
Are DSE and Telstra the same company but?
I can't see Telstra just giving companies free vouchers because of an error of the other company. IMO that would have come out of DSE pocket. I think everything would go on Telstra's books and is calculated as the sale value even if it costs them pennies.
I think a lot of people are worked up about the appalling way HN has handled the situation. Personally I accept that it was an error and want to move on, once I get my refund. But no communication from HN about how that's going. No, Facebook isn't acceptable. They have all our email addresses from the order, how hard can it be to send out a mass email? Oh, maybe that's beyond the capabilities of those people supposed to be able to run an e-commerce site.
No confirmation email, no email at all yet. As well as no refund.
Ok guys, I got a phone call from herald sun. They are investigating it and would like to talk to a few more people. If you can pm me, I will let you know the email address of the reporter following it up.
Good on you getting the media involved!!
Sorry, I just realised I inadvertedly cancelled my vote…Tell me if you need any help ! Quite angry with HN now, no emails, no refund no notifications, nothing at all !!! What a stupid business out there !
I got my PayPal refund yesterday. The accompanying automated email from HM implied I had requested my order be cancelled. Obviously I did no such thing. I wrote back saying that and am still waiting a response. Agree with everyone else the way they've handled this is a joke
Constructive feedback? Basically your inventory system sux. You have no live stock feed of any sort (even small companies have this), no security in place so that when there's an unexpected sudden surge in orders it should have been flagged, you kept the pricing error into the following day. No formal explanation anywhere of the pricing error. No formal Apology
This is what happens when Gerry tries to bolt on an online system to his franchise system. He should really scrap this half-assed effort and go for a pure online operation with tight control, but then he'd upset his franchisees. Also see http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/89032?page=7#comment-117327…
Best way to address this is simply honour the deal
What is HN doing to compensate us? HN tied up our money on boxing day, we lost out on some very good deals. Some of us bought software and accessories for these tablets that we now can't get a refund for. Why hasn't the item returned to the website at the correct price?
I would suggest offering all those who ordered the tablets, the same tablets at a heavily discounted price. Many of us are willing to pay a bit more for the tablet but as it is out dated technology with many other tablets competing with it, most of us aren't willing to pay a great deal for it.
Constructive feedback…. yes pay someone to give you advices… You guys cudnt even delivery what your your promised…. Cant even refund money after 5 days…and now…
Pay a low rate of $160/hr and we will give you constructive feedbacks and first of all learn to keep your words
You guys should either shut down your online business or ask Mr Gerry to shut his mouth in relation to overseas online retailers.
Finally, some feedback from the vendor. It's absolutely appalling how long it has taken for you guys to respond to the situation.
Constructive feedback? Sure, respond to the issue promptly, don't let it linger for a few days without acknowledgement.
Unlike some people here, I'm fine with getting a refund, but I believe we are all entitled to a FULL refund (ie no 'adjustment fee' taken out).
Hi Baltoski,
We used facebook to communicate the pricing error and company position as fast as we could.
We are investigating the adjustment fee now.
Official response on this to follow
Thanks again
We used facebook to communicate the pricing error and company position as fast as we could.
So instead of emailing all the affected customers(the logical thing to do), you put a message on your Facebook wall? lol!!
It has taken us a few days to separate out all the customer data for the Tablet Vs all other orders.
An official response is going out via email today to all customers
What is facebook? is that the official government website to publish your f..ups?
wtf
using fb to communicate
r u kidding us
unbelievable, just want to ask HM using fb as main way for selling online?
if u say no, dont push us communicate via ur fb ok?
where is ur support team, customer service team?"It has taken us a few days to separate out all the customer data for the Tablet Vs all other orders."
What is this, 1998? No stock tracking and now this?
Any off the shelf e-commerce setup will give you this info within minutes. Sack your IT guy, he's probably playing World of Warcraft all day when you're not looking.
But dude, the raids wont raid themselves..
You used Facebook? What is your official website for? What are our e-mails and contact numbers for? What is your brain for?
It can be a simple SQL from the order database. I hope you guys did not do it manually.
I hope your Technical staff would have done easily.
Can you send us an example of the adjustment fee. The data we have does not show this on any refunds so far…
Wouldn't have been hard to find if you had just had a quick look through this thread. But in any case, I'm feeling festive so here's a few examples for you:
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/89032?page=7#comment-117334…
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/89032?page=7#comment-117350…
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/89032?page=7#comment-117379…
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/89032?page=8#comment-117403…
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/89032?page=9#comment-117557…go ask paypal
Thanks for keeping your business alive..
We will use you to compare prices with overseas market ….
Makes us feel very happy and satisfied when we see your 10 fold price for the stuff we just brought from overseas.
Keep up your good works…
Also these kind of pricing stunt is good for website ranking
Want my advice? Tell Gerry Harvey to shut his f***ing mouth about overseas shopping. If his business runs their online side like this, then why should we shop Australian?
We'd also love to hear constructive feedback on how to better address this so we can serve you all better in the future.
Your team should be made to read through this forum and then you might understand why your now ex-customers feel they way they do. Especially how lack of information engenders all kind of speculation, mostly bad, about your company.
Woo Hoo! My new tablet just arrived.
You refund nuts just shot yourself in the foot.
Pictures or it didn't happen. :P
He is either dreaming or just simply couldn't accept the fact and has gone nuts.
Hahahaha nice troll
Keep it going though!
False alarm (a package arrived)
It is not 1st of April yet.
My transactions were pending last night. Now they have officially charged my credit card.
If this is true you have a binding contract regardless of the T&C
lol, Ok. Please pay me $122 (non-refundable) and I will supply you with 1 unit of 'happiness'.
Customers like you would make my business model very successful.