I dropped by this store today and perused their printed “reserve” wine list. I noted a 2001 Siro Pacenti Brunello for $49, which grabbed my attention since they also had the 1999 for $80. I went to purchase it, and the cashier processed the bottle at $90. I objected, and she checked with the woman responsible for the reserve list–I believe her name was Suzanne. She said that the price in the book was a misprint and that $90 was the correct value, as I suspected all along. However, because the $49 was in writing, she said that they were “legally obliged” to honor it, so I walked off with a nice little deal.
I didn’t wind up loving the wine, but I can certainly say it tasted correct and well-stored for its age and profile. A big thumbs-up and thanks to the store for accepting responsibility for the mistake instead of bait-and-switching me. If only other vendors (there’s one in particular I have in mind that has a bad habit of this, though I’m under the impression board etiquette discourages naming such names) lived up to this excellent standard.
Too bad you left with it. I love this store. Wish they hadn’t had to take a loss on that bottle. They just made a mistake. No chance they tried to bait and switch you.
Yup. A bait and switch would more involve a scenario in which the establishment publicly advertises “special” pricing to lure you and others in (pricing they would then renege on). An in-store pricing error is just that, a pricing error.
Without meaning to be snarky, it was kind of an un-classy thing to have bought the bottle at that price. Not really cool to take advantage of someone’s mistake for your own gain.
Um, they’re a business with a published price list. I picked up a wine because I found it a good value at the stated price and brought it to the cashier. I was subsequently told a different, higher price. Had they insisted on charging that amount, I would have just walked out empty handed and pissed off. Instead, I bought the wine along with 4 other bottles, and will eagerly return there for further purchases in the future, secure in the knowledge that they will honor their word. Unfortunately many stores I have dealt with have not proven so trustworthy.
The point of my post was to praise Flatiron, and to encourage fellow board participants to shop there. I couldn’t possibly care less what you think of my morality or classiness or lack thereof, and I’d appreciate it if you could refrain from hijacking my threads in the future.
classy by the store. you had a shot to be as classy, and you passed. Not a dick move by you, imho, just a missed opportunity to be classy.
ps. The “bait and switch” language shows real issues between you and retail establishments, again IMHO. Stores are run, managed, stocked by people. People make mistakes. How we handle these mistakes says a lot about us.
This board is getting mighty judgmental lately. Recent Gilman and Zylberberg threads also come to mind. Dan, at least nobody is calling you a douche. Yet.
I would agree with all of this except the part about your walking away pissed if they hadn’t honored the mistake. I don’t think you had any obligation to accept the wine at a higher price, even if that’s fair market. There are an awful lot of wines I don’t, won’t or can’t buy at fair market prices. But I don’t get pissed when I don’t, won’t or can’t buy them, either and that would have been the case here.
I imagine the bit about walking away pissed off was included for rhetorical effect, to enhance his point, which was to praise the store’s service. A little favorable attention in this forum has some value for a small retailer, too.
If the store says they will honor the published price, it’s not gauche to accept the offer. The thing is to go back and buy more wine from them in the future at their regular prices, i.e., be a regular customer.
Flatiron is a nice store; Rosemary - formerly of CSW - is there, which is a bonus.
Peter Hirsch, Matt Hartley–can you read? My post explicitly said they did NOT bait-and-switch me, for which I was grateful.
Jonathan Loesberg–I would definitely be pissed if a store didn’t honor its listed price. Conversely, I am appreciative when they do honor it.
Ian Fitzsimmons–Yes, I agree. And as I noted, I bought 4 other bottles as well, and will go out of my way to shop there again in the future. Even when they’re not offering an inadvertent discount, I prefer to route my business to stores of such integrity and responsibility.
Paul Bortin, you might want to consult a dictionary on the definitions of both “steal” and “brag.” Welcome to my ignore list.
Brady, I’m not sure whether Paul was intentionally taking your bait in deciding to call me a douche. But I must say that I’ve always dismissed the complaints about the negative tone and ad-hominem attacks on this board until now, because I’d somehow managed to stay out of food fights for about 4 years. Maybe I was just lucky. I never would have guessed that of all posts, a thread intended to thank a retailer for exemplary behavior would be the one to get me insulted by a bunch of strangers. I guess the internet really does bring out the worst in people.
“Big shout out to Flatiron in NYC. I recently purchased a bottle from them at a significant discount due to a mistake they made with a sticker price on the shelf. They honored the sticker price and found a new customer for life. I really appreciated them honoring the price even though it was clearly an error.”
I don’t think one person would have taken exception with your post. Alas, that is not what you wrote, not even close.
So how do folks tell the difference between a good deal and a mistake?
One of the most common practices in retail is to offer a product at a stunningly low, way-below-market price, as an inducement to get people to come into the store and, hopefully, buy other stuff as well. This is called a “loss leader.” Store are obligated (I believe legally, but I’m sure some attorneys here can clarify, and ymmv by state) to honor their published prices. It would be decidedly unclassy to offer loss leader pricing, and then withdraw it as a “mistake.”
I look for good deals all the time – some wine I’d like to add to my collection, being offered below WSPro numbers. In general, if I see something offered at a low price I feel perfectly within my bounds as an ethical human being to buy it at that price.
Once in a while I find something offered from a private collection (or perhaps entire private collections) and I’ve negotiated to get a good deal. Again getting a good deal in a perfectly reasonable way.
The problem with a store claiming “it was a mistake” is that it absolves them of responsibility for their published pricing and the way they use pricing to get consumers to develop relationships with them. And there’s no way to know if the mistake was a mistake, or a trick, or a mis-communication, or something else. I have no idea what happened in this particular case, i.e. why the price was the way it was. But buying at posted prices is normal and reasonable interaction with retailers.
