 
By Rik Fairlie As soon as he spotted the ad for a $159 2.4GHz Pentium 4 processor at Newegg.com, Robert Clodfelter reached for his wallet. When he called the e-tailer, however, the cost had snuck up to $164. He mentioned the price in the magazine ad, but the Newegg.com rep refused to crack. "When I asked for a supervisor, I was told none was available," Clodfelter says. "The difference in price may not seem like much to you, but it is to me." Although a 3 percent price difference may not be a deal breaker for the average buyer, the merchant should consider five bills a minuscule outlay to retain a loyal customer. The point here is it's not the cost, it's the principle: If the store advertises a product for a certain price, it's obligated to sell it at that price. Newegg.com, for its part, explains it employs predictive pricing on items such as processors and memory, whose costs can zigzag wildly from the time a print ad is submitted to the day the magazine lands on the newsstand two months later. "But we try to do the best we can in these situations," says Chad Chen, Newegg.com's sales manager. "If the customer did complain, we should have taken care of him." Newegg.com later offered to sell the CPU kit to Clodfelter at the advertised price or provide a $20 discount on future orders. But the would-be customer turned it down because he felt it was disingenuous to "care" about a customer only after being contacted by a magazine editor. To be fair, a call to the Better Business Bureau of the Southland, which serves Los Angeles and Southern California, revealed Newegg.com has no unresolved complaints. What's more, it has earned a stellar customer-satisfaction rating on ResellerRatings.com, a site that lets users post feedback on e-tailers. But no matter how flawless a merchant's record, consumers do sometimes encounter deceptive advertising. The solution? You're likely to get the best results by filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. "Most companies are very sensitive to their record with the BBB," says William Mitchell, president of the Southland BBB. "If they fail to take care of customers, it will result in a negative report, and that will cost these companies business." When a merchant demonstrates a pattern of fraudulent practices, the BBB notifies the FTC or other law-enforcement authorities. "And, believe me, they pay more attention to us than to Joe Sixpack," Mitchell says. Unfortunately, staff constraints prevent the FTC from delving into individual cases. Instead, it investigates only those companies that exhibit consistent patterns of serious fraud. Once it's convinced fraud has occurred, however, the commission has the authority to levy fines of up to $11,000 and can order injunctions via federal court. Another possible route for redress is the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, a self-regulatory body for the advertising industry that promotes truth and accuracy. If the council finds untruthful or inaccurate advertising, it will ask that the ad be yanked or modified. If a company doesn't comply, the NAD will notify the FTC. Considering most Web sales are interstate, you'd think federal legislation would be in place to protect consumers against deceptive advertising. But none exists, largely because state laws govern these types of transactions. "You'd need a federal small-claims court, and that isn't going to happen," Mitchell says. "The federal courts are backed up as it is." At the state level, offices for attorneys general may take action when they're advised of a pattern of deception. ResellerRatings.com, for instance, says it complained of a bait-and-switch ad campaign to the California attorney general's office, which then investigated the case. The BBB also works with state attorneys general when it uncovers cases of fraud. Another option is to file a complaint with PlanetFeedback. The site provides a template letter you can amend and edit as you please; it will then fire off the letter to the company via e-mail, fax, or snail mail. PlanetFeedback says roughly 80 percent of companies that receive a complaint via the site respond to consumers. It has no figures on how many problems are actually resolved, however. To avoid being taken in the first place, make sure you read reviews of the retailer before you buy, to look for a history of deceptive advertising. The BBB, ResellerRatings, BizRate.com, and PlanetFeedback are excellent sites to start your research. If you encounter what appear to be deceptive advertising practices, confirm that the company will not sell the product at the advertised price. Have the ad handy for reference, and get the sales rep's name and title. If you're not satisfied after speaking with a supervisor, file a complaint at the BBB's site or try PlanetFeedback. In the end, you have no solid protection against getting ripped off, apart from doing research and using a credit card. The good news? There are thousands of reputable retailers on the Web.
Rik Fairlie is the editor of Computer Shopper magazine. Questions or comments? Let him know!
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