Amazon.com bait & switch on e310 deal?

[BertBert]

I took advantage of the tremendous deal at Amazon.com and got an e310. So far I am VERY impressed with the device -- it, and PPC 2002, are surprisingly intuitive and easy to use, and everything has gone like a charm so far...

...EXCEPT for the service I am getting from amazon.com. On the one hand, I got the e310 just three days after I ordered it, which was a very nice surprise (I was expecting a couple of weeks, as it says on the web site). On the other hand, two problems with the order:

1. They charged me for the 32MB SD card that was supposed to be free. I entered in the promo code and everything correctly, and it showed the discount on the web site. But the email confirmation showed that I was billed for it. I called amazon.com and they assured me that once the e310 was shipped, they'd bill my credit card and the discount would be applied. But my credit card shows a charge for the SD card. :?

2. I have not received the promo gift certificate to amazon.com, and what's more they are now saying it's a $25 gift certificate and not a $50 one. :confused totally:

Has anybody else who took advantage of this deal had similar problems with amazon? And have you resolved them yet? I am going to call them again this afternoon and try to get things straightened out.

[BertBert]

Just to follow up on my post -- Yesterday I talked to amazon.com, and they verified that I had entered in the promo code for the SD card correctly, and were therefore able to refund the $34.99 I was charged for it. Evidently there was some sort of bug in the ordering system that would show the code as having been accepted but wouldn't apply the discount to the order.

As for the gift certificate, the rep told me that they usually don't send those out until 2--3 weeks after shipping. So I should expect it in my inbox in a couple weeks. The amount of the certificate remains to be seen -- I referred to it specifically as a "$50 gift certificate" and she did not immediately correct me. So we'll see.

So I'd say if you're thinking about taking advantage of amazon's offer on the e310, go for it -- you definitely won't be disappointed in the e310 itself -- but make sure you enter in the SD card promo code correctly and watch for the aforementioned bug; and be aware that the gift certificate has dropped in value from $50 to $25.

[JessPC]

I, too, ordered the Toshiba e310 Pocket PC from Amazon.com. At the time I ordered (8/16/02) the price for the PDA was $349.94 available in 1-2 weeks. It came with the following offers:

1)Buy this and get a $25 mail-in promotional certificate via e-mail.
2)Buy this PDA and receive a Viking Components 32 MB Secure Digital
card free with promo code AUGPDAMEMYSD. Offer expires August 25, 2002.
3)And the $50 mail-in rebate.

And... FREE shipping. The total for everything was $349.94 before the $50 mail-in rebate. Luckily, I didn't have the problem BertBert (above) had.

Yesterday, I noticed that their price went down to $329.94. I emailed the Amazon.com folks, and they are giving me a refund for the $20 difference! Amazon.com has always come though for me. I've requested a credit for a change of price before. I have nothing but good things to say about them. :)

Oh, and the item shipped today(8/12)! I was also expecting a 1-2 week wait. Yay! Looking forward to receiving my new PDA. :)

Jess

[BertBert]

Hey JessPC,

What did you say in the email you sent them? Just that you bought the PDA at one price and now it's at another, so please refund the difference? I might try that and see what happens.

[PPCWidow]

Did anyone have the forethought to print or save a copy of the page that showed the e310 w/ the $50 gift certificate offer?

I would love to have a copy in case they dispute it! :)

Thanks!

Kim

[email protected]

[JessPC]

Hey JessPC,
What did you say in the email you sent them? Just that you bought the PDA at one price and now it's at another, so please refund the difference? I might try that and see what happens.
Bert,
Yes, that's basically what I said. I wrote a nice email and ASKED (did not demand) to charge me the new price. It had only been 5 days since I ordered and the order hadn't shipped yet. :) Try it! I think they will go ahead and honor your request. :)



Did anyone have the forethought to print or save a copy of the page that showed the e310 w/ the $50 gift certificate offer?
I would love to have a copy in case they dispute it!
Thanks!
Kim

Kim, the page still displays the $50 mail-in rebate. I never saw a $50 gift certificate though. Maybe this was before I ordered. I saw a $25 mail-in promotional certificate, and that one is still there plus the FREE Viking Components 32 MB Secure Digital card.

Btw- I received my package today! It shipped VERY fast. Then again, I'm in the west coast. That might have helped. :)

Jess

[BertBert]

Hi again,

Well, after thinking that I was in the clear with amazon.com concerning the rebate offer on the e310, I have encountered a problem. If you remember, their offer on the e310 included a price cut, a free 32 MB SD card, and a $50 gift certificate toward amazon.com purchases. I had to shake the tree a little to get the SD card for free, and at that time (a couple of weeks ago) they said that the gift certificate usually takes 4-5 weeks after shipping to be processed. Since yesterday was the 4-week anniversary of my e310 shipping and I had still not gotten the gift cert yet, I emailed them and asked for a status report. Here is the email I got back:

Thank you for writing to us at Amazon.com.

I have checked our records and found that we recently did not offer
any $50.00 promotional certificate with the purchase of the
items "Toshiba e310 Pocket PC" and "Viking SD32M 32 MB Secure Digital
Flash Card."

However, we request you to write back to us with more specific
details about the offer so that we may research this matter further.

However, I found that your order did qualify for the free "Viking SD32M 32 MB Secure Digital Flash Card" offer. Since this promotional discount had not been properly applied to your order, we have already issued a refund in the amount of $34.99 for the same on August 19, 2002.

Earlier, just after I ordered, they replaced the $50 offer with a $25 offer... and now they are saying there was no offer at all!

I'd like to ask the e310 community for help here. Did anyone happen to save a copy of the web site, their receipt, or some sort of document that shows the gift certificate showing up? The $50 gift card was one of the things that got me off the fence to order the thing in the first place and now I am going to have to prove that I was supposed to have gotten it.

Any input or commiseration is appreciated.

[MobiliT]

I looked back at the PocketPCThoughts archive and found this thread...
http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2694&highlight=e310

Here is the text that was on the Amazon e310 page, according to a post in the thread above:
Special Offer: Buy this and get a $50 mail-in promotional certificate via e-mail. See details. Offer expires August 25, 2002 Special Offer: Buy this PDA and receive a Viking Components 32 MB Secure Digital card free with promo code AUGPDAMEMYSD. Offer expires August 25, 2002

[BertBert]

Thanks MobiliT -- For what it's worth I found a similar post elsewhere on this site, the announcement of this deal on pdaavenue.com (which was what incited me to make the order in the first place), and even a reference to it in a review on amazon.com itself. I copied all that stuff into an email I sent back to them this morning. Hopefully they will play ball with me and acknowledge their error. If anybody else actually saved an HTML copy of the web page that shows the offer on amazon.com I would be grateful if you could post it or send it along.

Too bad such a nice device as the e310 should be shadowed by this kind of hassle. :(

[swimmer]

I got the promotional certificate today, and they did just send me the $25 instead of the $50. Probably going to email them about it. Anyone else get their's?

[Charles Pickrell]

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000658CD.01.RB01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

[MobiliT]

I got the promotional certificate today, and they did just send me the $25 instead of the $50. Probably going to email them about it. Anyone else get their's?
E-mail them. Amazon.com sent me the incorrect gift certificate amount at first too. I then replied. Then I received an apologetic e-mail stating I would receive the full gift amount in another e-mail + I can keep the original mistaken gift amount. So Amazon is providing $75 in total-- the catch is the two gift codes cannot be used on the same order.

[swimmer]

They gave you both certificates? They gave me the $50, but then said my $25 certificate would not be valid any more. :(

[lindakas]

For what it's worth, I had ordered the e740 from Amazon back on August 14. It came with a free 32MB Viking SD card plus a $50 Amazon promotional certificate. The order showed up as two - one for the e740 and one for the SD card. The SD card was billed for its cost (~ $34?) and the e740 at its cost minus the cost of the SD card. At first I thought that was strange, but then it makes sense if you think about it. If you were to return the e740 for a refund (but keep the SD card) then you've effectively already paid for the SD card.

Anyways, before my e740 arrived I noticed that the price had dropped (I can't remember exactly how much but > $20)! I emailed Amazon to point it out, and they credited my e740 order for the difference :)

Furthermore, I received my $50 promotional certificate via email this past Thursday.

Alas, right about this time I noticed that the e740's digitizer was defective in that it didn't stay aligned properly even after numerous re-alignments, soft resets, and a hard reset so I've shipped it back to Amazon (on their dime) for a replacement :(

Amazon has been stellar in their performance.

Linda

[BertBert]

I did email amazon.com last week with several pieces of evidence showing the $50 gift certificate offer. They emailed me back to say they were looking into it, and then they sent me the $25 gift certificate. Then yesterday, they sent me an email with a $50 certificate and told me the $25 one is now invalid. This is similar to the experiences of other people here. So it appears that amazon was alerted to the problem, looked into it, and fixed it! I'm a much happier camper now. :D

This whole incident seems more like disorganization combined with some programming glitches on the web site's part, rather than bad service. I wonder if the whole e310 deal got such a good response that it caught them off guard. One of the emails did admit to lowering the gift card amount from $50 to $25 on August 15, about a week after the deal started... Fortunately I ordered on Aug. 14. Hmm. Oh well. Now I just have to figure out what to get with my $50 at amazon!

Anyway, I'm glad this is getting taken care of. Now I am awaiting my $50 back from Toshiba and I'll be all set. Loving my e310 too, so biting on this deal was a good idea in retrospect.