I recently order a locomotive switcher from an online vendor for the first time. The price for the locomotive was reasonable; approximately 2/3s MSRP. I received an e-mail the same day confirming the order, which listed the price of the locomotive and how much S&H would be.
Today the locomotive came in the mail. I noted that the return address on the box was the manufacturer of the locomotive rather than the online retailer, which struck me a little odd. I removed the contents from the box and everything looked fine, but I did not look at the invoice from the box. Later on in the evening my dear wife brought the invoice up to me at my desk. I took a glance at it and was surprised to find out that the invoice was also from the manufacturer and I was being charged full price for the locomotive.
Not wanting to overreact, I thought to myself that maybe the vendor ordered it directly from the manufacturer, had it sent to me, but charged me the agreed price. I double-checked my charge card statement and…I was indeed being charged full MSRP.
I e-mailed the vendor using the confirmation e-mail receipt that I received from them last week, kindly asking them to assist me in straightening out the matter. My hope is that I’ll hear from them tomorrow.
Anyhow, I’m not here to publicly bash a particular vendor on the forum. Mistakes happen. However, given that you all may be more inclined to do some online shopping over the next few weeks and folks on the retail end will be busier for it, it doesn’t hurt to double-check your invoices so that you aren’t inadvertently being charged more than you originally thought you were paying.
Thanks for sharing this with us as it’s a sobering reminder for all of us that the phrase “Caveat Emptor” (Let the Buyer Beware) should always be kept in mind before and after transactions.
I hope that you stay on top of this and that it turns out to be a simple mistake from the vendor. Please keep us informed as to how this is resolved.
Tom,That’s the main reason I stick with vendors I fully trust since the shipment’s invoice always have their name on top with their advertised prices next to each item ordered.I just check the invoice against the shipment to insure everything on the list has been sent.
I’m not so sure that I would apply the principle of caveat emptor to this transaction. It sounds like the loco is just fine and there are no concealed latent defects.
I hope that this situation is favorably resolved in Tom’s favor, as well it should be.
Either the retailer should refund the difference, or the manufacturer should take the loco back for a full refund. If neither occurs, contact your credit card issuer and challenge the transaction.
It DOES sound like the vendor ordered it from the manufacturer and had it drop shipped to you, but it should have reflected the discounted price shown when you ordered it.
After studying the invoice a little better, I now realize that this is a unique relationship between manufacturer and vendor (no guesses, please) and is a reputable dealer. The locomotive was not a pre-order but an item for ~30% off MSRP on the web site. As I said, there is no issue with the product. In fact, it came as good as it gets.
Although I don’t quite understand how and why it happened, I do have confidence that the situation will be rectified w/o further incident by the vendor. I’ve had correspondence with the manufacturer before via e-mail and they’ve been very courteous and professional.
No word yet from vendor. I will keep you posted on the outcome…
If it was me, instead of waiting for the vendor to fix it, I would contact my credit card company and inform them of the issue as well. You have proof of the priced they billed you and the price you should have paid from the confirmation. This way you can get the credit back on your card and then the credit card company can deal with the vendor on correcting the issue.
That may be a little quick on the trigger if dealing with a reputable retailer and manufacturer, A phone call should resolve the issue. If it doesn’t, then contact your credit card issuer.
After not receiving an e-mail reply this morning from the vendor, I decided to call them directly this afternoon on the phone. The first couple of phone numbers I tried (i.e. one from the website and the other from the invoice) were inactive so I finally called the 1-800 “Orders” number.
A gentleman answered the phone and I explained to him my situation. He first looked up my order by my name and zip code and it came up as the full MSRP pricing. I then told the gentleman that I did have the confirmation e-mail I received from them after placing the order, which included the order #. When he looked up the order that way, the invoice came up as the discounted price. [:S]
The gentleman told me that they would be refunding the overage to the card that I used for the order and I would be receiving a confirmation for that by e-mail. While he was pleasant throughout the the entire phone conversation, I kinda found it odd that he didn’t once apologize for the mishap on their end.
And I still don’t know how or why the incident happened in the first place. I will most likely send the vendor AND the manufacturer an e-mail of what I’ve shared with you in this thread. The purpose for doing so is to make sure that this doesn’t inadvertently happen again to another customer.
Once things are completely resolved, I’ll more than likely be forthcoming with you about the mystery vendor/manufacturer. Again, they are a very reputable manufacturer. This is the first time I’ve dealt with the vendor.
Drop shipping is becoming the norm. For a vendor, it is a great deal. No stock is required and shipping costs are reduced. For the manufacturer, it is another outlet for sales. A clue is the return address on the shipping label.
What may have happened is the manufacturer did not realize this was a discounted sale.
In a drop shipment, you pay the vendor, the manufacturer or distributor delivers to you, but the INVOICE is to go to the VENDOR and not to the CUSTOMER.
That is often how it works with golf clubs. For example, say you order a Taylor Made club from Golfsmith, the club is shipped to you from Taylor Made who notifies Golfsmith when the club is sent out, and Golfsmith bills your charge card. That is becoming the norm in the golf industry. Perhaps that is beginning to happen in the model railroading industry as well.
I’ve ordered a couple of items over the years from one of these vendors who stocks no inventory but just forwards your order to the manufacturer because I couldn’t figure out from their catalog picture or description who actually made the item. If I can figure it out, I attempt to learn the manufacturer’s stock number or Walthers catalog number and order from someone else.
I have not had a problem with ordering this way, but don’t like to deal with a “middle-man” who only processes paperwork and doesn’t really have anything on the shelf.
A clue that someone is doing this: their online catalog is the ENTIRE Walthers catalog. I’ll stick with the vendors that have realtime actual inventory so I know when I order something I’ll get it, not a notice that “well, we order from Walthers, and they are out of stock. No idea when it’s expected”
Still, any and all financial trnasactions should be with the vendor, whether they drop ship or not. Hard to see how a mixup like this would happen, you selected an item, checked out, and paid the price advertised. They didn;t charge you until it shipped (which is a mark in their favor), but then charged full MSRP.
We drop ship equipment all the time (computer industry). The only thing on the equipment is a shipping label which often says ship to <customer’s address> , SOMETIMES the labels will have bill to information to our company, since the manufacturer is charging us. The only bill the customer gets comes from our receivables department.
So tell us Tom, which piece from Broadway Limited did you get from Factory Direct Trains?
I bought my BLI/PCM N&W Class A from Standard Hobby and it was drop shipped directly from BLI/PCM during a big clearance sale BLI/PCM had years ago. Standard Hobby is gone now.
I also got a super deal on some PCM “stealth” F3’s from Factory Direct Trains a while back - I’m pretty sure they were drop shipped as well.
Personally, I think if you are going to be in the drop ship business, why not just sell direct like Exact Rail does now?
As for the error, it clearly happened in the “vendors” computer system, not in the manufacturers computer system - even if they are nearly one in the same.