Amazon.com Huggies deal - further developments

You can read my most recent update here.

This whole Huggies deal is just becoming a royal mess. This all started on Saturday when Amazon.com was selling a box of 264 size 1-2 diapers for $17.65 with $6.95 shipping. The diapers were sold/shipped by DAB Nutrition. There was also a $15 rebate to be had, and you can read the full details about it here.

Yesterday afternoon I received a email stating that my order was canceled. I immediately called Amazon.com, but since it was the weekend, besides sending out emails to Amazon.com and DAB Nutrition, there was not much else that I can do. You can read my original update post here.

This morning, I set out to figure out what Amazon.com and DAB Nutrition was going to do about this mess. I received an email back from DAB Nutrition, and this is what it said:

"Due to a pricing error through Amazon we had to cancel the orders. We simply are unable to sell at this price because of agreements with Amazon and other vendors. We apologize for the confusion."

That's it. Nothing else. When I called them at 1-800-775-5713 (their business hours are 10am - 5pm), the first time around I was promptly hung up on. The second time I was asked to leave my name and number for someone to call me back. I'm not too optimistic on that happening.

After dealing with DAB Nutrition, I called Amazon.com and I wanted to see what they were going to do about it. At the time, DAB Nutrition was still listed as an alternate seller for the Huggies diapers. They were selling at $69.95 with $10 shipping. They have now been removed as a seller, and rightly so.

According to Amazon.com's Participating Agreement for sellers, #8a states:

"For sales where a Seller lists goods at a fixed price ("fixed price sales"), the Seller is obligated to sell the goods at the listed price to Buyers who meet the Seller's terms. By listing an item in a fixed price sale , you represent and warrant to prospective Buyers that you have the right and ability to sell, and that the listing is accurate, current, and complete and is not misleading or otherwise deceptive."

DAB Nutrition obviously broke this agreement. It is not MY fault that they listed the product at an incorrect price. Furthermore, by the seller agreement, they are obligated to sell the goods at the listed price.

And this just gets better. Yesterday afternoon when I received the cancellation email, it said that "Your credit card was not charged for the order". Well, that's a lie, because when I checked my credit card statement, my card shows a $37.25 charge. Furthermore, the $5 Amazon.com gift card that I used has STILL not been credited back to my Amazon.com account.

Needless to say, I am EXTREMELY disappointed with how this is playing out, especially with Amazon.com. How they allowed a seller to scam countless people is beyond me. Last I checked, there were 43 negative reviews on the product, all from buyers who are in the same boat as me. I'm pretty sure that there are more people out there with this problem. Amazon.com is a reputable and trusted place to shop online, or so I thought. I was on hold for more than 45 minutes trying to speak with someone, and only on my 4th try did a person actually help me. An "investigation" was started to get my money back, but I am STILL out that $5 Amazon.com gift card. Besides, what is there to investigate? I paid money for diapers. I won't be getting diapers. But they took my money. It's not rocket science people...!

I would much rather get my 2 boxes of diapers than get my money back. And beyond that, no one has compensated me for my time - I spent the ENTIRE morning on the phone with these incompetent customer service "representatives". I spoke to maybe 6 people since Sunday...only 2 of them could be considered as actually helping. One guy actually had the guts to ask me whether or not I thought the price was absurd and asked me why I ordered it. HUH?! It's a product on Amazon.com, a (used to be) trusted online merchant, I do NOT expect to see scams on there! It's not as if I saw the diapers listed on craigslist or something!

I am extremely disappointed and angry about this whole matter, and I will be doing all that I can to see that Amazon.com honors their agreement and gets me my two boxes of diapers for $17.65 each with $6.95 shipping. If a product is mislabeled in the grocery store, the store honors that price. Amazon.com needs to do the same thing, especially since there is NO CHANCE a product can be misplaced or mis-shelved - since there are not shelves to deal with...!!

I have to take the princess to a playdate in about half an hour, but when I return this afternoon I will be reporting them to the Better Business Bureau. I will be sure to update on how things go with both Amazon.com and DAB Nutrition.