pzl@hjuxa.UUCP (Mr. Rem) (04/27/87)
I just got my bill for "the book" I picked up at the DC Uniforum. I was billed $47! I thought they told me it would be $33 (show price). Does anyone remember the exact show price ? Has anyone else been overcharged? -- -------------------------------------------------------- |Mr. Rem. |{anywhere}!{clyde,cuuxb,decvax,ihnp4}!hjuxa!pzl --------------------------------------------------------
merlin@hqda-ai.UUCP (David S. Hayes) (04/28/87)
Me too. The P-H agent at the show said 36.95, with a 10%
show discount. When I got my original bill, it was $43 and
change, plus 5% MD sales tax (I live in Maryland), plus $4.98
shipping and handling, and no 10% discount. P-H had billed it as
a mail order.
I called P-H customer service, and they agreed that there had
been an error, and said they would send another bill. That one
has now arrived, but it shows the same balance as the last one!
In addition, the detail lines had disappeared. They wanted the
same 47 bucks, but they wouldn't tell me why.
Personally, I plan to calculate the bill my way, and send 'em
a check. Mark the check "Account Paid in Full". If they take
it, they're done. If they don't take it, let 'em call a lawyer.
I offered payment, it's their problem from then on.
--
David S. Hayes, The Merlin of Avalon PhoneNet: (202) 694-6900
UUCP: *!seismo!sundc!hqda-ai!merlin ARPA: merlin%hqda-ai.uucp@brl.arpabisanabi@vrdxhq.UUCP (05/01/87)
In article <672@hjuxa.UUCP>, pzl@hjuxa.UUCP (Mr. Rem) writes: > > I just got my bill for "the book" I picked up at > the DC Uniforum. I was billed $47! > I thought they told me it would be > $33 (show price). Does anyone remember the exact > show price ? Has anyone else been overcharged? > Yes, the prices have been somewhat ridiculous. Several people with me had bought the book at the same time at the DC Uniforum. Almost all of us had different prices ranging from the quoted "36.95 - 10%" for $33.25 to some weird number like $39.86. All of us carried the book around with us and brought it home, yet were charged around $5 for shipping and handling. Taxes charged varied between Maryland, DC, and Virginia. They also added the shipping and handling in *before* the tax so that it was taxed as well !?! Total bills ranged from $40-$47. I don't know what their (Prentice-Hall) problem is, but I will refuse to do business with them again. I had originally called long distance and was told that a new bill would be shipped (in Feb). Two weeks ago I received another bill for the same amount (but they didn't break down the individual charges this time.) They received a letter from me explaining all this, and I am still awaiting a correct bill before I send any money. It's sad to think that they were hoping the bills would just go through the company's expense department without question. Have you read the vast price differences for the book at B. Dalton's ? Guess P/H is giving them random bills too. -- :-- Paul : :UUCP: ...!{decuac, rlgvax, seismo, verdix}!vrdxhq!bisanabi
pattis@uw-june.UUCP (Richard Pattis) (05/01/87)
Publishers have gone to a new form of uniform pricing. A book is sold to a retailer at a fixed cost. These retailers can sell the book for whatever price they want, so the markup at a college bookstore is likely to be less than someplace like B. Daltons (although I'm just using this one as a hypothetical example). I have had uniform bad experiences dealing directly with publishers to buy books. It's a much better strategy to cultivate a contact in some local book store you frequent. Rich