Be careful about gaming a promotional offer
This week's column originates from a complaint I received from an individual who said he received misinformation from a third-party iPhone retailer regarding a buy-one-get-one-free promotion. The customer asserts he was told he could work around a very important promotional requirement: that one of the phones be tied to a new AT&T cellphone line. This situation ultimately became a he-said-he-said with regard to what was orally presented during the transaction. In the end, the decision as to who was “right” fell not on what one or the other said, but rather on the language contained in the promotion and the contract.
My objective in writing this column serves as a three-fold warning.
1. If you are tempted to game the system, you'd best do your homework and read all the fine print, because there can be back-end consequences for not thoroughly adhering to the letter of a contract.
2. Don't simply hear what you want to hear, or for that matter believe what a salesperson is telling you, if it doesn't sync with information you already know to be fact.
3. In the end, it may be time and money better spent to go directly to the service provider (in this case AT&T), as their staff is trained in-depth on the company's service offerings. Third-party retailers are often required to possess an understanding of numerous companies' products, occasionally resulting in less depth of knowledge and important details being inadvertently omitted.
In this instance, a gentleman wished to take advantage of a cross-promotion that AT&T and Apple were offering via a big box retailer. The specific offer was “Buy an iPhone 6S, get another one free when you add a second line.” The customer wanted the free second phone, but didn't need the second line; instead, he hoped to port an existing mobile number to the new “free” phone. The customer stated he was told by a big box employee that the porting could be done. It could, and it was.
But this is where the accounts part ways.
Upon receiving his AT&T bill, the customer was shocked to learn that even though the existing phone number had been successfully ported over to the new phone, the “second line” was still a monthly line item. That is because the phone would be free only after receiving 30 months worth of credits. This meant the second line had to remain.
A manager at the retailer didn't claim misunderstanding the customer's desire to port the existing phone number to the new phone. As he pointed out, porting the number didn't equate to closing the new phone line. And the question that was asked, according to the manager, was: “Can I port an existing number to the new phone?” not “What will happen to the new line?”
When asked why the question of porting didn't raise a red flag for the salesperson, the manager explained that customers doing the math may decide to “save” $300 dollars on the price of an iPhone by simply signing up for the promotion, canceling the second line and paying off the phone balance. Everyone signing up for the promotion received a $300 gift card to the store.
Now it might be the case that the two individuals involved in this transaction were simply talking past one another. The customer didn't ask the right questions, and the salesperson didn't explain the porting scenario to its logical conclusion. However, the manager was willing to offer this dissatisfied customer a full refund, if he was willing to return the iPhones. Unfortunately, within three days of purchasing, the customer said he had sold the old phones.
So what's the take-away? Thoroughly read a promotion's verbiage. Should you be inclined to do something slightly outside its parameters, don't be clever and assume you have things figured out; rather, ask how any changes might affect your final costs, and locate evidence in the contract.
PREVIOUS ARTICLE
