Sports Authority Ripoff Advertising, attempted Bait & Switch San Diego California
Sports Authority advertising EZ-Up Sierra canopy for $84.99, 50% off the regular price of $169.99. However, when you go to the store they don't have any Sierra models and they attempt to sell you the Dome II for the same price. The Dome II regular price is $129.99, but will not sell it for 50% off.
This is the classic Bait & Switch tactic. Advertise one item for a low price and sell you another, cheaper item for the same price.
I called the corporate office at (800) 666-8143 and left a message. I doubt anyone will return my call.
I also called the Escondido, CA store and they attempt the same tactic.
Don't ever fall for this classic scam! I wil be filing a complaint with the FTC and my local DA's office.
Richard - Rip-off Reporter
El Cajon, California
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
one1one
Apple Valley,Minnesota,
United States of America
This is not a bait and switch
#2UPDATE Employee
Thu, September 16, 2010
This is not actually a bait and switch. The idea behind a bait and switch is to get you to buy something that is much more expensive. An item that is originally less expensive would not fit into your bait and switch scenario. Just because they are allowing you to substitute an item does not mean that they need to sell the substituted item at 50% off.
What you may not know Richard is that 95% of the ads at Sports Authority are the same every week. With that being said, the same canopy that you were looking for, more than likely, was on sale the week before, and the week before that. In that regard, with the same items on sale all the time, people will be purchasing these items all the time. And...as you can imagine, this leads to an "out of stock" situation.
Sports Authority has over 400 stores nationwide, and occasionally things go out of stock. Regardless of a "sale" status or not. It's a fact of retail. Rather than throw an inaccurate "bait and switch" claim around, you could probably just refer to it as simple "supply and demand."