Bad situation, but it looks like Woot did more than they had to.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/02/woot-offers-touchpad-buyers-star-wars-jokes-and-partial-refund/

terryl8 wrote:I know it's not ideal, but how would people feel about a further refund in the form of a woot credit? No, I don't work for them. I'm just looking at it from their perspective. Seems to me it would be a way for both parties to feel screwed, which means it's a fair business deal. What say you?

edit - or how about HP credit, in order to buy accessories.

What makes you think that Woot will do anything more than their current, disappointing offer?

cards828587 wrote:Bad situation, but it looks like Woot did more than they had to.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/02/woot-offers-touchpad-buyers-star-wars-jokes-and-partial-refund/

Really? Many retailers did MUCH MORE than Woot did.

I am assuming that the big box retailers that offered a refund of the difference received an equal amount of compensation from HP so that the retailers would not return the Touchpads to HP. Woot probably does not have the option of returning these to HP. In other words Woot is stuck with x amount of Touchpads no matter how many they have in "inventory", while big box retailers had the threat of returning the Touchpads to HP.

My guess is that the Touchpads that are returned for refund will be sold again on Woot or maybe included in a Bundle of Crops

Here is the message:

Dearest ||USERNAME||,

A businessman gets a nice thing going, makes a deal he thinks will pay off - and everything changes and he's left holding the bag. Now we know what it feels like to be Lando Calrissian.

Anyway, we feel like stupid, scruffy nerf herders about what happened in early August regarding the HP TouchPad 9.7" 16GB Wi-Fi Tablet. We know you're probably not feeling great about it either. So here are your three options:

ONE: You might have already noticed, but we've refunded $100 back to your original payment method and you can keep the TouchPad. We figure this covers all you people who are actually enjoying surfing the net and talking to their ugnauts via the built-in webcam. Consider it our way of saying "Wow, how did this even happen?"

TWO: If that isn't enough, we understand. We'll accept a return on your HP TouchPad 9.7" 16GB Wi-Fi Tablet for a full refund. Contact us at service@woot.com and we'll send you a label so you can send your TouchPad back to Woot HQ. As soon we get it, we'll refund your entire purchase price.

THREE: you could dress up as a palace guard, sneak into some alien crime lord's fortress, and put some mystic revenge plan into motion. You're pretty much on your own with that one.

We like to think that, in some giant and highly visible way, these options help to make you feel a little better about this summer's ridiculous events. And hey, you know what? We're sorry it happened.

And our Lobot's sorry too. Hopefully that still counts for something.

Sincerely,
Woot Member Services

Has anyone else received the $100 credit? I certainly have not.

ralphgot wrote:Really? Many retailers did MUCH MORE than Woot did.

Those many retailers didn't do anything but give you the refund/credit that they received from HP. This means it was actually HP who gave them that money back.

Woot has stated multiple times that they have not received this credit. The $100 credit you are getting is straight from Woot. It is not coming from HP at all. Will HP issue Woot a credit? I don't think anybody knows yet, but it's probably safe to assume you would get the full credit if Woot ever gets it from HP.

RealityCheck wrote:Here is the message:

Dearest ||USERNAME||,

A businessman gets a nice thing going, makes a deal he thinks will pay off - and everything changes and he's left holding the bag. Now we know what it feels like to be Lando Calrissian.

Anyway, we feel like stupid, scruffy nerf herders about what happened in early August regarding the HP TouchPad 9.7" 16GB Wi-Fi Tablet. We know you're probably not feeling great about it either. So here are your three options:

ONE: You might have already noticed, but we've refunded $100 back to your original payment method and you can keep the TouchPad. We figure this covers all you people who are actually enjoying surfing the net and talking to their ugnauts via the built-in webcam. Consider it our way of saying "Wow, how did this even happen?"

TWO: If that isn't enough, we understand. We'll accept a return on your HP TouchPad 9.7" 16GB Wi-Fi Tablet for a full refund. Contact us at service@woot.com and we'll send you a label so you can send your TouchPad back to Woot HQ. As soon we get it, we'll refund your entire purchase price.

THREE: you could dress up as a palace guard, sneak into some alien crime lord's fortress, and put some mystic revenge plan into motion. You're pretty much on your own with that one.

We like to think that, in some giant and highly visible way, these options help to make you feel a little better about this summer's ridiculous events. And hey, you know what? We're sorry it happened.

And our Lobot's sorry too. Hopefully that still counts for something.

Sincerely,
Woot Member Services

Has anyone else received the $100 credit? I certainly have not.

xluryan wrote:In the meantime, everyone should check this out:

Woot.com BBB Rating

They scored a D on an A-F scale. Sounds about right to me. Go file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau by clicking here.

Remember, HP was the one who pulled the Bait and Switch here, not Woot. I filed a complaint with the BBB against HP the day after they cheated us.

If you want your Touchpad, then taking the $100 refund is your best option. If you return it for the full refund, then you either have to get lucky enough to grab one in the next shipment (if they're still $99) or buy one on ebay where they're running for about $300 anyway. In other words, the refund/rebuy route will only see you breaking even compared to the $100 refund.

ralphgot wrote:What makes you think that Woot will do anything more than their current, disappointing offer?

I am hoping that once HP gives Woot credit, that Woot will give us Wooters the balance of our credit. That's all we can hope for at this point.

xluryan wrote:I've not received anything...

I also have not seen this hit my credit card yet.

I have not seen the $100 refund hit my bank account either. I've just finished writing them a letter asking when I will receive the $100 refund.

I also have not received it yet. Funny how Woot! can take our money within minutes of when we purchased, then take a week to even ship (even longer for shipping details), and now when it's their turn to pay us they take their sweet time. Awesome.

Edit: AND - It's Friday, so if it doesn't happen today we will likely be waiting until Monday at least.

samuelparrott wrote:I also have not received it yet. Funny how Woot! can take our money within minutes of when we purchased, then take a week to even ship (even longer for shipping details), and now when it's their turn to pay us they take their sweet time. Awesome.

Edit: AND - It's Friday, so if it doesn't happen today we will likely be waiting until Monday at least.

With Monday being a holiday we will probably have to wait until Tuesday.

I sure hope this is $100.00 per touchpad woot...

P.S. Thanks for making it so personal. I'm surprised that you knew my name was USERNAME!!! Hahaha what a joke! Lesson learned..

I am so happy you people are all so butthurt and won't be using woot again. Keep crying. This just means next Bindle of Carrots I have that much higher of a chance to get one.

Oh and I have a Touchpad as well--did not purchase it here though.

If you think Woot got a credit from HP, you're an poooony. You bought a refurbed touchpad for what you thought was a bargain, and by taking on the (very slight) risk of buying a second-hand touchpad, you found yourself in a situation where you didn't get a price match like other first-hand retailers got.

If you're raging at Woot, you're an poooony.

WinterEdge wrote:If you think Woot got a credit from HP, you're an poooony. You bought a refurbed touchpad for what you thought was a bargain, and by taking on the (very slight) risk of buying a second-hand touchpad, you found yourself in a situation where you didn't get a price match like other first-hand retailers got.

If you're raging at Woot, you're an poooony.

Actually, the Touchpad was new, not a refurb. If Woot sold refurbished units as new, then they have a much larger problem than insufficient refunds.

WinterEdge wrote:You bought a refurbed touchpad for what you thought was a bargain, and by taking on the (very slight) risk of buying a second-hand touchpad, you found yourself in a situation where you didn't get a price match like other first-hand retailers got.

If you're raging at Woot, you're an poooony.

Condition: New
See Woot!'s product page
I'd say "Who's the poooony now?" but I won't lower myself to name calling. We are customers and have the right to be upset if we feel we are being mistreated by a company, and a right to express those feelings.

samuelparrott wrote:Condition: New
See Woot!'s product page
I'd say "Who's the poooony now?" but I won't lower myself to name calling. We are customers and have the right to be upset if we feel we are being mistreated by a company, and a right to express those feelings.

Why get upset at Woot and not HP for a lack of a refund?

WinterEdge wrote:If you think Woot got a credit from HP, you're an poooony. You bought a refurbed touchpad for what you thought was a bargain, and by taking on the (very slight) risk of buying a second-hand touchpad, you found yourself in a situation where you didn't get a price match like other first-hand retailers got.

If you're raging at Woot, you're an poooony.

The touchpad was NEW. HP just came out with the product a month earlier and it sold poorly, so they wouldn't have had refurbished units.

youhavemyaxe wrote:I am so happy you people are all so butthurt and won't be using woot again. Keep crying. This just means next Bindle of Carrots I have that much higher of a chance to get one.

Oh and I have a Touchpad as well--did not purchase it here though.

That means that you have no place judging us for being upset. You didn't get screwed out of $200. WE did.

AbusedRib wrote:Why get upset at Woot and not HP for a lack of a refund?

Because they're incredibly horrible at communicating with their customers. Because they have no sense of time sensitivity. And mostly, because I'm pretty sure when they do get their refund from HP, they won't be giving us the rest of what they owe us.

WinterEdge wrote:If you think Woot got a credit from HP, you're an poooony. You bought a refurbed touchpad for what you thought was a bargain, and by taking on the (very slight) risk of buying a second-hand touchpad, you found yourself in a situation where you didn't get a price match like other first-hand retailers got.

If you're raging at Woot, you're an poooony.

the Touchpads were new, not refurb

CTomKat wrote:If you want your Touchpad, then taking the $100 refund is your best option. If you return it for the full refund, then you either have to get lucky enough to grab one in the next shipment (if they're still $99) or buy one on ebay where they're running for about $300 anyway. In other words, the refund/rebuy route will only see you breaking even compared to the $100 refund.

paying $300 for a dead on arrival tablet ??? I'd rather take the $384 refund and get a tablet that will have updates & support in the future

At $99 if would be ok as a web browser

Dennis, the glib email was cool and all, but can we get an actual reason as to why HP is not providing you (us) the difference?

Just contacted Woot! to return my touchpad. There seems to be no point in continuing to fight this, they obviously have no intention of pursuing any further action in this matter, or of providing any worthwhile explanations of why they did what they did. I won't burden them any longer with my expectations of good customer service. Obviously HP is ultimately to blame, but Woot! dropped the ball more than once in their handling of the situation.

xluryan wrote:Because they're incredibly horrible at communicating with their customers. Because they have no sense of time sensitivity. And mostly, because I'm pretty sure when they do get their refund from HP, they won't be giving us the rest of what they owe us.

Well said. I agree.

samuelparrott wrote:Just contacted Woot! to return my touchpad. There seems to be no point in continuing to fight this, they obviously have no intention of pursuing any further action in this matter, or of providing any worthwhile explanations of why they did what they did. I won't burden them any longer with my expectations of good customer service. Obviously HP is ultimately to blame, but Woot! dropped the ball more than once in their handling of the situation.

I agree. And don't forget that Woot is owned by Amazon. Surely Amazon has enough influence with HP to straighten this out for its CUSTOMERS (I shop at Amazon several times a week), but chose not to do anything.

CTomKat wrote:If you want your Touchpad, then taking the $100 refund is your best option. If you return it for the full refund, then you either have to get lucky enough to grab one in the next shipment (if they're still $99) or buy one on ebay where they're running for about $300 anyway. In other words, the refund/rebuy route will only see you breaking even compared to the $100 refund.

Somehow I'm missing the logic. I just returned mine for full refund. I picked up a 32GB model for 245 on the bay from a high sales highly rated electronics merchant. I figure I'm $140 ahead and have a pad with twice the internal storage. I'm a 100 over the firesale but I'm $140 better than Woot original purchase.

That all said, I think the better alternative on Woot's part would be no refund but get one of the new 7" Amazon tablets for free when they come out.

rudolpht wrote:Somehow I'm missing the logic. I just returned mine for full refund. I picked up a 32GB model for 245 on the bay from a high sales highly rated electronics merchant. I figure I'm $140 ahead and have a pad with twice the internal storage. I'm a 100 over the firesale but I'm $140 better than Woot original purchase.

That all said, I think the better alternative on Woot's part would be no refund but get one of the new 7" Amazon tablets for free when they come out.

Actually not a bad idea!

I really like my touchpad, and though I would like it better if I paid $99, those deals are not easy to find. Why be upset with Woot, if you feel like you got screwed, return the unit and get a full refund, or return it and do what Rudolph did, or keep it and accept the$100 and it still isn't a bad deal IMHO.

I read where the upper level employees of HP that worked directly with this product had not been informed that the product would be killed until it was announced, so obviously Woot didn't know either.

I believe Woot is acting in good faith and doing their best to make it right, and a full refund has been offered. I'm guessing if this doesn't work for you, that you like the touchpad And just wish you could get it for $99 bucks.

Woot is not a traditional retailer, they get steep discounts to dump products, and probably just as we buy it we got it, they may have pretty much the same deal with their venders.

return it for a full refund if you feel screwed over

jackstephanjr wrote:

return it for a full refund if you feel screwed over

Returned

randomocity wrote:Dennis, the glib email was cool and all, but can we get an actual reason as to why HP is not providing you (us) the difference?

And why it took so long to get an answer.

Sorry, Woot, you lost me. Actually, I'm not sorry, you pretty much forced my hand. Thanks for the partial credit and all the fun stuff over the years. You will no longer get my money though, even if I really want something.

Had I gotten a credit for the difference in Woot! bucks or whatever I'd have been happy. Sad to say it, but I won't Woot again and will be warning everyone I run into to think twice about Wooting.

I'm keeping the touchpad, as I don't think I'll be able to re-buy one at a better price, and I like the product. But it was sold on bad faith by HP through Woot. Woot had a chance to match the level of service provided by many other retailers and decided that they would not. That's their choice. Good on ya woot, I suppose. I can only hope that the rest of the credit that was withheld will dwarf in comparison to the future shopping I would have but no longer will do on this site. I'm quite sure it will.

Sad it had to end like this, Woot. We had some good times, though, didn't we?

"filpenny"] "Sorry, Woot, you lost me. Actually, I'm not sorry, you pretty much forced my hand. Thanks for the partial credit and all the fun stuff over the years. You will no longer get my money though, even if I really want something." (edited for length)

Well said, Filp. I returned mine to Woot and I'm planning to buy one on EBay (brand new and from a highly-rated seller). They're going for around $200 on EBay.

filpenny wrote:Sorry, Woot, you lost me. Actually, I'm not sorry, you pretty much forced my hand. Thanks for the partial credit and all the fun stuff over the years. You will no longer get my money though, even if I really want something.(snip)
I'm keeping the touchpad, as I don't think I'll be able to re-buy one at a better price, and I like the product. But it was sold on bad faith by HP through Woot. Woot had a chance to match the level of service provided by many other retailers and decided that they would not. That's their choice. Good on ya woot, I suppose. I can only hope that the rest of the credit that was withheld will dwarf in comparison to the future shopping I would have but no longer will do on this site. I'm quite sure it will.

Sad it had to end like this, Woot. We had some good times, though, didn't we?

I was going to post something like this, but that pretty much says it all. I'm keeping the item, but I don't much like it. I'm not going to be buying from Woot going forward. We did have a good run while it lasted, though. I may miss the woot offs and stuff, but I can't trust you all any more.

ok purposed solution time I gave you long enough to figure it out...

you want one for 99.99 go buy one and return it to woot everyone is happy.

mrabu wrote:ok purposed solution time I gave you long enough to figure it out...

you want one for 99.99 go buy one and return it to woot everyone is happy.

It's not so easy to find one for $99 now. But most Customers who paid more got refunds from their retailer. Just not from Woot.

mrabu wrote:ok purposed solution time I gave you long enough to figure it out...

you want one for 99.99 go buy one and return it to woot everyone is happy.

Other proposed solution- show woot what happens when they drop the ball on their customers. I can't wait to link to this thread the next time woot sells a HP product.

I never received an e-mail, despite having written to Woot, and am very unhappy. I'm debating taking advantage of the RMA offer. I love my Touchpad and WebOS, but knowing HP is making several hundred thousand more now, and knowing I'll likely be able to snag one for $99? Makes this a bad deal.