Am I being to sensitive regarding a prop sellers online selling policy?

[GoingWalkabout]

I clicked on an add by a propeller manufacturer on this site. I hardly ever click on adds on sites even this one but the propeller looked so shinny and nice I wanted to check out how much it would set me back. So I clicked on the add displayed on cruisers forum. The propeller site was nice. More great pics of the shinny stainless steel propeller. So I searched all over the site for a price. Nada. So I went to the sites checkout and and found that I had to register and give a lot of information before I could have the privilege of getting the price. Also the site popped up a message that it is using cookies to gather whatever information from my computer that it wants to.

I didn't like both. Am I being too sensitive? Am I overreacting to this intrusive practice?

I spent time out of my day to send an email to the company. Given their insensitivity to customers as already demonstrated i don't really expect a reply.

This is what I wrote.
I attempted to find out the price of your prop and searched unsuccessfully. I then went to the shopping cart and found that even there you do not give a price without me having to register. This is very poor. I will not register just to find out what the selling price of your product is. Don't you understand that this is very rude and offensive? It is like having a store, a potential customer walks in and before you answer how much a product is you insist they fill out a form giving information to you. I am sure you understand that your shop would close very quickly after offending a lot of your potential new customers. If you are proud and confident of your product why do you have to hide your prices. Very strange behavior indeed.

Good bye. You have lost me as a probable customer.

Again, I hope I am not being over sensitive and just plain argumentative in my old age. What do you all think of this type of behavior from online sellers?

[Sandero]

Annoying... online marketing can be very obnoxious. If a company has a creepy online store.... ignore them.

[Liam Wald]

No you are not too sensitive. I also don't like it if a vendor will not show a price.
I ignore those vendors. My feeling is that if their price was good they would show it so it is not likely worth the effort.

[skipmac]

I do exactly the same. If I want to look at an online site that sells some product of interest if they demand I register before giving me any information I close the window. Some I have found don't even allow you to search their catalog or list of products, much less show prices, without registration. Guaranteed if you give them your information not only will they deluge you with junk emails but probably sell your info to other companies so you eventually get on dozens of mail lists.

A couple of times when I really wanted something, usually just to find out what other sellers were quoting for a product I would probably buy elsewhere I just filled in the forms with BS information.

User Name: A Nony Mouss
Address: 1234 5th Ave, Anytown USA
email: nowayilltellyou@hotmail.com
phone 987 654-3210

Works for most sites except the ones that send you an email that you have to reply to for confirmation. If I really have to I have a couple of disposable accounts I use for that.

[Sailorman Ed]

User Name: A Nony Mouss
Address: 1234 5th Ave, Anytown USA
email: nowayilltellyou@hotmail.com
phone 987 654-3210

I love it !!

[Island Time O25]

Several reasons why a company does that. And none of them are good for the consumer. 1 they may not stock these props and thus are very sensitive to price changes due to shipping charges or manufacturer prices going up. 2 they are way overpriced and don't want you to know the price so that you can't shop around effectively. 3. Their quote to you will be based on several demographic factors such as average wealth your location/zip code, your past online purchases, your income, etc. , a very devious yet popular approach originally followed by few businesses such as insurance industry etc and now embraced by many more industries. It's called dynamic pricing and originally meant not just to enable price gouging but also to go around various anti-discrimination laws and regulations. It spilled over outside the insurance industry when companies did not get a healthy push back from the consumers or the consumer regulators since most individuals are not really aware of it or are given the impression by the merchant or the industry that they somehow benefit from such a policy.

I personally believe this is a form of consumer fraud and should be eradicated whenever possible, including the insurance industry. The costs, if any, to the business from equal prices to all should be spread out and not assigned to the individuals under the various false pretenses. Imagine if your grocery bill or restaurant check is based not on a set of firm prices openly published and equally applicable to all customers but on statistics for your zip code's population proclivity to sue these businesses and thus passing the costs of these lawsuits to you, the innocent consumer. How is such price policy usually not acceptable for grocery stores or bars but is totally acceptable for insurance companies beats me. Sometimes lack of logic among your Joe the Average Consumer amazes me, even if these average consumers think of themselves as "educated".

[captain58sailin]

I once tried to get a price on some Yokohama buoys I was interested in buying, and had to register with all my attendant info. the guy called me up and we spoke for a bit and I finally got down to talking to him about price and his words were "how do I know you are not going to use the price to negotiate with other vendors" to which I replied, "I will be shopping around for the best price of that you can be sure" and then he made some disparaging comment about me not having a business type email, only a yahoo one at that point I hung up and bought the buoys from the Chinese, they didn't require all the personal information just payment and a shipping address.

[Capt Phil]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

Several reasons why a company does that. And none of them are good for the consumer. 1 they may not stock these props and thus are very sensitive to price changes due to shipping charges or manufacturer prices going up. 2 they are way overpriced and don't want you to know the price so that you can't shop around effectively. 3. Their quote to you will be based on several demographic factors such as average wealth your location/zip code, your past online purchases, your income, etc. , a very devious yet popular approach originally followed by few businesses such as insurance industry etc and now embraced by many more industries. It's called dynamic pricing and originally meant not just to enable price gouging but also to go around various anti-discrimination laws and regulations. It spilled over outside the insurance industry when companies did not get a healthy push back from the consumers or the consumer regulators since most individuals are not really aware of it or are given the impression by the merchant or the industry that they somehow benefit from such a policy.

I personally believe this is a form of consumer fraud and should be eradicated whenever possible, including the insurance industry. The costs, if any, to the business from equal prices to all should be spread out and not assigned to the individuals under the various false pretenses. Imagine if your grocery bill or restaurant check is based not on a set of firm prices openly published and equally applicable to all customers but on statistics for your zip code's population proclivity to sue these businesses and thus passing the costs of these lawsuits to you, the innocent consumer. How is such price policy usually not acceptable for grocery stores or bars but is totally acceptable for insurance companies beats me. Sometimes lack of logic among your Joe the Average Consumer amazes me, even if these average consumers think of themselves as "educated".

I had no idea this type of phishing was going on! The original poster should notify the BBB and complain. Thanks for explaining this to all of trusting dullards, Island Time... cheers, Phil

[lfalco]

Not being too sensitive. I totally agree and obnoxious is the proper word!
If you really do need that new prop, i searched last year and found a company called Dela Propellers. I bought an outside prop and their service and promptness in shipping was excellent. Highly recommended. I hope it helps and a great holiday season to all!

[CREX]

Where I live online buying is essential. Believe all the advice given. Those types probably make a fair amount of money on selling info, probably because their product is overpriced and easily beat. I bought an indigo prop and WOW it is nice. Get that extra 1000 Rpm's from my A4. Really helps the charging. Happy Thanksgiving to all. Hope that doesn't offend anyone? Hmmm.

[bcboomer]

I agree, they asked for more info than they need. I think the cookie thing is done by every site, they're just telling you about it because in Europe and they are required to.
On the other hand, I gave them answers and got a very well thought out reply with what appears to be a very competitive price.
I don't anticipate any annoying emails but they are easy to stop if they happen.
I suspect that Ewol is just trying to determine where the potential market is.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by Going Walkabout

I didn't like both. Am I being too sensitive? Am I overreacting to this intrusive practice?

You are right. They are wrong.

They are tempting you with a shiny toy, when their real goal is collect your personal data. Its a common, and annoying ploy.

Also, if you have to ask the price, you won't buy it. They are looking for those 1%ers who don't care about the price.

[zengirl]

A lot of marinas do the same thing and that pisses me off. I have go look at active captain and maybe the price is there and try and find out some other way. Really annoying.

[Sea Frog]

I am with you on this! I just HATE when idiots don't give a price on the web site. For Christ's sake, this is 21st century here, an age of instant data and instant gratification. If they think that people will be wasting their time waiting for someone to give them a BASIC info (and price is a basic info), they are wrong! There are other vendors out there who will gladly accept my money. Well, market will most likely rule it out and those "give me your email and I will tell you the price" will just disappear.

[achil]

Many online stores try to get information like you described. Sometimes you can get around it, but often not. I think perhaps you are a little too sensitive. The one thing about the internet is that you can always find what you want from multible sources and at various prices, I just bought a printer online for $79 while others are advertising the same make and model for $179.. What I am saying is just shrug it off and move on, you're just letting yourself get upset while they don't even know you exist.

I feel much like you do but I try not to let it bother me. I have my computer set not to accept cookies except for companies that I allow. I also avoid setting up accounts even from business' that I do business with on somewhat of a regular basis, and, I never allow companies to store my credit card numbers. If allowed I will pay through PayPal and use a credit card to make the payment. IMO this builds in a little more safety. If I want to know something so bad, I have a legitimate email account set up that I use only for situations like this and never go back to it after I get the info I need. Good luck