CPAPtalk.com

100 Percent wrote:Thanks TalonNYC for at least understanding the topic...I was beginning to lose my faith in humanity.

And yes...price fixing is what is going on...it is shameful if not illegal...and the only person it seems to hurt is the consumer.

My gripe with CPAPcom is the fact that they advertize a 100% price guarantee, yet they do not stand by that statement. They should (and have decided to according to the comment from their marketing director above) revise their guarantee to include clear language about limitations of that guarantee. As a consumer, if I can't trust the validity of an online retailers 'guarantee' then how am I supposed to trust them with my money?

Honestly CPAPcom has lost an opportunity to gain a customer, and they are hiding behind and scapegoating the manufacturer. The manufacturer forces their hand in what they can charge, but the manufacturer did not write their price match guarantee. They should have eaten the $30 bucks as a loss and gained a customer for life...instead they chose to be short sighted and lose a customer.

A particularly NOISY customer.

And...one who has been using a BROKEN MASK for a few days now and is not as friendly as one who is getting his proper sleep.

Welcome to America - we have the best government money can buy.

In all seriousness, this sounds like a perfect case to take before the new Consumer Protection Agency the Republicrats were so steamed over last year. Maybe you could get them to do something about Apple, SAP, and Oracle while you're at it.

100 Percent wrote:Thanks TalonNYC for at least understanding the topic...I was beginning to lose my faith in humanity.

And yes...price fixing is what is going on...it is shameful if not illegal...and the only person it seems to hurt is the consumer.

My gripe with CPAPcom is the fact that they advertize a 100% price guarantee, yet they do not stand by that statement. They should (and have decided to according to the comment from their marketing director above) revise their guarantee to include clear language about limitations of that guarantee. As a consumer, if I can't trust the validity of an online retailers 'guarantee' then how am I supposed to trust them with my money?

Honestly CPAPcom has lost an opportunity to gain a customer, and they are hiding behind and scapegoating the manufacturer. The manufacturer forces their hand in what they can charge, but the manufacturer did not write their price match guarantee. They should have eaten the $30 bucks as a loss and gained a customer for life...instead they chose to be short sighted and lose a customer.

A particularly NOISY customer.

And...one who has been using a BROKEN MASK for a few days now and is not as friendly as one who is getting his proper sleep.

REALLY!!!!! You poor baby, do you actually think that a company will miss your business. You must be a VERY important person to think that you can sway the opinions of the folks here. If you have a broken mask, why do you not have a backup one to use in cases like this......... Most of us have a backup of everything......just in case I don't have insurance, so have to pay out of my meager pocket...and I still have a backup of everything .
Cheers
Nan

100 Percent wrote:Thanks TalonNYC for at least understanding the topic...I was beginning to lose my faith in humanity.

Yep you restored my faith in the total stupidity of many "users / customers" Shoot the messenger because it makes you feel righteous!

I agree with Nan.
Wipe your nose and be a grown-up.

I have to agree with 100% here. Under the old price statement they should eat the cost, and write it off. They can issue the refund without having to mention it.

Technically they are still selling the item at the price..... then they issue a customer refund. I think that that would meet the letter of the contract, and still let them gain a customer, and show good will.

Under the revised statement they have some wiggle room.....

I am frustrated by the supplier that will not even let them say that it is the supplier that is setting the price.......

I thought it was price fixing that was illegal, but that is a different thread.

I like CPAP.COm.

They have been good to me, and I do and will continue order from them.

They obviously know the value of customer support. They not only host this forum, but monitor it, and respond. Well done for them.

He may have to buy it now, and then you send the refund next. This should be a one time problem, since you have not updated the policy.

If they're constrained by their supplier (and as are all LEGAL sellers of their supplier's equipment), then their lowest price is the same as everybody else's lowest price. You're complaining about not getting something as cheaply as a sale through a non-compliant channel, which is ridiculous.

Price fixing is a stupid policy, but I can hardly blame cpap.com for their adherence to it!

So what does the OP think he/she is accomplishing by slamming the hosts of this life-saving forum they generously provide to us. You could have gotten it off your chest by voicing your complaint privately with the same results. If you ask real nice maybe someone can send you a backup mask for emergencies, we all have extras lying around! Somehow I don't think Johnny will be losing much sleep over losing this customer. Nan, you go girl!

nanwilson wrote:REALLY!!!!! You poor baby, do you actually think that a company will miss your business. You must be a VERY important person to think that you can sway the opinions of the folks here.
Nan

Nan, I would suggest you take a few moments to reflect on the lifetime value of a customer...and YES! I do believe that a company will miss my business. If fact, THEY BELIEVE THAT.

98% of dissatisfied customers never complain, they just leave.
85% of dissatisfied customers tell nine people about their poor experience.
13% tell 20 people.
A satisfied customer tells just five people.
Over five years, a typical company loses 80% of its customers; 65% because of a negative experience with the company.
75% of the reasons a customer leaves has nothing to do with the product.
Retain just 5% of your customers, and profits will increase from 25% to 55%.
The top five businesses in any industry have over 90% customer retention. Most businesses average 80%.
For every 1% improvement in customer rate sustained over five years, there is a 20% improvement in operating income.

At the time of this post, more than 300 people have viewed this thread.
I realize that there are certain 'fanboys' who believe I have no right to complain, but the fact of the matter is this---CPAPcom has amended their guarantee to include the following paragraph:


"The pricing for some products is dictated by the manufacturer, if you find a site selling these products for below the manufacturer's minimum sales price, we will not be able to match the product's price. We can, however match the value, give us a call."


So, despite all the detractors, I feel vindicated in the fact that I was able to accomplish a few things:

1. CPAPcom has affirmed that they are in collusion with certain manufacturers to fix pricing in order to maintain an 'authorized dealer' relationship.
2. CPAPcom realized that their 100% price match guarantee was incorrect--and that contrary to their previous statement, they WILL NOT match pricing on certain manufacturers.
3. CPAPcom has amended their guarantee to include a provision that CLEARLY explains their loyalty to the manufacturer (not their customer).
4. CPAPcom has promised to "match the value" of their online competitors when matching the price is not an option for them--although extremely vague, THIS IS MORE THAN I GOT.


Its just too bad that CPAPcom failed to honor their guarantee with me when they had the opportunity.
At least it won't happen again.

100 Percent wrote:

nanwilson wrote:REALLY!!!!! You poor baby, do you actually think that a company will miss your business. You must be a VERY important person to think that you can sway the opinions of the folks here.
Nan

Nan, I would suggest you take a few moments to reflect on the lifetime value of a customer...and YES! I do believe that a company will miss my business. If fact, THEY BELIEVE THAT.

98% of dissatisfied customers never complain, they just leave.
85% of dissatisfied customers tell nine people about their poor experience.
13% tell 20 people.
A satisfied customer tells just five people.
Over five years, a typical company loses 80% of its customers; 65% because of a negative experience with the company.
75% of the reasons a customer leaves has nothing to do with the product.
Retain just 5% of your customers, and profits will increase from 25% to 55%.
The top five businesses in any industry have over 90% customer retention. Most businesses average 80%.
For every 1% improvement in customer rate sustained over five years, there is a 20% improvement in operating income.

At the time of this post, more than 300 people have viewed this thread.
I realize that there are certain 'fanboys' who believe I have no right to complain, but the fact of the matter is this---CPAPcom has amended their guarantee to include the following paragraph:


"The pricing for some products is dictated by the manufacturer, if you find a site selling these products for below the manufacturer's minimum sales price, we will not be able to match the product's price. We can, however match the value, give us a call."


So, despite all the detractors, I feel vindicated in the fact that I was able to accomplish a few things:

1. CPAPcom has affirmed that they are in collusion with certain manufacturers to fix pricing in order to maintain an 'authorized dealer' relationship.
2. CPAPcom realized that their 100% price match guarantee was incorrect--and that contrary to their previous statement, they WILL NOT match pricing on certain manufacturers.
3. CPAPcom has amended their guarantee to include a provision that CLEARLY explains their loyalty to the manufacturer (not their customer).
4. CPAPcom has promised to "match the value" of their online competitors when matching the price is not an option for them--although extremely vague, THIS IS MORE THAN I GOT.


Its just too bad that CPAPcom failed to honor their guarantee with me when they had the opportunity.
At least it won't happen again.

Too bad you only used a portion of my comment....but everyone else read it and understood it. It doesn't matter what anyone says, you will turn it around to fit your agenda . Guesse what...no one will make a fortune in my lifetime or your lifetime of purchasing power on cpap equipment. You really, really do have a high opinion of yourself.
Cheers

Nan,

I'm not interested in personal attacks. I don't really have an agenda other than what I have already accomplished.

I appreciate your opinion, and I honestly commend CPAPcom for allowing me to voice my concerns in this forum. It would be quite simple for them to remove the thread or delete my user account, and they have not done that.

My concern was with the false guarantee that appeared on the website this morning. It has since changed, and therefore they won't run into the same problem again. This change was a DIRECT RESULT of the post I made.

Its unfortunate for me that they did not honor the guarantee as it read when this post began, but such is life. They lost my business and I believe that they DO CARE.

End of story.

if you find something you bought from the host on secondwind for instance, why should they have to price guarantee that price? Also, people run specials... this host offers insurance and if the product is hardly ever returned, it's under 10 bucks. My aloha insurance was under 10 bucks because very few people return it. If the insurance is high...that's a good bet that it get's returned a lot here. I saw one popular mask with an insurance of 39.00 . That mask probably comes back 50% of the time...people still buy without insurance. Should he let you return anyway? How would that be fair to the ones that paid 39.00? If the mask breaks in the first 30 days, every manufacturer except one ( maker of the cpap pro?) will let you return it. You have to call the manufacturer of the mask.

neverbetter wrote:if you find something you bought from the host on secondwind for instance, why should they have to price guarantee that price? Also, people run specials... this host offers insurance and if the product is hardly ever returned, it's under 10 bucks. My aloha insurance was under 10 bucks because very few people return it. If the insurance is high...that's a good bet that it get's returned a lot here. I saw one popular mask with an insurance of 39.00 . That mask probably comes back 50% of the time...people still buy without insurance. Should he let you return anyway? How would that be fair to the ones that paid 39.00? If the mask breaks in the first 30 days, every manufacturer except one ( maker of the cpap pro?) will let you return it. You have to call the manufacturer of the mask.

As an FYI, on select masks, http://www.cpap-experts.com/, this site offers an unconditional 30 day money back guarantee on select masks. I just returned the fit life mask whereas according to cpap.com's site, i would have to pay $70.00 for return insurance.

49er

I don't have a dog in this race but is this all over $30? Unbelievable.

RandyJ wrote:I don't have a dog in this race but is this all over $30? Unbelievable.

Yes it really shows how untreated sleep apnea can damage brains.

I don't really have an agenda other than what I have already accomplished.

I don't know if anybody else has thought of this, but this dissatisfied person may actually be a "plant" by one of the manufacturers who could be trying to get CPAP(dot)COM to violate their agreements. Or, it could be someone from another Internet seller who is trying to generate bad public relations about them.

In any case, CPAP(dot)COM isn't going to go out of business for the loss of this person's lack of business. We all know from past events chronicled in these pages that CPAP(dot)COM has bent over backwards for their customers whenever possible.

Over the years (7+), they've gotten thousands of dollars of my business and will in the future. I've never had a complaint.

My suggestion would be to let this thread expire into oblivion where it belongs. Some people just can't be pleased no matter what. And, by giving this thread more attention, it keeps perpetuating whatever the OP may have had as an objective. It just goes to show that people should do their homework BEFORE they order stuff off the Internet and not be a whiner if they get disappointed.

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