# Not getting what was advertised: Resolved



## CGR (Nov 30, 2018)

I was unsure whether to post this here, in Reviews or maybe even the Drama Zone but here goes:

A week ago today I was browsing the Black Friday deals, and came across a special deal on Plugin Boutique, offering Toontrack's String Machine + a free EZkeys expansion for $29 USD. Recognising the great deal it was (normally EZkeys is $149 for the core plugin which includes your choice of EZkeys instrument, with additional EZkeys expansions at $79 each) I purchased it immediately.

After registering the EZkeys String Machine on the Toontrack website, I was confused that the expansion offer wasn't available for me to select. I contacted Toontrack directly and they said that the String Machine deal wasn't part of the free expansion offer, and to follow the issue up with Plugin Boutique.

4 emails to Plugin Boutique later and no sign of them honouring their advertised deal. Their initial excuse was (and I quote):

_"Apologies for the confusion with this. This free expansion offer was not valid in conjunction with this Black Friday deal, so unfortunately we're unable to honour this"._

A $9 EZkeys MIDI pak or a refund was then offered to encourage me to forget about it and go away.

Thing is, there was no confusion on my part. Plugin Boutique advertised a deal, later realised their mistake, pulled the deal from their website and then put it back on me, a loyal customer, to just cop it and move on, having paid for something I was promised and didn't receive.

I've attached a screenshot of the advertised deal (no disclaimers or exceptions - they even featured String Machines in the graphic) along with my invoice/receipt clearly stating the EZkeys String Machine/Free Expansion deal.

*How's that for false advertising? NOT IMPRESSED.*
I feel I have a strong case to appeal to the UK Competition & Markets Authority.


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## Erick - BVA (Nov 30, 2018)

Have you sent them a screenshot of that receipt? I know that they should also be able to see it, but maybe do that and it will force them to honor what you purchased. It clearly states on the receipt that that's what you bought. So not cool for them to ignore that. It doesn't matter if it was their mistake. They need to offer something better than a stupid MIDI pack. I never use MIDI packs. So it would be nothing in comparison to an actual sample expansion. If they can't offer something from Toontrack, they should at least give you store credit which equals the value of an EZkeys expansion. It's just the ethical thing to do as a business. It's what I would do if I was running a business like that.


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## gregh (Nov 30, 2018)

In my country you cannot hold a supplier to an honest mistake in advertised pricing eg a printing error or just and administrative error. That seems reasonable to me.


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## Erick - BVA (Nov 30, 2018)

gregh said:


> In my country you cannot hold a supplier to an honest mistake in advertised pricing eg a printing error or just and administrative error. That seems reasonable to me.


It's on the receipt, and it's advertised. Honest mistake is subjective. That's what he thought he was buying. I don't care what the law is. I'm just saying that that's what I would do as a supplier.


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## CGR (Nov 30, 2018)

Sibelius19 said:


> Have you sent them a screenshot of that receipt? I know that they should also be able to see it, but maybe do that and it will force them to honor what you purchased. It clearly states on the receipt that that's what you bought. So not cool for them to ignore that. It doesn't matter if it was their mistake. They need to offer something better than a stupid MIDI pack. I never use MIDI packs. So it would be nothing in comparison to an actual sample expansion. If they can't offer something from Toontrack, they should at least give you store credit which equals the value of an EZkeys expansion. It's just the ethical thing to do as a business. It's what I would do if I was running a business like that.



Yes Eric - I've emailed them 4 times with a copy of the receipt clearly showing the deal I purchased.
Like you, MIDI packs are of no use to me. I'm a piano player and play my own parts. I'm encouraged to know you see this the same way I do. Thanks for your reply.


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## teclark7 (Nov 30, 2018)

Craig PM'ed you some suggestions


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## CGR (Nov 30, 2018)

gregh said:


> In my country you cannot hold a supplier to an honest mistake in advertised pricing eg a printing error or just and administrative error. That seems reasonable to me.


Sorry Greg but I don't see the logic in that.


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## gregh (Nov 30, 2018)

CGR said:


> Sorry Greg but I don't see the logic in that.


I guess that's a cultural difference - personally I think the offer of a refund is fine ie back to square one for all concerned. If it was my company I would have apologised and offered you a refund and keep the product anyway. But I can't really see the righteousness in gaining advantage over someone because they made a mistake in their advertising. Again. probably a cultural difference


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## Erick - BVA (Nov 30, 2018)

CGR said:


> Sorry Greg but I don't see the logic in that.


I'm wondering also, how far can the "honest mistake" go? There seems to be multiple levels of mistakes here. The ad, which has multiple typos, and picture itself is an entire typo, then the receipt which backs up the advertisement is another typo. But it all kind of compounds one another. It's not a little typo. Sure, they have the right to make mistakes. But I still think it's in their best interest to accommodate the customers.


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## Erick - BVA (Nov 30, 2018)

gregh said:


> I guess that's a cultural difference - personally I think the offer of a refund is fine ie back to square one for all concerned. If it was my company I would have apologised and offered you a refund and keep the product anyway. But I can't really see the righteousness in gaining advantage over someone because they made a mistake in their advertising. Again. probably a cultural difference


That would be acceptable I think. Another option for sure.


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## tokatila (Nov 30, 2018)

gregh said:


> In my country you cannot hold a supplier to an honest mistake in advertised pricing eg a printing error or just and administrative error. That seems reasonable to me.



In Finland, if the erroneous price is so different that it should have been recognized by consumer, a seller doesn't have to honour the price.

In other words if a deal is too good to be true, it isn't true.


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## MA-Simon (Nov 30, 2018)

Not shure what you want: 
A refund, which should be reasonable to get. 
Or pressing them for honoring a deal they advertised by accident and is not theirs to offer?


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## CGR (Nov 30, 2018)

gregh said:


> I guess that's a cultural difference - personally I think the offer of a refund is fine ie back to square one for all concerned. If it was my company I would have apologised and offered you a refund and keep the product anyway. But I can't really see the righteousness in gaining advantage over someone because they made a mistake in their advertising. Again. probably a cultural difference



Gaining advantage over someone - really? That would hold water if I purchased the deal knowing it was a mistake on their part, but I purchased what I honestly believed to be a great deal (if AIR Music Tech can sell a plugin on Plugin Boutique for $1, then I feel I'm not being naive).


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## CGR (Nov 30, 2018)

tokatila said:


> In Finland, if the erroneous price is so different that it should have been recognized by consumer, a seller doesn't have to honour the price.
> 
> In other words if a deal is too good to be true, it isn't true.



Sorry, no logic in that to my mind.


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## tokatila (Nov 30, 2018)

CGR said:


> Sorry, no logic in that to my mind.



Imagine buying something that costs 1000$ for 1$ because of the pricing error. Now imagine 1000 people taking advantage of the error before noticed. Especially with tangible goods. Makes sense to me.


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## d.healey (Nov 30, 2018)

Plugin Boutique is UK based 

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/c...f-something-is-advertised-at-the-wrong-price/


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## gregh (Nov 30, 2018)

CGR said:


> Gaining advantage over someone - really? That would hold water if I purchased the deal knowing it was a mistake on their part, but I purchased what I honestly believed to be a great deal (if AIR Music Tech can sell a plugin on Plugin Boutique for $1, then I feel I'm not being naive).


and yet you are knowingly trying to gain an advantage now that you do know it was a mistake - but I agree that the issue (re the Finland example) is made complex by BF deals often being ridiculously cheap. Seems to me a set of honest mistakes happened that leave you disappointed you didn't get an even better deal than the actual discounted EZKeys alone. Like being disappointed thinking you won a million in the lottery but there's been a mistake and you've only won 900K


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## CGR (Nov 30, 2018)

If the deal was advertised, and then the Plugin Boutique realised it was a mistake on their part and informed me at the time of purchase (before the payment was processed) then I'd concede they have a case to withdraw the offer.

This is not what happened.


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## Crowe (Nov 30, 2018)

In my country, when a company uses false advertising, sells what is falsely advertised and then refuses to refund the money used to make said purchase, you take them to court.

It's humans that need to be protected from companies, not the other way around.

If they are willing to refund the whole thing, that's fine. But they don't have to honour the advertisement by giving more stuff. Just refunding the expansion isn't right either.


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## tokatila (Nov 30, 2018)

Shiirai said:


> If they are willing to refund the whole thing, that's fine. But they don't have to honour the advertisement by giving more stuff. Just refunding the expansion isn't right either.



This sounds very reasonable.


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## Crowe (Nov 30, 2018)

gregh said:


> and yet you are knowingly trying to gain an advantage now that you do know it was a mistake - but I agree that the issue (re the Finland example) is made complex by BF deals often being ridiculously cheap. Seems to me a set of honest mistakes happened that leave you disappointed you didn't get an even better deal than the actual discounted EZKeys alone. Like being disappointed thinking you won a million in the lottery but there's been a mistake and you've only won 900K



Sorry, but what are you basing this on? VST's go on ridiculous discounts *all the time*. He isn't "knowingly trying to gain an advantage", he is "knowingly trying to get what he ordered". Responsibility should always be with the company selling a product. Whether it was a mistake or not is completely irrelevant. They say it was, so it might have been, or it might not have been.

'Oh no your discount was a little smaller than you expected suck it up' is *not* how business works.

Bethesda is currently being taken to court for this nonsense, as they deserve.

EDIT:
You know, the most important part about this is that we live in an age where most products are most readily available online. We can no longer actually check the product before receiving it.

So claiming that responsibility lies with the customer instead of the company making the sale is absolutely ridiculous.


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## CGR (Nov 30, 2018)

gregh said:


> and yet you are knowingly trying to gain an advantage now that you do know it was a mistake



So who's the bad guy here Greg?


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## CGR (Nov 30, 2018)

Shiirai said:


> Sorry, but what are you basing this on? VST's go on ridiculous discounts *all the time*. He isn't "knowingly trying to gain an advantage", he is "knowingly trying to get what he ordered". Responsibility should always be with the company selling a product.
> 
> 'Oh no your discount was a little smaller than you expected suck it up' is *not* how business works.
> 
> Bethesda is currently being taken to court for this nonsense, as they deserve.



Ditto!


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## Erick - BVA (Nov 30, 2018)

MA-Simon said:


> Not shure what you want:
> A refund, which should be reasonable to get.
> Or pressing them for honoring a deal they advertised by accident and is not theirs to offer?


Again, that's rather subjective. So all of those $1 plugin boutique offers. Are those too good to be true? Consider Plugin Boutique is known for those, why would an offer like this be out of the realm of possibilities? Seems more than reasonable considering all of the things they've put on sale for $1.


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## Polkasound (Dec 2, 2018)

I saw two EZKeys expansion sales running through Black Friday on various retailer websites: one sale was for just the String Machine expansion, and the other was a discounted price on the full product with an expansion. The Plugin Boutique advertisement was clearly in error. It looks like they may have gotten both sales mixed up.

Without question, they should refund every penny you paid.

As far as honoring the deal goes, I think it depends on how much it would cost them to do so. If you were the only one who purchased the deal, and the extra expansion wouldn't cost them much, they could honor it as a measure of integrity. But if a lot of people purchased that deal, then honoring the error for everyone would not be feasible.

Have they offered you a refund yet? If not, I would fight for it using every resource available. You have copies of the receipt and copies of the correspondence clearly demonstrating that Plugin Boutique did not deliver what you purchased.

Good luck!


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## richard kurek (Dec 2, 2018)

how about contacting toontracks since they allowed this sale


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## CGR (Dec 2, 2018)

Polkasound said:


> I saw two EZKeys expansion sales running through Black Friday on various retailer websites: one sale was for just the String Machine expansion, and the other was a discounted price on the full product with an expansion. The Plugin Boutique advertisement was clearly in error. It looks like they may have gotten both sales mixed up.
> 
> Without question, they should refund every penny you paid.
> 
> ...


As mentioned in my original post, they offered a $9 MIDI pack, or a refund. I bought the deal in the honest belief it was likely an enticingly priced 'loss leader' intro into the EZkeys system (similar to how AIR Music Tech sell their $99 plugins like Xpand!2 and Vacuum for $1, in the hope new customers will upgrade/crossgrade etc.) The Vintage Upright piano is what interested me, and I was likely to purchase the Studio Grand & Cinematic Grand expansions in the future. I did initially contact Toontracks, but they referred me back to Plugin Boutique.

Seems like I'm "flogging a dead horse" with this, but thanks everyone for your replies/suggestions/support.


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## JohnG (Dec 2, 2018)

CGR said:


> Seems like I'm "flogging a dead horse" with this,



I think you are, alas. Undoubtedly, they screwed up, but life is short. I would abandon ship.


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## Mornats (Dec 2, 2018)

Any weight in the fact that you have a receipt saying String Machine plus expansion? Maybe that's covered by something different than advertising standards.


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## Polkasound (Dec 2, 2018)

CGR said:


> As mentioned in my original post, they offered a $9 MIDI pack, or a refund.



In that case, by accepting the refund, you're not losing anything. My guess is that they made an honest mistake in the advertising. They probably had to issue a lot of refunds.




CGR said:


> I bought the deal in the honest belief it was likely an enticingly priced 'loss leader' intro into the EZkeys system



That's how I ended up with ToonTrack's vintage upright a couple years ago. I got it with the full version of EZKeys on sale for like $29. So it's understandable you thought it was a legit deal.

By the way, their studio grand is fantastic. It's one of my favorite virtual pianos.


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## CGR (Dec 3, 2018)

As a firm believer of giving credit where due, I have just received an email from the Head of Customer Support at Plugin Boutique stating they will honour the advertised deal. I'm pleased with the outcome, I appreciate their integrity.


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## richard kurek (Dec 3, 2018)

CGR said:


> As a firm believer of giving credit where due, I have just received an email from the Head of Customer Support at Plugin Boutique stating they will honour the advertised deal. I'm pleased with the outcome, I appreciate their integrity.


good for you Bravo!


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## CGR (Dec 3, 2018)

richard kurek said:


> good for you Bravo!


Ha - thanks Richard. Little victories!


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## Polkasound (Dec 3, 2018)

Wow, that was really nice of them to do that! Their server is down right now, but when they come back online, I'm going to check them out to see if I can throw some money their way. I like supporting business that value customer relationships.


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## dzilizzi (Dec 3, 2018)

Actually, if you waited a week before registering it, you would have have gotten the second instrument. I, of course, registered it right away and just got the string machine. No complaints because I got what I expected. Just a darn, I wish I did my usual delay on registering and downloading new purchases


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