Office Depot Pricing Blunder

Amber Bouman is an editorial assistant for PC World. You can send her e-mail at onyourside@pcworld.com. To read previously published On Your Side columns, click here.

I ordered two Sony HDR-FX1 digital camcorders from Tech Depot by phone after seeing them offered for a good price on this Office Depot-owned Web site. E-mail confirming the order said that the HDR-FX1 was on back order. But when I checked online the next day, I noticed that my order was now linked to a cheaper camera. When I called Tech Depot to complain, a rep told me the change was made because the price I originally saw for the HDR-FX1 was a mistake--it actually cost nearly twice as much.

Name withheld by request

On Your Side responds: Office Depot's Casey J. Ahlbum says the pricing problem resulted from a data entry error that was not discovered until after the reader placed his phone order and received e-mail confirmation. Like many Web stores, Tech Depot says on its site that it is not responsible for typographical errors or technical inaccuracies. After we called, Tech Depot offered to match any price on the Web for a new HDR-FX1. The reader canceled the order, however, and Office Depot sent him a $150 gift card for the inconvenience.

--Amber Bouman