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One of the best deals of the summer (so far) has been with the Overstock 30% cashback offer through Bing.com. This was valid on any item including the preorder of Starcraft 2. I personally missed out on ordering sc2, but had I been a few minutes earlier I would have likely purchased 2 or 3 copies (instead I ordered from dell.com. Bing hasn’t acknowledge the cashback yet). This ranks above the Napster screw-over I mentioned a few months back. Customers getting the Bing rejection emails have already received their items. What’s the plan now Overstock.com? I’ve been told this may in fact be illegal. If you want to save your image, make it right with your customers, and fast. Check out the slickdeals forum at http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=405472&t=2149148

Update 8/1/10: Overstock now pointing the finger at Bing for canceling the cashback. Bing points the finger at Overstock.

Slickdeals forum suggests returning items and/or issuing a chargeback with your credit card company.

http://www.overstock.com/Bing-Cashback-Rewards/481/blogpost

Finding great deals online is something many people enjoy doing. If you need convincing, just look at the popularity of websites such as slickdeals.net, dealnews.com and even pinchingyourpennies.com. Getting a great deal take patience, flexibility, time and perhaps a bit of luck. Yesterday slickdeals, passwird.com and many other deal websites posted a Napster.com promo code offering 60 free downloads and a year subscription to online streaming music. Within hours the promo code was pulled and emails sent out saying the account had been closed. Fine. It’s ok, we understand. Sometimes a promotion wasn’t supposed to be so popular, or your system didn’t have the code setup as a one time use coupon. We get it. I personally was ready to walk away and count myself out a few minutes of my time. Then today I get another email, this time with the subject in all caps: “FRAUDULENT NAPSTER PROMO CODE”. Wow, okay, that is interesting but why did I care? Then I start reading the message and it makes me feel like a fugitive. Seriously, I just found a great deal posted on slickdeals, I go through YOUR checkout, YOU hand me a receipt then you wait a bit and run after me like a SHOPLIFTER?!?! Wow. I won’t be back. You seriously treat your potential customers like this? Shame on you Napster. Shame on you.

On March 3, 2010, a private-use customer service promotional code, offering an annual Napster subscription that includes 60 MP3s, was illegally shared on multiple public websites. Because these subscriptions were created in a fraudulent manner, Napster expired these accounts, including the MP3 credits, at 9:30 PM the same day.

This code was neither made available via Napster.com  or any of its partners’ sites, nor was it promoted in any way by Napster or its partners. We encourage consumers to ensure the validity of a promotional code, for Napster or any other service or product, before attempting to redeem.

We apologize if this caused any disruption in service to any of our subscribers or visitors.  We believe Napster is the best value in digital music.  For as low as $5 per month, subscribers enjoy unlimited on-demand streaming music plus 5 song credits.  Go to www.napster.com to check it out.

Please do not reply to this email as the mailbox is not monitored.  To reach Napster Customer Support, please visit www.napster.com/support.

Soon there will be another grocery store chain in Utah County. Yes I know, another one!

WinCo is the newest competitor entering the picture. Right now they are setting up shop on 8th North in Orem, in a massive  building under construction. I have learned some very interesting information just in the past few hours. It turns out WinCo may finally be the grocery store chain that can compete and actually beat Wal-Mart! I’ll be honest, I have no idea how they actually execute short term or even long term. All I know is what I’ve heard. Hint, it’s great for consumers!

WinCo has already entered the Salt Lake City area and has nearly killed Wal-Mart’s grocery business in nearby stores. WinCo is going to try and win your business by having amazingly low prices. Right now they are buying in product and then selling it below cost! I can’t imagine everything they sell is below cost, it just doesn’t make sense. However the person I talked to knows first hand that WinCo will buy a product in for $12 and then turn around and sell it for $9.99 simply to beat the competition.

Their stores are huge and resemble the Food-4-Less format. Unlike Food-4-Less however, they are extremely price aggressive. Their entire business seems to focus around price. Bag your own groceries, shop in a warehouse, pull product right out of the cardboard. They know people will do anything to save money.

Time will only tell what happens to the business strategy of Wal-Mart, Smith’s, Macey’s, Albertsons, Dan’s, Buy Low, and any other grocery store chain I may have forgotten to mention in Utah County. All I have to say is I’m excited for anything which creates competition and threatens the ‘all powerful’, ‘amazingly untouchable’ stores. *cough* Wal-Mart *cough*

It looks like you can find more information about openings and employment on twitter at http://twitter.com/wincofoods

I’ve written before about how Kayak.com is the ultimate search place for finding cheap flights. I believe it still is, however it turns out I have discovered a flaw. My best friends Nessa and Korban have been anxiously awaying a great deal to travel to South Carolina and visit their family. Today we got an email from (a GREAT website) airfarewatchdog.com. It said that SLC to CLT was 198rt! Amazing considering they have been seeing prices around $400.00 rt! Kayak however couldn’t show us this deal. The links from airfarewatchdog.com said to go to travelocity or cheapair.com (and be flexible with your dates of course). I noticed that these 2 sites were actually finding flights using 3 different carriers combined. The flight I booked for them was 3 parts United and with 2 parts USAirways and 1 part United Express/Skywest Airlines. Apparently this is just too complex for kayak. And that’s why I wanted to be honest and let you know, today Kayak == FAIL!

Today just for fun I searched for the best deals on airfare from SLC to MIA sometime in May. The dates I specifically checked were rated as the best deal around this time. May 12th 2009 – May 19th 2009 was my example for these results (round-trip per-person including all taxes/fees rounded to the nearest dollar):

kayak.com = 229
priceline.com = 229
cheapair.com = 229
fly.com = 229
tripadvisor.com = 229
ITA Software = 229
sidestep.com = 229
hotwire.com = 229

yahootravel = 234
farecast.live.com = 235
cheaptickets.com = 236
mobissimo.com = 236
farecompare.com = 236
orbitz.com = 236
travelocity.com = 236
expedia.com = 236

cheapoair.com = 253
onetravel.com = 253
easyclicktravel.com = 254
airlinegateway.com = 254
smartfares.com = 254

Not always will this be the case, but use this information when deciding where to search first.

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