False Advertising/ Quest 3 Sale/ Sales & Customer Support

[TheNobleBear]

Over Christmas and Boxing Day (25 Dec till 1 Jan) when you Googled Quest 3 on your mobile. The first thing that pops up is an ad placed there by Meta claiming the Quest 3 is on sale with a direct link to the Quest 3 page to buy it.

I have been keeping an eye on the Quest 3 since launch and was hoping to grab it when it was on sale, so when I saw the ad that directed people to the Meta Quest 3 store page claiming it was on sale I was very excited.

However once on the site, I saw the price remained the same and was not "On Sale" as it claimed in the ad.

I contacted the Customer support / Sales team, who kept claiming one of two things the Quest 3 "was not on sale" or "yes it was on sale". I supplied them with screenshots showing how Meta's Ad they placed on Google was telling people the Quest 3 is on sale for the Christmas/ New Year Boxing Day period. But the support team kept saying it was not on sale or to check the site later for when the price would update for the sale.

I asked for them to connect me to a senior or team leader when I saw the price was still the same to try and explain why it would say it's on sale in the ad they placed on Google or to honor their ad, or additionally to have the senior contact their internal Sales and Advertising team to have that ad removed and their website SEO updated if it was not in fact on sale. They advised me they would need to send the chat logs to a senior or team lead who would be able to help me further.

Instead, I have been passed around from adviser to adviser to adviser for the last several days via email responses.

Yesterday one of the advisers stated, "Yes the Quest 3 was on sale, but that sale has now passed." ( Take into account that I have been monitoring the site daily to see the price and if there was any change, so I can buy the Quest 3, but the price had not changed at all) once I replied to that person, and someone else replied again to that email telling me there's no sale currently and to keep an eye on the store for when there is a sale in the future.

In my communications via email, I have asked several times to have a senior or team lead help me out with my issue and I would get told, "I would be transferred to a senior and they would get back to me". Or I would get told, "That option is not available atm."

It has gone past the point of being funny and atm now just to the principle of the matter, Meta had gone over the Holiday period and updated their website SEO and Google Ad to claim that the Quest 3 is on sale for that period, lulling parents and unaware consumers into buying the Quest 3 thinking they are getting a Sale but in actuality, it's still the same price as what it was before.

I understand that according to the customer support team that they stated the Quest 3 "WAS" and or "WAS NOT", on sale for this period. But I don't think it's right that someone at Meta had to update the Website SEO/ Google ad to claim the Quest 3 is on sale with a link to the Meta Quest 3 store page, but in actuality, the price is still the same and when contacting customer support looking to either have this issue corrected by upholding the claim that there is a Sale or to have the Ad and SEO removed and updated on Google side to prevent further miscommunication to consumers making them think they are buying something they think is on sale when it not.

I can understand if it was an honest mistake on someone's part in the website dev team or advertising departments, but at least either honor your claim to a sale or remove the ad immediately to prevent further issues from arising.

Additionally, change the structure in which people contact your support team and try and have the communication remain Constant(not being transferred from person to person to person, unless that person is not available) /Clear (provide the correct information at all times and from the beginning)/ Open/ Apologise (for when you made a mistake and what you can do to correct it).

Lastly when telling a customer you are transferring them to a "Specialist/ Senior or Team Lead" as the issue your dealing with is outside your scope of support, then see to it that it happens. Don't just put them back into the mix where your customer gets passed around from adviser to adviser who is not able to resolve the issue you yourself was not able to handle as it's outside your scope of support.

[kojack]

I googled for quest 3, it still has a sponsored ad saying "Meta Quest 3 On Sale Now".

This is most likely just an ambiguous use of the term. "On sale" has two common meanings: in American English it tends to mean something is selling for a reduced price but in British English it tends to mean it is simply now available for purchase. The ad looks like they meant the second definition since no mention of a price or percentage reduction is made.

Collins dictionary:

If Meta had reduced the price of the Quest 3 so soon after release, VR news sites like RoadToVR and UploadVR would be all over it, like the current Quest 2 price reduction or when Newegg gave $15 game credit with the 128GB Quest 3 for Black Friday. I don't see any sites talking about a christmas/new year price drop though.

[TheNobleBear]

I see what you're trying to say.

But when a company advertises in different places around the world they would adjust their use of language in each part of the world to avoid confusion in what they are advertising. Usually, they would use wording like "Available now" etc if a product is new on the market and has just become available. In this instance, the way they were advertising it over Christmas and New Year makes people think that an item is on sale, especially when people are shopping around looking for the best deals.

The support team told me to post on here to have a senior or team lead look into this issue further.