Bait-and-switch? Amazon says no

Mike Chun had been scouring the Web for a toy construction crane when, earlier this week, he thought he had struck gold: The very item he had been searching for popped up on Amazon.com's Web site, marked as having "limited availability" at half price.

Chun's delight quickly disappeared, however, when the button he clicked to seal the deal instead transported him to a Web page offering him a discount on a scooter if he bought $100 worth of toys and video games.

After talking with Amazon.com customer-service representatives, the Seattle man became concerned he was the victim of a "bait-and-switch."

Yesterday, Amazon.com spokesman Bill Curry said it was not the company's intent to mislead Chun or any other customer. But he acknowledged that, since Tuesday, "hundreds" of items in two sections of Amazon.com's site — "outdoor living" and "toys and video games" — were erroneously labeled as having limited availability when they were out of stock.

Curry said the Seattle-based Internet retailer had devised a fix scheduled to take effect last night. He said the software patch would replace the limited-availability designation with "out of stock" for all mislabeled items.

Curry said the glitch started Tuesday and was discovered by the wife of an Amazon.com employee when she searched in the outdoor-living section. As a rule, he said, the limited-availability label should never appear in that area or the toys area.

Presumably, Curry added, if the toy crane had been labeled out of stock, Chun would not have been disappointed when he clicked through to the scooter ad.

Still, Chun said he found his experience with Amazon.com representatives disconcerting. In an e-mail, Chun reported that he insisted on talking with a manager.

"The manager was very pleasant, and basically told me in so many words that it's legal to do bait-and-switch on the Internet, but illegal in bricks-and-mortar stores," Chun said.

Asked about the manager's purported comment, Curry said:

"Those are the customer's words — 'basically told me in so many words' — so I don't know what we said," he said. "I do know that we believe bait-and-switch would be illegal, and that's why we don't do it."

Paula Selis, assistant state attorney general in the agency's consumer-protection division, yesterday said that if the manager said what Chun reported, the manager was wrong. "Advertising law is the same across media lines."

Asked to view Amazon.com's site yesterday, King County deputy prosecuting attorney Ivan Orton said the pages Chun saw had "the earmarks of a 'bait and switch.' "

Orton, formerly with the Federal Trade Commission, said that if he were with a regulatory agency that dealt with deceptive practices, "I might want to have a talk with Amazon about this."

Amazon's Curry said the bottom line is: "Was it a frustrating experience for (Chun) because of the language glitch? Definitely. Was it illegal bait-and-switch? Definitely not."

The bad news for Chun: There's no word on when the toy crane will be back in stock.

Peter Lewis can be reached at 206-464-2217 or plewis@seattletimes.com.