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RSS FeedsToshiba Tries to Dodge World Cup Refund Pledge
Category: General NewsPosted: July 16, 2010 03:36AM
Author: premiumgfx
The World Cup brought us many firsts. An African host, South Africa, an undefeated New Zealand team and not to mention Spain taking home the cup. With all the excitement brought to an end, Toshiba is left to deal with the aftermath of its World Cup offer. At the start of June the company ran an advertising campaign in Germany, England, Portugal, Italy and Spain. The deal: Buy a Toshiba TV or laptop before the World Cup final and if your nation's team won, Toshiba promised to refund 100% of your purchase. Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong!
After the initial euphoria and celebrations, many Spaniards logged onto Toshiba's website to claim their refund. However, Toshiba claims there was an extra clause to the deal. To be eligible for the offer, purchasers had to have registered their purchase prior to June 17. The catch is that many customers were completely unaware of the extra conditions, and Toshiba's advertising didn't help either. Many ads, including the one here didn't include this condition. Toshiba stated on its blog that:
"In addition, Toshiba also makes the time limit to claim the money, noting that all applications received after August 2 will be rejected and forced to submit original documents and confirming that only have one chance to claim (in fact recommend sending certified mail with delivery)."
This uproar is compounded by the fact that some sites are saying that the fine print detailing the additional requirements didn't show up until the registration date had passed. A simple mistake or corporate greed? I think its more likely to be the latter. Either way, the repercussions are sure to be severe, especially considering the strict European Union consumer laws. And who knows, another computer giant may recognize the opportunity to console the affected Toshiba customers.
