Pre-holiday deception by Comfi

It is no secret that retail chains earn at least 30% of their annual profit before holidays. Many lure customers with huge discounts. Yet some manage to deceive shoppers even on this.

We found this information on social media. There are no grounds to doubt its authenticity, as all SMS screenshots have been provided.

So, how the Comfi store deceives customers:

"After reading about New Year traditions, I decided 10 days before the holiday to get rid of my old frying pans and treat myself to a gift – buying new ones. Just then, I came across an advertisement from Comfi, where the chain offers frying pans with discounts.

I chose the offer with a 50% discount. The item was marked with the label 'Pick up today', which suited me just fine. So, I made my choice, filled in the details, and waited for confirmation. I received an SMS saying the order was being prepared. Then, the next message stated that the order was packed and awaiting pickup.

But my joy was short-lived. After 20 minutes, a young man called to inform me that there had been a mistake and that frying pan was out of stock. Well, if it's not available, I'll cancel the order and look for another pan. About 15 minutes later, the same young man called again to say that the pan was not available under the promotion, but they were ready to sell it to me at full price. No way, I decided, especially since by that time I had already selected another one with a 20% discount on their website.

So, the second attempt. I placed the order, with delivery to the most convenient store on January 4, but that did not deter me. I sent the details again. Not even five minutes had passed when another young man called to inform me that there had been a mistake and that this frying pan could only be purchased at full price. I cancelled the order again.

I abandoned the idea for a few days, occasionally checking their website, where both frying pans were in stock with the same discounts.

Then my older sister, Lina, arrived from Kyiv and also ordered a frying pan for me at Comfi. Her order was confirmed, no one called back, and on December 30, we decided to pick up the gift. Just before leaving, I checked the Comfi website again and saw that the frying pan I had ordered the first time was in stock and, as before, on promotion. I went through the same procedure – order-SMS1-SMS2, but the story repeated itself. The young man called again to inform me that a shortage had just been identified at the store and that this frying pan was out of stock. I told the young man that I had already ordered the same one a week ago, and it was not available then either, and that all their promotions were a deception of customers. The young man did not listen to me until I told him I had the numbers of previous orders; after that, the conversation completely fell apart. Wishing him all the best, I hung up and headed with my daughter to pick up the only frying pan that had actually been confirmed and not cancelled.

As we were climbing the stairs to the store, Lina decided to find the order number on her phone and discovered that she had received a message about an order change. It turned out that the cost had decreased by 20 hryvnias. Great, we thought, a minus is always pleasant, even if it's only 20 hryvnias.

But the joy was premature. Presenting the young man with the number and receiving the order, we were somewhat stunned. The frying pan had not only become cheaper but had also shrunk by half. From a size of 24 cm, it had suddenly turned into a practically toy-like one – 12 centimetres. Naturally, this order was also immediately rejected."