Competitor giving wrong information on website

[geoffb]

Hi
Our biggest competitor is selling a product similar to the one we make.
because ours is a lot bigger and therefore a bigger selling point they have lied about the size of their product to make it look better value.

Would you contact them direct and ask them to correct it.

or would you complain to trading standards to see if they would take up the matter (probably not interested).

They are advertising something is holding 100 litres when in fact it only holds 64 litres which is a massive difference

Thanks

 

[MOIC]

1. Contact trading standards if you have proof.

2. Concentrate on your own business.

 

[HarveyIT]

Not sure if I would contact them tbh.
Let them make the mistake. A potential customer may alert them to the error anyway.

 

[geoffb]

1) I have proof, I have their product in front of me
2) Agreed - But why should I let them lie - as it does affect my buisiness


They know they are giving false information. They are doing it on purpose

 

[HarveyIT]

1) Why not let them lie?
2) How does it affect your business?

 

[businessfunding]

Never knock the competition

Validate you claim and ask others to rise to the challenge

 

[geoffb]

do you mean get my potential customers to find out for themselves that they are lying ?

 

[TradeSmart]

They wont have customers for long if they are claiming something holds nearly double of what it actually does.

Just let them make the mistakes.

 

[HarveyIT]

1) What makes you think they are 'lying'? Could it not just be an innocent error?
2) "They know they are giving false information. They are doing it on purpose" - how do you actually know this?
3) How EXACTLY does it affect YOUR business?

Basically, what it boils down to is that they are giving misleading information about one of their products. This will be discovered eventually. Which can only harm them. Can't harm you surely?

 

[Talay]

They wont have customers for long if they are claiming something holds nearly double of what it actually does.

Just let them make the mistakes.

Doesn't matter if it is a one off lifetime purchase as there is no repeat business. The OP's business would take the direct hit with no opportunity for 2nd sales following disappointment.

I agree about concentrating on your own business but I can see the defensive position of getting your mate to complain. Whether I would go that route is another thing.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

As of last year websites come under the ASA, that means they must follow the advertising guidelines of
legal
decent
honest
truthful

if they don't they can get fined
Contact trading standards tell them that their false claims breach the Advertising laws, contact the ASA and tell them the same.

Then forget about it and get on with your own business.

 

[J Howard]

Do not be worried. Customers know everything. If anyone buy that then very soon they come to know the lie. Do not raise any complaints on your side. you will lose your repute. Stay calm and wait and when the customers will do the comparison themselves then you will get the reputation boost. So stay low. Wait and watch.

 

[Talay]

Do not be worried. Customers know everything. If anyone buy that then very soon they come to know the lie. Do not raise any complaints on your side. you will lose your repute. Stay calm and wait and when the customers will do the comparison themselves then you will get the reputation boost. So stay low. Wait and watch.

Not all animals survive through hibernation; others need to be more pro active and define their own destiny.

 

[J Howard]

Doesn't matter if it is a one off lifetime purchase as there is no repeat business. The OP's business would take the direct hit with no opportunity for 2nd sales following disappointment.

I agree about concentrating on your own business but I can see the defensive position of getting your mate to complain. Whether I would go that route is another thing.

You are contradicting your own point of view.

 

[Talay]

You are contradicting your own point of view.

Often useful to be able to see both sides of an argument rather than taking action with a blinkered or biased view

 

[J Howard]

or you can always want to disagree nothing more.

 

[TradeSmart]

Doesn't matter if it is a one off lifetime purchase as there is no repeat business. The OP's business would take the direct hit with no opportunity for 2nd sales following disappointment.

Yes but when the consumer realises it doesn't actually hold 100 litres, they will have to purchase a one that does hold 100 litres. They will of course purchase from elsewhere after being mislead from this supplier.

 

[Christine Hough]

What is the item. I can think of somethings where the customer might not realise such as a water butt.

If they are decanting 100 Lts over, then yes they will notice.

 

[Talay]

Yes but when the consumer realises it doesn't actually hold 100 litres, they will have to purchase a one that does hold 100 litres. They will of course purchase from elsewhere after being mislead from this supplier.

Nope, they won't. That is where perception, trust and loyalty all disappear into the void of bull on the internet and that customer is lost for that product forever.

The thing is that they thought it was 100L and they were conned. Then they see another advert for a 100L item and where your logic assumes they would believe the next potential fraudster, rational human behaviour shows that they develop a distrust of both the internet, that market segment in particular and this specific product particularly. Hence, they have near zero interest in being "fool me twice" and will only buy from a known outlet or more probably, in person. If they already knew the OP's outlet they would have bought there in the first place.

Thus, from a defensive position, the OP can only protect his potential customer base by removing the fraud (if proven) being committed elsewhere. If he were bricks and mortar, then your logic would prevail and be bolstered, but he is online.

 

[avecSys]

Let the potential buyers trust their judgement, to only find out they are lying, to which you capitalise. You are not going to benefit from a competitor's mistake, if you don't let them make the mistake. They are shooting themselves in the foot..... Don't give them a Nerf gun instead, let them go to hospital!

 

[HarveyIT]

Talay - read the OP's original post, and then read the responses you've given. I could be wrong, but I think you're getting very confused?
Also, with regards to your last post, I take the viewpoint that it's YOUR logic that maybe a little 'warped'. (trying not to appear too rude )

 

[Naive citizen]

As of last year websites come under the ASA, that means they must follow the advertising guidelines of
legal
decent
honest
truthful

if they don't they can get fined
Contact trading standards tell them that their false claims breach the Advertising laws, contact the ASA and tell them the same.

Then forget about it and get on with your own business.

Has anybody mentioned contacting the competitor to put it to them that apart from being dishonest (although nobody has confirmed whether they are aware of the mistake?) they are in contravention of advertising standards. Following this it would be then possible to put your case to your competitor, that your dishonesty is hurting my business so please stop. You have the ability to offer an ultimatum meaning your competitors best course of action is to back down or you will go ahead and report them.

 

[RodriVLR]

Is absolutely better to let them make the mistake, if it is nothing that could risk public safety. The time will put you in the proper place. Just keep doing a good job.

 

[geoffb]

Interesting points of view.

The product we sell it's USP is the size.
The competitors is half the size and they know this

They are making out that theirs is far bigger than it actually is to get sales.
Therefore it is my business as they are misleading my potential customers to buy their product over mine.

I have proof as I have their product in front of me.
It's hard enough selling on the internet when competitors 'don't' put information on their website. But to put it wrong to make it look better is unethical as the customer won't find out until they have bought & paid for the item

 

[avecSys]

To which, any sensible customer will return the product and be in search of the correct product. Thus, damaging your competitors reputation and gaining you more business

 

[Annoying Donkey]

I have proof as I have their product in front of me.

So make a video showing you pouring the contents of your container in to theirs...

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Follow oldwelshguy's advice and then forget it,

Maybe put a certified 100 Ltr against the size (certified by a independent person naturally)

Don't follow the other advice to leave it alone, its your lively hood and damaging your potential sales making your superior item look expensive in comparisment, and they obviously have no idea of running their own business

 

[Christine Hough]

Go on tell us what it is. And why the USP is the size? And how the customers would know if it was not as stated?

If size really is the all important factor in a very price sensitive market, then you may have to take the issue up and referring to advertising standards authority seems to the way.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

I bought a rucksack that was wrongly advertised in size. I was VERY annoyed as it was for my daughters Duke of Ed weekend.

I complained, took a photo of their item alongside a proper sized item and they refunded immediately and told me to keep the item.

of course it meant then I couldn't leave any feedback

 

[Small Biz Geek]

It IS frustrating to see a competitor having an unfair advantage in situations where they are either deluding themselves or just telling outright lies.

In my space, I have competing web designers making big claims about SEO that are based all around hype. It is frustrating to see customers fall for the hype, get ripped off and then feel mistrustful towards web designers.

Unfortunately you cannot do much about it, but recently, I've seen competitors doing things they shouldn't do, so I've telephoned the relevant authority, bought the misdemeanor to their attention of the governing body, and made sure the business has had their reprimand.

This isn't something I do regularly. It's only happened a couple of times, but there are situations where businesses are simply disobeying the rules without anyone having noticed.

When I started off in web design, I would always knock the main (national) competitor who have a bad rep. On the phone I would tell customers a thing or two about the competitor... but I never made sales.

Knocking the competition only reflects badly on you and makes you look bitter. There's a good chapter about this in Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People."

This is where politics creeps into your business and playing that game can get stressful.

If you can get the results you want (which is for your business to be a BETTER one) take the high road instead. It is tempting to get down in the dirt and start the petty squabbling, especially when you feel you've been wronged in some way, but it can often be a hollow victory that is only taking your energy and focus away from your own business.

I've been on the other side of it where I've had other people try to p*ss on my strawberries, figuratively speaking, for no particular reason. Some investigation on my part revealed these were people who were happy to break rules, take shortcuts and generally earn themselves a poor reputation.

Buy the way, original poster, are you an eBay seller? It sounds like you are, and it sounds as though you've been doing your research anyway, whatever your market happens to be.

 

[SwindonSteve]

I'm with the 'ignore them and they go away' people.

A misrepresentation will always have consequences for those involved.

Report it to trading standards and then get on with your business if you want to, I can't see the benefit long term. They will either continue to do the same thing or adjust accordingly. Either way you probably won't put them out of business.

At the end of the day, it could be an innocent oversight on their part by not updating a listing and they may also in fact, provide the appropriate product.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

If you're going to do anything, I would advise against making it a public or direct affair. Just report them to the ASA and Trading Standards and then get on with your business as usual.

 

[geoffb]

Thanks for all your opinions. I actually got a friend to write to them and complain and they took it on board and updated their website.

They are still a liitle bit out with their claims but I can live with it as it's obvious theirs is smaller now.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

So then @geoffb size DOES matter

 

[Christine Hough]

Sounds like a good result

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Has anybody mentioned contacting the competitor to put it to them that apart from being dishonest (although nobody has confirmed whether they are aware of the mistake?) they are in contravention of advertising standards. Following this it would be then possible to put your case to your competitor, that your dishonesty is hurting my business so please stop. You have the ability to offer an ultimatum meaning your competitors best course of action is to back down or you will go ahead and report them.

This isn't a very wise way to go about it. I know it's all sorted now, but the competitor could have been intentionally lying about features of the product and could have responded angrily to the correspondence and ignored it as a perceived threat from a competitor. If that leaves the OP no choice but to report it to Trading Standards or the ASA, then the competitor will know that it was the OP who did it, and that could turn it into a tit-for-tat war on a range of things (like leaving fake negative reviews) and basically open a whole can of worms.

These independent bodies are there to resolve issues like this and avoid others taking it into their own hands. Most of the time, they will simply request that the offending content is removed, and they'll only take more serious measures if this request is ignored.