Sears Canada is the latest retailer to hold an online sale with too-good-to-be-true prices.

Many customers snapped up brand-name mattress sets in the $200 to $300 range. The erroneous prices stayed up for 24 hours and appeared briefly a few days later. Sears cancelled the orders, but only after charging the purchases on people’s credit cards.

“There was a system error, which resulted in a very high number of mattresses (sets or separates) being matched up with incorrect descriptions and consequently incorrect prices,” says spokesman Vincent Power.

“As soon as we were aware, we immediately disabled those items so they would no longer appear on the site while the error was being fixed.

“We have informed affected customers of the error. And in most cases, we are sending along a $25 gift card as a goodwill gesture with our sincere apologies for the inconvenience.”

Retailers don’t have to honour an advertised price if they make a mistake and take steps to correct it right away. But Sears also made mistakes in handling its mattress mess. Here are a few stories I heard from customers.

Chad Simpson: He was suspicious after ordering a Sealy Posturpedic Sandy Lane pillow top king-size mattress and box spring set for only $249.99 (with shipping and HST, it was $361.53).

The price will be honoured, he was told three times when he called Sears’ customer service centre in the Philippines.

He asked to be transferred to Canadian customer service. The representative said, “Nothing will happen because there is no problem with the price.”

You can hear what Simpson said and what he was told because he taped the conversations and did a 10-minute YouTube video, called Sears does not honour their word. (It has more than 1,100 views.)

When he reached a supervisor, he found his order number was matched to a twin-sized mattress (with no box spring) and it would take up to two weeks to see a refund on his credit card

“I want the mattress I ordered or an equivalent one in exchange for the money they have taken – money I am currently paying interest on,” he says. “Sears could have offered 50 per cent off a mattress purchase to customers affected by this fiasco and still broken even.”

A retailer has to deal with the consequences when it outsources front-line support to a foreign call centre without giving staff the tools to investigate consumer complaints properly, he believes.

“These agents have been deputized by the company to represent its interests. If they tell me I am getting what I ordered, I expect that word to be binding. No take-backs.”

Marty Paulin: He ordered a queen-size mattress only. He called to confirm his order three times and was assured it was a mattress. But the confirmation email said he was getting a box spring.

Then, he changed his order to a queen-size mattress and box spring. His email said he’d ordered a double-size set. This happened twice.

When he tried to call Sears’ head office in Toronto, he found the phone system sent him back to the Philippines, gave him a busy signal or a message, “You have made an incorrect menu choice.”

Paulin finally reached a Sears executive after I forwarded his email. They had a long discussion and he was happy with the outcome.

“In the end, every one of my orders was cancelled, with reasons including ‘product not available.’ I would have preferred an honest answer – that there was a foul up on the website,” he says.

Kristie Fesuk: After ordering a double bed set Jan. 12, she got an email saying it would be delivered Jan. 19. She also spoke to two call centre representatives about the delivery date.

“It was confirmed so many times that I figured I could sell my daughter’s bed. I had to make room for the next bed,” she says. “I rented a truck. I only heard of the order being cancelled when I called to see if I could change the shipping address.

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“It took five calls and three hours to speak to a manager, who couldn’t help me. I was offered a gift card of $50, which I took because they weren’t going to do much more. My credit card was charged and I’ve yet to see a refund. Now I’m without a bed for my daughter and paying for a truck. Poor service in so many ways.”

My view: Online errors are a serious matter. Sears assured customers that the prices would be honoured and the beds delivered as ordered. A small token of appreciation does not make up for the stress it caused.