Amazon fixes misleading White Glove ads

Quietly, Amazon changed its ads promoting "Free White Glove Delivery" on products that actually do not qualify for the service.

I criticized Amazon earlier this month for duping customers (like myself) into thinking their big-screen TVs came with free white glove delivery.

The offending ad looked like this when I purchased my TV:

Click to enlarge.

The small print reads:

When you purchase this TV from Amazon.com, it receives our special white-glove delivery service. After your purchase, an agent will call you within five days to arrange delivery. At your home, delivery experts will: carry your product to any accessible room in your home -- including upstairs rooms -- provided the package will fit; unpack your product and place it on assembled furniture; provide a setup checklist; and remove all packaging materials from your home if you wish.

Novice Web shoppers like myself (and others who commented on the original story) might infer that the featured TV came with white glove delivery. No?

In fact, it did not, because the "real" supplier of the product was TigerDirect, a third-party vendor.

An Amazon customer service rep clarified the small print: "You bought it [the TV] on Amazon.com, not from Amazon.com."

And here I thought I knew a little something about semantics.

Several folks commented on the original article that I was an idiot. Evidently, there are a lot of idiots out there like me who were duped by the ad.

A few days after I posted my original story, the ad disappeared on products that did not qualify.

A couple of weeks later, the revised copy appeared:

Small print reads:

... Applies only to purchases made from Amazon.com. Does not apply to purchases made from other merchants on the Amazon.com Web site.

Now, we Web-shopping dummies have no excuse.

And while my own experience was fine, I think I'll go with a local shop next time. Did I really save that much?!