I don't know of any stores that close their doors to customers who only shop at those stores when it "works out greatly in the customer's favor." It's called being a smart consumer. Why would a consumer pay more for something than they have to? Stores like Jo-Ann and Michael's often publish weekly 40% off coupons. I only walk out of those stores having made a purchase if I used the coupon. They have yet to refuse my admittance...
It happens quite frequently. There are numberous reports of people being banned from various stores after using extreme-couponing. See here ->
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/308315 And many other stores have changed their policies to benefit the store ->
http://blogs.smartmoney.com/paydirt/2011/06/27/extreme-couponing-now-extremely-prohibited/ and limiting the amount of sale items. And I personally have had a manager at Michael's refuse to accept the coupon I printed from their website that was 40% off the entire order (they did some promo at one point where this was a prize/reward) as he felt we were taking advantage of the coupon (we had a cart full of items). But this is also why the fine print on those craft store coupons expressly prohibit their use on large ticket items. (Crikit machines and the like) Taking a 40% hit on a single fake flower isn't that bad, especially when they know you are likely to purchase multiple fake flowers to complete your project. So you walking out of the store with a single frame, is an oddity they accept, to attract the hard core crafters who buy large amounts of supplies.
In that case, any smart consumer, aware of this deceitful practice on the part of the retailer, would simply purchase the desired sale item first, and then return the duplicate full price item (for the full price as indicated on the original sales receipt). So long as the duplicate full price item falls within the applicable return policy, it must be accepted by the retailer. Classic contract law.
Which is why many retailers are actually pulling items from their shelves now prior to Black Friday. Or selling an item that has a different item number than they normally stock. Specifically to avoid this. For the smaller non door busters, they don't are as much because once again it's a small loss, and they want you to buy other items.
Not an "unlimited amount," just
one more available item. One is enough.
And in the OP's case, this doesn't apply. WDW only had X number of rooms available at the discounted price/free dining promotion. And they sold out. There is nothing saying that any retailer needs to offer all their goods at a discounted price. They are free to shout "Next 20 people to buy a car get it half off!" And if you are number 21, then no discount for you. If the OP had called back prior to the free dining being sold out, then WDW would have gladly swapped them over to take advantage of it. But they cannot sell something they no longer have. Otherwise no one would ever pay full price for a WDW room. Or alternatively, everyone would. If WDW automatically price adjusted everyone who booked a room, chaos would ensue. People would either be booking at 499 days just to ensure they had a room. WDW would then have full occupancy, so no one would need a discount. So then everyone would have booked hoping for a discount, but then not got a discount. Creates a big sticky mess.
I completely agree, no obligation. But, as others have posted above regarding consumer loyalty, the last class of consumer that a company wants to disappoint or tick off are existing consumers that have already made an investment. That is particularly true in this economy. It's almost impossible to watch an hour of tv without seeing a travel company commercial that heavily emphasizes refunding the difference in cost if prices lower after purchase. Some commercials, like Orbitz, focus solely on this feature. There's something to be said about corporate loyalty to its consumers.
True. But retailer make their money selling their product at full price. Orbitz doesn't actually sell the product. They are selling a service (booking your vacation) in the same exact way that WDW specific travel companies sell a service (booking your trip) and most will auto rebook to get you the lower deal. Since Orbitz or the WDW travel agent still makes their commission, they have nothing to lose by making their clients trip cheaper. But the supplier of the actual product (in Orbitz case airline/rental car/hotel, in WDW travel agent case WDW hotels/tickets) loses by not making the same amount of profit. In the same way that airlines charge last minute business travelers absurd amounts of money for plane tickets to offset the cheaper tickets they sell to tourists, WDW sells rooms at full rack rate to help offset selling other rooms at a discount.
If I walk into a retailer the week after a sale is over, and demand a price match, they will laugh at me. The terms of their sale existing only during the specific time frame the sale was in place. If I didn't have the smarts or ability to go and either ask for the price match or buy a new one at sale price to return the old full price one, why should they appease me?
But, I see what you're saying.
