"Shopping for a bamboo chair mat, I found one advertised on their website last December, with features that suited my needs. Their web page gave the price as $299.95. Since this is a new-model chair mat, I emailed their rep, Arlene Hartung, on 12/30/09 and asked about the shipping date and cost. She emailed back on 1/4/10, noting "my supplier does not expect they will get any in until the first part of February," and estimating the shipping cost at $35. I refrained from ordering at the time.

On 2/19/10, I rechecked their website and found the same bamboo chair mat, now listed at $149.98. The shipping and handling charge was $78.39, over twice what Arlene had estimated. But, since they had discounted the chair mat by 50%, I felt I was still getting a bargain -- so I went ahead and ordered it, paying the $228.37 total via PayPal.

A little over an hour later I received an email from Arlene -- addressed to another person's name -- declaring "an error in pricing. This item was not to be put on special, but somehow it was. Normally this chair mat sells for $399.95, but I listed it for $299.95, therefore it was already marked down. I will however, require another $150.00 before I can order this product. Otherwise I will refund your money." When I rechecked their web page for the chair mat I had just ordered, I found it had reverted to the original price of $299.95.

Shopping around for an alternative, I found the same chair mat on the Sitbetter website, with a list price of $299.95 but with free shipping. So I ordered it from Sitbetter, and the transaction went smoothly, with prompt shipment and delivery.

On 2/22/10 I emailed Arlene Hartung, instructing her to cancel my order from Your Area Rug Outlet and refund my money. She responded on 3/3/10 (nine days later), agreeing to refund my money -- while offering a convoluted argument denying that she had marked up the chair mat by 100% after I had ordered it online from her company."