Initial answer from Macy's and my response

Hi all,

I received this response from Macy's - which frankly is c--p. I have include my inital question and my response. Let's see if they get back to me.

 

Original Message Follows:

------------------------

Comment: Hi, I haven’t ordered but want to. I have a question. Why are your products so much more for Australians that American? I started dress shopping and when I chose the dress the price changed from US$79 to AUS $95.20 which is $16 more which is almost 20% more. This happened with every item I chose. The dress for US$79 is One World Plus Size Dress, Sleeveless Sublimated-Print Maxi.

I would appreciate an explanation.

Thank you.

 Web ID: 686486

Dear Bea Jay

Thank you for your interest in macys.com.

Please accept my personal apology for any inconvenience that you may have experienced due to the delay in our responding to your original e-mail. We wish to make sure that all inquiries receive the attention they require.

I am sorry for the inconvenience and confusion. We have only recently begun our international order service. We have chosen for our international partner, FiftyOne, which is a service that is experienced in international transactions and uses DHL as their shipper. FiftyOne takes care of the exchange currency and the shipping of our package to international customers.  At the time of your purchase, the exchange rate may have been different then the current exchange rate. FiftyOne access the exchange rate for your order at the time of its placement and processes the final amount of your order.

If you have any further questions, please email us at internationalcustomerservice@macys.com or contact us directly through Chat at https://www.macys.com/chat.ognc?Chat=IShip&cm_sp= on our website.  Chat hours are Monday through Friday 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM EST, Saturday 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM EST and Sunday 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM Eastern standard time.

Thank you,

Kandiss Benton

Internet Customer Service

http://www.macys.com

My response

I am sorry but this answer does not fly. The Australian / USA exchange rate has been either on par or AUS dollar slightly above since the Financial Crisis hit. To have approx 20% difference between USA price and AUS price is a rip off and actually discriminates against Australians.

 I can understand the increased shipping charges but not the item charge.

Please see pictures below from Macy's own website. The first picture is as the webpage is loading clearly showing one price and then a massive increase in price in AUS dollars once the page has loaded. I just checked now and the prices are the same as when I took these screenshots yesterday so has nothing to do with exchange rate.

Here is the current exchange rate as of this minute – as you can see the AUS dollar is higher than the US dollar.

 (Inserted screen capture of currency converter)

Here the page is loading – showing $79.00

(Inserted screen capture of website)

Here is the price once the page loads

(Inserted screen capture of website)

When I saw this I blogged about it and received information from my American blog members that indeed it is $79 in the US plus the appropriate tax. As an international shopper I do not pay tax in the USA.

I have also received comments on my blog that the price escalates too for Canada and New Zealand.

I see this as a serious breach of Anti Discrimination laws and would like a honest answer to this.

Regards