555-Shaggy

If you see something for sale on-line with a value of say £250, but it is listed with a price of only £5, are they legally obliged to sell it to you at £5 or can they charge your credit card for the 'real' value?

Where do you stand legally as a buyer in this case?

Quick responses would be aprreciated also with defining law cases if appropriate..

lightning101

I think the "we retain the right to change this price without notice" might cover them, and this is a popular on-line ploy in case they make mistakes in listing

davegtt

Again, there is a good thread with solid information rather than guesses somewhere on here.

AFAIK though they are legally allowed to say it was an error and not send you the stuff for £5. I dont know where you stand once youve paid £5 and recieved the goods though.

WHEELSHOP0_0

If you buy it and are charged the full amount are you entitled to a refund as "it is not as advertised"?

Baby Scuff

The offer price is an 'invitation to treat', they are not obliged to sell it to you for that amount as you then make an offer for that amount and cannot debit you card for the full amount as you have not agreed so as a contract. There was a case with (Argos?!) that offered a telly for a lower value and they did honour the price rarther then upset people.

More importantly, what have you found? post a link for all to see

555-Shaggy

Ok, from their terms and conditions:

· Should a product be listed with an incorrect price, either due to a typographical error or as a result of an error in pricing information given to us by either a manufacturer or supplier, we have the right to refuse or cancel the order. We will inform you of this error and offer you the option to cancel the order. Should your credit card have been debited before the error has been noted we will imediately refund the full amount.

Looks like I place the order and if it arrives it does and if not or they call me, I can cancel when they tell me the real price and I've lost nothing.. worth the risk in my opinion...

PaulC72

some places, larger stores etc will usually honour the mistake based on customer relations etc, not getting bad press blah blah.

555-Shaggy

I hope these do.. the order is in and I've received the confirmation e-mail - all good so far.. just sit tight and see now...

Baby Scuff

I assume you ordered from dvd players, dvd recorders, plasma televisions, digital camcorders LCD televisions and home cinema systems at the best prices then?

BlkKnight

few different possibilities:

Advertising at lower price to get additional web traffic = bad. Trade descriptions etc (repeat offenders DELL for example)

Advertising at lower price and charging full amount = lots of different areas, theft being one of them. Lots of trouble if they do this.

Advertising at lower price and informing you of error BEFORE they take your money (at the full price) - allowed, correct thing to do.

Advertising at lower price, taking your money (at the low price) - contract has been agreed - they have to fulfil.

Advertising at lower price and cancelling order BEFORE money has been taken - Allowed correct thing to do.


However. . . .

There is nothing to stop them selling you the product at a lower price and being permernantly out of stock. . . . and offering you a full refund at a later date.

Geezer

Certainly in shops, if a good has a marked price, then the shop is legally obliged to sell that item at that price, or withdraw it from sale. It my not charge more than that.

I'm not sure how that works on the internet though.

Me Bro is a trading standards officer, I could ask him if you're really that bothered.

Geezer

SteveScooby

iTrader: (2)

No they don't

mad_dr

-cough- iPod? -cough-

555-Shaggy

Close, you are on the right lines at least, but I have not ordered from them..

Nope, but where can I cheap one from?

555-Shaggy

Is this correct? If I get a confirmation e-mail and paid by VISA when have they actually taken the money?

555-Shaggy

Could you please mate?

I placed an order for the goods this afternoon and have a confirmation e-mail to say the order has been placed and I paid via VISA. At what point do they take the money and under what circumstances do they 'have' to supply at the advertised price - if at all? Cheers.

mad_dr

Most places will protect themselves in their terms and conditions to say that the contract is only formed at the point at which they ship the goods out to you. Legally, at any point up to then, they have every right to decline your order and cancel it. If they get to the point at which they send the goods out to you, they must do so for the price you agreed to: they can't just realise their mistake and charge you! They would have to highlight the error to you and ask if you wish to proceed with the new costs.

If you receive the goods, the contract is fulfilled. Providing you have an invoice for the amount you want to pay, you got away with it!

A couple of weeks ago, Carphone warehouse were advertising several of their iPod models (including the 60gb Video versions and 2gb Nano versions) for £0.00. They were all listed as in stock and several of us placed orders! They were well protected with their Ts and Cs and could have cancelled the orders at any time, quoting the invitation to treat law, but a couple of days later, my friend received her iPod and invoice for "£0.00 your order is complete"! :O

About 6 of us have orders that are still listed as "Order Received" but I'm not holiding out much hope of receiving it. Having said that, last week (2 weeks after the orders were placed) another friend received his!

Fingers still crossed!

The Argos story was a load of TV/DVD players which should have been £350 but were advertised at 49p. Someone must have smelled a rat when a student popped online and ordered 80 of them! Story here: Argos pulls 49p TV deal | The Register

AudiHater

I thought once they had taken the money they had entered into a legally binding contract.

555-Shaggy

That is what I thought and I'm hoping they charged my card at the point where I placed the order.

mad_dr

Providing you agree to Terms and Conditions, they can really dictate when the contract is formed. They can refund you at any point up until they ship the goods and most people don't charge you until the goods are about to be shipped anyway.

I hope you get lucky and it arrives!

555-Shaggy

Well, they have taken the money off teh card - just spoken to the credit card company - does this mean that they now have to fulfil the order?

Maz

iTrader: (34)

Memories of the law lectures are coming flooding back!

Maz

iTrader: (34)

Agree with above. It is the distinction between invitation to treat and offer for sale. The only situation where you are actually taking up an offer for sale is in an auction. Note the auctioneer is offering an item for sale at a certain price you decide wether to accept or leave. In a shop you are offering money for an item it is up to the shop/person to accept or decline.