Miss Prices

[mikeuk2004]

HI,

 

I recently seen a miss price on a website and took the chance and made an order. As far as i understand it if they take payment and taken money off me then they have to honour this.

 

Is this correct? is this covered under contract law? The retailer is currently making a refund saying their supplier is at fault with the miss price on their website and therefore their supplier wont honor the price.

 

Cheers

[blitz]

Once an order has been accepted (which is usually when payment has been taken, however check the terms and conditions you agreed to) then a contract has been made which is governed by the statute of the Sales of Goods Act 1979 (As Amended), which will require the retailer to fulfil there side of the contract.

 

If it turns out the retailer has accepted and a contract does exist remind the company that they are obliged to fulfil the order regardless of who's the error was.

 

In short, and as a reply it would depend on the T+C for when an order is deemed as accepted

[mikeuk2004]

They state this in their terms and conditions.

 

"If an error is discovered in the price of the item(s) you have ordered, we will inform you and issue a full refund as soon as possible. We shall be under no obligation to fulfil an order for an item which was advertised at an incorrect price, if the item(s) has been charged and not despatched we will cancel and refund your order."

 

But I would have thought that this doent matter if they take payment. I remeber seeing an episode on BBC "Dont Get Scammed" about miss price.

[mikeuk2004]

this is what im talking about, they siad its a miss price but still have it advertised at the miss price.

 

DIRTY HARRY COLLECTION | CD WOW! UK

 

Also when I ordered yesterday it was £3.49, now its £2.49 lol

[Bookworm]

It also says "unavailable to purchase at this time". ;-)

 

Most Internet retailers specify that the contract is only completed on dispatch of the goods, not on taking of the money. In your case, they have made it very clear that the contract is not formed yet and that they can cancel, and you agreed to this, so they are completely within their rights.

[mikeuk2004]

But surley their terms and conditions can not overide the Sale of Goods Act. Isnt that they whole point of the act?

[Bookworm]

They can't and these don't, they are perfectly within the terms of SOGA.

 

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1979/pdf/ukpga_19790054_en.pdf

 

Part II - 2 (1), 2 (3), 2 (5) and 2 (6).

 

The terms of sale are that they will sell you goods at a certain price, and that they reserve the right to cancel and refund should they realise their pricing mistake before dispatch, and you agreed to that when you placed the order.

 

Sorry, but you are not going to get the set at that price, no matter how. ;-)

[blitz]

A contract is made under the SGA when an offer is made and then accepted by the other party. Advertising goods does not constitute an offer however is called an invitation to treat. As such for a contract to be formed you need to make an offer (which you do by 'buying' the goods online) this offer then needs to be accepted by the retailer.

 

Acceptance of an offer can be outlined, and usually is for online retailers as a term of sale. This is not overriding your statutory rights, and neither is it an unfair term.

 

When purchasing in a shop, especially in the example outlined on the show the offer of purchase is accepted at the point of sale, the contract is only formed and enforceable after acceptance which unless otherwise stated would be on acceptance of the money. (It is stated otherwise online).

 

If you have a look at one of the other episodes, one of the quick questions they ask is regarding the legality of a Bus Company having to accept certain cash. It came out that the Bus Company are a private service company and as such could set there own terms of sale for the service they provide (So can accept whatever payment they feel like). The rest is a whole other issue, but anyway that's the basis of the contract law for you