Olympus E-1 Digital SLR - £98.70 (Apple Education Store) [CLOSED]

lellie

Thirdfox wrote:

Sorry to butt in, I'm a student lawyer in Ireland (where the same deal existed).

Legally I find good grounds for us to get the camera.

Also I have already been offered 15% off student special deals on cameras... do not accept anything less than that.

You can see our forum at:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=50634567#post50634567

*edit* oh I've written to Watchdog too. Good luck with your campaign!

but their cameras are at least 15% over priced anyway

halenger

lellie wrote:

but their cameras are at least 15% over priced anyway

That's not true. At least not in the Irish shop. I haven't found anywhere that sold the E-1 for less than 1,000 euro and I haven't found anywhere that sells the Nikon D50 for 718 euro (with a 1GB card) - pixmania are about the same price when you take shipping into account (and no 1GB card). I've checked other sites around Europe (Germany in particular) and I haven't been able to best Apples D50 offer. If you know where to get it for less, please do tell me.

About 50% of their cameras and things like that they sell so close to the margin that they don't give their staff any discount on.

g10_2

I for one won't accept anything less than 83.5% off their non-education price of £599 for an Olympus E1...

harryc_3

welcome to those from ireland , your thoughts on this matter are very welcome

Thirdfox

lellie wrote:

but their cameras are at least 15% over priced anyway

lol, do you guys have the Nikon D50 student deal? It appears to be reasonable value for money and with an extra 15% off people may be satisfied with the offer.

But I for one, am not (as I really am a poor student lol) So I'm in the law library right now looking up ways to ensure that we can claim damages for misrepresentation.

Try the phrase "loss of bargain through misrepresentation" to scare them a bit!

LB1985

OK - just had a call back from Consumer Direct, part of the Dept of Trade and Industry

The lady consulted a legal advisor who said based on my facts, yes Apple entered into a contract with me and that I could take them to court. However, she pointed out if the case went to court, Apple would claim to have made a mistake, and that it really wouldn't be worth it for the amounts involved.

I told her I agreed (I don't plan on taking them to court, I couldn't afford it even if I wanted to!) but told her I was writing to them to express my dissatisfaction of their handling of the situation and regarding a gesture of goodwill.

Thirdfox

Contracts can be entered into even when one party has made a mistake.

Do you guys in England not have a "Small Claims Court" where smaller cases are handled (and without the need for lawyers)? In Ireland the cost is €9 (about £4) to take them to court. And as a poor student, if I lose I won't be able to pay their legal costs!

so do you think it'll cost them more to fight a legal battle into (maybe) the high court, or just give me the damn camera! And all the while, I'm getting free experience of contract law

chrisstevens

Has everyone recieved a refund ok? I actually decided to cancel mine before apple did but I still have £98 pending authorisation on my credit card?

deary65

LB1985 wrote:

OK - just had a call back from Consumer Direct, part of the Dept of Trade and Industry

The lady consulted a legal advisor who said based on my facts, yes Apple entered into a contract with me and that I could take them to court. However, she pointed out if the case went to court, Apple would claim to have made a mistake, and that it really wouldn't be worth it for the amounts involved.

I told her I agreed (I don't plan on taking them to court, I couldn't afford it even if I wanted to!) but told her I was writing to them to express my dissatisfaction of their handling of the situation and regarding a gesture of goodwill.

I should get back to the legal advisor: mistake has to be mutual in order to have any legal effect.And there is nothing mutual about this deal save only a valid contract in which they are in anticipatory breach.

The action as i see it would be loss of bargain, being offered to students who are "ipso facto" living on the bread line and would see this as a genuine offer
and a legitimate exspectation that the contract would be honoured.

Thirdfox

and under loss of bargain playing the "out of stock" card may not fly as we can order from another company and Apple will re-imburse us for the difference.

I'll be using the "loss of bargain through misrepresentation" card to try and cover all bases (both mispricing and stock issues).

Deary65, are you a lawyer too?