PlayStation 3 Advert in Daily Mirror, 6.11.08

sam.c_2

Hi

My son wants to buy a PlayStation 3 (has been saving money for ages). On the 6th November I saw an Argos advert in the Mirror - PS3 with 2 free games & Mega Accessory Pack for £229.97, available until 11th November. Bargain!

Tried to phone & reserve the next morning - the 2 special codes mentioned in the ad I entered were not accepted, although it does state at the bottom that offers may not be available over the phone or on the 'net.

So I went to my local store. The assistant entered the special codes into her till - not accepted. She then entered the four separate codes (for the console, two games and mega pack) mentioned in the ad - price came up as £299-something, at least £70 more than stated in the ad.

The assistant got the store manager who checked on his computer - he came back to me, apologised and said that the advert had the wrong price in it, and that there was nothing he could do. Came home disappointed.

Then I got thinking - surely this was false advertising? So I got on to Customer Services but the lovely lady there also said that the price had been printed in error and that legally they were not obliged to sell the PS3 to me at that price.

So I got on to the Trading Standards phone line - lovely bloke said that as they had not legally entered into a contract with me at the price advertised, there was not a lot they could do either.

Grrrrr :mad: Had anybody else had an experience similar to this??

Is it fair that Argos (or anybody else) can advertise at a particular price and then claim it was done "in error"?

Pound

Yes it's fair, people make mistakes. Is it fair that Argos loses money because of a mistake?

If it was intentional (which it isn't) there might be a case for prosecution but it doesn't mean people should be able to exploit it for their own gain.

moneypooh

To be honest the £299.97 was still an absolutely cracking deal at the time so not that unfair.;)

Colliefrog

I agree with moneypooh... the console is £299.97 on it's own!
I bought one about 4 weeks ago, paid £360 for a package and a few days later the new packages came out at £299. Was gutted and couldn't do anything about it even though I work there!