Online Shopping Price Errors

Wardy97

Hi All,

New to this so you will have to hang in there.

I want to purchase something online which says the price is £0.00 it is clearly a mistake on the website but I want to try and use it as a loop hole. I can “pay” for the items and create an order for the products, but obviously the seller would not want to send the items / let me collect them. There are no terms and conditions of sale on the website so I am a bit lost on what I should do. Part of me wants to notify them of the error, part wants to get something for free

I can pay via their website, Apple Pay, Amex etc. If I should make the order and see what happens which payment gateway should I use? Are there any which I can get advice if stuff hits the fan? Where do I stand from a legal perspective if I want the items?

Thanks in advance.

Many Thanks,
Dale

powerful_Rogue

Wardy97 wrote: »

Hi All,

New to this so you will have to hang in there.

I want to purchase something online which says the price is £0.00 it is clearly a mistake on the website but I want to try and use it as a loop hole. I can “pay” for the items and create an order for the products, but obviously the seller would not want to send the items / let me collect them. There are no terms and conditions of sale on the website so I am a bit lost on what I should do. Part of me wants to notify them of the error, part wants to get something for free

I can pay via their website, Apple Pay, Amex etc. If I should make the order and see what happens which payment gateway should I use? Are there any which I can get advice if stuff hits the fan? Where do I stand from a legal perspective if I want the items?

Thanks in advance.

Many Thanks,
Dale

You won't get the item as its an obivious mistake, otherwise known as a unilateral mistake - so the contract is void.

MB69

Well you can try and see what happens.

The worst that is going to happen is that the retailer is going to email you in the morning and say they can't honor it as the price was wrong. They don't have to sell it to you. Unfortunately this will be written somewhere in their terms and conditions. Probably it is where you create your account, there would have been a terms and conditions.

How much should the item be?

If they don't notice it, they can send it to you. Once you have it, then there is nothing they can do as the contract at that point is complete and you have received the item you paid for.

There has been a few of these hicups in the past where retailers have sent some stuff out and then realised the price was wrong and stopped all future sales, but couldn't do anything for the ones that was delivered.

powerful_Rogue

MB69 wrote: »

Well you can try and see what happens.

The worst that is going to happen is that the retailer is going to email you in the morning and say they can't honor it as the price was wrong. They don't have to sell it to you. Unfortunately this will be written somewhere in their terms and conditions. Probably it is where you create your account, there would have been a terms and conditions.

How much should the item be?

If they don't notice it, they can send it to you. Once you have it, then there is nothing they can do as the contract at that point is complete and you have received the item you paid for.

There has been a few of these hicups in the past where retailers have sent some stuff out and then realised the price was wrong and stopped all future sales, but couldn't do anything for the ones that was delivered.

Again, this is incorrect advice. Please MB69, this is the 2nd thread you have given out incorrect advice.

If they notice after, then the contract is still void as its a unilateral mistake. Especially as the OP knows its a pricing error and who wouldn't with it being priced at £0.

They have 6 years to chase you for the money, or for you to return the item usused.

MB69

i bought an item from an online shop. They had a offer on and reduced prices by about 50% on some camping equipment. So bought myself a tent at the cost of £500 where normally it was £1000.

I paid for it, and asked for standard delivery which meant a 3-5 day delivery. However by the time they came to pick my item 3 days later, the item wasn't in stock anymore and the retailer cancelled my sale. According to their terms and conditions, there was no contract formed until the item actually left their warehouse. By just purchasing online and paying, it didn't mean I had a contract! I was fuming!

shaun_from_Africa

MB69 wrote: »

If they don't notice it, they can send it to you. Once you have it, then there is nothing they can do as the contract at that point is complete and you have received the item you paid for.

There has been a few of these hicups in the past where retailers have sent some stuff out and then realised the price was wrong and stopped all future sales, but couldn't do anything for the ones that was delivered.

Totally incorrect.
If a mistake has been made and one party to the contract is or should have been aware of the error then the contract can be voided and treated as if it never existed.
In law, this is known as a unilateral error.

If this is the case then the person benefitting from the error could be held liable for losses incurred by the other parties involved.

https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/7-107-6849?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true&comp=pluk&bhcp=1

MB69

****
Your legal rights depend on something fairly tricky in the law: whether or not you have a !!!8216;contract!!!8217;.

Depending on the company!!!8217;s terms and conditions, you!!!8217;ll have legal rights (and a contract) either:

once you!!!8217;ve paid for the item
once they!!!8217;ve sent it to you
You!!!8217;ll need to find the company!!!8217;s terms and conditions to find out where you stand. Contact the Citizens Advice consumer helpline if you need help. It may be too tricky to work out yourself.

If you have a contract, the company can!!!8217;t usually cancel your order, even if they realise they!!!8217;ve sold you something at the wrong price. They!!!8217;ll only be able to cancel it if it was a genuine and honest mistake on their part that you should!!!8217;ve noticed.
****

The unilateral part you refer to, maybe the buyer didn't realise it was listed as £0.0 Due to his bad eye sight he thought it had said £100 and the fact he was taken through the credit card verification, then he thought this is what it was.

Buy it and see what happens. I reckon you wouldn't get it as they do have things in place to check for in-accuracies at the check out.

powerful_Rogue

MB69 wrote: »

****
Your legal rights depend on something fairly tricky in the law: whether or not you have a !!!8216;contract!!!8217;.

Depending on the company!!!8217;s terms and conditions, you!!!8217;ll have legal rights (and a contract) either:

once you!!!8217;ve paid for the item
once they!!!8217;ve sent it to you
You!!!8217;ll need to find the company!!!8217;s terms and conditions to find out where you stand. Contact the Citizens Advice consumer helpline if you need help. It may be too tricky to work out yourself.

If you have a contract, the company can!!!8217;t usually cancel your order, even if they realise they!!!8217;ve sold you something at the wrong price. They!!!8217;ll only be able to cancel it if it was a genuine and honest mistake on their part that you should!!!8217;ve noticed.
****

The unilateral part you refer to, maybe the buyer didn't realise it was listed as £0.0 Due to his bad eye sight he thought it had said £100 and the fact he was taken through the credit card verification, then he thought this is what it was.

Buy it and see what happens. I reckon you wouldn't get it as they do have things in place to check for in-accuracies at the check out.

Nonsense. If you're going to quote, please provide the link.

By all means go for it OP, but they have upto 6 years to chase you for the payment or for you to return the goods unused. Is it really worth it?


Here's some useful reading - https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/unilateral-mistakes-in-a-contract.html

shaun_from_Africa

MB69 wrote: »

The unilateral part you refer to, maybe the buyer didn't realise it was listed as £0.0 Due to his bad eye sight he thought it had said £100 and the fact he was taken through the credit card verification, then he thought this is what it was

So are you suggesting that the buyer lies and commits fraud?

Wardy97 wrote: »

I want to purchase something online which says the price is £0.00 it is clearly a mistake on the website but I want to try and use it as a loop hole.

You can post "maybe" and "might" all you like but this doesn't change the fact that you were giving incorrect info when you stated that once the goods were delivered then there was nothing that the seller could do.

LadyDee

How can you pay £0.00? Surely you would be asked to enter a valid figure - even if that was £0.01 the system probably couldn't accept it as it wouldn't match the amount owing.

pmduk

LadyDee wrote: »

How can you pay £0.00? Surely you would be asked to enter a valid figure - even if that was £0.01 the system probably couldn't accept it as it wouldn't match the amount owing.

Off-topic perhaps, but Amazon regularly give ebooks away, you still have to go through the purchase procedure with the price at £0.00 so it can be done.