Nerdy Note: Mispriced beans

laurenced

Not sure why the word contract is in single quotes in the email, because a contract is exactly what it is (or will become)...

christopherlondon

Curious the interest in this topic - if a shop displays something at a price and continues to display it at the same price after the error has been pointed out theoretically you can demand to pay that price and if they don't they would be committing a trading standards offence.

However, and there is always a however, the shop cannot be forced to sell you any item (its just a business not a court of law for g**s sake) so it is acedemic as all they have to do is withdraw the items from sale.

Now I have tested this in Boots and did get the lower price as I gave the manager the choice of selling me the item at the incorrect lower price or withdrawing the entire shelf of stock immediately rather than risk the Trading Standard complaint.

As the amount saved was only £12 I guess the manager decided it was easier to let me have the item at the displayed incorrect price than have to get someone to withdraw the entire shelf from sale then have to put it all back at the correct price. ( I was going to make them do that as an alternative to a Trading Standards complaint - what a b****rd you may say but I was having a bad day and felt I had been tricked into buying something that seemed to be at a bargain price only to be told after queuing for 10 minutes at the till the price was £12 higher) - I think therapy is really helping now)

So the bottom line is if it is an error you cannot force them to sell to you at an incorrect price but sometimes you can talk your way into getting it but it may be that you need to get out more if it is only for a couple of quid!! (It took me about 15 minutes of discussion to save £12 - sad aren't I!!)

Nurse, can you take be back to my therapy group now!!

peedy-wessex

laurenced wrote: »

Not sure why the word contract is in single quotes in the email, because a contract is exactly what it is (or will become)...

Actually it was double quotes. Does this make a difference?

peedy-wessex

actually it was double quotes - does this make a difference?

dinesh17

My understanding, having worked for a high street jeweller which was notorious for mispricing (unintentionally mind, the items were so small it was easy to get mixed up!), is that an item is an Invitiation to Treat whilst on display. This means you can make an offer for an item, regardless of the price it is on display for and the retailer is not obliged to accept.
This changes, however, once the salesperson begins entering the item into the till as it means the company has accepted your offer (which is obviously the price you see on display). If the till then says the price is x instead of y, the retailer still has to accept your offer and cannot back out.
Another caveat to this was if the difference was greater than 30%, the retailer could back out and take the items off display for 24 hours.
If the retailer realises the item is wrongly priced before entering it into the till, they can withdraw from sale for 24 hours and dont have to honour the price.
These rules applied in 2000, not sure if things have changed now.

asea

I'm not sure that the original post will make any difference to the dishonest opportunists on here who hunt out misprices to make a quick buck at the expense of retailers!

Notareargunner

christopherlondon wrote: »

Curious the interest in this topic -
The big problem most people have is that they do not realise that a simple transaction of buying from a shop is an essential part of contract law. The legal words, invitation to treat, consideration etc. are common used actions whereby the two parties are undergoing what ancient history understand within the Law.
What Martin Lewis and other TV pundits have been trying to explain is that just because a shopkeeper puts up a price, that price is a given. We have lost the art of haggling and an old fashioned hand shake is still a man's word amongst some communities in this country.
There are many cases of shopkeepers, having made a mistake, being willing to withstand that loss on the odd occasion. Too many contributers do not recognise the good will gesture of decent shopkeepers for the almost malicious, fraudulent activity of a greedy shopper.:beer:

Escaped_teacher

I work for M&S and our policy is to always honour whatever price is on an item, whether it is correct or not.

hollydays

Escaped_teacher wrote: »

I work for M&S and our policy is to always honour whatever price is on an item, whether it is correct or not.

..I think not..

Gukophoto

So, based on the first post..

They do not have to honour the price, until you have purchased the item, because no contract has been formed.
What happens if you do buy the item, and then take it to customer services etc. It is advetised at one price on the shelves and you have bought it on the pretence of this, however you have not noticed the price slip during your shopping... Now you have a contract with the seller, and they have now charged you a higher price than is advertised?

Alex