TheMekon

I stumbled accross a website selling some sony pc speakers for 1p, and it was displayed by their "real-time" stock system, that there were 16 in stock.

I placed an order, and received confirmation from their 3rd party payment verification system that my order had been accepted.

Today, I receive an email stating there was a problem with the pricing on their site, and then another mail stating that they were in fact out of stock!! They say my payment has been voided.

Do I have any rights to demand the goods, or an alternative same pecification model?

Cheers

tillboy

Generally speaking, in contract law terms, a retailer does not have to sell an item at the marked price. For there to be a binding contract there has to be an offer which has been accepted. In the context of sale of goods, the offer is made by the customer when he/she presents the goods at the payment point (ie the customer offers to buy the goods at the marked price).

The till operator is then free to accept, or reject, that offer. This means that if a till operator spots that goods have been mispriced, he/she can reject a customer's offer to buy at the incorrect price, and offer the customer the chance to buy at the correct price.

The customer may decline or accept that offer as he/she chooses. Inevitably, retailers will make the odd mistake over pricing, but if you become aware that a certain retailer makes a regular habit of doing it, we suggest you report the retailer to the Trading Standards department of your local authority. In certain circumstances misleading pricing will amount to a criminal offence, and Trading Standards departments have the authority to investigate, and, if appropriate, prosecute.

I think the same applies to mail order, until they take your money you have not entered into a contract to buy the goods and therefore the offer (whether correct or not can be withdrawn)

Hope that helps

oli_wal

From what I got from GCSE law (as far as I went so don't take this as 'law')...

Advertising something at a price is just an 'invitation to treat'. The price shown in the shop window, or online in this case, would be the price that the shop owner would 'usually' let the product go for. Such as normal shopping works, you see the price and can buy it for that price.
Just because something is advertised at a set price doesn't mean you can't haggle it down or that the shop owner can't demand more. It's just very rarely done.

It would be up to the shop whether they honoured that price.
I think Dell did this a month or so ago where they mispriced some laptops. They honoured these though, I guess for the PR.

That's what I kinda got from that year at school and I'm pretty sure I'm right

Does the site have a discalimer or anything as well? Some do to cover themselves for misprints and incorrect stock counts.

Hope that helps even though it's probably not what you wanted to hear.
If in doubt, kick up a fuss, send them a nasty but not abbusive letter, register 'www.ShopNameSucks.com' and send them an email from it, or whatever...
Not that that's the sort of thing I'd do...

Oli Wal

oli_wal

Pants

Better put and beat me by a whisker.
If I held a grudge...

www.tillboysucks.com being registered...
registration in progress...

just kiddin'

Nice explanation tillboy.

tillboy

Not my own words though... fully plagerised from a trading standards website so you win for originality

The old E&OE (errors and ommisions excepted) is usually their get out of jail free card and also they can always say (as they have in this case) that they are out of stock.

Also I believe there is a legal implication whereby if you buy something knowingly that is mispriced something along the lines of illegal enrichment though I also believe this is a very grey area.

So like oli_wal says kick up a stink threaten bad publicity etc. you have nothing to lose... (while we're getting all legal, just make sure you state the facts, don't want them sueing for libel!!!)

welshdaffodil

You could also try Consumer Direct, they are brilliant, just tell them your dilemma and they will find out the right course of action. Government run and free of charge information.
visit their website for phone numbers etc http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/