A fascinating fact that is wrong

10 ball

New member
Offer to buy

False Fact: If someone wrongly advertises goods for the wrong price, they have to sell it to you at that price
This is a very popular misconception and I have even seen people arguing about it in a shop. But the reality is a little more bland. A shop price is an “invitation to bargain” not an “invitation to buy”.
This is true in the United States, United Kingdom, Commonwealth nations, and probably the rest of the Western world. If a shop makes a mistake, they can simply continue to sell the goods at the normal price.
Attempts to defraud by advertising lower prices are caught in other consumer laws. However, it should be noted that if an electronic transaction is completed you may be eligible to keep the goods if a mistake is made.

I only found this out today ! :shock:
 

slah

New member
I can´t speak to the laws in the rest of the western world, but in Denmark an advertised price IS the price that the shopkeeper has to sell at. a labelled price is an offer, and not an invitation to make an offer.

UNLESS both parties are (or should be) aware that the price is a mistake (unusual low price and such).
 

PegaZus

Stealth Freak
However, it should be noted that if an electronic transaction is completed you may be eligible to keep the goods if a mistake is made.
Seen that one in action. Coworker and his girlfriend picked up $99 round-trip tickets and 2 night hotel stay, from Los Angeles to Fiji. Then it got even better when they got there. The hotel they checked into asked if they were married. They weren't, but wanted to know why. They'd had a wedding scheduled with the cake, buffet, priest all ready to go, but the couple backed out, so rather than letting it all go to waste, they were trying to find somebody that wouldn't mind getting married.

They took the offer.
 

Spoontoes

New member
Seen that one in action. Coworker and his girlfriend picked up $99 round-trip tickets and 2 night hotel stay, from Los Angeles to Fiji. Then it got even better when they got there. The hotel they checked into asked if they were married. They weren't, but wanted to know why. They'd had a wedding scheduled with the cake, buffet, priest all ready to go, but the couple backed out, so rather than letting it all go to waste, they were trying to find somebody that wouldn't mind getting married.

They took the offer.


hahahaha that's pure magic, brilliant!
 

cyberakuma

New member
Offer to buy

False Fact: If someone wrongly advertises goods for the wrong price, they have to sell it to you at that price
This is a very popular misconception and I have even seen people arguing about it in a shop. But the reality is a little more bland. A shop price is an “invitation to bargain” not an “invitation to buy”.
This is true in the United States, United Kingdom, Commonwealth nations, and probably the rest of the Western world. If a shop makes a mistake, they can simply continue to sell the goods at the normal price.
Attempts to defraud by advertising lower prices are caught in other consumer laws. However, it should be noted that if an electronic transaction is completed you may be eligible to keep the goods if a mistake is made.

I only found this out today ! :shock:

very true but with every rule there is a contradiction and in the u.k. one of them is proving that the price is not a mistake i.e. if the customer can find more copies in the store labelled at the wrong price they are perfectly entitled to buy it at said price as the store can't pass it off as a mistake "one or two copies must have been put out at the wrong price"

I had this happen in a shop I worked in they regularly changed prices on stock on a daily basis which meant after the shop stopped serving I spent ages re-stickering products but on occassions items did get missed and in some instances it was left on the shelf at a former sale price when it should be full price in most cases if anyone argued they had to be sold at that price we just said about that not being a trade rule rather a policy of a few stores and the particular policy of the store was that if it was brought to the counter at the wrong price and they weren't happy paying the proper price it was to be taken off the shelf for 24 hours for re-pricing

one such customer wasn't happy about this and called the head office who read her the same line i did but as they'd mentioned about there being numerous copies of it at the wrong price as well as the right price it could be considered false advertising rather than just a simple mistake so I had to sell the customer the product at the former reduced price
 

RuneBrush

New member
There always used to be a law in the UK where shops weren't allowed to re-price whilst the store was open, but I'm guessing that somewhere along the way that's been changed :)
 

yxalitis

New member
Seen that one in action. Coworker and his girlfriend picked up $99 round-trip tickets and 2 night hotel stay, from Los Angeles to Fiji. Then it got even better when they got there. The hotel they checked into asked if they were married. They weren't, but wanted to know why. They'd had a wedding scheduled with the cake, buffet, priest all ready to go, but the couple backed out, so rather than letting it all go to waste, they were trying to find somebody that wouldn't mind getting married.

They took the offer.

I reckon it was a setup to get his girlfriend to marry him, all planned out, and paid in advance, then sprung on her so she was swept up in the momnet....
 
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