Not when the tag below clearly shows that the item that is for sale at that price is different to the item on the shelf - most likely because someone has put it in the wrong place!
You are quite right but I still think it may be worth a try!
If the assistent refuses insist on seeing the manager and tell them that you will be back with a trading standards officer if they refuse to sell at the lower price - take a photo of the window display before you start.
I have no idea where you stand legally but it is worth a shot, go for it!
And be prepared to be laughed out of the shop. Like others have said, they don't have to sell you anything at any price.
The OP quite clearly said that the price tag referred to another product.
And be prepared to be laughed out of the shop. Like others have said, they don't have to sell you anything at any price.
The OP quite clearly said that the price tag referred to another product.
You are getting mixed up here, I was referring to the sub plot a couple of posts above regarding Clarke's shoes in which I was trying to suggest that JohnD2000 chance his luck for a bit of sport, this was not directed to the OP - you would have realised this if you had read the quote on my earlier post.
I know that the OP doesn't have a leg to stand on for the reason you note, I've said that in an earlier post too!
Q. I have seen a CD player on sale in a shop that I want to buy. However, when I tried to buy it the manager told me it was the wrong price. Can I make the shop sell it to me at the displayed price?
A. No. You cannot make a trader sell anything to you if they don't want to. In civil law when goods are displayed in a shop, a catalogue or an advertisement, this is called an 'invitation to treat'. This means that it is an invitation for the consumer to make an offer to the shop to buy the goods, and it is up to the shop whether or not they want to accept that offer.
However the shop might have committed a criminal offence. This is because the Consumer Protection Act 1987 says that traders must not display misleading prices. You could report this to Trading Standards who may investigate the matter, however if this was a 'one-off' genuine mistake they would be unlikely to take any action.
Funny how so many people know 'the law' but say different things!:D
For what it's worth, my understanding is that a shop must sell at the price displayed. I, like others, have experienced the till ringing a different price and the shop standing by the label price without a problem.
In this case though the OP, as noted by others, would not have a case because the label described a different product to the one that was on the shelf. There are numerous reasons why the product might not match, other potential customers handling and not putting back in the right place for one.
The law is actually the opposite of what you are saying. The price tag is an invitation to treat, you offer to buy the product for that price and it's up to the shopkeeper to accept the offer or not. The price tag itself is not an offer and is not binding.
The law is actually the opposite of what you are saying. The price tag is an invitation to treat, you offer to buy the product for that price and it's up to the shopkeeper to accept the offer or not. The price tag itself is not an offer and is not binding.
I haven't said what the law is, I must not have expressed myself clearly.
You are quite correct regarding invitation to treat and offer and the rights of the shopkeeper to accept your offer or not.
However, they do have an obligation to clearly indicate the correct pricing details, it is not acceptable to scan the product at the till and say '£100 please sir' when it has £75 on the label.
Below is an extract from the Trading Standards website;
"Where goods are offered for retail sale, the selling price and, where appropriate, the unit price (e.g. 65p per 100 grammes) must be given to consumers in writing (including prices in catalogues, shops and online).
How should price indications be given?
When selling to the general public, all pricing information must be clearly legible, unambiguous, easily identifiable and inclusive of VAT and any additional taxes.
Pricing information must be given close to the product; or with distance contracts (e.g. online or mail order sales) and advertisements, close to a picture or written description of the product. In relation to sales by telephone, price indications must be clearly audible and linked to the subject of the transaction.
Prices can be shown:
on goods themselves;
on a ticket or notice near to the goods; or
grouped together with other prices on a list or catalogue(s) in close proximity to the goods. If counter catalogues are used, there should be sufficient copies for consumers to refer to."
I was once at a DIY shop buying a fair number of items and we were nearly overcharged £20 for a blind because of this, and would have been if an eagle eyed mrs.pww hadn't spotted it.
Right for christ sake, can people just take notice of those who are saying the shop are offering "invitation to treat" etc., the shop DO NOT have to honour the price shown, you are the one (the consumer) initiating the contract.
I can't be bothered to explain it like some people have because there seem to be a lot of people here talking about things they no nothing about.
Thats rather like going to a supermarket and spending £20 on food and going to the check-out only to find that the items are actually £40 because the items are marked up incorrectly. (This is not the customers error)
Worse still - if you have something on credit because you trust the price tag, you wouldn't know until you had the bill for the repayments.
Maybe i should have spoken to the manager and asked for an explanation as to why the item was clearly displayed at £249.99? (with photographic evidence prior to querying this)
I can easily afford the £299.99 - it is the principle that concerns me and the fact that the price was misleading.
Yes Andy it would but you wouldn't be under any obligation to pay it.
Right for christ sake, can people just take notice of those who are saying the shop are offering "invitation to treat" etc., the shop DO NOT have to honour the price shown, you are the one (the consumer) initiating the contract.
I can't be bothered to explain it like some people have because there seem to be a lot of people here talking about things they no nothing about.
I think that we all have the 'invitation to treat', offer and acceptance cleared up now.
However, I fear that you are missing the supplementary point, from my experience when an error like this occurs they do not point this out at the till, they just try to charge whatever the barcode scan says. The purchaser can easily miss this when they are buying several items and this is the point now being made. Trading Standards clearly state that they must accurately display the price. When pointed out by the customer most retailers will stand by the displayed price but one must question how often people pay more for a product than they thought they were.
By the way, how much do you no(sic) about the English language?:D
I think that we all have the 'invitation to treat', offer and acceptance cleared up now.
However, I fear that you are missing the supplementary point, from my experience when an error like this occurs they do not point this out at the till, they just try to charge whatever the barcode scan says. The purchaser can easily miss this when they are buying several items and this is the point now being made. Trading Standards clearly state that they must accurately display the price. When pointed out by the customer most retailers will stand by the displayed price but one must question how often people pay more for a product than they thought they were.
By the way, how much do you no(sic) about the English language?:D
Hi,
I agree with what your saying about trading standards and am not challenging it, the people I was getting annoyed with are those who kept saying "shops have to honour the price shown" - utter rubbish.
Right for christ sake, can people just take notice of those who are saying the shop are offering "invitation to treat" etc., the shop DO NOT have to honour the price shown, you are the one (the consumer) initiating the contract.
I can't be bothered to explain it like some people have because there seem to be a lot of people here talking about things they no nothing about.
Yes I agree. When I used to work in a footwear department and price decreases were done manually i.e. pricing gun on the label we got it wrong the odd time (we're not robots), it used to annoy me no end how people automatically expected to get it at the mistakenly reduced price when they found out the price was dearer. Although the shop often honoured the lower price, people would get on their high horse and bounce in with trading standards talk not knowing that legally they don't have to get it at the mistaken price.
If I was you I would've contested, said you're very upset because you had your eyes on it etc etc and you probably would've got it for the lower price.
Back in January i was intrested in buying a dvd recorder with a built in hard drive.I was in Curry's Digital & they were selling it for £150.Anywhere else i had seen the dvd recorder it was selling for £200.
When the sales advisor scanned the item through the till it came up as £200.After the sales advisor spoke to the manager he came back to tell me that the ticket price was wrong & they couldn't sell me the item.
A few days later i went back into the shop to look at another dvd recorder & they were still displaying the ticket with the wrong price.This time i asked to speak to the manager.I explained to him what had happened before & he told me that they couldn't sell me it at that price.So i said to him "I've just had a great idea why don't you display a ticket with the correct price?" & i walked out the shop.
Retailers have been given far to much power, in my opinion, to rip people off and claim it as "computer error"
It is really easy for shops to delibrately place a fake price on goods to encourage purchase, especially food. If you notice you get a refund.
When banks consider that the customer has taken more than he should have, they are very qucik to issue a £20-£30 "charge" and yet no such power exists for retail customers and overcharging by a shop.
Retailers are a hairs-breadth away from confidence tricksters, I have no sympathy for the likes of Comet/Currys/Millers/etc and some of the supermarket chains.
Some of them are basically getting away with fraud, thanks to the law putting the onus of responsibilty on the customer.
It's always heartening to hear of a major electrical chain getting ripped off by customers. Go for it!
I agree with what your saying about trading standards and am not challenging it, the people I was getting annoyed with are those who kept saying "shops have to honour the price shown" - utter rubbish.
Agreed Chip & Pin and apologies if my last post was a bit harsh, I thought you were having a go at me.:o
Hi. I have a similar situation. I was browsing an online store and I noticed this nice hoodie that I really liked. To my surprise, right under the hoodie it said "Enter Your Price!" As if it wanted me to enter any price (with the exclamation mark). All the items around it had prices, except this one with the phrase I just quoted. So I went through and put some random price (a low price I might add), and the entire order seemed to go through. I received an invoice and order number. I have yet to receive any shipping confirmation. But I was wondering if I have any strong case should the store decide to reject my order. I took photos of the site when it actually said "Enter Your Price." I also read the "Terms and Conditions" (and it was very short), which you had to agree to before buying the item, and nowhere did it mention store error, unlike other online stores I've seen. As of now, it seems they have taken the item down as if it was never there, and I'm still waiting if they will send my item, but I have strong doubts. So do I have any strong claim? thanks for you insight.
Hi. I have a similar situation. I was browsing an online store and I noticed this nice hoodie that I really liked. To my surprise, right under the hoodie it said "Enter Your Price!" As if it wanted me to enter any price (with the exclamation mark). All the items around it had prices, except this one with the phrase I just quoted. So I went through and put some random price (a low price I might add), and the entire order seemed to go through. I received an invoice and order number. I have yet to receive any shipping confirmation. But I was wondering if I have any strong case should the store decide to reject my order. I took photos of the site when it actually said "Enter Your Price." I also read the "Terms and Conditions" (and it was very short), which you had to agree to before buying the item, and nowhere did it mention store error, unlike other online stores I've seen. As of now, it seems they have taken the item down as if it was never there, and I'm still waiting if they will send my item, but I have strong doubts. So do I have any strong claim? thanks for you insight.
This depends upon whether the seller has taken your money, if you have actually paid for the item they have accepted your offer and you now have a contract, they must now supply you with the goods.
Hi. I have a similar situation. I was browsing an online store and I noticed this nice hoodie that I really liked. To my surprise, right under the hoodie it said "Enter Your Price!" As if it wanted me to enter any price (with the exclamation mark). All the items around it had prices, except this one with the phrase I just quoted. So I went through and put some random price (a low price I might add), and the entire order seemed to go through. I received an invoice and order number. I have yet to receive any shipping confirmation. But I was wondering if I have any strong case should the store decide to reject my order. I took photos of the site when it actually said "Enter Your Price." I also read the "Terms and Conditions" (and it was very short), which you had to agree to before buying the item, and nowhere did it mention store error, unlike other online stores I've seen. As of now, it seems they have taken the item down as if it was never there, and I'm still waiting if they will send my item, but I have strong doubts. So do I have any strong claim? thanks for you insight.
Depends on when the store's T+Cs etc state the contract has been accepted.
Usually placing an order online is classed as an "invitation to treat". This legally means that the store is inviting you to make them an offer on the goods. It is then down to the store to accept this offer or not (they don't have to say why if they choose not to) - this is often done online by sending a second email (if they send one to confirm the receipt of order) or when they take payment for the goods.
If they haven't done so they can cancel the order, they are not contractually obliged to accept this. Even if they have taken funds they can rescind the contract by giving you a full refund.
Comments
You are quite right but I still think it may be worth a try!
And be prepared to be laughed out of the shop. Like others have said, they don't have to sell you anything at any price.
The OP quite clearly said that the price tag referred to another product.
You are getting mixed up here, I was referring to the sub plot a couple of posts above regarding Clarke's shoes in which I was trying to suggest that JohnD2000 chance his luck for a bit of sport, this was not directed to the OP - you would have realised this if you had read the quote on my earlier post.
I know that the OP doesn't have a leg to stand on for the reason you note, I've said that in an earlier post too!
http://www.telford.gov.uk/Advice+benefits/Trading+standards/Trading+Standards+FAQs.htm
Q. I have seen a CD player on sale in a shop that I want to buy. However, when I tried to buy it the manager told me it was the wrong price. Can I make the shop sell it to me at the displayed price?
A. No. You cannot make a trader sell anything to you if they don't want to. In civil law when goods are displayed in a shop, a catalogue or an advertisement, this is called an 'invitation to treat'. This means that it is an invitation for the consumer to make an offer to the shop to buy the goods, and it is up to the shop whether or not they want to accept that offer.
However the shop might have committed a criminal offence. This is because the Consumer Protection Act 1987 says that traders must not display misleading prices. You could report this to Trading Standards who may investigate the matter, however if this was a 'one-off' genuine mistake they would be unlikely to take any action.
The law is actually the opposite of what you are saying. The price tag is an invitation to treat, you offer to buy the product for that price and it's up to the shopkeeper to accept the offer or not. The price tag itself is not an offer and is not binding.
I haven't said what the law is, I must not have expressed myself clearly.
You are quite correct regarding invitation to treat and offer and the rights of the shopkeeper to accept your offer or not.
However, they do have an obligation to clearly indicate the correct pricing details, it is not acceptable to scan the product at the till and say '£100 please sir' when it has £75 on the label.
Below is an extract from the Trading Standards website;
"Where goods are offered for retail sale, the selling price and, where appropriate, the unit price (e.g. 65p per 100 grammes) must be given to consumers in writing (including prices in catalogues, shops and online).
How should price indications be given?
When selling to the general public, all pricing information must be clearly legible, unambiguous, easily identifiable and inclusive of VAT and any additional taxes.
Pricing information must be given close to the product; or with distance contracts (e.g. online or mail order sales) and advertisements, close to a picture or written description of the product. In relation to sales by telephone, price indications must be clearly audible and linked to the subject of the transaction.
Prices can be shown:
on goods themselves;
on a ticket or notice near to the goods; or
grouped together with other prices on a list or catalogue(s) in close proximity to the goods. If counter catalogues are used, there should be sufficient copies for consumers to refer to."
I was once at a DIY shop buying a fair number of items and we were nearly overcharged £20 for a blind because of this, and would have been if an eagle eyed mrs.pww hadn't spotted it.
I can't be bothered to explain it like some people have because there seem to be a lot of people here talking about things they no nothing about.
Yes Andy it would but you wouldn't be under any obligation to pay it.
I think that we all have the 'invitation to treat', offer and acceptance cleared up now.
However, I fear that you are missing the supplementary point, from my experience when an error like this occurs they do not point this out at the till, they just try to charge whatever the barcode scan says. The purchaser can easily miss this when they are buying several items and this is the point now being made. Trading Standards clearly state that they must accurately display the price. When pointed out by the customer most retailers will stand by the displayed price but one must question how often people pay more for a product than they thought they were.
By the way, how much do you no(sic) about the English language?:D
Hi,
I agree with what your saying about trading standards and am not challenging it, the people I was getting annoyed with are those who kept saying "shops have to honour the price shown" - utter rubbish.
Yes I agree. When I used to work in a footwear department and price decreases were done manually i.e. pricing gun on the label we got it wrong the odd time (we're not robots), it used to annoy me no end how people automatically expected to get it at the mistakenly reduced price when they found out the price was dearer. Although the shop often honoured the lower price, people would get on their high horse and bounce in with trading standards talk not knowing that legally they don't have to get it at the mistaken price.
If I was you I would've contested, said you're very upset because you had your eyes on it etc etc and you probably would've got it for the lower price.
When the sales advisor scanned the item through the till it came up as £200.After the sales advisor spoke to the manager he came back to tell me that the ticket price was wrong & they couldn't sell me the item.
A few days later i went back into the shop to look at another dvd recorder & they were still displaying the ticket with the wrong price.This time i asked to speak to the manager.I explained to him what had happened before & he told me that they couldn't sell me it at that price.So i said to him "I've just had a great idea why don't you display a ticket with the correct price?" & i walked out the shop.
It is really easy for shops to delibrately place a fake price on goods to encourage purchase, especially food. If you notice you get a refund.
When banks consider that the customer has taken more than he should have, they are very qucik to issue a £20-£30 "charge" and yet no such power exists for retail customers and overcharging by a shop.
Retailers are a hairs-breadth away from confidence tricksters, I have no sympathy for the likes of Comet/Currys/Millers/etc and some of the supermarket chains.
Some of them are basically getting away with fraud, thanks to the law putting the onus of responsibilty on the customer.
It's always heartening to hear of a major electrical chain getting ripped off by customers. Go for it!
Agreed Chip & Pin and apologies if my last post was a bit harsh, I thought you were having a go at me.:o
The small print said "previously on sale at £599.99". I questioned this and offered £499.99. I got the TV for £499.99.
After the purchase I noticed the labels had been removed.
This depends upon whether the seller has taken your money, if you have actually paid for the item they have accepted your offer and you now have a contract, they must now supply you with the goods.
Depends on when the store's T+Cs etc state the contract has been accepted.
Usually placing an order online is classed as an "invitation to treat". This legally means that the store is inviting you to make them an offer on the goods. It is then down to the store to accept this offer or not (they don't have to say why if they choose not to) - this is often done online by sending a second email (if they send one to confirm the receipt of order) or when they take payment for the goods.
If they haven't done so they can cancel the order, they are not contractually obliged to accept this. Even if they have taken funds they can rescind the contract by giving you a full refund.