Pro Bike Kit Error
I had an offers email from ProBike Kit last week with Dura Ace Calipers advertised at £15.96.
Obviously I thought this was a bargain but on the site they were £107.98.
I have contacted the company but they are just saying it was a mistake. Quite so, but that doesn't change anything.
They obviously have no care for the moral issue, but legally, where would I stand. Surely once they advertise something for a price they have to sell it for that price don't they?
Obviously I thought this was a bargain but on the site they were £107.98.
I have contacted the company but they are just saying it was a mistake. Quite so, but that doesn't change anything.
They obviously have no care for the moral issue, but legally, where would I stand. Surely once they advertise something for a price they have to sell it for that price don't they?
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Surely once they advertise something for a price they have to sell it for that price don't they?
No they don't....
Can't I insist that a shop sells me something at the marked price - even though they may have made a mistake?
No. This is where a lot of people get confused about their rights. Shops are not legally obliged to sell customers anything but most are happy to serve you because that's why they're in business. If they choose not to there isn't much you can do about it unless they discriminate against you because of your race, religion or sex. That is illegal.0 -
No. A shop advertisment made by a shop is only an 'invitation to treat', not a formal offer.mackdaddy wrote:Surely once they advertise something for a price they have to sell it for that price don't they?
To conclude a contract, you need offer and acceptance. Given the characterisation of the advertsiment as an invitation to treat, you are missing a fundamental element (the offer).
It makes good sense: it protects shops from printer's errors/typogrraphical mistakes and also confirms their rights to refuse service to unruly customers, under 16s trying to buy knives etc.0 -
Ah well. Never mind. Would've been a hell of a bargain!!!
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I was just going to add that. To say that the shop is lacking in morals is just wrong. They made an honest mistake and in no way are they gaining from it. You shouldn't really try and gain from that mistake, it's not like you have lost out on anything from it.0
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Morally was a bit strong I guess, should have been ethically.
Obviously, as with Hudster and aracer, if I bought something and I was charged below the price advertised, I would immediately return it and pay the extra. Everyone hates a bargain and wouldn't want to take advantage.
Lighten up. Most customer service led companies I work with would have taken the mistake on the chin and made some kind of concession (and then obviously immediately reduced the stock to zero to stop the problem quickly before restocking at the proper price!!)0 -
Then most the the customer service-led companies you work with are poorly advised...mackdaddy wrote:Most customer service led companies I work with would have taken the mistake on the chin and made some kind of concession (and then obviously immediately reduced the stock to zero to stop the problem quickly before restocking at the proper price!!)0 -
They tend to work on the principle that it costs 5 times more to regain a customer than to retain a customer, Nuggs.
Really good customer service can turn a negative into a positive and a mistake into a bond with the customer.
I'm not saying that is necessary in my case, as I am just a chancer who deserves to be given the brush off but they don't know that. It could have been the precursor to a shiny new bike. Loss could outweigh the gain. If they knew how much I spent over the course of the year, they'd have taken the hit!0 -
Update: PBK have now got back to me with a very nicely worded version of, don't be a half with there is no way we were ever going to sell them at that price, it was a mistake.
Fair enough :oops:0 -
By crikey - you sound like you've swallowed a 'Customer Service and all it's many cliches' textbook. You are a consultant AICMFP!mackdaddy wrote:They tend to work on the principle that it costs 5 times more to regain a customer than to retain a customer, Nuggs.
Really good customer service can turn a negative into a positive and a mistake into a bond with the customer.
I'm not saying that is necessary in my case, as I am just a chancer who deserves to be !
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I got rather excited by that offer as well, as I need a pair of brake blocks and I thought I would make a killing by buying the Dura-Ace calipers instead.
I was surprised when I logged on and saw the real price, I thought all that Chinese stuff was supposed to be cheap.0 -
Nuggs - wish I was clever enough to be a consultant, I could afford to buy Dura Ace calipers at normal price 0
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If they advertised at that price, that was the price the website showed you, yet they charged your credit card the full price, that would be illegal.
Trading Standards take a dim view of shops where the price marked on the shelf (prctically no-one has price tickets on goods these days) is different to the price the till uses when they scan the barcode.
You think you're paying the price marked on the shelf, you don't notice what the till has charged you unless you go through the tillroll line-by-line.
But in your PBK case, since you can clearly see the real price on the website and know what it's going to cost you, it's just a mistake.0 -
I'm pretty sure that somewhere in PBKs sales literature, printed or online, there'll be the phrase E&OE - Errors & Omissions Excepted. Basically, if you make an honest mistake or the proof reader at the printers didn't do their job correctly then the retailer has no obligation - legal or moral - to sell at the wrong price.
Apparently, if you give a tenner when buying 3.72 (for example) of stuff in a shop, the shopkeep has no legal obligation to give you any change. Don't know if that's true but if so, it just goes to show that buying something or selling something is all based on trust.0 -
Nuggs wrote:
No. A shop advertisment made by a shop is only an 'invitation to treat', not a formal offer.mackdaddy wrote:Surely once they advertise something for a price they have to sell it for that price don't they?
To conclude a contract, you need offer and acceptance. Given the characterisation of the advertsiment as an invitation to treat, you are missing a fundamental element (the offer).
It makes good sense: it protects shops from printer's errors/typogrraphical mistakes and also confirms their rights to refuse service to unruly customers, under 16s trying to buy knives etc.
Don't forget the intention to create legal relations 0
