View Full Version : should i call the cops?
Bmxpunk86pl
12-10-01, 04:17 PM
ok i went to www.ibuildcomputer.com and i saw a dvd-rom drive for 99 cents. now abviously it is a a type-o but hey what the hell its says 99 cents, so i ordered it and then i go to the store the next day and he says that it was a mistake so i tell him that its called false advetisment and he says no. Should i call the cops? cuz its clearly marked 99 cents and thats how much i want it for.
William
12-10-01, 04:52 PM
you might be able to get it by technically, but that would be really really rude to do so IMO.
Probably more of a civil rather than criminal case as well.
flounder43
12-10-01, 05:13 PM
We had a case like this in law school...
By printing a price, it is not technically an "offer" without more specifics. Like, "if you bring me $ .99 before the end of the day by delivering it to 100 Fake street, I will present to you one CD drive," and so on. Therefore, you cannot "accept" when their is no offer.
Also, if it is clear that it was a typo, there are all sort of defenses, like mistake of fact, absurdity, unjust enrichment, etc. Typo's are also given consideration. Scriveners error, or something like that. I have seen leases for property ignored because of such errors, as long as you can show it was indeed an error.
There are special statutes that protect people from false advertising, but they are meant to address specific instances, like "bait and switch" and the like.
I will give you this, you did actually order it, so that is somewhat different than a typo in a newspaper ad, but the spirit is still the same...and I am sure a court wouldn't give you a thing.
There's also the whole "Don't be a jerk" issue.:) No offense intended man- but you had to know that it was a typo. I mean that is just too phat of a deal! It's really easy to add incorrect entries to a database, I do it all the time:) Seriously tho I'm not calling you a jerk, I'm just saying be chill on this...
I'd be ****ed if they didn't refund my money, but I would understand if they didn't give in and hook you up with the drive. I mean that's a complete ripoff in the stores eyes. SO I see your side, but I see their side too.
What I would do is email them saying something like "Well darn, I thought I was getting a special deal or something. Can you give me 10% off my next order for my trouble?" You could still turn this into a positive thing!:D
stompah
12-29-01, 09:51 PM
If I every had a store and this happened to me and I was held responsible for the typo I would smash the DVD player with a sledgehammer before handing it to you. I believe that the product description aslo forgot to mention the custom mod.
99cents man you know that is way wrong. I wouldnt have even bothered from a small store. Best Buy maybe.
Bmxpunk86pl
12-30-01, 08:13 AM
of course i know it is a typo, but what the hell, is says what it says.
XprincoX
12-31-01, 01:57 AM
well remember what they say... Dont believe everything u read! :D
If you ordered they have to honor it simple as that, happened quite a few times at Best Buy when I worked there. All those places can hope is that they don't do it again. It's not a matter of Ripping off the little guy, they made the mistake it was a printed advertisement or so I assume ? Did you print out the invoice stating the confirmation, if you have any of these things they have to honor it. If they don't you can inform the better business bureau and the police, false advertising is a fraud even if they "didn't" intend to, they are liable to provide the product for the price you paid. Sorry guys that is the way it goes in retail you win some you loose some.
Just my two cents.
J
Bmxpunk86pl
12-31-01, 10:07 AM
Yea i have an invoice.
If you ordered they have to honor it simple as that
Could you show me this law please? No offense meant dude, totally- but that's just a general way of doing business, there is no law that says you HAVE to honor your price in print. Deceptive advertising, ok, but there are all kinds of clauses in the law to allow for honest mistakes. Which this seems to clearly be. I'm sure there is also a disclaimer of some kind hiding somewhere on th esite too.
Certainly, the right thing to do would be to suck it up and honor that err'd price-but they aren't forced to.
If you have a Physical reciept in your hands stating you ordered said product at said price and they confirmed your order it has to be honored. They can't say ohh sorry, we meant 99$ no they have to honor your receipt and give you your product. If you had a receipt for lets say a Big screen tv for 100$ but it was supposed to be 1000$ they can't change it for you. You have already paid for the product, they made a mistake they have to rectify it. No company big or small wants the BBB watching everything they do.
Just my two cents.
J
If more people would go to the police then there would be fewer "misprints" and it would save me a lot of wasted trips to the store. Stand up and be counted!
foxforcefive
01-08-02, 10:36 PM
Businesses, especially mom-and-pop computer stores could give a rats ass about what the BBB thinks about them. And do you think Best Buy cares? Hell no...
Hell, are you going to report Microsoft to the BBB because their software sucks? Don't think so.
My .02
Billvill
01-09-02, 09:55 PM
Originally posted by Bmxpunk86pl
ok i went to www.ibuildcomputer.com and i saw a dvd-rom drive for 99 cents. now abviously it is a a type-o but hey what the hell its says 99 cents, so i ordered it and then i go to the store the next day and he says that it was a mistake so i tell him that its called false advetisment and he says no. Should i call the cops? cuz its clearly marked 99 cents and thats how much i want it for.
You yourself say in your post that it is an obvious typo ! Why would you waste your time, the stores time and come to think of it my time for responding to this over it !
Billy
foxforcefive
01-09-02, 11:48 PM
OK, I am not supporting the guy's claim about the $.99 DVD-ROM, but on their front page, they have advertised 256MB PC2100 DDR for $37. When you go to their memory page, they have it for $56.99. What price do they honor, or is this false advertising?
Hell, if it is $37, I will but it up!
BL
Bmxpunk86pl
01-10-02, 02:08 PM
You yourself say in your post that it is an obvious typo ! Why would you waste your time, the stores time and come to think of it my time for responding to this over it !
Hey who the hell said that you have to reply to my posts.
Come on guys, chill out 2 x :beer:
Hey calm down were in the same house.
I would demand my DVD player.
You have an invoice for 99 cents of that product on their site.
They made the error thats their fault not yours.
They should not change anything.
Billvill
01-13-02, 02:54 AM
Originally posted by Bmxpunk86pl
Hey who the hell said that you have to reply to my posts.
And I am doing it again ! LOL
I hope you didn't take my words to heart. I just wanted you to think a minute about the hassle you would have arguing with those folks.
Billy
Bmxpunk86pl
01-13-02, 10:02 AM
ok case closed, i got a dvd for $50. Thanks for all your replies.
GoldenTiger
01-14-02, 02:52 PM
If it's LABELLED with a price tag as $0.99 in a retail store they legally HAVE to honor that price. By tagging it at that they have legally offered it to you for that amount of money. An online order can say it was an error in smalltext, etc., however.
flounder43
01-14-02, 02:56 PM
Originally posted by GoldenTiger
If it's LABELLED with a price tag as $0.99 in a retail store they legally HAVE to honor that price. By tagging it at that they have legally offered it to you for that amount of money. An online order can say it was an error in smalltext, etc., however.
And you went to law school where?
No that is not exactly correct. Generally, when you bring an item up to the store clerk, marked with a price or not, you are offering to buy it for that price. It is the merchant that does the accepting of your offer. Of course, this is a gross generalization as there are many fact senarios that may alter the conclusion.
Kid Payne
01-22-02, 02:00 PM
One thing i know for sure is that this is a civil matter. Police would not be involved.
ThePunkGeek
01-28-02, 01:36 PM
Originally posted by SpeeDj
If you ordered they have to honor it simple as that, happened quite a few times at Best Buy when I worked there. All those places can hope is that they don't do it again. It's not a matter of Ripping off the little guy, they made the mistake it was a printed advertisement or so I assume ? Did you print out the invoice stating the confirmation, if you have any of these things they have to honor it. If they don't you can inform the better business bureau and the police, false advertising is a fraud even if they "didn't" intend to, they are liable to provide the product for the price you paid. Sorry guys that is the way it goes in retail you win some you loose some.
Just my two cents.
J
Ok well lets say you order over the internet. The object is say $99.99 on the main page. you click to order it and after you put in your CC number and get your reciept it say $999.99. you already paid for it so that mean you printed recipt would say you paid $900 more then the retail price. But you paid it so its your loss.
flounder43
01-28-02, 01:38 PM
Originally posted by ThePunkGeek
Ok well lets say you order over the internet. The object is say $99.99 on the main page. you click to order it and after you put in your CC number and get your reciept it say $999.99. you already paid for it so that mean you printed recipt would say you paid $900 more then the retail price. But you paid it so its your loss.
Nope, not even close. That is an error, and you do not have to pay.
GoldenTiger
01-28-02, 02:58 PM
Originally posted by flounder43
And you went to law school where?
No that is not exactly correct. Generally, when you bring an item up to the store clerk, marked with a price or not, you are offering to buy it for that price. It is the merchant that does the accepting of your offer. Of course, this is a gross generalization as there are many fact senarios that may alter the conclusion.
Actually, by labelling it at a certain amount the MERCHANT is offering it to you at that amount. You then accept the offer by going to purchase it and presenting the money. If he chooses not to accept it, he is reneging on the offer. It is state law in Connecticut at least that if it's labelled at a price it has to be sold at that price. Spending time on small claims court isn't typically worth it, though.
Basically...
Dude1: Hey, I'll sell you this at... (scribbles amount onto a piece of paper and adheres it to item).
Dude2: Ok, I like it. Here. (hands money)
Dude1: Wait nevermind I miswrote it.
Dude1 had offered it at such-and-such price by labelling it with the amount. He's basically made the offer to sell it at that price. Dude2 takes him up on it, but Dude1 then claims he won't go through on his offer. That's illegal to do in a physical store, as well as being bait-and-switch.
flounder43
01-28-02, 03:12 PM
An Advertisement as an Offer
Under traditional contract law, ads are considered only invitations to negotiate or to make an offer; you have no obligation to go through with the deal just because someone offers to meet your advertised price. So if a customer appears and says she wants to buy the house, land or business that you advertised in the classifieds for $200,000, there's no binding contract. One major exception to this rule involves rewards. Generally, an ad offering to pay a reward is binding if someone performs the requested act.
That is a general statement of things. Furthermore, there is plenty of other law out there: unilateral mistake, unjust enrichment, mutual mistake, etc. that would allow a recision of an offer, even if it had been made.
Here is a basic primer, http://www.himels-computer-law.com/kbasics.htm
If you really want to get into it, http://lawschool.lexis.com/emanuel/web/contract/tocfull.htm
Here is a good case, reasonably on-point: http://theregister.co.uk/content/23/23608.html
Another informative link:
http://www.mycounsel.com/content/refunds/refund/contract.html
Most companies have some type of disclaimer on their website saying that prices are subject to change without notice etc.... that pretty much covers them for misprints and stuff
but I checked out that site a P3 1000/133 for $240.00 man talk about overpriced and their other products all seem a bit overpriced as well
Bmxpunk86pl
01-29-02, 05:48 PM
yea i live right next to em, yea ur right they are a little overpriced but i dont usually shop there, only if something is good there. Ususally i go to compusa or go online.
Ice_Gargoylle
01-30-02, 11:23 AM
read the terms/purchase page that legally has to be there. This will clear this matter up.
The vender is not respponsible for misprints on the webpage..
this, along with all the other disclaimers which evry1 shud read before they buy anything online......!!
Twinkle
02-02-02, 06:47 AM
Holy bejuzus $240 for a P-III 1000/133 I got mine for like $170 and that was like 3 months ago.
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