Sale Of Good Act and the incorrect price online

[macmacman]

Hi there

We have started to sell some of our products online. When adding some products to our website, I accidentally entered the top of the range product as the same price as the middle range version.

It was a human error by myself.

Someone then purchased the item at this incorrect price and paid for it through the checkout by paypal.

The order came though and I realised the mistake I made. I rang and left a message with the customer and emailed him explaining the mistake and would he like a full refund or pay the difference. For his inconvenience, I offered to heavily discount the item and the difference to pay.

I contacted him again with no reply so I thought I will just refund him through paypal and leave it at that. Just before I did, he emailed me to say that under the Sale of Goods act we now have to supply him with the item because he went through the act of paying for it and we are responsibly for his loss of business because we did not deliver the item for a week. And we also kept him money for a week.

We have terms and conditions on the site, which state that we are not responsibly for any of the above. I understand the Sale of Good act is there is protect consumers and think it is a good thing, but is he correct?

We are a reasonable company, but this customer is not. He is basically demanding we sell him something at a price well under we buy it ourselves for and make a loss. The incorrect price on the website was clearly wrong too and I think he knows it.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[wdog5555]

If you have a disclaimer in your T&C's to cover you incase you get the price wrong you shouldn't have to anything other then refund.

Also, if your 'point of contract' isn't actually when the customer pays for the item then the customer will have 'made an offer to purchase the item' which you can reject (again, this should be covered in your T&C's).

I think the whole 'you've put the item at the wrong price and must sell it to me' is pretty much a loads of old b*llox anyway and I don't think it's ever actually been tested in court.......

There was a big fuss about some large online retailer years ago who priced a 'must have electrical gadget' incorrectly, loads of people bought it, the retailer realised their mistake and refunded everyone, peeps kicked up a fuss, retailer said 'sorry, made a mistake but we can't sell the item at that price' and that was the end of it!

Best bet would be to refund the transaction and send a polite email explaining that you made a mistake and are unable supply the item at that price (include a link to your T&C's if there's a bit in there about mistakes?).

Please note though - I am not a solicitor and the info above is NO substitute for proper legal advice!

 

[SamStones]

You need to look into the acceptance of order. Does your site or order confirmation specifically state "this is not acceptance of your order?" or something similar? One of the mOst common misconceptions is that if something is advertised at a price you must sell it to them for that price. What is actually the case is that once the order has been accepted at a price it has to be honoured at that price- so it comes down to when you accepted the order. The order is deemed to be accepted at the time of sale unless you state otherwise. Ie our site says your order is not accepted until it is shipped. Search telco or argues doing the same thing.

Refund him and. Forget about it. Just keep your emails to him offering a refund etc as soon as you realised.

If however you have "accepted" the order, either specifically or by default then you would be better honouring the order and changing your terms / order confirmation emails. Call it £50's worth of knowledge (or whatever you stand to lose on the order).

Hth

 

[Bob]

This from Which online:

Your rights: pricing disputes Your rights

Summary

A quick summary of your rights:

• Prices must be clear and accurate
• If goods are wrongly priced by mistake, you don’t have a right to buy at that price

When you're shopping, whether it's for groceries, an expensive new television or a holiday, you have a right to expect the prices you see to be accurate and clear. There shouldn't be hidden extras, or bogus claims about price reductions. But that doesn't mean that a shop always has to sell you something for a price you've seen.
Your right to know the total price

Retailers must display total prices clearly and accurately. Prices must include VAT (except in advertising aimed primarily at business customers) and any additional costs, such as delivery, must be clearly displayed.
The same principle applies to holidays. Any extra charges that you can't avoid, such as airport taxes or transfer fees, should be included in the total price.
The law applies to prices shown on products, on shelves, or in catalogues or advertisements, and online. It also applies to prices given over the phone.
If prices are advertised incorrectly

It is against the law for a trader to deliberately give misleading or wrong prices, and they can be prosecuted for doing this.
However, if the price of a product is just simply wrongly labelled you don't automatically get to buy it for that price. For example, if a TV worth £599 has accidentally been labelled as £5.99 you don't, unfortunately, have a right to buy it for £5.99.
A retailer's right to refuse to sell

When a retailer displays a product for sale, legally it is giving you 'an invitation to treat', which means it is inviting you to make an offer to buy. The retailer can refuse that offer if it decides that it doesn't want to sell you the goods. To have a legally-binding contract the retailer must have accepted your offer to buy. So your rights depend on where in the sale process you are.
Before you pay

If you take a wrongly-priced item to the till and the assistant spots it, they can refuse to sell it to you for that price. If you order an item on the internet, you don't have a legally-binding contract until the retailer has contacted you to confirm the order. If the wrong price is spotted before the retailer confirms the order, they do not have to sell to you at that price.
After your order has been accepted

If your offer has been accepted (for example, you pay a deposit, or receive a confirmation email), generally you can insist that the retailer sells you the goods for the price they were advertised at.
If the retailer wants to charge you more, you may be able to buy the same item elsewhere and claim against the original trader for the difference in price. To do this you should write to the retailer in the first instance, explaining what you are doing. If it doesn't agree to refund you the money, you will normally then have to take a claim to the small claims court.
The trader could try to argue that it made a mistake with the pricing which could make the contract void. But it would have to show that the price was so low that you must have known it was not genuine: for example, a new leather jacket with a price tag of £2 on it.
After the transaction is completed

If a retailer sells you something at the wrong price, the transaction is completed and you have your goods, it can't insist that you pay the extra at a later date.
Price comparisons with other stores

Many stores give price comparisons so show how much the same goods would cost if you bought them elsewhere. Traders must make sure that comparisons are accurate, current and for exactly the same products.

Read more: http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rig...s-pricing-disputes/your-rights/#ixzz1lVAnuSN1
Consumer Champions Which?
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial
​

 

[macmacman]

Thanks a lot guys!

Because he went through the checkout process he received standard automated order confirmation emails, which pretty much say "thank you for your order, your item will be with you ASAP".

The item is well below market price, so I would be losing a lot more than £50!

Very disappointing that some people will ignore business reason and the acknowledgement of a genuine mistake and try and screw you over a law they vaguely remember seeing something about on moneysavingexpert / watch dog.

I will stand by my case. My terms and conditions are good, but I will amend them to cover even more unforeseeable stuff.

 

[AndyP]

These things do happen as we all know. 99% of customers are happy to accept the error and either buy at the correct price or accept a discount or the cancellation. The 1% (or less) who kick off are simply just trying it on. Stick to your guns, respond in a business-like manner stating that on this occasion you are unable to comply with his request and suggest that if he wishes to take it further then here is the link to the OFT, Trading Standards, Citizens Adbice or whatever body you wish to direct him to and tell him that if he contacts them directly and they wish to represent him on the matter then you will, of course, be happy to provide full details of what happened and help them in whatever way you can to resolve the issue. End the email politely ensuring that it does not require a response and leave it at that. There is minimal chance that this will go anywhere.

 

[raineshoe]

I've done that before now and have let it go and corrected it for future. The customer got a bargain, but will be back. Maybe making an issue of it might put them off buying again. However, its your business so up to you what you do.

 

[AndyP]

I've done that before now and have let it go and corrected it for future. The customer got a bargain, but will be back. Maybe making an issue of it might put them off buying again. However, its your business so up to you what you do.

I don't disagree and we also sometimes just bite the bullet and suck it up. However if the loss is significant sometimes this isn't a realistic option. Also, of course, you have to ask if you actually want this customer, returning or not. Not every customer is good for your business. We have one (ex) customer who will remain nameless that we actively refuse business from simply because he expects us to virtually father and school his future children and possibly look after his mother in her old age. Good customer service does have its limits.

 

[macmacman]

Until they claim it is somehow against the law to not serve them!

I can happily do without this customer. I would be over £200 out of pocket if I sold it to him for that price anyway.