Advance Console Entertainment

[ItsThere]

I don't disbelieve you, but do you have a source for that?

There is a lot of discussion about the legality of this practice on moneysavers.com.

Technically, from a purely legal standpoint, it is incorrect.

This was settled around about 1913 [?] in a case against Boots, known back then as Boots Pharmaceuticals.

There are 3 stages to every transaction.

1. Invitation to treat.

2. Offer.

3. Acceptance.

So...

1. Having goods on display is an invitation to treat - i.e. offering the punter the opportunity to make an offer on the goods.

2. The offer comes from the customer.

3. The final act of acceptance lies with the seller.


Cold, simple logical analysis. The reason most people think, and you can sometimes pull off, mispricing errors is because of consumer protection law.

For an example of why I am right, that many of you will have been the subject of, see misprices on websites.

1. The goods are marked up at below their value (invitation to treat).

2. Customer places order. (Offer)

3. Seller acknowledges the placing of an order BUT DOES NOT accept that until processed at a later stage.

The seller can then choose to either accept the offer or decline it.


Nothing wrong with that at all - it allows scope for genuine error to be rectified, and, if the seller wants to honour their misprice to create goodwill, they are entitled to do that.

[Dazzyman]

That's actually illegal; they have to either sell it to you at the marked price or withdraw the item from sale.

Na m8 thats not true it falls under error and ommisions. No sale is legally binding till you pay for it so you can be refused a purchase at anytime as its an ivatation to buy. Its always up to the descretion of the store when you get to the till if its priced wrong same with online. Only time when you have a case really is when you pay for an amount and its marked and you find out you actually paid more or that you are regulary misleading customers with every item you sell ie you put PS3s up for sale at £50 everyone goes in the store to buy one and gets to the till to be told their RRP as it was used as a marketing tool.

A price displayed on the goods is treated in law as an invitation by you to the customer to come in to do a deal. The contract is usually made at the till when the price is agreed. So if you have put the wrong price on an item you are not legally bound to sell at that price. Customers usually only complain when it appears that you are overcharging them!

However as a gesture of goodwill you might want to negotiate with the customer rather than losing them. Trading Standards could also investigate you if they had evidence that you were regularly misleading people about the price you were prepared to charge them. So you should do all that you can to ensure that your pricing information is up to date and correct.

Any service provider can refuse a sale at anytime they dont have to take anyones custom and ask you to leave the store as well if they want as thats in their right. Still doesnt stop em being robbing basts though

[DeathAdder]

There is a lot of discussion about the legality of this practice on moneysavers.com.

Technically, from a purely legal standpoint, it is incorrect.

This was settled around about 1913 [?] in a case against Boots, known back then as Boots Pharmaceuticals.

There are 3 stages to every transaction.

1. Invitation to treat.

2. Offer.

3. Acceptance.

So...

1. Having goods on display is an invitation to treat - i.e. offering the punter the opportunity to make an offer on the goods.

2. The offer comes from the customer.

3. The final act of acceptance lies with the seller.


Cold, simple logical analysis. The reason most people think, and you can sometimes pull off, mispricing errors is because of consumer protection law.

For an example of why I am right, that many of you will have been the subject of, see misprices on websites.

1. The goods are marked up at below their value (invitation to treat).

2. Customer places order. (Offer)

3. Seller acknowledges the placing of an order BUT DOES NOT accept that until processed at a later stage.

The seller can then choose to either accept the offer or decline it.


Nothing wrong with that at all - it allows scope for genuine error to be rectified, and, if the seller wants to honour their misprice to create goodwill, they are entitled to do that.

Yep. I knew the basic offer and acceptance principles of contract law. I wondered if a recent sale of goods act had changed it with regard to shops or something, as the guy before my last post seemed very sure.

Thanks for taking the trouble to write that out.

[ItsThere]

Yep. I knew the basic offer and acceptance principles of contract law. I wondered if a recent sale of goods act had changed it with regard to shops or something, as the guy before my last post seemed very sure.

Thanks for taking the trouble to write that out.

s'alright.

I had a course on the legal implcations of web contracting the other day and this came up again, with reference to the e-mail examples.

Mispricing is mispricing, English law loves using old examples to decide on new situations so certainly IMO no Sale of Goods law changes this*.

The Sale of Goods Act hasn't really been updated properly since it was re-jigged in 1983. It is in dire need of an overhaul though.

[Dazzyman]

The quote I put up is current guide on it with TS and the act. Online it can be classed slightly differently as it can come under ASA (advertising) as misleading etc.. if its done alot purposely to generate sales but pretty much all sites and even shops will have an error and ommisions get out with their lawyers. Theirs nothing legally though that says you can demand something if its priced wrong. The only times you can start looking into stuff like that is sales stuff (ie marked down when its not really and so on) after x amount of days being at retail price.

Its the same with preorders at a set price theirs nothing legally to say they have to sell you it at that price until the money gets processed as again its invitation to basically put your name down nothing is legal till actual sale (remember play using that one to great effect with me on 360 and wii launches).

[Wil]

Those two cost me a pretty penny between '90 and '92 but dammit! I just couldn't stay away from that little 'shop in an office'. Good, but expensive, times

[ZAGOR100]

WHO said that Nick and Dmitri rocked!
Is mad do you know what scams they did to the public A game ?70-80 pounds (they saw you coming a mile away) and charged a fortune out of this world.
They blew up a console of mine and tried to put the blame on me (and charged double to repair it)
in one way I am glad they finished they disserved to be in jail.

Opening whenever they wanted,games never out on display shop looked like a dump to be honest..All i can say is People move on search the web for repairs,upgrade and conversions if you have an old classic console otherwise buy the ps3 or xbox360.