Warehouse Express is this legal? (1 Viewer)

graham catley · Nov 21, 2008

In the glossy Christmas brochure distributed by WE the Wimberley Mark 2 is advertised at £399 -- upon trying to order they simply state that it is a typing error and the price is £499 -- as they have advertised the item at a set price are they legally bound to sell it at this price?

KC Foggin · Nov 21, 2008

Over here, there is usually some very, very, small print in the cirucular saying they are not responsible for mis-typed products. You might want to examine the circular with a magnifying glass.

MSA · Nov 21, 2008

graham catley said:
In the glossy Christmas brochure distributed by WE the Wimberley Mark 2 is advertised at £399 -- upon trying to order they simply state that it is a typing error and the price is £499 -- as they have advertised the item at a set price are they legally bound to sell it at this price?

My recollection from business law (20+ years ago!) is that the brochure is an "invitation to treat" rather than a binding offer - the same as a price in a window - and the contract is only made at the till (or electronic equivalent); however, they can be prosecuted for misleading advertising if it was anything other than an innocent error. The rules are a little tighter for shelf-edge labelling/supermarket scanned prices.

Duke Leto · Nov 21, 2008

buy one from Kerso, I noticed his last lot went for £417 ish

mak · Nov 21, 2008

MSA said:
My recollection from business law (20+ years ago!) is that the brochure is an "invitation to treat" rather than a binding offer - the same as a price in a window - and the contract is only made at the till (or electronic equivalent); however, they can be prosecuted for misleading advertising if it was anything other than an innocent error. The rules are a little tighter for shelf-edge labelling/supermarket scanned prices.

I am pretty sure Business law is the same today...Invitation to treat. It may have changed. The problem will be trying to prove that it is misleading. They could have had a small number available at the lower price, which has now sold out.

mak

pe'rigin · Nov 21, 2008

A contact is made on an advertised product, between the seller and purchaser, if it's advertised for £2.00 then you can buy it at that price. Just because it's on the web or in a glossy brochure, doesn't mean anything, the item was offered at that price you agreed to buy it at that cost.

It's up to WE to have correct prices in place, not yours. On the brochure you should find something like this.

*Price correct at time of press.

Worth pursuing with them, for a discount.

Jos Stratford · Nov 21, 2008

I can be out-of-date, but I believe there is provision in the law regarding typing mistakes, but it must be absolutely obvious 'to a person of usual intellect, etc' that the price is a misprint, eg if they advertised the Leica latest scope at £11.49 instead of £1149, etc.

Advertising an item at £399 when the real price is £499 would not fall into that and I think they would could be obliged to sell for that price, or at east be prosecuted for false advertising.

Regardless, crappy publicity

postcardcv · Nov 21, 2008

graham catley said:
In the glossy Christmas brochure distributed by WE the Wimberley Mark 2 is advertised at £399 -- upon trying to order they simply state that it is a typing error and the price is £499 -- as they have advertised the item at a set price are they legally bound to sell it at this price?

alas no - a retailer is entitled to change the price of an item at anytime upto the point where the sale is made (if the price was wrong online and you ordered it they'd struggle to back out of it). It's not the first typo to appear in an advert and it won't be the last. I can see why WHE aren't going to sell at £399 as they'd lose money if they did so.

Adey Baker · Nov 21, 2008

'E.& O.E. Prices subject to change' in very small print inside the first page!

They've also got the Leica 82mm scope at £500 less than it should be but that's one of those 'obvious' errors as it's in the 65mm column and the correct price is shown alongside in the 82mm column

PYRTLE · Nov 21, 2008

Additionally, the retailer could on realisation of the mistake, be "out of stock" of said item. A responsible business owner should very quickly, correct the "mistake" and alter the price to the correct one they wish to sell at. If as in this case, it is / perhaps a typo within a printed article, then there is very little they can reasonably do but alter it on their website or place of sale.

stuartlawrie · Nov 21, 2008

The earlier comment is right, the contract is only made at the till, or other equivalent and retailer has the right to refuse to sell to who ever he chooses. Regarding shelf edge labelling, it is actually still within the rights of a supermarket to refuse to sell at the price if they so choose, however given they are only normally talking pence difference it is usually not in their best interest to upset the customer hence they usually honour the price on the label, even if it is a genuine printing error

graham catley · Nov 23, 2008

thanks all -- they lost one sale anyway

mike nesbitt · Nov 23, 2008

I did pick up on that myself Graham, having recently bought one from Kerso for £400 I was a bit puzzled because at the time WHE were doing them for £499
I feel better about it now.
Mike.

Jaff · Nov 24, 2008

I once bought something for £50 less than it should have been (nothing to do with photography though) because of a cockup with an advertisement in a magazine. The shop I bought it from told me that they were legally bound to sell it at that price if that is what I had seen it advertised as.

May be worth giving trading standards a call just to see what the score is, assuming you're not just going to get one off Kerso instead. The only person I can think of who could really answer this question on here is Mr Dancy, although he himself doesn't do commercial law I'm sure he knows someone who does.

postcardcv · Nov 25, 2008

Jaff said:
I once bought something for £50 less than it should have been (nothing to do with photography though) because of a cockup with an advertisement in a magazine. The shop I bought it from told me that they were legally bound to sell it at that price if that is what I had seen it advertised as.

I've spent enough time working in retail to know that this is not the case - an advertised price is not classed as a contract so the shop has no obligation to sell at that price.

Jos Stratford · Nov 25, 2008

postcardcv said:
I've spent enough time working in retail to know that this is not the case - an advertised price is not classed as a contract so the shop has no obligation to sell at that price.

However, if an outlet is using advertising to attract clients, then clearly there is a case to answer relating to false advertising.

Warehouse Express is this legal? (1 Viewer)

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