Camera shop made a $1000 mistake and now wants me to fix it

[FTEvolution]

Does anybody know my rights around false advertising??
I purchased a lens for my camera yesterday ($2200) -because it was a great price for that lens. Today I get a call from the manager of the shop telling me that they had marked the wrong price (it was an updated version that should have cost $3300) and now want me to pay the difference. He goes on to say that he'll give it to me at the invoice price which he say is $3000! I very much doubt that they're only making $300 profit on a $3000 lens! I was quoted that price a month ago retail at a different shop.

As I understand it they are liable for their mistakes, esp. now that the sale is complete and I have no obligation to make up the difference... am I right???

My big concern is that I made the purchase with my credit card and I'm worried that they'll just process the extra payment without my permission.

Thanks for any help or advice.

This is from our Fair Trading Act, which I would assume is similar to yours as our countries are rather similar in such matters; http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/cons ... icing.html

Particularly the bolded section below:

Pricing errors
Displayed price incorrect
Traders do not have to sell goods at the displayed price. If the price is a mistake, a trader can refuse a consumer's offer to buy goods at the price on the tag.

eg Mona sees a sweatshirt in her favourite shop. The price tag says $30. When Mona takes the sweatshirt up to the counter to buy it, the shop realises the price tag is a mistake. The correct price is $75. The shop refuses to sell Mona the sweatshirt for $30. The shop can refuse to accept Mona's offer to buy the sweatshirt for $30.

However, a trader who continues to display prices which are much lower than the actual price at which they are willing to sell may be committing an offence under the Fair Trading Act. This is because they are misleading consumers about the true cost of goods.

Trader charges the wrong price
Once you have bought and paid for goods and services, the contract of sale is completed. This means that if the trader has charged you the wrong price, the trader cannot ask you to pay the balance.

If you learn you have been charged more than the ticket price only when you read your docket, you can ask to be paid the difference between the checkout price and the shelf price.

eg, Jo buys a new shirt. The price tag says $49.95 and this is the price she is charged. When Jo gets home the shop rings to say they have made a mistake - the correct price for the shirt was $69.95. The shop cannot ask Jo to pay the extra $20. They agreed to sell Jo the shirt for $49.95 and the sale has been completed. Jo would not have been aware that the price charged was a mistake.

There is one important exception to this rule. A trader may be able to demand more money from you if they can show that:

you must have been aware that there was a mistake about the price and
there was an "unequal exchange of value" - you paid a small amount for highly priced goods.
This right to have the contract carried out at the correct price is available under the Contractual Mistakes Act 1977 (to view this Act online, visit the government Legislation website).

you must have been aware that there was a mistake about the price and
there was an "unequal exchange of value" - you paid a small amount for highly priced goods.

For that to be the case I would assume the product would have had to have been something like $330 instead of $3300 and you would fully know it was stupidly priced; as it is, I think you having paid a price (which would be covered by any normal 33% off sale) is more than logical, they sold it to you, you didn't change the price yourself, thus it's yours and there isn't anything they can do about it. I doubt they will fight it, but perhaps find the specific entry in your own legislation like I did to be sure.

As consumers we have plausible deniability "I had no idea what the wholesale cost is, how was I supposed to know that price didn't include a profit, I thought it was a bargain." Retailers purposely don't disclose cost prices to customers because they don't want them to know profit margins; they can't just magically begin to pull numbers out of their asses to suit their own ends.

The funny thing is, if indeed they can't prove that you owe them any money, other consumers in the store at the time could potentially request the same product for the price you got it for. Whether that worked or not would be up in the air, but I am damned sure a good lawyer could wrangle it.

Question though; was there a pricing label with the price you paid on it? Did it by chance have the full price labelled (maybe proving you knew full well something was wrong and kept your mouth shut) or was there no label and the price was simply in their systems? 1 and 3 would stand up well for you, the second could be bad for you.

That is absolutly correct. When I worked in retail, people were always swapping price tags. If we had to charge them at the ticketed price we would of lost hundreds a week.

Yeah, but that's a very different situation; those people knowingly tried to rip off the shop. I used to do retail too (sales, POS, security) and we would issue instant trespasses, policy was also to have them arrested if we could prove that they had changed the price; usually pretty obvious, and camera coverage was very good.

tl;dr, if the shop mistakenly prices something very wrongly (as in misses a 0, making the product 1/10 of the price, then they can probably push for it) but if the price is completely just wrong as it is in your case, there aint sh*t they can do.

[I8A4RE]

That is absolutly correct. When I worked in retail, people were always swapping price tags. If we had to charge them at the ticketed price we would of lost hundreds a week.

Yeah, but that's a very different situation; those people knowingly tried to rip off the shop. I used to do retail too (sales, POS, security) and we would issue instant trespasses, policy was also to have them arrested if we could prove that they had changed the price; usually pretty obvious, and camera coverage was very good.

Well i dont know how you could get them arrested as it is not against the law.

[brad_gpx]

That is absolutly correct. When I worked in retail, people were always swapping price tags. If we had to charge them at the ticketed price we would of lost hundreds a week.

Yeah, but that's a very different situation; those people knowingly tried to rip off the shop. I used to do retail too (sales, POS, security) and we would issue instant trespasses, policy was also to have them arrested if we could prove that they had changed the price; usually pretty obvious, and camera coverage was very good.

Well i dont know how you could get them arrested as it is not against the law.

ah it is
changing the price tag of something is considered shoplifting

[I8A4RE]

That is absolutly correct. When I worked in retail, people were always swapping price tags. If we had to charge them at the ticketed price we would of lost hundreds a week.

Yeah, but that's a very different situation; those people knowingly tried to rip off the shop. I used to do retail too (sales, POS, security) and we would issue instant trespasses, policy was also to have them arrested if we could prove that they had changed the price; usually pretty obvious, and camera coverage was very good.

Well i dont know how you could get them arrested as it is not against the law.

ah it is
changing the price tag of something is considered shoplifting

I think both you need to do a little more homework. It aint shop lifting at all.

[FTO84]

They have no legal grounding to demand the price difference be paid. The transaction has been completed in the eyes of the law. If they charge your credit card without your approval they run the risk of a plethora of fines and penalties. If they call you again mate, tell them you have discussed it with a legal counsel and they have no recourse under the Sale of Goods Act 1896. They may try and tell you they have recourse under Part 6 S.50(1) however the contract you entered into has been fulfilled. Mistake on their part of price is a costly mistake and up to their staff to ensure doesn't happen again.

http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGIS ... dA1896.pdf

[brad_gpx]

That is absolutly correct. When I worked in retail, people were always swapping price tags. If we had to charge them at the ticketed price we would of lost hundreds a week.

Yeah, but that's a very different situation; those people knowingly tried to rip off the shop. I used to do retail too (sales, POS, security) and we would issue instant trespasses, policy was also to have them arrested if we could prove that they had changed the price; usually pretty obvious, and camera coverage was very good.

Well i dont know how you could get them arrested as it is not against the law.

ah it is
changing the price tag of something is considered shoplifting

I think both you need to do a little more homework. It aint shop lifting at all.

really?
i thought it was i overheard a myer employee yelling at some lady once saying it was considered shoplifting, i just assumed she knew what she was talking about

so what would it come under?
surely it is illegal?

[mr-charisma]

That is absolutly correct. When I worked in retail, people were always swapping price tags. If we had to charge them at the ticketed price we would of lost hundreds a week.

Yeah, but that's a very different situation; those people knowingly tried to rip off the shop. I used to do retail too (sales, POS, security) and we would issue instant trespasses, policy was also to have them arrested if we could prove that they had changed the price; usually pretty obvious, and camera coverage was very good.

Well i dont know how you could get them arrested as it is not against the law.

ah it is
changing the price tag of something is considered shoplifting

I think both you need to do a little more homework. It aint shop lifting at all.

really?
i thought it was i overheard a myer employee yelling at some lady once saying it was considered shoplifting, i just assumed she knew what she was talking about

so what would it come under?
surely it is illegal?

fraud

[I8A4RE]

That is absolutly correct. When I worked in retail, people were always swapping price tags. If we had to charge them at the ticketed price we would of lost hundreds a week.

Yeah, but that's a very different situation; those people knowingly tried to rip off the shop. I used to do retail too (sales, POS, security) and we would issue instant trespasses, policy was also to have them arrested if we could prove that they had changed the price; usually pretty obvious, and camera coverage was very good.

Well i dont know how you could get them arrested as it is not against the law.

ah it is
changing the price tag of something is considered shoplifting

I think both you need to do a little more homework. It aint shop lifting at all.

really?
i thought it was i overheard a myer employee yelling at some lady once saying it was considered shoplifting, i just assumed she knew what she was talking about

so what would it come under?
surely it is illegal?

fraud

Again its only fraud if you attempt to then buy the said item. If you just swap the tag and then left it is not fraud.

[brad_gpx]

That is absolutly correct. When I worked in retail, people were always swapping price tags. If we had to charge them at the ticketed price we would of lost hundreds a week.

Yeah, but that's a very different situation; those people knowingly tried to rip off the shop. I used to do retail too (sales, POS, security) and we would issue instant trespasses, policy was also to have them arrested if we could prove that they had changed the price; usually pretty obvious, and camera coverage was very good.

Well i dont know how you could get them arrested as it is not against the law.

ah it is
changing the price tag of something is considered shoplifting

I think both you need to do a little more homework. It aint shop lifting at all.

really?
i thought it was i overheard a myer employee yelling at some lady once saying it was considered shoplifting, i just assumed she knew what she was talking about

so what would it come under?
surely it is illegal?

fraud

Again its only fraud if you attempt to then buy the said item. If you just swap the tag and then left it is not fraud.

who just swaps the tag though lol
surely they have something better to do with there time then swap the tags?
or would they have like a second person coming in and buying?

[FTEvolution]

It is illegal (at least here it is), not in an OMG your GOIN TO JAIL sense, but you will get fined, and it will be on your record for repeat offending. It gets lumped with 'shoplifting' over here essentially.

But we are WAY off topic, OP, how are you getting on with the shop mate?

[mr-charisma]

fraud is basically a dishonest act intended to benefit the person committing the act, or a third party .. if they change the tags for the benefit of someone else who would buy the item then it would be still be fraud..

I don't know what exactly they would charge you with if you were caught cause I'm not a prosecutor, but suspect in between stealing / fraud or some sort of sub category, but who cares .. crimes crime. whether it's technically shoplifting doesn't matter, cause it's still illegal if you get caught..

don't know why someone would change the tags if they weren't going to try & buy it .. if it's simply to cause a loss for the business & if they were caught changing the tags it's still a crime - the business is the victim as they are suffering a loss .. either way i would think that 'Intent to defraud' would still be enough to charge someone on if they can proove it..

either way it's all about what can be proved & it's hard cause they need proof of so many variables..

[alekazam]

Yeah the price was marked right underneath the lens and it rang out at the till at the same number. They haven't rung back, I think they were just 'giving it a shot'.

[FTEvolution]

Yeah the price was marked right underneath the lens and it rang out at the till at the same number. They haven't rung back, I think they were just 'giving it a shot'.

Ic, "giving it a shot" is right on; hoping to find a sympathetic ear, though it is a bit rude when they clearly fkd up.

I *do* feel sorry for that salesperson, I bet they are being given sh*t, then again, it must be the person that orders stuff and sets prices that will get the bone over this.

Lesson to be learned for them there me thinks