Buying Online

smash

I have a question.... I went to a website to buy something and notice that they have a product coming soon and the current price is €0, now when this product comes in, it will cost about €1000.

The thing is the site allows me to add the product to the shopping cart at a cost of €0 but the payment page doesn't process a €0 transaction ok, so I can add a low value product of say €5 and go through the steps and get a receipt for 1 item at €0 and 1 item at €5

This means I have paid for the product, so should I recieve it when they get it in stock? Or can they claim it was a mistake and just not give it to me.

I know it's an invitation to treat but because I have actually paid the asking price I should get it right?

Rhonda9000

Probably wrong.

They have probably covered themselves in their terms of sale in the guise of contract formation or price variation. For example Amazons terms of sale state that the contract is not concluded until the dispatch email is sent by them to you. As this is the very last thing they do, they have the chance to decline which they will if there has been a mistake with a price. In essence, you are responding to their invitation to treat with an offer which they are free to decline until dispatch.

Terms of sale also - invariably - include clauses to do with price variation, the online retailer is doubly protected.

Cases in the area -
Argos (TV's priced at £2.99 instead of £299) settled out of court by group of consumers.

Amazon used their terms (above) to protect themselves where printers (I think) were advertised for half nothing on the grounds of time of contract formation.

You can be sure your retailer is similarly protected. Even if they weren't is it really reasonable to expect that you will get a £1000 item for £0? I don't think so and I'm pretty sure a court would say the same.

smash

hmm well I was just wondering because if you do go through the payment process and get the receipt then in effect they have accepted the offer to their invitation to treat.

Rhonda9000

That is what seems logical to the layman I know. But you can be sure you contracted on their terms which are there to protect / work to their advantage. It seems the payment (consideration) may come first in an online contract but the offer is not accepted and thus concluded until the dispatch email (in Amazon's case) - I am guessing that is the standard practice in the area.

smash

All orders are subject to acceptance by xxxxxxxx or xxxxxxxx and availability. If the goods ordered are not available, You will be notified by e-mail (or by other means within 28 days) and You will have the option either to wait until the item is available from stock or to cancel Your order. If orders are cancelled after dispatch, we reserve the right to charge a 20% re-stocking fee. Any orders placed by You will be treated as an offer to purchase the goods or services from us and we have the right to reject such offers at any time. You acknowledge that any automated acknowledgement of Your order which You may receive from us shall not amount to our acceptance of Your offer to purchase goods or services advertised on the Website. The conclusion of a contract between You and us will take place when we (i) debit Your credit or debit card or (ii) dispatch the goods to You or commence the services, whichever is the earlier.

Rhonda9000

Let me know how you get on in court..

seamus

As stated, Amazon.com, for example, only send an order confirmation email intially. This is basically an acceptance and a confirmation that you wish to order the goods, not a contract.

Your own quoting of the terms confirms this:

(i) debit Your credit or debit card or (ii) dispatch the goods to You or commence the services, whichever is the earlier.

Since they will never debit your card for the €0 item, then no contract has been formed until they dispatch the goods to you.

smash

well what I was saying is that if you bought it and a product for €5 then they have debited your card....

I don't intend to rip them off here, I'm just wondering about it because I'm a web designer myself and it seems like a big flaw in their system that they're allowing the product to be added to the cart at all.

morbo

It depends on the website you ordered it from, and the specific terms and conditions in their user agreement.

If you ordered it from Amazon and they sent you a confirmation of order email, then you have a legally binding contract with them. But that's just the specific way they work.

Even if it is Amazon, and you have the confirmation, they still probably won't send it to you, though. They'll fight you all the way, and let's face it, they have more money and more lawyers on their books, so they'll win.

smash

it's not amazon. it's a mobile phone site and it's for an iPhone

Rhonda9000

morbo wrote:

If you ordered it from Amazon and they sent you a confirmation of order email, then you have a legally binding contract with them. But that's just the specific way they work.

Incorrect. Confirmation of order email does not conclude the contract on Amazon, dispatch email does.

morbo

Rhonda9000 wrote:

Incorrect. Confirmation of order email does not conclude the contract on Amazon, dispatch email does.

You're right. Just literally covered the case that saw them change their policy in a summer e-law course yesterday. Forgot about the change. It was the case with Amazon.com up until 2 years ago or so that the confirmation did constitute the competition of the contract. Not sure about Amazon.co.uk? Will check my notes when I get a chance.

Our man in Havana

Amazon do debit your card within minutes of submitting the order.

Rhonda9000

The fact remains that they control the sequence of contracting in terms of acceptance occuring when they transmit the dispatch email. This gives them the chance to pick the items, check prices and pack them etc. before concluding the contract.

The gathering of offer and consideration earlier in time than acceptance doesn't seem too controversial? Its obviously retailer-centric but seems practical for online retailers

Rhonda9000

morbo wrote:

You're right. Just literally covered the case that saw them change their policy in a summer e-law course yesterday. Forgot about the change. It was the case with Amazon.com up until 2 years ago or so that the confirmation did constitute the competition of the contract. Not sure about Amazon.co.uk? Will check my notes when I get a chance.

I am pretty certain their policy was tested in court where it prevailed i.e. they didn't get stung first and then change their policy to the way it is today. It survived the challenge and remains (unchanged) to this day. The judge sided with them saying the customer was a victim of pricing error and not breach of contract (as a contract had not yet formed thanks to the strength of their terms of sale).

There was some controversy if my memory serves me correctly regarding Amazons order acknowledgement email referring to itself as "this contract". This was seen as merely sloppy on their part.

seamus

Bond-007 wrote:

Amazon do debit your card within minutes of submitting the order.

I don't know the specifics of credit card transactions, but it may be case that they do a query and reservation on the card, and not actually charge it.

I have in the past had companies take a "deposit" from my card - basically they reserve a certain chunk of the outstanding balance for themselves. No transaction is actually submitted, but the available balance is reduced by the amount they've reserved. To "return" the deposit, they simply remove the lock on this chunk. No transaction appears on the account or in the statements.

This may be what Amazon do, and only commit the transaction when they've shipped the order.