Shops advertising £ & € prices must accept the £ price if you present them with

Geordie_Girl

This was posted on a FB group about the wonderful Irish rip-off:

TIP OF THE WEEK: Go into your nearest store where the tags on the stuff are in sterling & euro (ie Next, River Island etc) take your item to till & whip out your sterling to pay for it! They have to accept it people, thats the law. However, make sure you have the correct(ish) sterling on you coz you wont get change

Can anyone confirm whether there's any truth to it?

Thanks

bobbbb

Sterling is not legal tender here. They dont have to accept it.

axer

Geordie_Girl wrote: »

This was posted on a FB group about the wonderful Irish rip-off:



Can anyone confirm whether there's any truth to it?

Thanks

It is completely false. Irish stores do NOT have to accept sterling since it is not legal tender here. This has been done plenty of times on this forum. There are reasons for the difference in price e.g. VAT differences and wage costs.

Robbo

There is no such law. This only exists in that great tome, The Great Book of Imagined Irish Consumer Laws.

Prices on goods in shops are merely invitations to treat, not offers.

Moreover, sterling is not legal tender here so it may not be accepted in settlement of a debt unless the retailer was to expressly wish so.

Cool Mo D

Nope, total nonsense. Shops are under no obligation to sell anything to anyone, at any price.

It's completely legal for a shop to refuse to sell you something just because they don't feel like it, even if you're willing to pay the marked (euro) price.

Sometimes shops will be willing to let you pay in sterling, but you will always be charged the euro price converted into sterling on the spot, not the sterling price marked on the item.

Geordie_Girl

Cheers everyone. Thought it sounded like too nice of a deal to be real.

i71jskz5xu42pb

Geordie_Girl wrote: »

This was posted on a FB group about the wonderful Irish rip-off:



Can anyone confirm whether there's any truth to it?

Thanks

No, it's ill-informed nonsense.

Question 5
http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Hot_Topics/FAQs/Price-display/

Please post this link back to the FB group.

dudara

It's a downright falsehood. The only legal tender in the Republic of Ireland is the euro. Accepting anything else is at the shop's discretion. They are in no way obliged to accept Sterling.

Sam Vimes

Not only are they not legally obliged to sell it to you at the sterling price, they're not obliged to sell it to you at any price in any currency. They don't have to sell it to you

Kotek Besar

Robbo wrote: »

Prices on goods in shops are merely invitations to treat, not offers.

Invitations to treat? Eh?

Surely if it's advertised at a said price, it is to be sold at that said price. That's how it is in the UK anyway. Is it different here then?

i71jskz5xu42pb

benifa wrote: »

Invitations to treat? Eh?

Surely if it's advertised at a said price, it is to be sold at that said price. That's how it is in the UK anyway. Is it different here then?

It's the same in the UK as it is here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_economy/441740.stm

Kotek Besar

Ellie Rhythmic Stirrup wrote: »

It's the same in the UK as it is here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_economy/441740.stm

Thanks, this is very interesting.

But I'm confused.. According to that page:

The shopkeeper does not have to sell the television if he does not want to. At that stage there is no contract.

The shopkeeper is making what lawyers call an 'invitation to treat', an invitation to the customer to make him an offer.

but then later..

The Consumer Protection Act of 1987 makes it a criminal offence to give consumers a misleading price indication.

Shopkeepers in England and Wales can be fined up to £5000 in the magistrates' courts each time a consumer is misled. It's a defence for the shopkeeper to show he acted diligently and took all reasonable steps to avoid giving the consumer a misleading indication.

Call me thick, but I can't understand the apparent contradiction.

Nody

benifa wrote: »

Thanks, this is very interesting.

But I'm confused.. According to that page:

This means the shop don't have to sell an item to you at any price, including the advertised price, period

but then later..

Call me thick, but I can't understand the apparent contradiction.

This simply means that if they advertise at the wrong price and don't sell it the state can fine them for false advertisement; you still don't have a TV in hand though.

Kotek Besar

Nody wrote: »

This means the shop don't have to sell an item to you at any price, including the advertised price, period

This simply means that if they advertise at the wrong price and don't sell it the state can fine them for false advertisement; you still don't have a TV in hand though.

Ok, thanks. So, it's ok to advertise at any price and not sell it at that price, as it's only an "invitation to treat". However, to do so is unlawful and so the State can fine the seller.

...?

Surely it's either lawful or unlawful. If it's unlawful (which it must be, if the State is entitled to fine the seller), then it's not ok to do it.

Sorry lads, I still don't get it.

Sam Vimes

benifa wrote: »

Ok, thanks. So, it's ok to advertise at any price and not sell it at that price, as it's only an "invitation to treat". However, to do so is unlawful and so the State can fine the seller.

...?

Surely it's either lawful or unlawful. If it's unlawful (which it must be, if the State is entitled to fine the seller), then it's not ok to do it.

Sorry lads, I still don't get it.

Invitation to treat is usually used to protect retailers against mistakes. So false advertising is illegal but the law allows for mistakes as long as they are rectified

as the link says:
And it is also possible for the courts to declare a contract void if the seller has made a genuine mistake.

Cabaal

no no no no no they don't have top accept it in anyway way shape or form!

Some stores may but that is down to store policy and there is nothing legal to say they have to.

Good god.......such poor information they should be ashamed of themselfs

Kotek Besar

Sam Vimes wrote: »

Invitation to treat is usually used to protect retailers against mistakes. So false advertising is illegal but the law allows for mistakes as long as they are rectified

as the link says:
And it is also possible for the courts to declare a contract void if the seller has made a genuine mistake.

Ok, but "invitation to treat" is clearly an intentional act - as the seller is inviting the customer to make him an offer.

How can a mistake be excused by making out it was an intentional act?

axer

benifa wrote: »

Ok, but "invitation to treat" is clearly an intentional act - as the seller is inviting the customer to make him an offer.

How can a mistake be excused by making out it was an intentional act?

It comes down to contract law.

You need the following ingredients to have a legally binding contract.

Offer and Acceptance
Consideration (payment)
Intent to contract
Legality of form (some contracts need to be in writing)
Capacity to contract (need to be able to contract e.g. minors can't)
(i could be missing one other ingredient)

An invitation to make an offer (invitation to treat) is not an offer since displaying items with a price is "an expression of willingness to negotiate".

taram

benifa wrote: »

Ok, but "invitation to treat" is clearly an intentional act - as the seller is inviting the customer to make him an offer.

How can a mistake be excused by making out it was an intentional act?

I think it's something like if I have 200 packs of sausages out and they all say '€1.00' and one says '€0.10' and you pick up the '€0.10', I scan it at the proper price of '€1.00', if you haven't paid for it yet (ie. completed our contract) I can refuse to sell you it for €0.10. It's a mistake, not deception. However, if I put an ad in the media saying 'sausages going cheap, 10 cent', and put the same ad over sausages that are still the euro, I'm intentionally trying to decieve.

Open to correction on this.

wmpdd3

Yes well explained, they are fining a company for intentionally misleading customers not for 1 mistake.

Emerald Lass

Tesco are currently matching the sterling price in euro on their clothing - i.e what ever the listed sterling price is, you pay that in euro £10= €10.

hope this might kick start some of the other large stores to follow suit.

parsi

Emerald Lass wrote: »

Tesco are currently matching the sterling price in euro on their clothing - i.e what ever the listed sterling price is, you pay that in euro £10= €10.

hope this might kick start some of the other large stores to follow suit.

Aye but aren't they supposed to be running some promo in Sterling-land offering 20% off ...?

joolsveer

benifa wrote: »

Ok, thanks. So, it's ok to advertise at any price and not sell it at that price, as it's only an "invitation to treat". However, to do so is unlawful and so the State can fine the seller.

...?

Surely it's either lawful or unlawful. If it's unlawful (which it must be, if the State is entitled to fine the seller), then it's not ok to do it.

Sorry lads, I still don't get it.

The courts may fine the offender on conviction, "the state" cannot fine the seller. This does not help the buyer though.

rubadub

Geordie_Girl wrote: »

Can anyone confirm whether there's any truth to it?

If this was true do you not think people would have been buying magazines with sterling and US$ for the last 50 odd years or so. This dual pricing is nothing new...

The utter ignorance some people have about varying prices in different countries is quite disturbing.

Emerald Lass

parsi wrote: »

Aye but aren't they supposed to be running some promo in Sterling-land offering 20% off ...?

wouldn't let that bother me too much - its like when debenhams or currys or who ever have a sale in the UK and not here. Still think its a step in the right direction.

Gummy Panda

benifa wrote: »

Ok, but "invitation to treat" is clearly an intentional act - as the seller is inviting the customer to make him an offer.

How can a mistake be excused by making out it was an intentional act?

I'll try explain the difference between invitation to treat and false advertising.

False advertising - would be taking an advertisement in a national newspaper that draws customers from the street to your store, then when they are instore you tell them thats a mistake.

Invitation to treat - is basically you find a item on display (so wasn't draw into store by a advertised price) and then bring it to the till, to enter into contract of sale. The seller can then choose to accept, decline or counter-offer. This is to protect retailers where a item may be wrongly priced or a customer has tampered with pricing (swap price stickers does happen).

I may be a bit off with this explanation.

Dravokivich

Gummy,

thats exactly it.