Uh oh Dell

[Mayhem]

So a buddy calls me yesterday and tells me about a huge pricing error on Dell's web page. So I jumped on an ordered it....

The mistake was discovered and pulled from the site. The part # is no longer valid. The product was listed as a 250GB Xbox 360 w/4GB RAM, Gears of War and a Kinetc.

I've been checking my order status all day to see if they've canceled it yet. The only thing that changed was the game now says "Dance Central" - the price is the same.

It shows as "In Production" but they've not tapped my Dell Preferred account yet for payment. My friend ordered two and has been charged.

I put another order in for Overnight. The other sweet thing was that overnight shipping initially showed as $69. When I selected it, the price dropped to $0

I don't expect Dell to honor this, but would definitely be happy if they did!

A similar (replacement? I can't remember) package on their site lists at $330.

LOL!

 

[Mayhem]

Aww crap. I just checked my email again and see this..

Dear Dell Customer,
Your recent order for the Xbox bundle with Kinect accessory and games contained a pricing error; as a result your order was cancelled. We have not charged you for this order.

If you wish to place a new order at the correct price, please visit www.Dell.com. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, as the purchase experience of our customers is our foremost priority.
Sincerely,
Dell Customer Service

 

[ZxRishixZ]

Aww crap. I just checked my email again and see this..

Dear Dell Customer,
Your recent order for the Xbox bundle with Kinect accessory and games contained a pricing error; as a result your order was cancelled. We have not charged you for this order.

If you wish to place a new order at the correct price, please visit www.Dell.com. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, as the purchase experience of our customers is our foremost priority.
Sincerely,
Dell Customer Service

unlucky mate lol i was one of the lucky ones. I JOKE. still if you ended up getting it that would have been a bargain of a century.

 

[Ambit Energy]

That happened to me and they did the same... What a basted!!!!

 

[jwp1223]

I think they should honor those if you ask me!!!

 

[Outlaw71]

I wonder how they got around honoring it if you put in your order before they caught it? I know of other situations where something similar happened and the company had to honor it. The way I understand it, if a company advertises a product/service at a certain price, they have to honor the advertised price. The only exception is if it wasn't the fault of the company itself. Like for instance if the publisher or advertiser made the mistake on their end.

A good friend of mine ran across an internet deal like this a few years back. It was for an XBox 360 and a 55 inch plasma TV bundle. I don't know what the package was supposed to be priced at, but he found it for $700 dollars. So he jumped on it and bought 5 of them. But instead of making money off of it he just kept 2 of them and sold the other 3 for enough to pay for his.

So basically he got two 55 inch plasma TV's and two XBox 360's for free.

 

[Mayhem]

Well the friend who told me about it was smart enough to order it overnight. He saw that his order was canceled, but then got a tracking number.

They're supposed to be here today.

A friend of his ordered 11. I'd be amazed if he actually gets any of them.

 

[byteware]

They aren't required to honor a pricing error, but many companies have a policy that they do.

 

[Xyro]

I think the rule is that they can back out at any point until they charge you (which the email states they hadn't). That's how it works for proper brick and mortar shops anyway, even though customers will argue adamantly that if something is mislabeled, you should sell them the item at the lower price

Still, I really hope your friend wakes up to the sight of 11 xboxes

 

[Mayhem]

You are 100$, Xyro. Dell has had pricing errors in the past and didn't honor the orders. Years ago they'd listed some LCD monitor for $1. Obviously they didn't honor that.

The two my friend ordered arrived at his house. I don't know if the 11 his friend bought will.

My friend's planing on selling one of his for $275! I'm trying to get him to take $150. Who knows, maybe 28 years of friendship will sway him.

I guess next time this happens with Dell, I'll have to make sure to 1) Not pay with my Dell Preferred account and, 2) Specify overnight shipping.

 

[jroc]

Well the friend who told me about it was smart enough to order it overnight. He saw that his order was canceled, but then got a tracking number.

They're supposed to be here today.

A friend of his ordered 11. I'd be amazed if he actually gets any of them.

I dont know whats wrong with me but this had me laughing...lol

Amazing deal if its honored for him. And your friend is a lucky son of a ....

 

[messenger13]

Everybody wants something for nothing ... or as close to it as possible. And then they'll argue that the company is WRONG?! People are screwed up!!!

 

[byteware]

Everybody wants something for nothing ... or as close to it as possible. And then they'll argue that the company is WRONG?! People are screwed up!!!

Actually, they want the deal that the company offered them... that's a bit different.

 

[ScorpDX]

They get away with it because no one ever takes the retailers to court over it. However it is against the law.

Bait-and-switch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bait-and-switch is a form of fraud, most commonly used in retail sales but also applicable to other contexts. First, customers are "baited" by advertising for a product or service at a low price; second, the customers discover that the advertised good is not available and are "switched" to a costlier product.

Pointing this out will usually get you the product at the advertised price! I got a 5-pack of 2ghz cordless home phones for $2.99 from Home Depot several years back. They were supposed to be $299.00 but a pricing error was done in the ad.

 

[Xyro]

They get away with it because no one ever takes the retailers to court over it. However it is against the law.

Bait-and-switch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Pointing this out will usually get you the product at the advertised price! I got a 5-pack of 2ghz cordless home phones for $2.99 from Home Depot several years back. They were supposed to be $299.00 but a pricing error was done in the ad.

I don't pretend to know much (at all) about the law, but I would have though the fact they are canceling the orders, rather than 'switching' the price and keeping the order, lets them do this.

 

[Bob Maxey]

They get away with it because no one ever takes the retailers to court over it. However it is against the law.

Bait-and-switch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Pointing this out will usually get you the product at the advertised price! I got a 5-pack of 2ghz cordless home phones for $2.99 from Home Depot several years back. They were supposed to be $299.00 but a pricing error was done in the ad.

Hey, there is a huge difference between a mistake and Bait-and-Switch. Mistakes happen and they are by definition, well, mistakes. Bait and switch is illegal and wrong and punishable by law and done on purpose.

And you call your cell phone mega deal a mistake which tells me you knew it was a mistake. So the question becomes, who is the bad person in this deal? The company that made a mistake and looses money or the person that took advantage?

Just sayin . . .

Bob

 

[ScorpDX]

Hey, there is a huge difference between a mistake and Bait-and-Switch. Mistakes happen and they are by definition, well, mistakes. Bait and switch is illegal and wrong and punishable by law and done on purpose.

A mistake may be just that but it's not an excuse for breaking a law. If I go kill someone by mistake can I just say "oops...sorry...it was a mistake" and go on like everything is fine? I realize that's a huge stretch so lets go to something minor. Let's say I'm driving along and my car happens to roll downhill and gain speed. I get a ticket for doing 10mph over the limit. It was a mistake caused by downhill momentum but the law is still the law!

And you call your cell phone mega deal a mistake which tells me you knew it was a mistake. So the question becomes, who is the bad person in this deal? The company that made a mistake and looses money or the person that took advantage?

If I'm a bad person for expecting a retailer to live up to the price they advertised then so be it!


I realize mistakes happen. If the company figures it out (probably by someone exploiting it) and decides to change it after the fact, I'm ok with that. In fact I've seen a few times a sign on the front door of a business explaining the mistake and the new price. However, if a consumer has already expressed interest in purchasing an item for an advertised price (the bait) and they then decide to change (the switch) the price on the item then...well...bait and switch!

Just my opinion...

 

[A.Nonymous]

This isn't a bait and switch or anything even close to it. In a bait and switch, the company advertises Product A. When you show up to buy Product A, they tell you that Product A is all sold out, but you can still buy Product B which is comparable. Of course Product B is more expensive. Then it comes out that they never had Product A in stock in the first place. That's a bait and switch. This is simply a mistake. Nothing more and nothing less.

 

[Stuntman]

A mistake may be just that but it's not an excuse for breaking a law. If I go kill someone by mistake can I just say "oops...sorry...it was a mistake" and go on like everything is fine? I realize that's a huge stretch so lets go to something minor. Let's say I'm driving along and my car happens to roll downhill and gain speed. I get a ticket for doing 10mph over the limit. It was a mistake caused by downhill momentum but the law is still the law!

Accidentally killing someone is more serious in that it is not reversable. Causing someone to make a purchase is something that can be reversed by reversing the charges. I would hope that that laws are more lenient when mistaken actions can be undone compared to those that cannot.

 

[ScorpDX]

I would hope that that laws are more lenient when mistaken actions can be undone compared to those that cannot.

I'm sure they are. I was just pointing out that breaking a law is breaking a law. Doesn't matter which one and whether you meant to do it or not. Intent matters only for the punishment level.

 

[A.Nonymous]

I'm sure they are. I was just pointing out that breaking a law is breaking a law. Doesn't matter which one and whether you meant to do it or not. Intent matters only for the punishment level.

Dell is not breaking the law here.

 

[ScorpDX]

Dell is not breaking the law here.

From Harvard law and the CA supreme court JSTOR: An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie

Another law journal mentioning Amazon's habit of doing this Oops! The Legal Consequences of and Solutions to Online Pricing Errors >> Shidler Journal of Law, Commerce & Technology

Another saying it would depend entirely on the fine print of their ordering system. Consumer rights in disputes with retailers

So, does Dell have it in their terms that they can cancel the order over a mistake? One would think so, but one would also think they check and double check the price listing as well...

 

[A.Nonymous]

Dell made a mistake. Retailers have no right to make a mistake?

One of your very own links says the following:


The sign in the store says the computer printer is $2.49, but it rang up at $249. Saying it was an error, the store is refusing to honor the posted price.

The law

It's generally a myth that retailers must honor a posted price if it's simply a mistake, although some stores might do so as a matter of policy or on a case-by-case basis. The issue gets murky if the retailer begins processing the order, something that is more likely to happen online, says Jane Winn, a professor at the University of Washington Law School. But even then, she says, a merchant might be able to cancel the purchase if the price was so low that a buyer should have known it was mistake. An online retailer's fine print may relieve it of the duty to fulfill orders based on pricing errors.
You should know

Businesses that intentionally post false prices or that otherwise engage in bait-and-switch pricing can be liable under federal and state consumer-protection statutes.

 

[ScorpDX]

The issue gets murky if the retailer begins processing the order, something that is more likely to happen online, says Jane Winn, a professor at the University of Washington Law School. But even then, she says, a merchant might be able to cancel the purchase if the price was so low that a buyer should have known it was mistake. An online retailer's fine print may relieve it of the duty to fulfill orders based on pricing errors.

That's why I said, does Dell have it in their fine print that they can cancel the order and fix the price?

 

[A.Nonymous]

1. Can you really argue that you thought the price was a reasonable price?
2. How in the world are you going to argue that you've been harmed in any way when they haven't even taken any money from you?
3. How are you going to argue Dell processed the order when they didn't even take your money?
4. Are you really going to spend thousands of dollars suing Dell to force them to sell you a $50 XBox?