ironman

So, this is what happend. In my every day routine, i was reading the newspaper like at 6:30 in the morning when all of the sudden this ad appears: $410.00 42" LG Plasma TV!!! I think to myself "this can't be truth" no way it can be so cheap, so i double, triple check the ad and yes, it is only 410 bucks!. So i grab my things, call two friends, tell them about the ad and went to the place. We arrived like at 7:50, fearing that a lot of people would be in line out of the store trying to get their filthy hands on one of theese TVs. But we are the only ones, there's no one else, so we wait for the store to open at 8:30, spending every minute in extasis for the deal of our lives. The store finally opens, we go in and asks for 6 of theese bargains (2 for each). The clerk tell us that the price of each one of them is $3,600.00 or 10 monthly payments $410.00. We are outraged, so we show him the ad and he says that there was an error, and that the ad should read that it was $410 for 10 months. We tell him that we don't care, there are a lot of other products in the ad and each of them says precisley if it is a monthly payment or a total price, and the Tv is total price, thta they are presenting misleadig publicity and that they must sell us in the advertised price. We ask to talk to the manager, he refuses to talk to us, so they pass us to the owner that is at the phone. The guy goes totally postal, tells me that i'm a F***g son of a bitch, that there's no way on earth he will be selling us the TVs in the advertised price and that we can f**k ourselves. At this point, I was getting furious, so i hang on him and ask for the complaint book (by law every shop in my country must have one), the guys tell us they don´t have any, so we leave and went to the consumer protection office. We filed a complaint, and show them the ad. We are told that by law, the shop must sell the TVs in the advertised price. The guy calls to the shop and makes an appointment with them for tomorrow morning. The shop faces a fine of a minimum of $3,000.00 and a maximum of $10,000.00 for publishing false or missleading advertisement and a $5,000.00 fine for not having the complaint book required by law. The only way they can get off the hook is by selling us the TVs in the advertised price. So tomorrow morning, i will have a new plasma TV for $410.00 (i´ll get only 1 instead of 2).
So, what do you think about this? Am i acting correctly or should I let it go. I´ll love to read your comments.

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flamingdog

You are acting totally correctly. You have the back up of consumer protection, you haven't been an asshole about it (in fact you've been dissed pretty hard by the shop staff), and you're holding them to their obligations. Too fucking bad they screwed up their ad.

Lebell

No, I don't think you acted incorrectly.

As you stated, they were required to do certain things by law. They also should have proofed their ads better.

Congrats on a great deal!

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Cynthetiq

keep the honest people honest... you aren't trying to pull a fast one.

since it was ADVERSTISED outside (unlike the Laserth/RedJake couch which was a misprint inside the store) there are laws that they must abide by.

Of course FUTURE offers could be negated by them putting the ad up in the store and stating that there was a pricing error, thus a correction to the correct price.

good on you.

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sbscout

let us know how it works out...

I don't know about where you live, but here if an ad is obviously underpriced, the law is on the side of the seller, who can't be responsible for every ad mistake (which, by the way are published the next day in the newspaper, which takes responsibility). We are also under a written/unwritten rule that every business has the right to refuse service to anyone.

I'm sure that after you had brought their attention to the ad mistake, the store placed notices on premise stating the error in the ad. The fact that you were the first to notice the mistake doesn't necessarily entitle you to the item.

Mistakes happen. Did you honestly think that a business would sell such a top-end item at such a grossly low price? If it's too good to be true, it probably is.

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aurigus

I'd definately say the shop was in the wrong here.

With the fine involved and likely loss they will take on the TVs, wouldn't they rather just go with the fine?

3 x $410 = $1,230
3 x $3600 = $10,800

If they give you the TVs, they lose $9570.

But lets say they take the max fine, $10,000 + $5000. They then sell the TVs at normal price, They only lose $4200.

Anyway, good find on those TVs

canuckguy

so your telling me that if a car dealership placed and ad for a car for lets say $25,000, but the printer messes up and prints it as .25 cents, that you would get the car for .25cents? that is cool for you, but stupid law at the same time. do they not have print on the ads covering for errors? in my area that ads usually include a disclaimer with "prices subject to change due to errors in print..." whats to stop a printer employee from alter ads for houses....cars.....etc? sorry just can't see how this is true.

flamingdog

If the mistake is theirs, then they have their own selves to blame. I have no sympathy, because on this telling of the story, they behaved like pricks.

If the mistake is not theirs, they should have recourse to whoever made the mistake. Maybe a rookie studio hack at the paper forgot to put 'per month' after the price... but the shop would have seen a proof and approved the design.

I'm also not sure disclaimers can do that. It's more likely to be something they point to in order to pull the wool over your eyes when you turn up with a quarter expecting to drive away in a McLaren F1.

canuckguy

na stuff can happen at the final printing, i worked a summer job for a local newspaper on there printing press (good pay btw, union..etc) i am going to move to your state/country, take a job in a printing shop and start owning a couple thousand houses, cars, diamond rings, for about 30 bucks, sell them and move to a nice cottage up north!

ironman

If that ever happen, the press would be liable, because it was THEIR mistake, not the advertiser's. Besides, there is a reason for this new consumer protection laws exists now, and it is that for a long time, shops has been pulling stunts like this, and when you arrive at the store, they give you the usual "no sir, they have all been sold already, but we have this other one that is better, and only $500.00 more". If the shop acted honestly (what i really doubt as the clerk already knew and had no complaint book) and it was the publicity agency's mistake, then, they can hold them liable for the amount they are loosing.
After reading your comments and checking the law, i'm planning on continue with this. Thank you all and i will let you know how it ends.

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flstf

My wife and I were watching Judge Judy the other day for some reason. There was a case in NYC where a store advertized in a photo mag some expensive camera for for like $50 instead of $500. A guy went there to buy 2 of them and was told the price was wrong in the ad. The judge ruled that stores were not responsible for printing mistakes. No matter whether the fault was a store clerk, secretary or the printer's. It helped that there was a disclaimer in small print in the ad but it wasn't necessary for her judgement.

canuckguy

still a great deal mate, you can't go wrong with that, drooling at the thought of plasma....

Vincentt

Judge Judy isn't currently a real judge.

Tracybrian

Yea but what if the misprint was the fault of the Printing company or Newspaper. Dose it matter? Seems like a good way of protecting people from priinting false ads but there are always two sides to the story.

Tracybrian

opps someone made that point already. I would stick with your guns on this one because $410 for a plasma is a hell of a deal.

roderickpsu

More power to ya. If they had tried to accomadate you and you were a prick, I'd say you don't deserve it. But they were pricks, and they're going to get what's coming to them.

Cowman

Uh, with the fine they lose the 15,000 grand.

Then they can sell their TV's at normal price. They still lose 15 grand from fines. Yeah, they make money on the TV"s..but they had to pay for the TV's, pay the comission for the person selling it, etc etc. And you can't count the money they make from selling the TV's against their loss..that doesn't make any sense. That's like saying, oh I got 2000 dollar fine for speeding, but I sold the car for 8 thousand. So really I didn't lose any money. No..you lost 2,000 dollars that you would have had.


If they sell them at 410, well

3x410 = 1230

10,800 - 1230 = about 9500 dollars lost.

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Suave

Hah! They deserve it for being assholes. Maybe if they were nicer to you I'd say let it go, but with the way he reacted, YOU STUCK IT TO THE MAN!

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shakran

Are you in the United States? Over here the law generally considers an advertised price as an invitation to make an offer to buy.

In other words, they're inviting you to offer them $410 for the TV. They still have the opportunity to refuse your offer.

Your state may be VERY unique however.

alansmithee

Just went over this about a couple of months ago in my business law class. Usually, it depends on the state law and wording of the add. Usually, if the add says prices subject to change, that's enough to get a business out of a price. Alternately, prices that are obviously erroneous are usually unenforceable as well.

In your case what might have been decided is that they were deliberately being misleading with the price (by only listing a payment price, and no accompanying retail price or notation for monthly installments). If the add said $360 you might not have been able to get the deal (dropping a zero a very possible mistake).

Either way, great deal (and if I were you if allowed I'd still try to get 2 )

Mephisto2

I don't think you're acting correctly.

You're exploiting what's obviously a mistake. Sure, let them get fined for not having the complaints book, but you're trying to rip them off.

I don't know. I was raised not to try to screw people because they made a mistake.

Mr Mephisto

billege

Plasma TV's use a shitload of electricity. Look at the amps that thing draws.

I'd think you acted correctly, given your country's laws. I don't think that'd work so well here.

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slimsam1

While I agree that the topic starter is not right to push this further, I have noticed all too often that businesses are using underhanded tactics (read: bait and switch) to make sales. I would not be surprised in the least if this "print error" was not a mistake at all, but rather an omission by choice in the hopes of attracting potential customers.

Mephisto2

So leave it to the government body responsible for consumer affairs to take an action.

Mr Mephisto

Daval

My thoughts exactly.

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slimsam1

Yup, that sounds perfectly reasonable.

splck

I agree with Mr M.
It's a mistake, plain and simple.

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nice line eh?

canuckguy

lots of comments regarding stores doing this on purpose to get you into the store, was just wondering what type of stores these are? and if the price is listed as 200$ for a 2004 dodge ram truck should we not assume that the price is wrong? or that they are selling a model or picture of the truck not the real deal truck? i don't think i have ever seen a store in my area advert something then not have the item, ususally they say "10 per store..." or you get a raincheck of a item of equal or lesser value for the same price as the ad was.

BonesCPA

Just quick note on profits/loss vs. paying the fine: fines and penalties are not tax deductible. (In case anyone wondered.)

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quadro2000

Thank you. I thought I was the only one who read this thread and was going to have to disagree with the majority.

You put it better than I could have. They made a mistake. It was an error. These things happen all the time. The guy you spoke to on the phone was obviously an asshole, but that doesn't mean that you deserve a plasma TV for $410.

As always, like it has been said here, "if it's too good to be true..."

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Lockjaw

Yeah I'm with Meph as well. And frankly I think in this case you were the a-hole by pressing the issue, but maybe my past has tainted my opinion of peopel who try to get by on a loophole. My job in high school I worked at a t-shirt shop and the normal sale was like 2 for 25 bucks. Something got printed wrong in the little fliers and the sale was like 2 for 15 bucks instead and we had people throwing absolute hissy fits over a stupid little t-shirt and instead of NOT buying them like a normal person and accepting it was a mistake they raged for nearly an hour about how this was an injustice and blah blah blah.

You were within your rights...you just weren't "right". The only thing I fault the store on is not having the "complaint book". Enjoy your TV but I hope you don't believe in karma for your sake.

ironman

I have to agree with you, and i think that's why i posted this in the first place, and were asking everybody what they thought, i needed to convince myself that i was doing good, when my concience was saying i wasn't. At night i had to accept to myself that eventhough law was on my side, i was trying to take advantage of the situation.
Well, today we all met in the consumer protection office (by the way, i live in Guatemala). The poor bastards had one hell of a time, the publicity agency was called to be at the meeting as well, and they declared that the mistake had been pointed to the advertiser, but they decided to publish the ad that way. The agency even had a note signed by the advertiser where they declared they wanted the ad to be published with the $410.00 price tag. The agency explained that many times advertisers tag their prices low, so people will come to their shops and buy other stuff. The shop owner was changing colors all the time!!!! at one time we thought he was going to cry!!!! In the end, they were fined $15,000.00 and sold one of my friends the tv on $410.00. My other friend and me left empty handed, anyway, the wifes woulded cut our balls if we woulded appear at home with the TVs. Well, at last theese guys were punished for pulling out this stupid stunt, and i have a better TV to watch the football at my friend's house, so in a way i still won something...

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anleja

I had mixed feelings about this, until your mention of their awareness of the "mistake". Now I say they get what they deserve.

Rekna

Both parties acted wrong here but I feel the buisness should not have to honor the add and here is why. You obviously realized it was a mistake, otherwise you would not have been so quick to try and buy 2 of them each (the max limit). My guess is you wanted to resell one each. Making buisness cover for missprints like this means that the cost for everyone else goes up. While you get a good deal everyone else gets shafted.


With that been said and reading your last post the buisness obviously did some bad things. They deserved the fines they got but I still don't think you guys deserve the TVs, you should be happy you got one.

So how did they decide which of you got one of the TVs? You found the add shouldn't you be the one that gets a TV?

ironman

One of my friends and i decided we didn't want to get one (even though the opportunity was given to us), my seond friend did.

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quadro2000

Agreed. If it wasn't a mistake, then it's a different story.

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Triton

they knew of their mistake, they should face the consequences.

animosity

good for you. You did the right thing. They got what they deserved in my opinion. It is not like they even tried to apologise for their mistake. Instead, they automatically tried to make you out to be the bad guy.

taylorspl

When you get your TV I would also file a complaint/review with the BBB in your area. A simple apology could have resolved this mess but no, the owner had to fan the fire. Enjoy your TV, that guy can eat it.

scoobydugan

I think u were right in going to consumer complaints...I defintily would've taken the Tv though. I used to work at Best Buy, they have to be the most ruthless company i've ever worked for. They use bait n switch all the time especially now. They would advertise an E-machine for $200 but only order 3 of them....then they tell u to buy the next step up for only $300 more lol. Whatever, the mark-up on plasmas and LCDs is insane. For a 42" Plasma at BB they would charge $4500 but they only pay $1700-2000.