Legal question regarding retail law

Jaws

Jaws

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I know this is not really the right section but as it relates to retail in general and could equally apply to anything we buy....

Two firms advertise the identical product.
Both say they will beat any quote

So if I get a quote from form A and take it to firm B then take the quote from firm B back to firm A and continue ad-infinitum are the companies legally bound to honour what they advertise ?
 
I don't know for sure, but I would say no.

The "beat any quote" is not an offer but merely an advertising "puff". In the same way a shop isn't obliged to sell an item that is incorrectly priced, then these outfits aren't obliged to beat any quote.

It's been years and years since I looked at the law on that though
 
A retailer can withdraw a product from sale at ant time and decline to sell it at any price, advertised or not, it's their property and they don't have to sell it
 
Cheers folks.. That all makes sense ..
 
Unless things have changed (which is more than likely):

This is purely an "invitation to treat"
There's no legal contract without all 3 of the following
  1. offer
  2. acceptance
  3. consideration (ie the person offering to buy provides something that 'seals the deal' eg a deposit)

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CWH said:
Unless things have changed (which is more than likely):

This is purely an "invitation to treat"
There's no legal contract without all 3 of the following
  1. offer
  2. acceptance
  3. consideration (ie the person offering to buy provides something that 'seals the deal' eg a deposit)
Click to expand...

That's why online shopping is interesting though.

Amazon places an item for sale at 1p. I, ( realising it's a mistake) come along and press click to buy.

You then have the offer, my acceptance ( the click) and the consideration ( my 1p payment) .

I think Amazon are still refusing to supply the goods in these cases.

Not sure how they would fare if someone could be arsed to take it further, especially if the 1p had been taken from their account even if it was subsequently refunded.
 
ah no, sorry @Chris :
step one, the potential seller INVITES a buyer TO TREAT

then for a contract to exist,
the OFFER comes from the potential BUYER,
the SELLER ACCEPTS,
the BUYER gives CONSIDERATION

in the case you state, technically there's no acceptance by Amazon - their email states this clearly & that they are just acknowledging your order ('offer'), & that a contract doesn't exist until (whatever they decide - I think it's often when you receive the goods!!!)

but in any case, t'interweb is a different universe
just a wild guess, based on NO knowledge whatsoever, maybe that's because it's not in the UK and subject to UK law???
 
I know of some who have gone to B&Q got a price, gone to screwfix along the road got an undercutting price gone back to B&Q got undercut and in writing then back to screwfix and bought it, that is from the same company???
 
And there is always the phrase in the small print E&OE (errors and omissions excepted)
 
CWH said:
ah no, sorry:
step one, the potential seller INVITES
the OFFER comes from the potential BUYER,
the SELLER ACCEPTS,
the BUYER then gives CONSIDERATION

but in any case, t'interweb is a different universe
Click to expand...

Yes I know all that, but what if the money leaves my account?

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sorry @Chris , I hit POST before I'd finished... see my edit above
 
Chris said:
That's why online shopping is interesting though.

Amazon p see laces an item for sale at 1p. I, ( realising it's a mistake) come along and press click to buy.

You then have the offer, my acceptance ( the click) and the consideration ( my 1p payment) .

I think Amazon are still refusing to supply the goods in these cases.

Not sure how they would fare if someone could be arsed to take it further, especially if the 1p had been taken from their account even if it was subsequently refunded.
Click to expand...
This has happened before and I think some folk did try and take it to court - and lost. But retailers will vary, some might honour the purchase as a gesture of goodwill. Others will rely on the fine print.

But in the original question the there will be something written somewhere that the promise does not apply to special offers or price which have not been advertised for 6 months.
 
Amazon have in their T&Cs that they haven't accepted the offer / order until the goods have been dispatched.

In a real shop it would be the same as someone going to the till and putting their money on the counter - until the seller agrees the sale it isn't complete whether the money is on the counter or not.
 
CWH said:
ah no, sorry @Chris :
step one, the potential seller INVITES a buyer TO TREAT

then for a contract to exist,
the OFFER comes from the potential BUYER,
the SELLER ACCEPTS,
the BUYER gives CONSIDERATION

in the case you state, technically there's no acceptance by Amazon - their email states this clearly & that they are just acknowledging your order ('offer'), & that a contract doesn't exist until (whatever they decide - I think it's often when you receive the goods!!!)

but in any case, t'interweb is a different universe
just a wild guess, based on NO knowledge whatsoever, maybe that's because it's not in the UK and subject to UK law???
Click to expand...
Right. And so, if I advertise the wife in next weeks MILF TRADER, (Over 1000 Scrumptious MILF'S Every Week), and INVITE any potential buyer to TREAT me to say the true value, (£26.45), then she OFFERS her HONOUR, he HONOURS her OFFER, then all night long, it's HONOUR and OFFER...........Will I get my money?? :xsurprised:
 
you mean if you offer her honour and he honours your offer
and is the offer and honour all night
will you get paid?
I suggest you get paid up front.

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Tootles said:
Will I get my money??
Click to expand...
Only if you can prove legal ownership of the HONOUR that you're OFFERING....... :xshout:

[Which of course is why MEN 'give away' their daughters to other MEN as property :madder: ]
 
Jaws said:
I know this is not really the right section but as it relates to retail in general and could equally apply to anything we buy....

Two firms advertise the identical product.
Both say they will beat any quote

So if I get a quote from form A and take it to firm B then take the quote from firm B back to firm A and continue ad-infinitum are the companies legally bound to honour what they advertise ?
Click to expand...
I get where you are coming from John but what happens is trader A will beat trader Bs price by a penny then if trader B matches or beats trader A's price that is it they only match/beat the said price once :xwink:
now wheres this link to MILF trader

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The distance selling rules are considerably different to any other rules of retail
I am quite well up on those ( having been on the other side of the fence for the past 14e+ years )
 
Terry said:
I get where you are coming from John but what happens is trader A will beat trader Bs price by a penny then if trader B matches or beats trader A's price that is it they only match/beat the said price once :xwink:
now wheres this link to MILF trader
Click to expand...
Me, just to be bloody minded and just for the hell of it I would proly enjoy running back and forth for a while !!
 
Puddleduck said:
Amazon have in their T&Cs that they haven't accepted the offer / order until the goods have been dispatched.

In a real shop it would be the same as someone going to the till and putting their money on the counter - until the seller agrees the sale it isn't complete whether the money is on the counter or not.
Click to expand...
If I remember rightly (and I haven't got the references to hand) I think the first such on-line problem was with Argos where they mistakenly listed some TVs at too low a price. Since then web sites have included terms which say they can refuse to accept an order in such circumstances.

In the case of a displayed price in a shop, the retailer does not have to honour it if it is a genuine mistake. However, Trading Standards may take action if they think a retailer is deliberately misleading prospective customers. Many retailers will honour a mistaken shelf price in order to preserve goodwill but they don't have to.

It's funny that the question should be asked just now as I just commented on an Evans Halshaw advert on TV which stated that they would beat any deal on an identical used car - it struck me straight away that there must be a multitude of ways of showing that 2 cars are not identical (e.g. colour or fractionally different mileage).

Another thing to watch out for is the same products sold in different shops under different names. A few years ago we were looking at wrought iron gates. Two retailers had almost identical catalogues, the only things different being the model names and prices. Each shop, though, could legally claim that they were the cheapest in each case.
 
GJH said:
I
Another thing to watch out for is the same products sold in different shops under different names. A few years ago we were looking at wrought iron gates. Two retailers had almost identical catalogues, the only things different being the model names and prices. Each shop, though, could legally claim that they were the cheapest in each case.
Click to expand...

John Lewis is notorious for this. "Exclusive" models that are identical to those elsewhere except for the model number.
 
Another cropper came about with some of the first
" minimum £1000 part-ex for your car " offers & they didn't think to put " as long as Tax & tested." People were taking in scrap & they had to accept early on.
 

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