Anyone else get hasseled over the $444.99 price last night?

**LBTRS** · 03-17-2011, 03:33 PM

I purchased the TB last night at 3am EST and got it for $444.99 with no contract. Order went through without issue until this morning when I woke up to an email stating my order was on hold and I needed to call.

When I called they said the price was $599 and not $444.99 that I purchased it for and that I was not eligible for an upgrade yet. I told him I didn't purchase an upgrade but purchased full retail that was advertised on their site. He checked with a supervisor who said the phone was $599 and I had to agree to that before my order could proceed.

Anyone else have the same issue?

**tekhna** · 03-17-2011, 03:35 PM

I don't think that's legal to force you to change prices, unless they have a clause about mistaken pricing. Which they probably do.

**L_Boogie820** · 03-17-2011, 03:38 PM

Me too. sucks

**ls377** · 03-17-2011, 03:39 PM

I'm pretty sure they have to give you the price you order it for. It seems like Verizon is really crapping the bed CS wise.

**indymeh** · 03-17-2011, 03:41 PM

Originally Posted by tekhna

I don't think that's legal to force you to change prices, unless they have a clause about mistaken pricing. Which they probably do.

That's really lame

**mkhalil06** · 03-17-2011, 03:43 PM

they legally have to honor the 449.99 price

you enter a contract with them to have the phone sold to you for that price when you ordered it

stand your ground, they will cave

**Str0ntium** · 03-17-2011, 03:49 PM

I'm sure your state has a bait and switch law. Call them back and tell them that you will contact the state's GA.

**mkhalil06** · 03-17-2011, 03:59 PM

big companies like this always always cave..
...the $150 isn't worth the lawsuit or a complaint to the attorney general or even the BBB

...you just have to be firm, polite but firm

**kramerica5** · 03-17-2011, 04:01 PM

I thought it was $450 off contract this morning when i walked into VZW, but no luck. I was ecstatic when I first heard, knew it was too good to be true

**AFirefighter** · 03-17-2011, 04:06 PM

I work in CS and tech support. They do not have to sell it to you for the advertised price. They can just say it was a misprint or typo, then tell you the only way you can get the phone is if you pay the higher amount. This does happen. They cannot auth your card for the higher amount, though, unless you give the okay.

**mkhalil06** · 03-17-2011, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by AFirefighter

I work in CS and tech support. They do not have to sell it to you for the advertised price. They can just say it was a misprint or typo, then tell you the only way you can get the phone is if you pay the higher amount. This does happen. They cannot auth your card for the higher amount, though, unless you give the okay.

you're 100% wrong

nearly every state in the country has a law that prohibits this very act

and it makes matters even worse for verizon because he processed the order online and it went through, effectively entering into a contract to have them sell him the phone for 449.99

..they no longer have a choice, they are OBLIGATED to sell it at that price

**AFirefighter** · 03-17-2011, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by mkhalil06

you're 100% wrong

nearly every state in the country has a law that prohibits this very act

and it makes matters even worse for verizon because he processed the order online and it went through, effectively entering into a contract to have them sell him the phone for 449.99

..they no longer have a choice, they are OBLIGATED to sell it at that price

Can you please quote/cite this law you are referring to? Thanks. Most every website has a disclaimer on their site for this. It's usually listed in the "Terms of Business", or "Our Policies" or something of similar nature. Ours is:

We have made every effort to ensure that information in our catalog and on our web site is correct; however, any typographical or printing errors, Prices or Specifications (subject to change) will be corrected without prior notice.

If the price is corrected after you place the order, then we call you and let you know. If you still want the item, we will then charge you for it. In most cases we can honor the price, as long as it's not below our cost. But, this varies per each product.

**mkhalil06** · 03-17-2011, 04:36 PM

Originally Posted by AFirefighter

Can you please quote/cite this law you are referring to? Thanks. Most every website has a disclaimer on their site for this. It's usually listed in the "Terms of Business", or "Our Policies" or something of similar nature. Ours is:

If the price is corrected after you place the order, then we call you and let you know. If you still want the item, we will then charge you for it. In most cases we can honor the price, as long as it's not below our cost. But, this varies per each product.

what verizon posts on their website is irrelevant because Law supersedes Verizon's policy

It's just basic contract law, we all learned it in our first year of law school

they entered into an agreement to sell the device for 449.99 since he completely processed the order online

...if you go on the motorola xoom forum on this site the same thing happened with that device.. they put it on their website for $200 cheaper and they had to honor it...

besides the fact that they are legally obligated, it makes sense from a PR standpoint to honor the price..

i'll try to dig up the exact law for you

**AFirefighter** · 03-17-2011, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by mkhalil06

what verizon posts on their website is irrelevant because Law supersedes Verizon's policy

It's just basic contract law, we all learned it in our first year of law school

they entered into an agreement to sell the device for 449.99 since he completely processed the order online

...if you go on the motorola xoom forum on this site the same thing happened with that device.. they put it on their website for $200 cheaper and they had to honor it...

besides the fact that they are legally obligated, it makes sense from a PR standpoint to honor the price..

i'll try to dig up the exact law for you

I appreciate it. I'm not looking to start a fight, rather I am purely curious to show to my manager here

Like I stated, we typically honor the price as long as it's not below our cost. As you said, it's good PR at that point.

**mkhalil06** · 03-17-2011, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by AFirefighter

I appreciate it. I'm not looking to start a fight, rather I am purely curious to show to my manager here

Like I stated, we typically honor the price as long as it's not below our cost. As you said, it's good PR at that point.

its all cool, I'm sorry if i came off as sort of a **** lol

its just one of my pet peeves when companies bait and switch like that

**mkhalil06** · 03-17-2011, 04:53 PM

basic wiki info:

FTC page with complete CFR citations

those two are for bait and switch, but there is also a contract law element to this situation, because when you process an order online, in the eyes of the law your entered into a contract with the company. You have to pay them the agreed upon amount, and they have to deliver the agreed upon product...its going to be hard to find one page online that explains all this ....after all this is a whole year course in law school lol

**racedog** · 03-17-2011, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by mkhalil06

its all cool, I'm sorry if i came off as sort of a **** lol

its just one of my pet peeves when companies bait and switch like that

You know its not always bait and switch. Sometimes shyte just happens by accident. Bait and switch has become almost a generic term but it doesn't account for accidents. If that price was put there accidentally and only for a short time they don't have to honor it, but many will because of the PR value.

No, I'm not a lawyer but yes, I did go to law school (I think Abe Lincoln was there) and I did get a law degree but I have never practiced law. Loved the study of law and its logic but found that I really didn't like most people who were in school and never wanted to have to be in the same business as them.

R

**texaholic** · 03-17-2011, 04:57 PM

I am pretty sure a prices subject to change disclaimer only works before the purchase, not after.

**mkhalil06** · 03-17-2011, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by racedog

You know its not always bait and switch. Sometimes shyte just happens by accident. Bait and switch has become almost a generic term but it doesn't account for accidents. If that price was put there accidentally and only for a short time they don't have to honor it, but many will because of the PR value.

No, I'm not a lawyer but yes, I did go to law school (I think Abe Lincoln was there) and I did get a law degree but I have never practiced law. Loved the study of law and its logic but found that I really didn't like most people who were in school and never wanted to have to be in the same business as them.

R

you're right it could just be an honest mistake

but ever hear that cliche saying "its not what you know, its what you can prove"

any freshman lawyer can twist it to make it look like they intentionally did it to bait customers into a sale

its not worth the $150, no law suit, especially one that could turn class action will ever be worth $150, $1,500, or even $15,000

**Forgetful** · 03-17-2011, 05:08 PM

Originally Posted by mkhalil06

basic wiki info:

FTC page with complete CFR citations

those two are for bait and switch, but there is also a contract law element to this situation, because when you process an order online, in the eyes of the law your entered into a contract with the company. You have to pay them the agreed upon amount, and they have to deliver the agreed upon product...its going to be hard to find one page online that explains all this ....after all this is a whole year course in law school lol

The linked sites do not apply to VZW's situation. Almost all companies have clauses protecting them from pricing errors. This kind of thing happens often. Companies never get in trouble. If someone actually gets it at the advertised price it's becasue the company was just sick of their complaining. They did not take your money saying that you needed to pay more or else you didn't get your money back. They courteously informed customers that their orders would be canceled and money refunded due to pricing error, or if customers desired they could pay the correct price and the order would be completed. Same scenario if you placed an order from a company that was out of stock of the item.

It was an obvious mistake, not some super evil plot from vzw, they announced the price earlier in the day.

If you can cite a specific law/court case applying to this situation then you have room to stand.

Amazon had the same mistake with PS3s priced low. No one get them cheap and Amazon didn't get sued. If companies had to honor pricing errors all the time people would just go into stores, place a "free" sticker on things and claim they were required to sell at that price.

**mkhalil06** · 03-17-2011, 05:13 PM

Originally Posted by Forgetful

The linked sites do not apply to VZW's situation. Almost all companies have clauses protecting them from pricing errors. This kind of thing happens often. Companies never get in trouble. If someone actually gets it at the advertised price it's becasue the company was just sick of their complaining.

It was an obvious mistake, not some super evil plot from vzw.

If you can cite a specific law/court case applying to this situation then I'll believe.

Amazon had the same mistake with PS3s priced low. No one forget them cheap and amazon didn't get sued.

i said this before

a clause/company policy cannot supersede law

i'll try to find specific caselaw , if one even exists, i doubt an issue as specific as you want has been raised in court before

but IMO, if verizon lets it go to court they are stupid, and they will lose

you made a mistake, then you own up to it, its the nature of doing business

**thedeceiver** · 03-17-2011, 05:14 PM

Originally Posted by Forgetful

The linked sites do not apply to VZW's situation. Almost all companies have clauses protecting them from pricing errors. This kind of thing happens often. Companies never get in trouble. If someone actually gets it at the advertised price it's becasue the company was just sick of their complaining.

It was an obvious mistake, not some super evil plot from vzw.

If you can cite a specific law/court case applying to this situation then I'll believe.

Amazon had the same mistake with PS3s priced low. No one forget them cheap and amazon didn't get sued.

This is correct. There is no law that requires them to honor a misprinted price on a consumer electronic ordered online. Some states have laws around purchases you make in certain stores (such as grocery stores). But by and large, unless this is a pervasive, widespread problem, companies are allowed to cancel or stop promotions at any time for any reason. They are not legally obligated to sell you anything and you are not forced to purchase from them.

Should VZW have honored? Yes. Should you have pushed hard? Yes. But is it the law? Not unless it's widespread.

**rdmartin1** · 03-17-2011, 06:42 PM

the $444 is for prepaid accounts. You have to sign up for service to get that price. I saw it on the price card when I went into the store. If I could've purchased it for that priced I wouldn't have signed a contract.

**j7469** · 03-17-2011, 07:00 PM

Without getting to technical here, since the order was placed online (not with a person) I believe Verizon's lawyers would argue that the price listed on website was an advertisement and NOT a unilateral contract. the sale would only become a contract when and actual Verizon employee accepts the terms you agreed to by completing the order online thus become binding. Until then any contract you agreed to in principal would be voidable at Verizon's request.

Haven't any of you guys walked into a BestBuy (or any other retail store) only to see a sign posted on the door with a correction for the current weeks flyer explaining there was a pricing error? Sale flyers are usually not considered binding contract but opportunity for negotiation.

Most "Bait and Switch" laws are targeted to advertising an item at a lower price only to not have it in stock and attempting to then sell you a higher priced item

Now this is not legal advice and just my opinion, I happen to be a law student and NOT a lawyer. Also most of my knowledge of the law is for the state of New Hampshire so your states' law may differ.

**zonyl** · 03-17-2011, 08:08 PM

Did you get a receipt of purchase for the phone in an email or delivered via a webpage? If so, I believe that constitutes contract acceptance under UCC. It would be nice if someone with access to case law could do a quick search.

BTW, I ordered an Xbox 360 Arcade from Amazon (couple of years ago) during their $100 promotion in which they sold too many units before the website closed off the sale. They tried to back out and sent an apology, however, I had screenshots of the order confirmation and receipt in email. I pushed UCC at them while asking for a legal address to file a complaint, and they gave me a $100 gift card to make up the difference. Ill try and dig up the email to see the specific law I had quoted (been a while).