What's the legal situation on goods put by for a stated price?

LNeBlackCat on 06/07/2011 - 15:40
Last edited 06/07/2011 - 15:43

I saw the $49 Telstra 3G WiFi modem deal at HN on here on Sunday, and gave the local Officeworks a call to see if they had any.

They did, quoted same price.

I was feeling a bit under the weather so I asked if they thought they'd have any left during the week. They said probably, but couldn't guarantee the price then.

So I said "well can you put one by under my name to fix the price at $49, and I'll pick it up tomorrow?"

Yes.

But when I went in to get it, it scanned at $99. After explaining the above, they still wouldn't budge on the price. An argument followed, and eventually I asked for the manager, who said the same thing. After further argument she offered it at $79.

I wasn't having it - I'm a principled old bugger. After an hour of argument punctuated by lengthy waits as people went off and others came back, I said I was going to make a complaint and asked for the names of everyone involved, written on a copy of the docket.

The assistant refused to give me her name (silly girl had forgotten it was written on a big badge on her jumper!) and disappeared. A bloke came back, was very polite, and said I could have it for $49.

I had all sorts of lame excuses put forward at various stages of all this, which weren't even consistent with each other:

  • the bloke you spoke to on Sunday isn't here today, so we can't check what price he offered you (he hadn't written it on the note stuck on to the product)

  • when you're price matching, you should have brought in some proof of the competitors price. Eh?? I'd never even mentioned price matching or HN. I'd just asked what their price was on Sunday.

  • the one put aside for you is a different model than the one we were discounting on Sunday. It wasn't. It's exactly the same model.

  • there's no way we can find the person you spoke to. Er..there are 6 people in that dept and you have his handwriting on the docket. How hard could it be?

  • we have a policy that if the price changes on something put aside for someone, before it's picked up, then the new price applies. Er..that wasn't what was said on Sunday.

But I was wondering if they're actually allowed to do that (the last one). Does the initial conversation I had on Sunday, as above, constitute a verbal contract, for example?

I suggested that possibility to the manager, who said it wasn't a contract because it wasn't written down. You'd think the manager of a large business would know more about contracts than that.

What does OzBargain think? Are they allowed to do that?

General Discussion

Comments

  • andy19363 on 06/07/2011 - 16:03
    +1

    Does the initial conversation I had on Sunday, as above, constitute a verbal contract, for example?

    I assume there would need to be proof that the conversation had actually taken place?

  • llama on 06/07/2011 - 20:11

    Personally I think you are over-complicating things.

    Money talks. You should have paid over the phone if you wanted it.

    You didn't lose anything, you aren't out of pocket. Just pop down to HN and buy one on special, or do a price match.

  • StewBalls on 06/07/2011 - 20:21
    +1

    Sounds like pretty much every price matching experience that I've ever had with OW…I don't bother anymore, I just shop elsewhere if possible; and I always buy from the originators of the bargain, rather than negotiate with OW manager drones! :)

  • OG Puppy Banana on 06/07/2011 - 20:23
    +5

    From a business view, they are in their right to charge you $99, but it's a dog act how it ended.

    Ideally, if you were to put something on hold, you aren't putting the price on hold, just the item. Fixing a cost is a terminal offence, unless you have a manager clearance to do so. Or at least that's how bigger businesses like Target works. I'll take it that Officeworks is similar.

    In regards to a 'verbal contract', well you can't prove it at all. The only viable contract in retail is a transaction. It's concrete and a physical exchange between business and customer.

    Also, I don't mean to sound like a bad guy and may get some negative clicks, but there is nothing worst than a customer raging and insisting on asking for the names of all involved.
    It's not very fair to the customer assistants that try to help you on the day, but get a barrage of anger aimed at them, then the threat of a complaint. After all, it's not their fault some tool didn't know that you can't fix a price for a hold. The only people who should be involved in the complaint is the person who told you about the price fix and the store manager.

    Source: Me, a senior Target worker :P

    but yeah, sounds like you got the short end of the stick and you had every right to demand your item be sold at $49

  • dasher86 on 07/07/2011 - 10:22
    +1

    I don't think a verbal contract can take place over the phone without consideration. consideration doesn't have to be material but there has to be some."
    However would it be called bait pricing if they offered it to you over the phone for $49 and went into the store and offered you a different price at the counter? who knows…

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join