Grattan made a big pricing error a couple of weeks ago when they advertised a Sony PS3 console for £49.99

I placed my order which went through at the checkout. I recieved an email confirmation of my order, also a written confirmation of my order through the post and my payment was taken out of my debit card.

I then received a letter in the post the following day saying that due to Grattan being unable to obtain further supplies from the manufacturer, they have had to cancel my order!!! Ummmmmm sure!!!

I contacted Grattan and they at first said it was out of stock so have cancelled the order. I said I'd be happy to wait for them to be back in stock. They then changed tune and said, oh, I think there's been a mistake with the price and that may be why my order has been cancelled.

I have now written to Grattan explaining that (mistake or not), they made an invitation to treat at £49.99 and I made my offer of payment of £49.99 to them, which they accepted. The payment was taken from my debit card and that constitutes a legal sale under the sales of goods act!!! I included all copies of the confirmation email, postal confirmations and even a copy of my debit card statement showing they had taken my money out one day and refunded it the next. I also told them that I was fully prepared to take the matter to the mail order traders association and the small claims court.

I am now awaiting their response.

Can anyone please advise me if my interpretation of the sales of goods act is correct and that Grattan should honour the sale?

Many thanks

Lee

I agree that Grattan should honour the sale. If you picked the item off the shelf and took it to the checkout, the retailer is required to honour the pricing on the shelf.

However, being a mail order company, I would imagine that you ticked the box to say that you agreed to their terms and conditions and those would state that all items are offered subject to availability.

Good luck.

Cheers Maxstream, I've since been trawling through many sites for info on this and I'm not sure you are right though about retailers having to honour prices on the shelf though. I think that's up to them to accept your payment. If it was on the shelf at £10 and it should be £20, and when you get to the till it comes up at £20, I don't think they have to sell it to you at the advertised £10. At this point they haven't accepted your payment so they have the right to refuse sale. Although it is illegal for them to advertise misleading prices which they can be fined for I think!! But I'm pretty sure that once money changes hands then a sale (agreement) has taken place. It's the whole genuine mistake thing where the courts can favour the retailer. But again, stipulations are that measures should be put in place to prevent such mistakes from happening.

I'm pretty sure Grattan will do all they can to worm out of the situation as I'm sure that there are quite a few people in the same boat as me. I just hope that their abrupt customer service telephone conversations (like I received) doesn't make people back down.

It's very similar to the Kodak mistake a few years ago and they honoured all sales.

Thanks again

 

yeah its always a bit sketchy about honoring mispriced goods, usually the company will issue a statement saying it was a misprice and so cancel the order...these guys have obviously ballsed that right up, so its hard to tell if they will honor it now. I hope you do get it, and for the record the procedures you've taken, eg. emailing and quoting the sales of goods act, was the best thing to have done.

Good luck