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  • Aug 8th, 2018 5:50 pm
Deal Addict
May 6, 2012
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Toronto

All fixed

All fixed!
Last edited by dabomb54321 on Sep 5th, 2018 6:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.
16 replies
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Nov 25, 2004
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dont bother contacting them just wait for the dispute to play out. this happened to me once and i disputed it with pc MasterCard and they asked to see screenshots of the order showing what the order said it would cost and 3 weeks later the dispute was won and they gave the difference back.

if it was a price error the company should have canceled the order or contacted u first asking if u were willing to pay the real price.
Last edited by aaron158 on Aug 7th, 2018 9:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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May 9, 2009
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If you are so convinced, from a business law perspective, that this is highly illegal, why haven't you filed a police report?
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Jan 3, 2014
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dabomb54321 wrote: There was an item I was able to add to my cart, proceed to checkout, and finally pay for. I didn’t think much of it as I believed the item would most likely be cancelled. Once I actually obtained a shipping confirmation email, I was ecstatic to receive the item. My credit card was charged the exact amount as was stated on my shipping confimation receipt. From a business law perspective, this would conclude the agreed upon contract (money paid for goods/services at the agreed upon price; merchant shipped item and was now in my possession and I paid the agreed amount as was on my receipt). A week later, I get a charge close to about $1000 on my credit card from the same merchant for the goods that I had already paid for.
So...clearly based on your second sentence, this was an obvious price error. That means that you're subject to not only consumer law, but also the terms and conditions of sale that you agreed to when processing the order through the merchant's online portal. If they have a clause in that agreement covering pricing errors, then you are subject to the terms of that clause, because you would have clicked on an acceptance of those terms during the ordering process. Didn't read it? Not their problem. You want to go bringing business law into it, then you can't ignore all elements of contract law, including your acceptance of the terms of sale.

Now, if the agreement doesn't include a price error clause, or you're in Quebec or any other jurisdiction that basically says "the advertised price is what you have to sell it at...", then yay for you...you have better grounds to dispute any extra charge.

I'd also be curious to know what the merchant said when you asked them what the extra charge was for.
Proud RFD member since January 31, 2007. Feel free to add 3,034 to my post count.
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Nov 28, 2007
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Hellfire wrote: Call the merchant, ask them to refund you. Failing so, dispute with your credit card as an unauthorized charge. Provided you didn't sign for it (or enter your pin) you should win.
The above should have been the correct approach. Take the issue up with the merchant first. It might be that simple.

Don't try to "call them out" even if it makes you feel good.
Deal Addict
Apr 28, 2017
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You state in your first sentence that you're aware its a pricing error. You received the product. They legally have every right to charge you the correct cost of the item.
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Jan 28, 2004
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User381785 wrote: You state in your first sentence that you're aware its a pricing error. You received the product. They legally have every right to charge you the correct cost of the item.

No, they cannot do that if the item was already shipped out. If they fix the problem before and contacted the buyer.

Dispute it and you will win 100% of the time.
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Apr 28, 2017
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w00t wrote: No, they cannot do that if the item was already shipped out. If they fix the problem before and contacted the buyer.

Dispute it and you will win 100% of the time.
Its literally written in law that a merchant can do this. OP tried taking advantage of a pricing error, they corrected it.
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Mar 23, 2008
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User381785 wrote: Its literally written in law that a merchant can do this. OP tried taking advantage of a pricing error, they corrected it.
I would love to see the law that allows the vendor to change the price AFTER the product is shipped and in the hands of the consumer. Before the consumer is charged, I can see that. But it should be with the consumer's permission (i.e. they should be given the opportunity to cancel the purchase). But not after.

Plus consumer laws are different all over the country. The OP doesn't state where they are ("the six?") and you don't state where you are. So making blanket statements that it's "written in the law" is likely incorrect anyway.

C
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Apr 28, 2017
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This is a Canadian site. Wouldn't make sense if he wasn't Canadian. And in Canadian law, under the Competition Act, they have every right to correct it and charge him.
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Mar 23, 2008
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User381785 wrote: This is a Canadian site. Wouldn't make sense if he wasn't Canadian. And in Canadian law, under the Competition Act, they have every right to correct it and charge him.
Again, show me the quote. Because I don't believe you.

The Competition Act (http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/ ... .html#sale) says that the retailer cannot sell for more than the advertised price, unless the price is in error. It says nothing about being able to go back a week later and charge the customer's credit card for the difference. All it means is that the retailer can refuse to honor the advertised price.

Quebec, on the other hand, has laws in place to force retailers to honor price errors:
https://www.educaloi.qc.ca/en/capsules/ ... d-accuracy

But even in Quebec, the retailer's have the option to not honor the price in the case of extreme errors (i.e. selling computers for $2). However, it doesn't give the retailer the right to ship the computer to the customer under the guise of selling it for $2, and then charging them full price a week later. It merely gives the retailer the right to cancel the sale.
https://gowlingwlg.com/en/insights-reso ... ancel-sale

Feel free to post actual proof of what you claim...

C
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Mar 23, 2008
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To continue...

https://www.thestar.com/business/person ... error.html

http://www.lavery.ca/en/publications/ou ... urate.html

The second one in particular cites a number of cases. And in ALL those cases that I glanced through, the retailer was never allowed to unilaterally decide to simply charge the customer for the difference in price. They were only allowed to "not honor" an incorrect price.

C
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Apr 28, 2017
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I love how you cherry pick and ignore to actually read what you post. Order contracts have a unilateral mistake of fact doctrine which allows them to breach the agreed contract to correct errors if honoring it would be considered unreasonable to the business. This is governed by Canadian law. If the OP saw a blatant pricing error saying a $1000 item is only $100, then the business has every right to either cancel said order or charge the customer the correct amount. He can't dispute a business charging him the correct amount for a product he in fact received.
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Jul 8, 2009
1025 posts
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Toronto
User381785 wrote: You state in your first sentence that you're aware its a pricing error. You received the product. They legally have every right to charge you the correct cost of the item.
You have no clue.

The contract was made at a specific price. If the contract is invalid for any reason, and "price error" might be a valid reason, then the contract can be cancelled. That means OP returns the item for a full refund. One party can't unilaterally change the contract because they think it's unfair.

OP never agreed to whatever price he was charged.
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Mar 23, 2008
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User381785 wrote: I love how you cherry pick and ignore to actually read what you post. Order contracts have a unilateral mistake of fact doctrine which allows them to breach the agreed contract to correct errors if honoring it would be considered unreasonable to the business. This is governed by Canadian law. If the OP saw a blatant pricing error saying a $1000 item is only $100, then the business has every right to either cancel said order or charge the customer the correct amount. He can't dispute a business charging him the correct amount for a product he in fact received.
You're not reading any of the cases. In NONE of the cases I posted was the business allowed to charge the "correct" price. They can offer the customer the option to complete the deal at the correct price, or they can cancel the deal. They were not able to ship the product to the customer under the pretense of price $xxx, and then charge them later $yyyy.

Again, looking for proof...

C
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May 6, 2012
1914 posts
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Toronto
w00t wrote: No, they cannot do that if the item was already shipped out. If they fix the problem before and contacted the buyer.

Dispute it and you will win 100% of the time.
You are exactly right - once an item has been shipped out and in the customers possession, that fulfills the business agreement between buyer and seller and they cannot automatically change the price afterwards.

Also to your point, as of right this moment, I see a credit has been issued to my credit card statement online (meaning the excess incorrect charges have been reversed). Surprised it happened so fast given that it says it usually takes 6-8 weeks. I will have to wait for the case to fully close before I can know for sure the end result but things are looking good thus far!

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