Best Buy lists a 52" HDTV for $9.99

[draggar]

You read it right and I did NOT type that incorrectly.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...081202660.html

I'm wondering who will win with this one - I think BB since they claim they have a policy that they do not need to honor prices printed "by mistake" (which means they can list whatever prices they want and charge whatever they want).

[Rine]

It is an obvious mistake and I think the law is on BB's side. I HATE people that try to capitalize on other person's mistake. Greed disgusts me. The gal in the article stated that she KNEW it was a mistake and went through with it and then she says BB needs to do something to make up for her "loss." What loss??

[gremcint]

Staples once mislisted a graphing calculator for like 2.99 and they did honor it. I heard about it secondhand though, so unconfirmed.

I really can't blame them for not wanting to honour an almost 1700 loss per set.

Though if they had a written policy of honouring mistakes then I'd be with the customers, but they don't so tough luck to the customers.

[JLRodgers]

Interesting... in a sense while I can say since it's obvious it was a mistake they shouldn't have to honor it..... I can also say that not noticing such a big mistake like that shouldn't of happened either...

Sometimes I wonder if these start out like this:
Employee who does pricing is busy doing price things. Boss comes in and says "you're fired"... employee changes prices to see how long it takes for them to notice (like one really big thing, plus maybe a lot of smaller things), getting back at the company.

[mattm04]

Sometimes I wonder if these start out like this:
Employee who does pricing is busy doing price things. Boss comes in and says "you're fired"... employee changes prices to see how long it takes for them to notice (like one really big thing, plus maybe a lot of smaller things), getting back at the company.

I'm sure some are caused by similar circumstances, maybe just not for such a big discount that gets in the news.

If the registered with the site than they greed to the T&C's which include the if we screw up we may not honer it. If I saw that I would know it is a mistake and move on. But nooooo, people ordered 10 of them. I wonder how many used the "in these economic times" excuse, because electronics retailers would not suffer at all in a bad economy.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I can't believe someone tried to buy TEN TVs at the cheap price and people feel that Best Buy owes it to them.

From the article: ""If they are gonna advertise something at that price they should have to stick with it," read one typical comment. "

Yeah because it's totally reasonable to assume that a freaking 52 inch TV would only cost TEN BUCKS! Good grief.

Anyone with half a brain should be able to figure out there's no way Best Buy was going to eat the $1000s of dollars in losses it would have taken had it fulfilled the sales.

[Jack T. Chance]

I don't know about the website itself, but most retailers, in their print ads, run a disclaimer (you know, in the fine print section that customers never bother to read ) stating that they are NOT responsible for typographical errors. And I've noticed Best Buy and several other large retailers posting notices at the front of the store, right where you walk in, when there IS a typo.

[draggar]

The sad thing is that after some research I found out I know the person who tried to buy 10 TVs and might be one of the flag-carriers for the class action lawsuits.

But - he's not doing it to get the TVs for $10 - he's doing it for something bigger.

He's bringing as much attention to this as possible and now his site is being quoted by newspaprts across the US in regards to this. Right now he has over 200 sites pointing to his with this hype inclusing at least a dozen large news agencies.

Now, people go to his site and click on his ads, he gets paid with each click plus with the increased traffic he can claim it is long term traffic and sell it to someone who doesn't know better for the full price of 1,000 of those HDTVs.

[jiarby]

thoughts??

It's a TYPO! Get over it. No one should reasonably expect to get a TV for $10.

Additionally, all ads and "Terms & Conditions" now have disclaimers that price errors are not honored. "Unilateral Mistake" is the key phrase.

http://www.lctjournal.washington.edu...2Groebner.html

[mariamousie1]

I think anybody would know it was a mistake. There is no way a 52" tv could cost only $10. I think anybody who tries to get the tv for that price is unscrupulous. There will be a lot of money lost if these people win, and for what? A typo? You have to draw the line somewhere.

[Kaylyn]

Oh, I agree. Anyone with common sense would understand and not expect to get it for that price. If I had caught that on the site I'd be the one to call and double-check the price, reporting the error in the process. But you know how customers can be...I just wonder if anyone's seriously going to push the issue.

Good point on the Terms and Conditions. I didn't think about that. Now that I think about it, it does say something along the lines of "doesn't apply to typographical errors" or somesuch. But you know people are going to bitch and complain when they don't get their 10 TVs for ten bucks apiece...

[MaggieTheCat]

I think we had a case of that once at my old job where the price of some flea and tick medication for dogs and cats (which is normally quite expensive) was supposed to be changed and accidentally got set at $0. We caught it pretty fast and I think the few customers who encountered it understood that it was a mistake and that they did indeed have to actually pay for the product.

[simplyanother]

Earlier this year (or maybe it was last year) Target listed a certain carseat onsale for a ridiculously low price. Not as big a disparity as the TV being listed for under 10 bucks, but still, it was like 40 and 60 dollars for a seat that retails for 280.

The thread about that at another board...man. Long, epic, fun.
Target did honor some of those orders, apparently (the ones that left the shipping center before the error was caught), and sent other people gift cards for like 20 bucks or something. Other people simply had their orders cancelled with the explanation that it was an error. The bitching about that still bugs.

So many people brought up the whole "but they aaaaaaaaaaaaaadvertised it...they haaaaaaaaaave to honor it".

I think most retailers that have an online presence now have the "yeah, if we make a stupid mistake, we're not going to sell you the two thousand dollar item for three hundred bucks, sorry" disclaimers. And it makes sense.

If the mistake is caught before the item is shipped, then the order should be cancelled, and the customer should be given the opportunity to order the item at the true sale price. If it's caught after an item is shipped and delivered--then, well, in my wholly uneducated opinion, sucks for the retailer. I think it would be very bad for them to go oh, oops, sorry, you owe use another bajillion bucks. (I supposed it'd be easy enough to issue a call tag and have the item shipped back, through no cost to the customer. I dunno, I'm babbling) Though I know that has happened.

I don't think it's a case of false advertising, honestly. It was an error. Even print advertisements carry disclaimers allowing for typos and misprints.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....22&id=cat12098

Errors on Our Site
Prices and availability of products and services are subject to change without notice. Errors will be corrected where discovered, and Best Buy reserves the right to revoke any stated offer and to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions including after an order has been submitted and whether or not the order has been confirmed and your credit card charged. If your credit card has already been charged for the purchase and your order is cancelled, Best Buy will issue a credit to your credit card account in the amount of the charge. Individual bank policies will dictate when this amount is credited to your account. If you are not fully satisfied with your purchase, you may return it in accordance with Best Buy's Return Policy.

Because I'm slightly bored, and really really am trying not to become hypnotized by Yo Gabba Gabba...
The same sort of things from other retailers:

Walmart:

ricing or Typographical Errors While Walmart.com strives to provide accurate product and pricing information, pricing or typographical errors may occur. Walmart.com cannot confirm the price of an item until after you order. In the event that an item is listed at an incorrect price or with incorrect information due to an error in pricing or product information, Walmart.com shall have the right, at our sole discretion, to refuse or cancel any orders placed for that item. In the event that an item is mispriced, Walmart.com may, at our discretion, either contact you for instructions or cancel your order and notify you of such cancellation. Prices and availability are subject to change without notice.

Target:

Despite our best efforts, a small number of the items on our Web site may be mispriced. As part of our shipping procedures, we verify price before an item is shipped out.

• If an item's correct price is lower than our stated price, we charge the lower amount and ship you the item.
• If an item's correct price is higher than our stated price we will cancel your order and notify you of such cancellation via email.

Newegg:

Newegg.com strives for accuracy in all item descriptions, photographs, compatibility references, detailed specifications, pricing, links and any other product-related information contained herein or referenced on our website. Due to human error and other determinates we cannot guarantee that all item descriptions, photographs, compatibility references, detailed specifications, pricing, links and any other product-related information listed is entirely accurate, complete or current, nor can we assume responsibility for these errors. In the event a product listed on our website is labeled with an incorrect price due to some typographical, informational, technical or other error, Newegg.com shall at its sole discretion have the right to refuse and/or cancel any order for said product and immediately amend, correct and/or remove the inaccurate information

So, it's a typo. Or a missed decimal point, or some other stupid error. It's not the same as false advertising. At least, I don't think. I think false advertising has to be done with the intent to deceive the customer.

A TV that might cost several hundred to several thousand dollars is not going to be on sale for under 10 dollars. That is an obvious mistake.

(this post has been brought to you buy Dr. Pepper, of which I've consumed entirely too much. Apologies)

[LillFilly]

Hmmm. Tough call. There was a store or car dealership I remember that said they would sell their product for 2,000 bananas. So several people came and payed with bananas. And the store was forced to honor it, and donated the food to a food shelf.

[Stormraven]

I think that's a little different. While it was clearly a joke, the speakers clearly intended to say just that. Whether or not it should have been honoured, it wasn't a typo - which is a simple mistake.