Price of product in supermarket

[iamhobo]

I was in ASDA not long ago and saw the Inception DVD for £14. Elsewhere in the the store, I saw the same film amongst a bunch of others marked at £4. Obviously, with the DVD being relatively new, the proper price of it is £14 but that particularly DVD had been misplaced. From a legal point of view, does ASDA have to sell it to someone for £4 if they pick it up from the "£4 section"?

[jackthehat]

No.

[ChuckFickens]

No.

They don't have to sell you anything at all, they can simply refuse to serve you.

[treetops1]

It`s still going to scan at £14.

[iamhobo]

I understand that it would still scan for £14 but would it not be considered "false advertising" if the DVD was marked £4 but the store tried to sell it for $14 at the till?

[jackthehat]

No.
It is a mistake.
Any price shown in the shop is, in law, 'An invitiation to treat' you indicate your acceptance when you hand over your money...........up to that point you are free to decline to pay whatever the price or the price shown.

[DTCwordfan]

I think there is a difference in this between England and Scotland where Scotland would be yes.

Can any Mac or Ms Mac confirm this?

[iamhobo]

OK, thanks for clearing that up for me.

[iamhobo]

I'm actually in Scotland...didn't realise there could be a difference between the two countries.

[DTCwordfan]

Of course that assumes proper pricing - so if Asda Scotland has a rack with all DVDs at £4 RBS notes, and you picked up one of several so it was obvious that this DVD had been (mistakenly) laid out by a member of staff, they would be obliged.

Several years ago my old man got a £35 of Scotch in St Andrews for £7 and it was mistakenly advertised in the window of the shop. The sales assistant had put out the wrong bottles.

[jackthehat]

I don't think that there is any variation in Contract Law between Scotland and England.

[iamhobo]

In that case, I'm tempted to take advantage of the mistake but don't want to get some poor student the sack!

[jackthehat]

You won't............they won't sell it to you.

[factor-fiction]

I'm not aware that the law on this matter is different in Scotland, DTcrosswordfan. In your father's case the shop was just doing what many shops would do as a customer service gesture or to avoid bad publicity (or perhaps in ignorance of the difference between an 'invitation to treat' and 'an offer')

[iamhobo]

What's the difference between "invitation to treat" and "an offer"? I did study a law module at uni but just managed to scrape a pass!

[jackthehat]

Start here for a refresher............

http://en.wikipedia.o...i/Invitation_to_treat

[iamhobo]

OK. thanks for your answers/help everyone.

[fadeout73]

Was it not maybe the case that a Customer had picked up Inception (£14), then walked further round the store and saw another film they wanted in the £4 section and just left Inception there instead of putting it back in its proper place. In my local ASDA, you have the entertainment section then further round the store a Seasonal Aisle where they have from time to time reduced DVDS.

[BertiWooster]

A few years ago in a department store , I brought a suit to the check out , to be told by the assistant , that the price was more than the price displayed on the rack .

I insisted that they had a duty to sell me the suit at the displayed price , and asked the assistant to tell the manager of my opinion .

The manager agreed .

[Jemisa]

If you think you should or people in general should have the goods for the cheaper price whats to stop rogues going round swopping labels all the time.
The answer is NO.
Thats why there are bar-codes to stop that.
The price is really an incentive to get you to buy, but the shop can refuse to sell it to you.

jem

[mike11111]

Then the manager was wrong in law, but probably right in terms of customer service.