Hardware Bargains

[saor]

If they do this, then I'll complain as well. Actually if they do this, that means they are selling items to certain people at an advertised price and not others, which will effect some laws.

Oh stop being such a greedy little shark ffs. They made what was quite obviously an honest mistake. It doesn't mean anything - so please, stop with the nonsense accusations. BoB also has different t&c's.

All it means is that they have to minimize their losses as best they can - so if they honor the BoB one's and not the site one's then hey - some people score, some don't. Ppl getting butthurt over a few SSD's and a company is trying to keep itself from sinking.

 

[GreGorGy]

Section 23:

If a price as displayed contains an inadvertent and obvious error, the supplier is not bound by it, after correcting the error in the displayed price, and taking reasonable steps to inform consumers to whom the erroneous price may have been displayed of the error and the correct price.

Take 'em to court - if the judge finds that R3k could be an obvious error for something that retails R9K, guess who foots the legal bill? Clue: not First Shop.

 

[EmileS]

Oh stop being such a greedy little shark ffs. They made what was quite obviously an honest mistake. It doesn't mean anything - so please, stop with the nonsense accusations. BoB also has different t&c's.

All it means is that they have to minimize their losses as best they can - so if they honor the BoB one's and not the site one's then hey - some people score, some don't. Ppl getting butthurt over a few SSD's and a company is trying to keep itself from sinking.

Don't know who pee'd in your coffee this morning. But, if you'd like, I can make you another?

You either bought from BoB or you didn't buy anything and only noticed it today. So, now your a sour old bag either hoping they don't honor their pricing so you didn't miss out or hoping that they only honor BoB pricing without people complaining so you don't lose the deals you bought. Which one is it?

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

TBH a seller/retailer is fully in his right to cancel a transaction if due to a system issue or error wrong price information was displayed. That has nothing to do with bait-marketing and is no more than an oversight. If FirstShop honours some sales, great and kudo's to them, but they have no obligation to do so.

It puzzles me, that people continued to purchase products priced incorrectly, despite everyone being aware of it (and worst of it, still expecting the seller to deliver and threatening with HelloPeter, Small Claims Court, CPA etc). As many of you know, retail is already tough with slumping USD/R exchange and small margins and yet many expect the seller to fulfil the orders despite the obvious price errors - come on, a 4TB HDD for 700 bucks - just not going to happen.

 

[EmileS]

TBH a seller/retailer is fully in his right to cancel a transaction if due to a system issue or error wrong price information was displayed. That has nothing to do with bait-marketing and is no more than an oversight. If FirstShop honours some sales, great and kudo's to them, but they have no obligation to do so.

It puzzles me, that people continued to purchase products priced incorrectly, despite everyone being aware of it (and worst of it, still expecting the seller to deliver and threatening with HelloPeter, Small Claims Court, CPA etc). As many of you know, retail is already tough with slumping USD/R exchange and small margins and yet many expect the seller to fulfil the orders despite the obvious price errors - come on, a 4TB HDD for 700 bucks - just not going to happen.

Most of us know that... But hey, if you can take a chance (a small chance at that) to get something big and not lose anything, why not? Most of us are just on a hype to see the reaction with that small hope that it will materialize...

Anyway, I except them to say sorry, here's your money back and maybe a small discount on some of the stuff I actually wanted to apologize. But as soon as I read on this forum or on Carb that the BoB customer (like saor or sour as he's from now on known) gets their deal, I'll be upset.

 

[saor]

Don't know who pee'd in your coffee this morning. But, if you'd like, I can make you another?

You either bought from BoB or you didn't buy anything and only noticed it today. So, now your a sour old bag either hoping they don't honor their pricing so you didn't miss out or hoping that they only honor BoB pricing without people complaining so you don't lose the deals you bought. Which one is it?

You've missed my point if you think I'm sour. I'm just amazed that you want to take them to task over what was an honest mistake. And I bought online via their website btw...so again your theories hold no water.

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

Most of us know that... But hey, if you can take a chance (a small chance at that) to get something big and not lose anything, why not? Most of us are just on a hype to see the reaction with that small hope that it will materialize...

Anyway, I except them to say sorry, here's your money back and maybe a small discount on some of the stuff I actually wanted to apologize. But as soon as I read on this forum or on Carb that the BoB customer (like saor or sour as he's from now on known) gets their deal, I'll be upset.

I get that, I am just thinking of the administrative burden this creates for them. Yes it was an error which spread as part of syndication across a number of sites and having to face the embarrassment and then the task of informing buyers and cancelling orders will occupy some of their admin staff for days. If they choose to honour some deals or deals from a specific channel, it is still their decision to do so and should not be justification for demanding the same service. (Just because a passenger on a plane gets bumped up to first class, does not entitle you to demand the same thing).

 

[EmileS]

You've missed my point if you think I'm sour. I'm just amazed that you want to take them to task over what was an honest mistake. And I bought online btw...so again your theories hold no water.

Did I say anywhere that they MUST give us the ordered items? NO! I just stated that's it's unfair if they give it to certain people (BoB) and not the customers who bought online. I also stated that there are possibly some laws that they will be overstepping if they offer an publicly advertised product to only a certain group of people.

We all know that they won't honor the prices, since it was a honest mistake from their suppliers. But, you also bought from them as you stated. So we are all here hoping there is this 1% chance they'll sell it to us at those prices, if not, we didn't lose anything. If you knew it was a mistake, why did you buy from them?

 

[EmileS]

I get that, I am just thinking of the administrative burden this creates for them. Yes it was an error which spread as part of syndication across a number of sites and having to face the embarrassment and then the task of informing buyers and cancelling orders will occupy some of their admin staff for days. If they choose to honour some deals or deals from a specific channel, it is still their decision to do so and should not be justification for demanding the same service. (Just because a passenger on a plane gets bumped up to first class, does not entitle you to demand the same thing).

Yeah I get that. I think the company is looking at that to. They'll certainly get a mixed bag of responses based on any decision they make. But, I think if they only offer it to a certain group of people they'll get a lot more bad responses and rep than what they will if they just refund everyone. I'm 99% sure they'll just refund everyone.

The amount of admin is going to be insane! PR disaster!

 

[Praeses]

If they don't honour the sale, I'm sure many people will just leave it as is and go on with their lives. The question is, how many people will not be decent human beings and have too much time on their hands?

 

[K-VI]

I actually believe that they have a big decision to make. According to the CPA, (And I know people don't like that I am bringing in law. I don't intend to sue them.) they have to give it to people who have already concluded the purchase.

Obvious errors

If there is an obvious error in a price displayed, the supplier will not be bound by that price if the supplier corrects the error and informs the consumer of the correct price before the sale is concluded. The supplier is not obliged to sell the goods to the consumer at the patently incorrect price. It follows that if the price is not obviously incorrect the seller will be bound by the displayed price but, the seller will not be bound where the price displayed in relation to any goods or services has been changed, covered or removed by an unauthorised person. It is a criminal offence for anyone to tamper with the supplier’s prices.

I believe that is the reason why they are taking this long as they are trying to find the best way to come out of this issue. The above makes their decision even harder. They can't offer everyone the item or a refund as most will take the item. Will have to wait and see what they say.

Just remember that everybody that has paid already, means that there is almost 1Million in their account at the moment that does not belong to them. That also means they are making interest on our money. That opens up another full topic on how they will try and rectify this issue. My best guess will be refund and voucher.

 

[d7e7r7]

I haven't heard from them yet... Surely they should be contacting customers already? Almost the end of the day...

 

[K-VI]

Agreed. No contact has been made. Anybody called recently to see if they are still in talks about the conclusion to the issue?

Regards
Kavir

 

[GreGorGy]

I actually believe that they have a big decision to make. According to the CPA, (And I know people don't like that I am bringing in law. I don't intend to sue them.) they have to give it to people who have already concluded the purchase.

Noted exceptions to the CPA include ECTA, ch7, whose own Consumer Protection caveats will apply, noting the following:

(1) This Chapter applies only to electronic transactions.
(2) Section 44 does not apply to an electronic transaction—*
...
(b) by way of an auction;
...
(e) where the price for the supply of goods or services is dependent on fluctuations in the financial markets and which cannot be controlled by the supplier;
...

We are all very ignorant around the CPA and I suggest a separate discussion is held where we can clarify our own interpretations.

 

[K-VI]

You do have a very good point GreGorGy. We should have another topic on each of our understanding of the CPA. Will be an awesome conversation.

Just hope they come out of their meetings and make a decision soon, as the wait is killing me...

 

[GreGorGy]

You do have a very good point GreGorGy. We should have another topic on each of our understanding of the CPA. Will be an awesome conversation.

Just hope they come out of their meetings and make a decision soon, as the wait is killing me...

Agreed - something like this requires a CEO who shoots from the hip. A full day meeting shows weakness, and the aggressive consumer can smell it...

 

[EmileS]

I can think why it is taking them so long. We are talking thousands of rands, a lot of time, and a lot of legal work. They are probably calculating the possible amount lost, risk, supplier response and contract, and possibly marketing (if they do honour it, I'll be shopping there again).

 

[sand_man]

Noted exceptions to the CPA include ECTA, ch7, whose own Consumer Protection caveats will apply, noting the following:



We are all very ignorant around the CPA and I suggest a separate discussion is held where we can clarify our own interpretations.

Isn't it ironic. The very people the CPA was conceived to protect are the same people who have absolutely no idea of its legal ramifications!

It is way to complicated to be of any use to the average joe it's mean't to protect!!

 

[bokka1]

Just got the mail that it was an error and they are offering a 10% discount voucher.

 

[sand_man]

Just got the mail that it was an error and they are offering a 10% discount voucher.

Yeah, muppets...