Pricing Error Online/Contract Law/ACCC

[esmydeal28]

Hi,

Wondering if I can get some assistance. An online site marked their prices as $1.95 by mistake it's actually $600 odd. The item is now correctly marked.

The item was refunded saying seller unable to fulfill. The T&C says that sellers can reject orders if need. But according to your website it says if a purchase transaction has been fulfilled then they cannot correct error after purchase.

"A seller can’t attempt to correct the error or claw back any money after they have processed your sale and accepted payment, as the transaction (and the contract) is deemed complete at this point."

Is this correct? Does this fall into contract law? Does this also mean that the T&C breach contract law, or can the T&C override the refund issue?

Can you please provide the source information on this, as I am struggling to find anything. ACCC only states pricing and display regulations. I can't find the article where it states if an incorrectly priced item is purchased and refunded, if the sellers are obliged to fulfil it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Scruff]

To start with, no contract is "complete" until all parties have fulfilled their obligations under the contract. For retail sales, this means that the consumer needs to pay a sum of money and the retailer needs to supply the item.

If only one side of the contract has been fulfilled (the consumer paid and the retailer has not supplied the item), then the contract is not "deemed complete" at all in the eyes of the law.

If the retailer has provided a refund, then they have effectively cancelled the contract.

It's also worth noting that a genuine mistake is very rarely a breach of any law and any attempt to take advantage of such a situation through legal action would almost certainly fail.

 

[esmydeal28]

Thank you for that, it helps clear things up a little more.