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Jeweller to sell 34k ring for 1.1k court rules

spurnoff

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 9, 2016
Messages
21
Sorry if this is in the wrong place, please move it mods if that is the case.
Just thought for anyone that missed this story it might make for interesting reading.
A tribunal has ruled that a jewellery retailer must provide a customer with a two-carat diamond ring valued at $34,000 for $1,100 after it was incorrectly listed and ordered online.

http://www.jewellermagazine.com/Article.aspx?id=7082&h=Jeweller-to-sell-%2434k-ring-for-%241%2C100-after-error
https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/58056cf8e4b058596cba08a5

Reading the court transcript and the only thing I can see the jeweler did wrong was attempt to save face and instead of straight up admitting it was a pricing error they chose to claim it was no longer available. Not that this was relevant to the court but it may have annoyed the buyer that they weren't initially upfront and driven him to take up legal action. But I personally think the buyer was well aware this was a pricing error, surely a mathematician wouldn't make this type of purchase without comparison pricing. Hopefully what comes around goes around as far as I'm concerned as I find the buyer quite unethical.

I should point out that this is Australia consumer law.
 

Karl_K

Super_Ideal_Rock
Trade
Joined
Aug 4, 2008
Messages
14,632
Interesting thanks for posting.
 

AprilBaby

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Messages
13,234
Too bad to put the store out of business. Any reasonable person knows you can't get a 2 ct diamond for that price. On the other hand, they got a great deal by taking advantage of the law.
 

breanne

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jun 7, 2016
Messages
508
I mean, how amazing would it be to have that happen, but to shut down their business, I couldn't sleep at night.
 

gm89uk

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
1,491
It bewilders me the law doesn't allow for an honest listing mistake to slide. A typo should not cost someones livelihood. Shame on the person that took advantage of this obvious mistake and pursued it further. Although if it's within his rights you can argue why not; what's really the problem is that the law allows this situation to happen.

On the flip side if there wasn't a consumer law, business' can take advantage of customers and withdraw a sale whenever a better deal comes along. There needs to be some sort of middle ground or procedure to account for obvious mistakes.
 

mixprints

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 16, 2016
Messages
13
That is just ridiculous, the terms say replacement OR refund!
What a con-artist customer to push for it
 

Fulvia

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Dec 15, 2015
Messages
246
Agree that it's totally shitty to take advantage of an honest mistake.
 

spurnoff

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 9, 2016
Messages
21
gm89uk|1480513183|4103709 said:
It bewilders me the law doesn't allow for an honest listing mistake to slide. A typo should not cost someones livelihood. Shame on the person that took advantage of this obvious mistake and pursued it further. Although if it's within his rights you can argue why not; what's really the problem is that the law allows this situation to happen.

On the flip side if there wasn't a consumer law, business' can take advantage of customers and withdraw a sale whenever a better deal comes along. There needs to be some sort of middle ground or procedure to account for obvious mistakes.

Spot on, it's not like they held onto his money for a week before notifying him. It took them 6 mins to notify him that the diamond wasn't available and then a further 50 mins in reply to tell him it was a pricing error. Everyone makes typos, I don't think the business should be punished for a human error when a bait and switch can't be proven.

I hope after all this his partner says NO! :lol:
 

totallyfree

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
198
In Australia the retailer has up until the point of sale to withdraw an incorrectly priced item. Unfortunately for the jeweller, but having an instant purchase paypal service, the contract was completed and the sale finalised.

From point 10:
Having considered various authorities, the Tribunal found that there was an absolute contract of sale made between the parties; that payment for the ring had been accepted as was confirmed by the appellant and that the appellant was unable to avoid the agreement by virtue of its claimed mistake. Accordingly, the relief, as set out above, was granted in favour of the respondent.

This is a case of the law being behind on reality. I do think the law does need to change. But I also firmly believe that if you offer something for (instant) purchase the onus is squarely on the retailer to make sure the price is correct and the product details are accurate.
 
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