UK retailer Dabs has, “as a gesture of goodwill,” said it will
honour the orders placed for an Xbox bundle which was advertised on
its web site, Dabs.com, at an incorrect price. It initially refused
to fulfil the thirteen orders that were placed before the company
spotted and corrected the mistake.
Dabs.com advertised the Xbox “Ultimate Bundle” including the
console, memory unit, controller and three games for £249 exc. VAT.
It should have been priced at £379 exc. VAT.
According to a statement from the company:
“As a gesture of goodwill, and to thank
these customers for their patience, we have decided to honour the
advertised price for the 13 orders placed and will ship the Xbox
bundles as soon as stock is available.”
Two individuals who placed orders for the bundle have thanked
Dabs in a notice on their company’s web site for dealing
responsibly with the mistake. However, the notice also reveals
that, in addition to the Xbox bundle, one of these employees placed
an order for 40 memory units/controller packs that Dabs.com offered
for £1 per package; a package that is valued to approximately £80.
Dabs sent out an apology to the employee but apparently refused
this part of the order.
Argos once priced televisions for £2.99 instead of £299. It
refused to fulfil the orders, but its terms and conditions arguably
supported this refusal. However, more recently, Kodak offered
cameras at an incorrect price and eventually succumbed to customer
and media pressure to honour the sales, possibly because its
confirmation e-mail referred to a contract having been formed.
Editor's note: OUT-LAW.COM cannot comment on
the likely legal position of Dabs.com had it refused to fulfil the
orders because, at the time of writing, neither the terms of
Dabs.com’s confirmation notice nor the terms and conditions to
which customers agree when placing orders on the site, have been
seen.
