A consumer rights expert has explained the rules on whether companies must honour purchases if customers notice an item is incorrectly advertised at a lower price.
Although many people think shops must charge the advertised price, Martyn James from Resolver says this doesn't have to be honoured if the mistake is spotted before you buy the item - as Mirror Online report
He said: "You might want to have ago at haggling, but you’ll have more luck with the head office than the poor person stuck on the till all day.
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"So photo the mispriced item and see if you can get some cash back later.
"However, if you’ve bought the item at an incorrect price innocently, then you should not have to pay back the difference if the shop realises the mistake."
When it comes to online, Martyn says it often depends on whether you have bought and paid for the item, and if it has been delivered.
He explained: "Not all online transactions are contracts. So check the T&Cs on the website.
He continued: "Where a contact exists the business usually has to honour it if you’ve bought or received the goods though there may be exceptions in the T&Cs.
"That sounds super complicated – but in most cases the retailer’s website will confirm that the order has been accepted. If that’s the case, they should honour the price you paid."
However, bargain hunter David Jago says it's still always worth a try if you spot an incorrect price as "“you miss 100% of the shots you never take”.
The 33-year-old claims he has saved thousands of pounds from companies advertising products at the wrong prices - and some of his successes include getting a brand new Xbox for just £45.
The IT analyst admits he has had “a lot more glitches cancelled than honoured” but has set up Instagram and TikTok pages sharing his tips for how to find price glitches online.
You can find some of his tip tips below:
How to find price glitches
- Be quick! Not only so the item doesn't sell out, but once the deal picks up pace it is very likely the website will crash.
- Pay for express delivery - this will prioritise your order and if the item is not honoured you will get a full refund anyway.
- Use Quidco for cashback to make deals even cheaper. I've currently earnt £862 though Quidco. Or for air miles, try out Shops Away. I’m going to use my miles to buy a first class flight to San Francisco.
- See if you can use a voucher on a price error and always sign up for newsletters as they can offer additional discounts and free delivery codes. To save time you can also use a web based extension like Honey to search for codes automatically.
- Know your prices! If someone says it a price error or glitch it doesn’t always make it true so if you’re unsure have a quick Google.
- Use websites and apps like HotUkDeals and LatestDeals to set up notifications as well as Facebook groups for finding deals.
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