Legal Question in Business Law in California

Amazon posted a deal that was a PlayStation 3 for $40, after S&H and tax it was $60. I ordered it, got a receipt and everything (many thousands of people took advantage of this deal). The next day I (as well as all who ordered it) got a email from Amazon that said it was a mistake and a they are not honoring the deal. After looking around i think that this is against the law due to (California B&P Code, 12024.2) and that they need to honor the price. What do i need to know? Am I right?


Asked on 1/20/11, 12:41 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

No. Businesses are not required to honor incorrect prices in their advertising.

The statute you point to forbids businesses to charge more than their advertised price, but that is not what happened here. Amazon evidently charged you the advertised price and then canceled the transaction when it recognized the mistake.

Besides, the statute refers only to the price that is "then advertised". This means a business that sees a mistake in its advertising can run a correction which states the actual price and can then charge the actual price rather than the one which the ad mistakenly listed.

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Answered on 1/25/11, 12:24 pm


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