Legal Question in Consumer Law in Virginia

Re: Purchase Agreement

I think it is unlikely you will win at trial. In fact, this company might sue you. In my experience, Virginia judges and juries don't like it when you are trying to get something for free, whether there is a system error or not.

Re: Purchase Agreement

Advertisements on the Internet or in other media such as newspapers or magazines are generally regarded in the law as nothing more than invitations "to chaffer", i.e, to bargain, and as a rule create no binding nor enforceable obligation on the part of the advertiser to sell any particular product at a particular advertised price.

Consequently, you are simply incorrect that the company referenced in your question was legally obligated to send you the merchandize

which you were apparently attempting to order for only the cost of the shipping.

Re: Purchase Agreement

You are certainly correct that companies cannot just make up a policy after the fact. In fact, no one can. It is an annoying habit and abuse of companies, landlords, and others to think that contracts only apply to consumers, but not them. It is an annoying and unacceptable attitude that contracts are one-way streets, in which the company or landlord can do whatever they want, but the consumer must strictly comply with every detail fo the contract.

For that reason, if you have absolutely nothing better to do with your time and your money, you could sue them to try to make a point.

Technically you are correct tha if they advertise a product and offer to sell it to you for whatever price, including $0.00 plus shipping and handling they are bound by this contract.

However, that is a big "IF." I think most judges (probably all of them) will be extremely annoyed that you are trying to get something for nothing and that you are using up ("wasting") their time.

Specifically, they are likely to argue that the ecommerce site was NOT offering to sell the items for $0.00, but you would have known that it was a mistake. They will argue that it was sufficiently OBVIOUS that it was a mistake that you would know that they were not REALLY offering the product for $0.00.

So I think it depends upon how obvious it was that it was a mistake. Could a person reasonably believe that this was a promotion or "come on" to get people hooked on using the website, or the shipping and handling was where they really made their money.

I give you some credence on this because companies DO sometimes run promotions in which they give things away for free, or only for the cost of shipping and handling. Sometimes the S&H is so high that this is where they make their money.

Sometimes the shipping and handling IS the way they make money.