Martyn James: Does a shop have to honour the ticket price?

There’s little doubt that some retailers make it exceptionally difficult to return goods, report problems and get refunds. However, there are some fantastic shops – particularly on the high street – that allow you to return items even when there’s nothing wrong with them.

I really want people to get behind high street shops. After all, online retailers have started charging for returns, are notorious for poor customer service and many don’t even bother to have phone numbers. So spend your cash in person if you can – and if you do have a problem, be nice to the hardworking staff. It’s tough out there for people working in retail

With that in mind, I’m tackling one of the most contentious shopping subjects this week. What are your rights with mispriced items?

Does a shop have to honour the price on the ticket?

Many people assume that the price on the tag represents the final word on what an item should cost and therefore the shop must sell you the goods at that price. Sadly that isn’t the case – but there are exceptions.

A shop doesn’t have to honour a mispriced item if they notice the error before the transaction is completed. So at the till, if the price error is discovered the shop can reinstate the original price.

You might want to have a go at haggling, but you’ll have more luck with the head office of the retailer as the person on the till usually won’t have the power to offer a discount. If you decide to go down this avenue, then I’d photo the mispriced item so you can prove that the labelling was incorrectly applied. If you bought the item at the full price, you could ask for a refund of some of the money or a store credit – but it’s entirely at the shop’s discretion.

However, if the transaction goes through and you leave the shop, it’s a different story. Should the retailer contact you to say that they’ve made a mistake then you should not have to pay back the difference unless they can establish that you knew the price was wrong at the time – which is tricky to prove. The business should also not attempt to debit your account for the difference, as you have not authorised this sum to be taken from your account. If this happens, complain to your card provider and point out this is an ‘unauthorised transaction’.

What about online transactions?

When you make a purchase with an online retailer, you enter in to a contract. As my good friend, and leading legal expert off the telly, Gary Rycroft advises: “In law a binding contract comprises four elements: offer, acceptance, consideration and intention to create legal relations. ‘Consideration’ is the price (or benefit) agreed as part of the contract, like the sum you agree to pay in return for goods”.

What this means is if a mispriced item has been processed and confirmed then the contract has been made. The retailer sold an item at a specific price and you agreed to pay for it at that price.

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. In most cases the retailer’s website will confirm at what point your order has been accepted. If that’s occurred, they should honour the price you paid.

Sometimes businesses will try to get around this by arguing they’ve made ‘an honest mistake’. But if you threaten to ‘enforce the contract’ there’s a good chance you could win if it goes to court.

One final warning though, if word gets around that a website has mispriced certain goods and loads of people rush to buy them, then you are all aware that the business has made an error – and chances are the retailer won’t have to cough up.

Martyn James is a leading consumer rights campaigner, TV and radio broadcaster and journalist. Visit martynjamesexpert.co.uk.