ross
actually you are wrong. An online retailer does not have to do any such thing. You may remember a few years ago one of the online retailers accidentally priced a cooker/washing machine (cannot remember which 'white good' it was) at something like £2.99 instead of £299. Word spread across the internet and hundreds/thousands of people suddenly ''bought it' . The store cancelled all the purchases by reference to their online terms and conditions.
Morning Simon,
Hope you had a good holiday!
What you actually stated to Ross is incorrect. You're going to hate me for this but as I said earlier in the original thread, I'm not taking sides here and as I see it you've handled this situation fairly. However, your example in using other online business is incorrect as I will now try and explain...
Back when the internet was a developing medium many retailers saw the oppertunities which the internet offered. Most retailers quickly developed websites and started trading 'online'. Needless to say, it wasn't long before a few savy clients spotted pricing errors and took advantage. There were a number of higher profile incidents involving Dell and Kodak which got press coverage. In the end the companies in question had no choice but to supply the goods because in each instance the company had allowed the clients to pay for the item and, at the same time, issued the client with a sales receipt thus entering into a contract with the client at that pivotal point.
It quickly became obvious to most online retailers that this 'mis-pricing' represented a major issue / danger for them so they (their lawyers) set about looking at ways to remove the risk. The method which they came up with was very simple... they simply altered the point at which a contract is formed with the clients. If you read the T&Cs of various online retailers then you'll see this fact set out. Now, if you place an order with an online retailer, you are not given a sales receipt immediately. Instead you are provided with an order reference number. In legal speak your order remains 'an offer' to the online retailer to trade which the retailer may accept or reject. In due course they examine each order and then decide whether or not they are going to accept your offer to do business. During that period of time the client has the right to withdraw their offer. So, as you can see, the online retailer no longer transact instantly like they used to do in the early days.
This is obviously a different set of circumstances to spread betting where orders are accepted and contract notes issued. In your response to Ross you imply that online retailers simple 'reverse' any trade which they are not happy with - this is absolutely not the case since the retailer is not contracted at that point. And this is the CRITICAL difference between Online Retailing and Spreadbetting - online retailers move the pivotal point of contract to a point where they have time to check that they are happy with the price which the client is prepared to pay where as Spreadbetting Co's initially form a contract with a client and then try to use Client Agreement T&Cs to circumvent Statutory Law (which sets out when a contract is formed under English Law).
As a result your argument is kind of self defeating - If retailers could insert a clause in their T&Cs which said "we reservse the right to reverse any sale we make where the price is obviously wrong" then they would do this wouldn't they? The fact that they don't do this proves a point - that point being that Statutary Law does not allow it. As a result they have to use a more convoluted method and that's how we get to this situation where they shift the point at which the contract is formed. This method obviously cannot work with spreadbetting.
Steve.