(Thread 2) Egghead.com 32x64 256MB pc100 DIMM (deal over)

[Don Vito Corleone]

Boy, this has really gotten contentious, and people have some VERY paranoid ideas about how and why Egghead has "defrauded" them.

I am an attorney, albeit not one specializing in contracts. The laws on unilateral mistake of fact (here, mistake as to the selling price) vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but I imagine most courts in a case like this would find the contract unenforceable on the basis of unconscionability, because the price was so low that would-be purchasers here could not reasonably rely upon it in forming the meeting of the minds required to create a valid contract.

Another poster mentioned punitive damages - there is NO way any court in its right mind would award punitive damages where, as here, the seller obviously just made a mistake as to pricing.

Anyone who wants to file this action in small-claims court should be aware that there are filing fees associated with small-claims court, and for most of us it would mean taking time off of work. Also, though Egghead is almost certainly a proper defendant in any court in the United States due to their widespread business activities, it is still necessary to incur the expense of serving process on them in order to file suit.

Is it just me, or are people just mad because they were unable to take advantage of an obvious mistake by Egghead? I will be very surprised if, after the dust settles, a single one of you guys has recovered a dime from Ehead in a court of law based on this case.

 

[Otis8]

Hossenfeffer: Out of curiosity, I look it up - Deservitude isn't a word. Are you thinking or verisimilitude? hehe just giving you crap.

 

[eia430]

Monty Burns hmmm if us huffing and puffing about legal things is ridiculous what does that make huffing and puffing about huffing and puffing? If we're rediculous... what does that make you? ridiculous X 2? Just a thought.. don't need to get your panties in a wad.

 

[Otis8]

TEE_EDWARDS: Where did you get your law degree? Just kidding



<< but I imagine most courts in a case like this would find the contract unenforceable on the basis of unconscionability, because the price was so low that would-be purchasers here could not reasonably rely upon it in forming the meeting of the minds required to create a valid contract. >>



Are you forgetting the purpose of bait and switch law in the first place? It is not the duty of the consumer to judge the conscionability of the purchase - an offer is an offer and once accepted by both parties (purchased and charged) it cannot be simply cancelled without consent of the other party. I know this for a fact because I have gone through with such a case.



<< Another poster mentioned punitive damages - there is NO way any court in its right mind would award punitive damages where, as here, the seller obviously just made a mistake as to pricing. >>



Correct.



<< Anyone who wants to file this action in small-claims court should be aware that there are filing fees associated with small-claims court, and for most of us it would mean taking time off of work. Also, though Egghead is almost certainly a proper defendant in any court in the United States due to their widespread business activities, it is still necessary to incur the expense of serving process on them in order to file suit. >>



The fees are not that much at all, although there is a long process involved in getting a judgement transfer after the case has been won (if you don't live in California). Also, chances are than Egghead will not send a rep to show up in court, which means that you can get a default judgement and not have to show up at all.

Just wanted to clear that up .

 

[Hossenfeffer]

Derservitude is a coined word. It's basically the attitude that you are entitled to something, that you deserve it. It rears its head particularly in the case of freebies/deals/giveaways. &quot;You mean you ran out of little fluffy bouncy things?! I'll see you in HEL...er, Court!&quot;


Edit: The process of serving eggs on your head would be expensive.

 

[403Forbidden]

Serving process on Egghead would not be expensive...

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Otis8:

I went to the University of California-Hastings College of the Law, in San Francisco.

I doubt most bait-and-switch protections would cover this situation, as I don't see this as factually analogous to a bait-and-switch. Egghead is not making any effort to upsell the customers who buy this memory, and EVERY person here knew perfectly well that this was a pricing error when they ordered.

Note the language from Ehead's &quot;Terms and Conditions&quot; page, which is implicitly a part of the &quot;contracts&quot; everyone is bandying about here:

Egghead.com reserves the right to cancel a bid or order or to issue a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) for merchandise that is advertised in error, is unexpectedly out of stock, does not conform to specifications, or was shipped in error.

Filing fees for small-claims court vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and based on the amount claimed. Here in Oklahoma it is $35-75. That, combined with a day off work (which I figure is worth at least $150-200 for most people here), and the $20 or so for a process server, adds up to more trouble than I would expend to argue my &quot;right&quot; to take advantage of a pricing error on one of the 70,000 items sold by Ehead.

 

[shamu]

That's quite an assumption you're making there mr lawyer, that EVERYONE knew it was a pricing error. You being a lawyer I'm sure that would hold up in court, cause you knew what each and every person was thinking.

I liken this situation to something like this. Say you go into circuit city, and decide to make a purchase. You pay for it with your credit card, which is charged, and then are given a receipt. You are told to wait a few minutes while they get the merchandise. Then another person comes along, and does the same thing, and waits alongside you for their product they bought. Well, after waiting awhile they come out and tell you that their pricing is wrong, and decide not to give you the product. Meanwhile, they give the product to the other person standing next to you. Now you tell me if this is legal.

 

[kyutip]

Ok, here's a theory
Egghead charge our credit card
and supposed they cancel all our order
and maybe fulfill one or two,
they say it takes 3-5 days to get a refund
because of our cc has already been charged (more than 3-5 days)
is it possible that egghead making money out of this ?
you know, use our money for couple days for something ?
just a crazy thought of mine though, since I've been paranoia for a day now

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Shamu:

&quot;Mr. Lawyer,&quot; eh? Hee hee.

I merely said every person here knew this was a pricing error, and I stand by that. Nevertheless, I suspect the court would argue that a putative purchaser of the memory had constructive knowledge of the error on the basis that he could not reasonably have thought the price was for real.

As for your hypothetical question, I would argue that that situation would in fact be perfectly legal, because the store explicitly articulated its right to cancel a sale based on a pricing error. The fact that one or more person is allowed to take advantage of the error does not change this, and indeed it seems this protection allows them to cancel a transaction whether or not a would-be buyer had actual or constructive knowledge of the pricing error.

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This deal, mistake, or whatever it was, is over, so it is no longer a &quot;Hot Deal.&quot; If you must continue this discussion, take it to the Off Topic forum.

Thank you,

AnandTech Moderator