Recently I saw a newspaper advertisement by a well-known retailer for a sound system. It was priced at only $599 for a week-long sale. When I attempted to purchase the sound system I was told that there was no longer any left in stock and that I could not place an order for this particular unit. Do I have any recourse against the retailer?
Lawyer Answers (1): Answers from lawyers are general preliminary responses. They are not formal legal advice and cannot taken account of all your circumstances. They do not create a lawyer–client relationship.
Answer by Lisa Wulfsohn, Malvern 3144 VIC
- This is a practice known as bait advertising. It normally occurs when a particular business places an advertisement for goods at a specified price. The business however does not have the stock available for all interested customers to purchase the item.
- Bait advertising is illegal in instances where the goods are advertised for sale at a discounted price but are not available for that price in reasonable quantities for a reasonable period of time.
- What constitutes a ‘reasonable quantity’ is dependent on the type of item in question and the terms of the advertisement.