My fiancé and I are remodeling our kitchen on a shoestring budget. We have done extensive research on appliances. Most of our initial research is online.
I became confused about the consumer protection laws and if they apply to bricks and mortar stores who are advertising their products and quoting prices onlinedue to the following:
We were looking for GE side by side 25.0 cf “Clean Steel” frig with ice/water dispenser, model #GSL251GXLS. We found it at Universal Appliance Center's website. It was advertised at $1,009.00 (plus tax) on Sunday, January 18th.
With a print out of the web page a day or so later we visited the store and met Frank Rojas, an assistant manager/salesman, who told us that Universal would not honor the price we saw a their website online for the GE refrigerator. He said that they were moving their warehouse and the guys who move the warehouse are the guys who do the website. All the prices went up Jan 1st; they just haven't gotten the website updated. We had an online quote from Home Depot of $1079.00. Frank offered to meet Home Depot's price of $1079.
We left and went to Home Depot where we saw and tested the GE's and decided that we should consider the next model up. Home Depot posted their price of $1499.00 less 10% thru Wednesday January 21, 2009. We went home to look online for more competitive prices. The search engines went back to several stores, including Universal.
Online they are advertising the GE model we saw at Home Depot, #GSHS5KGXSS for less; $1, 245.00. We called Frank at UAKC and pressed the issue of the original refrigerator. At first, he again denied the offer and reiterated his original lies. When pressed about the implied "false advertising," and several minutes of back and forth I finally told him that we would be forced to contact the California State Consumer Affairs. He agreed to charge us the online price.
We assume that if he did this to us, he does it to all the customers who walk in their doors. He just happened to lie to the wrong people. By the way, Consumer Affairs did respond to our letter and referred us to the State's Attorney General's office. We don't expect to hear from them. There are a lot of scams that have them overwhelmed in this economy.
Anon
Tarzana, California
U.S.A.