Every year, companies mistakenly post products on the Internet at a price lower than their market value. When they realize they've made a mistake, most of them cancel the orders that have been placed, sometimes offering compensation to the consumer. This choice is easy to explain. On the Internet, it only takes a few minutes for thousands of consumers to order a product at the wrong price, which can result in significant losses for the company.
But is it legal to cancel orders in such a case? When is it possible to invoke the principle of error as a reason for not respecting one's commitments? In Canada, only one province seems to have rules that adequately address the issue of online price display errors, and that's Quebec. The Consumer Protection Act and the Civil Code of Quebec stipulate that consumers who purchase goods at the wrong price are entitled to receive them.
Other provinces would do well to legislate quickly. Mispricing on the Internet affects a significant number of consumers - 24% of the 1,000 people who responded to our survey had already bought something on the Internet at the wrong price - and online retail sales are growing all the time. The number of pricing errors is correspondingly high. In 2017 alone, we recorded around ten cases.
In response, companies are introducing restrictive sales conditions. We studied the websites of 50 companies frequented by Canadians, and found some disturbing clauses. Here, one merchant refused to be bound by the representations made on his site. Another gave itself the right to demand a higher price than advertised. Here again, consumer recourse was limited. Clauses such as these can considerably hinder access to justice.
In the search for solutions, it will be important to reconcile the rights of consumers with the needs of e-traders. In our focus groups, consumers were fairly accommodating towards small businesses, and towards those that react quickly, apologize and offer compensation. They also showed a certain openness when the difference between the incorrect price and the market value of a product is significant and the error is apparent.
Option consommateurs therefore recommends that provincial legislators amend their respective laws to specify that it is forbidden to sell at a price higher than the posted price, and that the contract is concluded at the moment a consumer places an order on the Internet. It also recommends the adoption, in all Canadian jurisdictions, of a Price Accuracy 2.0 policy, including a threshold at which an order should be honored or refused.
