An online retailer had to sell a smartphone to a buyer at an inadvertently lower price despite a pricing error because it had already sent him headphones that were offered as a free gift. This was decided by the Frankfurt am Main Higher Regional Court in the second instance. The buyer filed a lawsuit after the online retailer cancelled the order.
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The online retailer mistakenly offered a smartphone with a recommended price of 1,100 euros for just 92 euros. In addition, buyers should have received free headphones with the cell phone when ordering. This is what led to the dealer’s downfall: the court considered the shipping of these free headphones as a conclusion of the purchase contract.
Security expert Schneier praises data protection in Apple Intelligence“There was an inseparable connection between the purchase of the smartphone and the delivery of the headphones, in such a way that the free delivery of the headphones presupposes the effective conclusion of a sales contract for the main product – the smartphone.” The Hessian judiciary quoted the court’s decision in a statement.The decision is from April but has been made public only now.
Nine smartphones for 92 euros each
The buyer purchased a total of nine smartphones and four headphones in three orders at the erroneous price of 92 euros per cell phone, which he paid for directly. The dealer noticed the error the same day the order was placed and raised the price to 928 euros. The retailer began shipping the headphones two days after the order was placed, and cancelled the cell phone order two weeks after the purchase, citing the price error. The buyer filed a lawsuit demanding delivery of the nine cell phones he had ordered.
In principle, online retailers have the opportunity to dispute orders in the event of price errors, as long as the purchase contract has not yet been confirmed. However, the Frankfurt am Main Higher Regional Court argues that the dispatch of the free gifts can be understood as confirmation of the purchase contract, which thus confirms the decision of the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court. The verdict was also helped by the fact that the online retailer was already aware of the pricing error at the time the headphones were dispatched. Furthermore, the cancellation was also received too late.
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