62
votes
After buying from a brick & mortar shop they've contacted me to say buying things from them is consent to arbitration. Is this legal?
They cannot force a contract on you after the fact.
You should leave these numbskulls alone, they are clearly up to something that makes them likely to be sued.
I am adding the following: it's not ...
- 7,425
50
votes
Accepted
Is it legal for a business to refuse service to a former customer in retribution for them leaving negative online reviews of the business?
A business owner can normally refuse service for any reason unless anti-discrimination law, or some other specific law, applies. "Critic of the business" is not a protected class. Whether a ...
- 114k
48
votes
Motorcycle price dropped less than a year after purchase. Can I get a refund?
You paid a higher amount so you got to drive the latest model for a year.
I can buy a lower amount right now, but I only get to drive last year's model. Or I can pay a higher amount to drive the ...
- 35.1k
44
votes
Can hotel booking companies make up any "original price" they want, or does the claimed original price have to be somehow grounded in reality?
united-states
About Agoda specifically, there is ongoing pre-certification class proceedings, initiated in the Superior Court for the State of California and subsequently removed to the US District ...
- 65.7k
43
votes
Accepted
After buying from a brick & mortar shop they've contacted me to say buying things from them is consent to arbitration. Is this legal?
Technically speaking, it's not illegal: spontaneously making a false statement to someone does not fall under any of Ohio's laws regarding fraud or the like.
It also doesn't have any legal effect. ...
- 6,436
41
votes
Is it legal for an oil company to charge customers a different price per gallon for the same oil?
In general, a seller may make different and inconsistent sales terms with different customers on whatever basis the seller chooses. In some jurisdictions, for some kinds of transactions, specific laws ...
- 114k
30
votes
Would it be legal to supply an item that deliberately stops working after the guarantee expires?
germany
If your machine actively destroys itself after the warranty is up, you commit the crime of damage to someone else's property under StGB § 303. You might also be liable for fraud, as this ...
- 43.1k
29
votes
Accepted
"Lifetime Warranty" terms and conditions changed after purchase
It's not legal
The terms that you agree when you enter a contract can only be changed if:
the contract provides for variation of its terms and then, only in accordance with that procedure. This may ...
- 218k
28
votes
Is it legal to collect payment for event entertainment services up front in case they cancel?
That's normal contracting
Alice is offering to appear in her role as (American Mc Gee's) Alice to people. She wants to get paid, so she has a standard 3-clause contract:
Client pays fee upfront, ...
- 43.1k
24
votes
Is it legal for an oil company to charge customers a different price per gallon for the same oil?
This answer is based on U.S. law.
Unless the oil company is a regulated utility, the answer is yes, it can charge different prices to different people for any reason that doesn't violate a ...
- 230k
22
votes
Are there lies that can be punished without any demonstrated harm?
Yes.
canada
For just one of many examples, see s. 52 of Canada's Competition Act, which makes it an offence to display a false or misleading advertisement. Section 52 expressly says that "it is ...
- 65.7k
21
votes
Is it legal for a store to accept payment by debit card but not be able to refund to it, even in event of staff's mistake?
Based on how the debit clearinghouses work, it's fantastically unlikely that the retailer is unable to reverse/refund a transaction. That is how the banks want you to do it!!!!
The reason is simple: ...
21
votes
Accepted
Would it be legal to supply an item that deliberately stops working after the guarantee expires?
australia
Deliberately rendering the TV non-operational through software would appear to be malicious damage.
Under the Australian Consumer Law, one of the statutory guarantees is that a product must ...
- 218k
21
votes
Are there lies that can be punished without any demonstrated harm?
united-states
Yes.
In the wonderfully-named United States v. 11¼ Dozen Packages of Article Labeled in Part Mrs. Moffat's Shoo Fly Powders for Drunkenness, an in rem proceeding, the District Court for ...
- 5,319
20
votes
Can a service provider force a price increase?
When I signed up over 5 years ago, I signed a contract agreeing to a
specific service at a specific price and I was locked-in for 24
months, lest I be charged a penalty for early breach of ...
- 28k
20
votes
Accepted
Statutory right to return shoes bought online that don't fit
Since you bought these online the Consumer Contract Regulations are going to be in effect here (if the price of the goods was over £42 anyway), (legislation)
Where your cutting the tags off and ...
- 4,743
17
votes
Accepted
Can I compel a retailer to provide order details (serial number)?
The retailer
You can try making a subject access request under Articles 15(1) and 15(3) of the UK GDPR. Provide as much information as you can (your name, date of purchase, store you purchased it from,...
- 9,266
17
votes
Is Price Discrimination in the Software Industry legal in the US? (Sneakers resale software case)
The US federal Robinson-Patman Act applies only to a sale of tangible goods to different retailers at different prices in interstate commerce. See "Robinson-Patman Act" at investopedia.
...
- 114k
16
votes
Accepted
Is there such thing as reasonable expectation for delivery time?
Yes there is
If no estimate is provided, the reasonable time is 30 days. Findlaw's page on Shipping Goods and the 30-Day Rule says:
If the business is unable to ship within the promised time or ...
- 114k
16
votes
Can "Right to Repair" laws (or other laws) require a company to open source their proprietary firmware?
The Right to Repair generally talks about hardware, not firmware or software, and only to the point of restoring "original" functionality. For example, RTR would make it prohibited to have ...
- 1,692
16
votes
Do EU or UK consumers enjoy consumer rights protections from traders that serve them from abroad?
In theory, what Dale says. However, in practice:
Nope, and that's why the trader is in Timbuktu.
And I apologize profusely to the Malian people, I have every reason to think it is a fine country in ...
15
votes
Accepted
Does consumer protection cover price changes at point of sale?
england-and-wales
On the basis of the circumstances described, the trader's behaviour seems tantamount to more than one offence.
The behaviour known as 'bait advertising' is described at paragraph 5 ...
- 18.2k
14
votes
What is a misrepresentation made after a contract is signed?
There is no misrepresentation by the bank as you describe it, there is negligence by the account holder to comply with the terms of the account. The bank made no representation at all regarding a ...
- 216k
14
votes
Are there lies that can be punished without any demonstrated harm?
Yes
united-states
This is not a comprehensive list, but here are some examples:
Lying while under oath is the crime of perjury (regardless of whether it causes harm)
States generally make it a crime ...
- 5,487
13
votes
Accepted
Is Price Discrimination in the Software Industry legal in the US? (Sneakers resale software case)
There are a couple of unusual things going on here.
Users buy and sell licenses at way-below-retail prices.
This is very odd in the software world. Software licenses are almost never assignable and ...
- 1,354
13
votes
Does consumer protection cover price changes at point of sale?
australia
They must sell at the lower price or stop selling until the disparity in the prices is fixed
Sometimes the price of an item in store or online at the checkout may not match the displayed or ...
- 218k
12
votes
Accepted
Dispute unpaid debt of a deceased family member
Dead people have to pay their debts just like everybody else
It is one of the primary roles of the executor to make sure this happens.
Dead people can dispute a debt just like everybody else
Just ...
- 218k
12
votes
Is Price Discrimination in the Software Industry legal in the US? (Sneakers resale software case)
Jurisdiction: england-and-wales
If you are purchasing as a consumer (which is implied from your tag) then this could amount to bait advertising under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading ...
- 9,266
11
votes
Motorcycle price dropped less than a year after purchase. Can I get a refund?
No sane nation would try to control prices like that. You paid more but you have held the product since that time. It is generally accepted that goods released with a brand year decline in value as ...
- 7,425
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible