votrechien - 10:31 pm on Jan 17, 2013 (gmt 0)

Usually a sales contract is closed when someone offers something and the other accepts. My TOS for example state that submitting an order is the offer, by shipping the goods I accept the contract. I really do not think that is legal. I think the website with the price displayed is the "offer". When the customer puts it in the shopping cart and completes the checkout process with a payment that is the "acceptance".

There's a lot of examples of large companies falling back on this clause. A couple of years back Staples accidentally advertised iPods for $10 (or some other stupid price) and canceled hundreds of customers orders. Even without this clause, it's arguable what constitutes acceptance of the contract. I don't think there has ever been any consistency in case law regarding issues like this (let alone a Supreme Court ruling) so opinions on this are probably a lot like buttholes. We should all be grateful your customer is so omnipotent on this issue though :)

All legality aside, we all know how reliable threats of lawsuits are. However, he can easily write some damaging reviews to you, which may be even more detrimental so it's best to deal with the customer in a reasonable manner.

Also, from my experience, the very best thing you can do in these situation is prolong things as long as possible (his interest will dwindle in a couple of weeks or even a couple of days) and the very worst thing you can do is promptly reply to his messages. Apologize and let him know there's nothing you can do now but if he contacts you in xxx time you'll be happy to see what you can do in terms of arranging a discount.