Over the weekend, the Czech internet was flooded with news of exceptionally low prices at the Reebok e-shop. Sports shoes for 85 CZK, sweatshirts for 30 CZK or T-shirts for 10 CZK attracted tens of thousands of customers. But it turned out that it was a system error – the prices should have been listed in euros, not crowns. Still, people ordered in bulk, hoping that the “mistake” would turn in their favour.
From a legal perspective, however, the situation is quite clear. According to the Czech Civil Code (§ 583), a contract is void if it was concluded in error about a material circumstance, which in this case is an incorrectly stated price. If the customer knew, or should have known given the circumstances, that the offer was manifestly incorrect, he cannot claim delivery of the goods at that price.
This legal principle applies not only to Czech but also to foreign e-shops when they sell their goods to consumers within the EU. This means that even global brands such as Reebok must follow the rules of Czech consumer law when selling to Czech customers. And it is under these rules that sellers can withdraw from a contract if it was made in error.
Moreover, Reebok states in its terms and conditions that confirmation of an order does not mean that a binding contract of sale has been concluded. Thus, the company reserves the right to cancel orders in advance in the event of incorrect pricing. That’s exactly what ended up happening – the company cancelled the orders, refunded the customers and offered a 10% off coupon for their next purchase as an apology.
Although customers often hope to “guess” the wrong price, the law usually sides with the retailer in these types of mistakes. Czech consumers have seen this in several similar cases in the past.
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