Full question:
I bought a clown fish for $50 from a pet store. This particular clown fish did not have a price assigned to. I asked to buy it assuming it was $20 like the others in a separate tank. The price came up to be $50 and I paid it because it did have a unique design to it. About five hours later, the pet store calls and tells me that I bought a designer clown fish and that the price is really $150. I refuse to authorize another payment and they demanded to fish back. Do I legally have to return it if I already paid for it? I already paid more than the posted price for other clown fish. If I return it because of their mistake, do I have to only accept their store credit if that's their policy?
- Category: Contracts
- Subcategory: Mistake
- Date:
- State: Texas
Answer:
Typically, in such cases the adversely affected retailer must show that enforcing the contract would be unconscionable or that the shopper knew or should have known that the price was a mistake. Mistake covers a broad set of situations, and courts often distinguish between unilateral mistake and mutual mistake. A unilateral mistake is an incorrect belief of one party that is not shared by the other party. A mutual mistake is an incorrect belief shared by both parties. Courts have traditionally held that mutual mistakes are more likely than unilateral mistakes to make a contract voidable.
Where only one of the parties is mistaken about facts relating to the contract, the mistake will not prevent formation of a contract unless the nonmistaken party is or should have been aware of the mistake made by the other party, or if the mistake was due to mathematical mistake in addition, summation, subtraction, division, or multiplication and was made inadvertently and without gross negligence.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.
