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Consumer Rights

Mall Refuses to Honour Advertised Sale Price

A store refuses to sell a product at the prominently advertised sale price, claiming a pricing error after the consumer has already selected the item

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The Situation

What They Said

“The tag showing that price was a mistake. We cannot sell it at that price. We are correcting it now. You can buy it at the correct price if you want.”
Price tag disputes — where stores refuse to honour conspicuously advertised or tagged prices after a consumer selects the item — are a recurring consumer protection issue in Philippine retail. The Consumer Act (RA 7394) and DTI regulations address price misrepresentation and deceptive sales acts. While genuine unilateral errors may have some limited legal treatment, the general principle under Philippine consumer law is that a seller who displays a price is bound by that price in the transaction with the consumer. Changing the price after the consumer presents the item for purchase may constitute a deceptive act under RA 7394.
The Fallacy

Post-Selection Price Change as Legitimate Error Correction Fallacy

The store presents a last-minute price change as a benign administrative correction rather than as what it may legally constitute: a deceptive sales practice. The Consumer Act defines as deceptive any act or practice that misrepresents the price of a product. When a consumer selects a product based on a displayed price, the displayed price is the basis of the transaction. Refusing to honour it — particularly after the consumer has relied on it — may constitute a prohibited deceptive act regardless of the store's stated reason.

What the Law Says

Your Legal Foundation

Republic Act No. 7394 (Consumer Act of the Philippines)
Article 50 — Deceptive Sales Acts or Practices — Price Misrepresentation as Deceptive Practice
“A deceptive act or practice by a seller or supplier in connection with a consumer transaction violates this Act whether it occurs before, during or after the transaction. An act or practice shall be deemed deceptive whenever the producer, manufacturer, supplier or seller, through concealment, false representation or fraudulent manipulation, induces a consumer to enter into a sales or lease transaction of any consumer product or service.”
Advertising or displaying a product at one price and then refusing to honour it when the consumer presents it for purchase may constitute a deceptive act under RA 7394. Document the advertised price (photograph the price tag), and file a complaint with the DTI if the store refuses to honour it.
DTI Department Administrative Order on Price Tag Law
Price Tag Act regulations — Mandatory Price Display and Accuracy
“All businesses engaged in the retail trade of consumer goods are required to display accurate price tags on all products. Price information must be clear, conspicuous, and accurate. Failure to honour a displayed price after a consumer selects the product may constitute a violation of price display regulations.”
Photograph the price tag before and after any dispute. Request to speak with the store manager and formally demand that the advertised price be honoured. If refused, file a complaint with the DTI's Consumer Protection Group at the nearest regional office. The DTI can investigate and sanction businesses.
What Scripture Says

God's Word on This

Leviticus 19:35-36 (NIV)
“Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin.”
The biblical standard requires that the measure offered to a buyer — including price — be honest and consistent. A price displayed to attract a customer and then withdrawn the moment the customer is committed to the purchase is a form of the dishonest scales God condemned. The Consumer Act reflects this moral standard: what you display is what you must honour. You are not obliged to pay more than was clearly advertised to you.
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What They'll Say Next

Common Counter-Arguments

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They might say: “The price was clearly too low to be real — any reasonable person would have known it was a mistake.”
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They might say: “No contract was formed — you did not pay yet, so you have no right to the price.”
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