Protecting the Rights of Consumers For Over 25 Years

Question: Can a store change the price of an item after it is being sold and ask for additional payment? I recently made a purchase of a bedroom set. Salesman offered price, I accepted price, signed off on purchase and paid with a credit card which has been charged in full. Later during day of purchase, another salesman called me to notify me the salesman who sold me the item had made a mistake and quoted me a price from a 2009 price sheet and therefore in order to continue with the purchase I would need to pay an additional $1000 or I could cancel the order. My response was I would not be canceling the order or paying any additional amount and as far as I was concerned, we had agreed upon a sale which needs to be fulfilled as is. My concern is if the store refuses to hold up their end of the sale do I have legal recourse to bring them to small claims court to sue them for delivery of the items ordered or for the cost of what a similar item will cost me elsewhere.

Answer: In this sort of situation, the merchant is bound to the offer unless the purchaser knew or should have known of the error, in which case the purchaser is not entitled to take advantage of the error. The answer therefore depends on how obviously incorrect the price was for what was purchased.