When Caron Schwartz of North Wales saw Gerhard's Appliance advertise a $579.99 front-loading washer and electric dryer, she knew she'd found a good bargain.
"I was there before they opened. I showed the ad to the lady at the store who came to help me," Caron said.
Caron left the store with a receipt indicating the same make and model on the ad and the same price, but on the day of delivery, Caron realized Gerhard's had given her a less expensive, smaller model.
When Caron called Gerhard's, she was told the ad was a mistake; it was a misprint!
"And that Mr.Gerhard would not approve the delivering of the models that we actually paid for because he was not going to take a loss on the product," Caron said.
Gerhard's Appliance sent Action News a letter from its outside advertising agency. It said, indeed, a typographical error appeared in the ad.
And it seems typos may be catching on, as these examples show.
Radio Shack's website indicated a rebate for $100, but after Rochelle Chudomelka of Hamilton bought the advertised camera, Radio Shack told her the ad was wrong and there was no rebate at all!
"They should have honored it even if it was a mistake or at least told people about the mistake," Rochelle said.
Another example had an ad say get up to $10,500 off the cost of a new truck by trading in a clunker.
So Rich Carlin of Hamilton traded in his clunker and paid cash for the advertised pickup truck.
But about two weeks later, Rich got a call from the dealership.
"Stating that there was a mistake, the deal fell through, they want the $3,500 or they are going to take the truck," Rich said.
Dick Greenfield Dodge says it has no comment. It is now suing the Carlins to get the truck back.
The Pennsylvania Trade Practices Act does address advertising issues:
"It is clear, that deceptive advertising, that which is intended to mislead the average consumer, deceive the average consumer into making the purchase of a product, good or service, is not permitted in Pennsylvania."
But here's where it gets tricky. The law only applies if there's proof there was intent to mislead.
That's why the Attorney General says it is critical consumers file complaints if they believe they've been intentionally deceived.
In the cases we've highlighted, there's no evidence the advertising mistakes were intentional.
However, while ads by themselves are not contracts that bind retailers, receipts or retail sales agreements are considered contracts and those will likely be the consumers' real weapons in these cases.
The downside is people do often have to go to court to force the retailers to honor their ads.
Case in point, as we mentioned, Dick Greenfield Dodge and Rich Carlin are now in litigation.
And Radio Shack still refuses to honor its advertised rebate. It says while it regrets the error, the company's policy is to offer the customer a refund, including shipping.
However, after Action News contacted Gerhard's, the appliance chain did give Caron the advertised model she thought she was buying in the first place.
