Monday, August 25, 2008

Class action suit against Dell

Some time ago we reported on the interesting case of pricing errors involving Dell Chile. The case has continued to develop, and now 40 consumers "affected" by the error have sued Dell for infringing Chile's Consumer Protection Law by "deceitful error inducing mistake in the price". The class action suit has been initiated by lawyer Gustavo Varas of the group problemas.cl. I don't want to be too dismissive, but looking at their website, I am reminded of the phrase "ambulance chasers".

I have already expressed my opinion of the case. To me this is a straightforward issue of contract formation and error, which in my mind invalidates the agreement. Moreover, it seems rich for the consumers to allege that some of their rights have been infringed, when it is evident that most of them contracted in bad faith, knowing well that they were faced with a pricing error. Consumer Law should protect consumers from abuse, not protect abuses perpetrated by the consumer.

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