Is this bait and switch?

[her209]

Say a car dealer advertises a car for a low price. They are pretty far away so you call ahead and they say its available. You get there and they tell you that its been sold already. Is that bait and switch?

Now let's say a couple days later, you see a similar ad again for the same car. You call again and they say that its available. That's clearly illegal right?

 

[Gooberlx2]

That's exactly a bait and switch, and very very common with car dealerships (especially used).

edit:
As always, Confessions of a car Salesman is a good read.

 

[Texashiker]

Now let's say a couple days later, you see a similar ad again for the same car. You call again and they say that its available. That's clearly illegal right?

No, its not illegal, because their clearly repo'ing the same car over and over.

Do you really want a car that has been repoed a thousand times? There must be something wrong with the car for nobody to want it.

 

[blackdogdeek]

we've experienced even worse ones where even the salesperson in the showroom says the car is available at the advertised price and then only when seeing the finance person after waiting around for 2 hours does finance say they can't do the advertised financing.

 

[highland145]

Bait and snatch not found.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Is it the same VIN? If not, no bait and switch found.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Call from a cell phone while at the lot... hard to lie out of that one

 

[spidey07]

Why would it be illegal? No law says they have to tell the truth.

They ALL do that, advertising a specific car or deal to get you into the dealership. That super low priced car you see in the ad is NEVER there, ever. And it got you into the dealership, didn't it?

 

[xanis]

Call from a cell phone while at the lot... hard to lie out of that one

I would love to see someone do this and post the results.

 

[SP33Demon]

Had that happen to me. I walked after they couldn't do the price, and told them to fck off for wasting my time.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Why would it be illegal? No law says they have to tell the truth.

Falls under false advertising...if they're really stupid about it. I'm sure there will always be some kind phrasing in the advert that gets them around it. In the case of car dealerships, they can always produce such a car eventually...if you're willing to wait long enough for them to find one at auction.

 

[spidey07]

Falls under false advertising...if they're really stupid about it. I'm sure there will always be some kind phrasing in the advert that gets them around it. In the case of car dealerships, they can always produce such a car eventually...if you're willing to wait long enough for them to find one at auction.

They tie it to a lot#, the car is never there or available so no false advertising. This car, for this much a month, on lot# 12345. They ALL do this every day, every weekend advertisement.

"hey, I came in to get that 129/month car"
Dealer - "oh, that's not available anymore, let's take a look at similar models over here...this one is the same, 29,000 dollars"
"great, let's do this"
Dealer "that will be 599/month"

 

[waggy]

Why would it be illegal? No law says they have to tell the truth.

They ALL do that, advertising a specific car or deal to get you into the dealership. That super low priced car you see in the ad is NEVER there, ever. And it got you into the dealership, didn't it?

actually in advertising? yeah they do. they have to be very careful in the advertisement. sure there are ways around it but they can't flat out lie (well lie in a retarded way)

 

[TwiceOver]

That's exactly a bait and switch, and very very common with car dealerships (especially used).

edit:
As always, Confessions of a car Salesman is a good read.

Yawn. I'm at page 4 and he finally got hired. Hopefully it gets better.

 

[Scotteq]

Say a car dealer advertises a car for a low price. They are pretty far away so you call ahead and they say its available. You get there and they tell you that its been sold already. Is that bait and switch?

Now let's say a couple days later, you see a similar ad again for the same car. You call again and they say that its available. That's clearly illegal right?

Yes - That is a Bait/Switch tactic.


Yes - They can get away with it, since they advertise for a specific VIN #.

 

[Gooberlx2]

They tie it to a lot#, the car is never there or available so no false advertising. This car, for this much a month, on lot# 12345. They ALL do this every day, every weekend advertisement.

"hey, I came in to get that 129/month car"
Dealer - "oh, that's not available anymore, let's take a look at similar models over here...this one is the same, 29,000 dollars"
"great, let's do this"
Dealer "that will be 599/month"

Good example. Like I said, unless they're utterly stupid about it, they'll never be in legal trouble.

 

[moshquerade]

would not patronize that dealership.

 

[TheNinja]

Call from a cell phone while at the lot... hard to lie out of that one

I would love to see that.

 

[dullard]

Why would it be illegal? No law says they have to tell the truth.

They ALL do that, advertising a specific car or deal to get you into the dealership. That super low priced car you see in the ad is NEVER there, ever. And it got you into the dealership, didn't it?

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=bpc&group=17001-18000&file=17500-17509

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE
SECTION 17500-17509

17500. It is unlawful for any person, firm, corporation or
association, or any employee thereof with intent directly or
indirectly to dispose of real or personal property or to perform
services, professional or otherwise, or anything of any nature
whatsoever or to induce the public to enter into any obligation
relating thereto, to make or disseminate or cause to be made or
disseminated before the public in this state, or to make or
disseminate or cause to be made or disseminated from this state
before the public in any state, in any newspaper or other
publication, or any advertising device, or by public outcry or
proclamation, or in any other manner or means whatever, including
over the Internet, any statement, concerning that real or personal
property or those services, professional or otherwise, or concerning
any circumstance or matter of fact connected with the proposed
performance or disposition thereof, which is untrue or misleading,
and which is known, or which by the exercise of reasonable care
should be known, to be untrue or misleading, or for any person, firm,
or corporation to so make or disseminate or cause to be so made or
disseminated any such statement as part of a plan or scheme with the
intent not to sell that personal property or those services,
professional or otherwise, so advertised at the price stated therein,
or as so advertised. Any violation of the provisions of this section
is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not
exceeding six months, or by a fine not exceeding two thousand five
hundred dollars ($2,500), or by both that imprisonment and fine.

Bolded to help remove legalese. This is California law, where I think her209 is from. Other states have similar laws.

There are ways around it. But, legally, they can't advertise something without the intent to sell it. If it is on a specific lot or a specific VIN, it still must be sold at that specific price. Her209 can potentially find it and get that price.

 

[guyver01]

Say a car dealer advertises a car for a low price. They are pretty far away so you call ahead and they say its available. You get there and they tell you that its been sold already. Is that bait and switch?

Now let's say a couple days later, you see a similar ad again for the same car. You call again and they say that its available. That's clearly illegal right?

No.

Bait & Switch is ... you get there, and they tell you that car sucks, buy this one, which is way more expensive.

They BAIT you into the store with the cheap one... and SWITCH it on you for a more expensive one.

There's a difference between Bait & Switch, and limited availability.

 

[Schfifty Five]

No.

Bait & Switch is ... you get there, and they tell you that car sucks, buy this one, which is way more expensive.

They BAIT you into the store with the cheap one... and SWITCH it on you for a more expensive one.

There's a difference between Bait & Switch, and limited availability.

I'd say both your definition and the scenario OP described are considered bait and switch.

As for the fine line between bait & switch and limited availability, well that's a bit trickier to determine imo.

 

[dullard]

As for the fine line between bait & switch and limited availability, well that's a bit trickier to determine imo.

Depends on location. In the US if you clearly mark it as limited availability or no rain checks, then you can have only a couple and be fine once they sell out (but they must actually be sold to a real customer). Much of the rest of the world doesn't allow limited quantities. In those locations, the customer must be given rain checks for the entire period of the advertised sale.

 

[God Mode]

You should call the DA office and make a big fuss. I hear the squeaky wheel gets the grease and the introvert polite people get a nice thick schlong.

 

[Gooberlx2]

No.

Bait & Switch is ... you get there, and they tell you that car sucks, buy this one, which is way more expensive.

They BAIT you into the store with the cheap one... and SWITCH it on you for a more expensive one.

There's a difference between Bait & Switch, and limited availability.

So, are you saying the OP's scenario isn't bait and switch? Because, it absolutely is.

A dealership can tell you your target car sucks and try to upsell you all day, but you can at least tell them to go fuck themselves and still drive home with the originally intended product/deal, in your scenario.

In OP's scenario, the bait is the advertised great deal (for that specific VIN#), the switch is pitching a different car (usually for a shittier deal), because the advertised car/deal is no longer on the lot.

 

[torpid]

How soon between the call and the in-person denial? It takes a while to complete a car sale in many instances. If you called at 3:00pm and got there by 4:00pm I would assume bait and switch unless the car was physically present at 4:00pm but not available for purchase. No way that car had no one actively purchasing it and then an hour later it was actually driven home. If you called on June 1st and then showed up on June 10th it's a different story.