• Consumers angry at Dell ‘bait and switch’

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2 April 2009

Dell has been flooded with complaints from furious customers after they twice received emails on March 27 advertising the Logitech MX Revolution Rechargeable Cordless Mouse for $34.10, a deal which they say has not been honoured. Customers accuse Dell of using ‘bait and switch’ advertising tactics to drum up excitement and website traffic around peak times, such as Easter trading.

‘Bait and switch’ refers to a company advertising a product at a very low price, leading to hundreds of customers to sign up to their site in an attempt to buy it, and then advising customers that it was a ‘pricing error’ and offering to sell the same product to them at a higher price.

Dell has been accused of performing this trick several times before, prompting consumers to lodge complaints with the company and the ACCC. Dell was also the subject of a class action lawsuit in New York in 2005 for similar tactics allegedly contravening the Trade Practices Act.

Bargain-hunters on Australian website Ozbargain are posting letters that they have written to the ACCC and Dell, in an effort to bring the affair to the attention of the media.

'Bctransit' on Ozbargain claimed to have received advice from the ACCC that it ‘most likely’ appeared to be an example of bait and switch, and that the ACCC would very much like to hear from other people in the same situation.

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