The Competition Bureau of Canada wants you to know about a new online advertising trend ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Nearly half of Canadians are expected to score deals this Friday and Monday, and it wants to warn them about a sa国际传媒渂ait and switchsa国际传媒� scheme.
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Heresa国际传媒檚 how it works: You find a great deal on an item online, such as a laptop. You then put the laptop in your shopping cart, check out and pay.
An email confirmation shows up in your inbox and everything looks good.
But then, you get another email from the retailer saying there was a mistake and they cansa国际传媒檛 honour the advertised price. So, they cancel your order and when you go back on the website, the same product is being offered at a higher price.
In some cases, the bureau said in its warning Wednesday, the bait and switch can be illegal because the store attracted you to their website under false pretenses.
sa国际传媒淒onsa国际传媒檛 hesitate to contact the retailersa国际传媒檚 customer service if you have questions, especially if your money is gone and theresa国际传媒檚 no product in sight,sa国际传媒� the bureau said.
sa国际传媒淵ou might only have a small window of time to flag the problem and alert your credit card provider.sa国际传媒�
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The retailer may have to honour the advertised price. Contact to learn if those rules apply.
If yousa国际传媒檝e been the victim of a bait and switch, .
If you see this play out during your holiday shopping, the bureau recommends you:
- Keep all emails and credit card statements to do with your purchases
- Ensure all of the money is refunded into your account
- Use a credit card for extra protection
- Continue to check your statements afterwards for any odd charges
- Check the website to see if the sale price is still being advertised at the fake sale price and if so.
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