By: Dale Dietrich
The Better Business Bureau has been asked to look into a possible Chicago area Toy’s ‘R’ Us Bait and Switch operation where a consumer says an Toys ‘R’ Us flyer promoted the Wii for $249 on Black Friday but when the consumer went to purchase one, they were forced to buy additional items or go home empty handed.
Sources: GameDaily.biz | NBC5 | 1Up.com | Kotaku | Next Generation | Joystiq
Shelly Peruso reserved two Wii Consoles at a local Pennsylvania Saturday Matinee store on October 13th. She put $100 down on deposit. When she went to pick them up last week the clerk said she must also purchase two games per console. She says she was never told this when she reserved the system.
Dale’s Comment: While I don’t believe she’ll have much success if she were to argue console/game bundling is problematic, she’ll probably have an actionable claim (if it goes that far) on both a basic contract formation and consumer protection basis. If the receipt she received isn’t explicit on the point, the verbal contract should govern.
Sources: GamePolitics.com | WJACTV
A phenomena of the recent three console launches (Xbox 360, PSP, DS, PS3 and Wii) is the mandatory bundling foisted on gamers by retailers looking to cash in on the extremely high demand for these consoles on launch.
GameDaily.biz has a feature article “Predatory Packaging: Are You Being Illegally Forced into Buying a Mega Console Bundle?“ on this topic is worth a read.
According to Bob Freitas, a technology and antitrust litigator and partner in Orrick’s Silicon Valley office, it’s possible that these bundles could violate certain anti-trust laws, but it’s not highly likely he explained.
Source: GameDaily.biz
