Bait and Switch: How To Defend Yourself Against Retail Scams
Written by
Dawn Allcot
Edited by
Renee Ross
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You see a computer monitor advertised for just $49 at a local retailer. You’ve seen similar monitors for $129 and up. You hurry to the store as the sale begins, even though the ad doesn’t indicate quantities are limited. You are, simply put, excited to start Monday morning fresh with a sweet dual monitor set-up in your home office.
Read: How To Get Cash Back on Your Everyday Purchases
But when you arrive at the store, minutes after the advertised sale began, there are no monitors available. Because this is a mom-and-pop shop, not a chain, you don’t have the option to check other stores in the area. Rather than offering to order the advertised monitor, the aggressive salesperson steers you toward a $2,000 curved gaming monitor, insisting it’s a better value and what you really need.
If you pull out your wallet and fall prey to the upsell, you’ve just been a victim of one of the oldest retail scams in the book: Bait and switch advertising.
What Is Bait and Switch?
Bait and switch scams occur in retail when a company advertises an incredibly low price for an item, but that item is not available for sale. When customers arrive at the store to purchase the item, it is either sold out, or in-store stock is damaged or unsellable.
The salesperson will steer the consumer toward an alternative that is much more expensive, sometimes using aggressive sales tactics to push the customer into buying a pricey item they don’t want or need.
Mortgage companies and car dealers may also use bait and switch tactics, advertising low interest rates for loans that most buyers won’t be able to qualify for. It is a tactic designed to draw people in (hence, bait) and then upsell them on a higher interest loan product.
Bait and Switch Tactics Online
Bait and switch can also happen online. In 2010, Ticketmaster faced charges from the FTC for advertising Bruce Springsteen tickets. When the tickets were sold out on the official Ticketmaster website, the company directed consumers to the re-sale site, TicketsNow, where tickets were listed for up to quadruple the face value.
More recently, the e-commerce site Wish sells items that appear to be pricey electronics, such as smartwatches and iPads, for incredibly low prices. When customers receive the merchandise, often shipped from China, it may be sub-par quality.
For instance, the blogger at ToughNickel.com noted that he recently bought a pair of noise-canceling Bluetooth headphones from Wish. The Bluetooth connects, but “the sound quality isn’t spectacular.” Likewise, phone charging cables may work, but they may not charge as quickly or last as long as pricier Apple merchandise.
The same goes for clothing and household goods from Wish. It can be difficult to gauge the quality from online photos. Brand-name merchandise is almost definitely fake, ToughNickel.com points out.
Which Federal Law Made Bait and Switch Advertising a Federal Offense?
Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act: Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices made bait-and-switch tactics illegal.
Bait and Switch Advertising To Look Out For
Unfortunately, not all bait and switch ads are illegal. Unscrupulous retailers, aware of the FTC law, have found ways to skirt the law and deceive customers through fine print on their advertising.
If a company notes “limited quantities available” in fine print or discloses that a sale price is only available if you make an additional purchase, you will not have any legal recourse to sue the company for deceptive practices. It’s on you to read the fine print carefully.
Likewise, a car dealer advertising a 0% APR can cover themselves by adding “based on creditworthiness,” or “available only to qualified borrowers” in fine print on the ad or in the commercial.
Bait and Switch Scam Protection
You may be wondering how you can protect yourself from bait and switch tactics. Fortunately, there are ways. But it requires being a savvy shopper and also understanding the federal laws that make bait and switch advertising illegal in retail in the U.S.
Read the Fine Print
If you are a victim of a true bait and switch scam, where the retailer does not disclose the terms of the sale, you may be able to file a complaint with the FTC and sue the company for deceptive practices.
However, today most companies know enough to protect themselves by loading up bait-and-switch sale offers with fine print. Read these terms and conditions carefully.
If a store ad says “limited quantities,” it could be true that they have some merchandise in stock. Or it could be a sign of bait and switch. Be prepared to walk away if the retailer doesn’t have the item you intended to buy.
How To Avoid Scams When Shopping Online
When you’re shopping online, if something looks too good to be true — an iPhone for $10 on Wish, for example — it probably is. Understand that the item you are buying might be much lower quality than what you expect. Decide if you want to take that chance.
In most cases, bait and switch scams can be avoided by knowing the signs to look for and being a stubborn shopper. If a salesperson tries to upsell you, stand your ground. Walk away. Consumers today have more options than ever before, so you can probably find the item you need at a low price online.
Bottom Line
Illegal bait and switch scams are fairly uncommon since retailers today will add terms and conditions to the fine print protecting themselves. Don’t let salespeople pressure you into buying a more expensive item and you can avoid wasting money on a bait and switch scam.
FAQ
Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about bait and switch scams and protecting yourself from these.- Are bait and switch tactics illegal?
- Bait and switch tactics were deemed illegal by the FTC under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act: Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices.
- What is a bait and switch argument?
- During a bait and switch scam, a salesperson might argue vehemently that the advertised item is not as good as the merchandise they are trying to upsell.
- What are three bait and switch tactics?
- When stores employ bait and switch, the salesperson might tell you the advertised item is not available, that the advertised item is of inferior quality, or that the advertised item is actually only available as part of a larger package, when the ad didn't indicate that it could not be sold as a stand-alone product.
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- Board of Govenors of the Federal Reserve. "Federal Trade Commission Act Section 5: Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices."
