I noticed that nobody has posted the link to the Canadian Competition Bureau site on Bait and Switch, yet:
Bait and switch selling - Competition Bureau
A few snippets:
Under the Competition Act, retailers are prohibited from advertising products at bargain prices that they do not have available in reasonable quantities.
(There is no definition of 'reasonable quantities', but having none at all if clearly not 'reasonsble')
You are attracted to a store by an advertisement for a bargain-priced product. Once inside, you discover that the product that was advertised, the "bait," is sold out or otherwise not available. The switch occurs when a salesperson pressures you into purchasing a higher priced item as a replacement, or if you find yourself induced to make other purchases while inside the store. In both cases, the retailer successfully captures your shopping dollars by luring you to the store with an advertised bargain that was never intended to be made available in reasonable quantities.
Liability will be avoided where the advertiser can establish that the non-availability of the product was due to circumstances beyond its control, the quantity of the product obtained was reasonable, or the customer was offered a rain check when supplies were exhausted.
The problem many customers report a out the Rain Check is, the products are never available again, do it is worthless.
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