This kind of practice by computer retailers may be actionable under the Consumer Act of the Philippines (Republic Act 7394). You may want to look at the "prohibition against deceptive sales acts or practices" under the Consumer Act. Article 50 states:
"ARTICLE 50. Prohibition Against Deceptive Sales Acts or Practices - A deceptive act or practice by a seller or supplier in connection with a consumper transaction violates this Act whether it occurs before, during or after the transaction. An act or practice shall be deemed deceptive whenever the producer, manufacturer, supplier or seller, through concealment, false representation of fraudulent manipulation, induces a consumer to enter into a sales or lease transaction of any consumer product or service. Without limiting the scope of the above paragraph, the act or practice of a seller or supplier is deceptive when it represents that: a) a consumer product or service has the sponsorship, approval, performance, characteristics, ingredients, accessories, uses, or benefits it does not have; b) a consumer product or service is of a particular standard, quality, grade, style, or model when in fact it is not; c) a consumer product is new, original or unused, when in fact, it is in a deteriorated, altered, reconditioned, reclaimed or second-hand state; d) a consumer product or service is available to the consumer for a reason that is different from the fact; e) a consumer product or service has been supplied in accordance with the previous representation when in fact it is not; f) a consumer product or service can be supplied in a quantity greater than the supplier intends; g) a service, or repair of a consumer product is needed when in fact it is not; h) a specific price advantage of a consumer product exists when in fact it is not; i) the sales act or practice involves or does not involve a warranty, a disclaimer of warranties, particular warranty terms or other rights, remedies or obligations if the indication is false; and j) the seller or supplier has a sponsorship, approval, or affiliation he does not have." The acts of the retailer in question may fall under the main paragraph of Article 50. A violation of this article may subject the person in breach to penalties (Article 60). Consumer complaints can be brought to the DTI. Following the principle of freedom of contract, in general, there is nothing that prevents a computer retailer from entering into a bundling agreement with Microsoft for a computer to be sold together with Windows. However, with regard to consumer protection, a deceptive practice may take place when the computer is offered to consumers at a certain price without Windows but at the time of purchase the retailer suddenly requires the computer to be purchased with Windows at an additional cost. If Windows is required for the purchase, this fact should have been made known to the consumer at the very beginning and the price for Windows should have been included in the purchase price of the computer. Note: This is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. On 7/26/08, Daniel O. Escasa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > How legal this is? It's like buying a toy whose packaging says "Batteries > Not Included", then having the clerk at the check-out counter tell you that > you have to buy a specific brand of batteries from them. Is Bong Dizon or > any other lawyer on this list? > > As an aside, I've sworn off Octagon. Nice to browse, but I've had some > doubts about their reliability since my cousin bought a Compaq > top-of-the-line notebook for his son some three or four years ago. It cost > over 100K at that time, 3GHz Intel single-core (wala pang dual-core noon). > It broke down, within the warranty period IIRC, he sent it to HP's Service > Center, waited months only to be told that they couldn't honor the warranty > because it was purchased in Brazil (!?!?!) and didn't have the international > warranty. My cousin was obviously furious, but he misdirected his ire toward > HP, when it was Octagon that apparently sold him a gray-market notebook. > > As to Microsoft's bullying tactics, if you'll recall from the antitrust > trial, they weren't afraid of even IBM. They were pricing Windows 95 at, > IIRC, 5x the OEM price they were charging the other manufacturers. > Pressuring IBM to drop OS/2. Some things never change. Paging the US DOJ! > > On 7/26/08, jan gestre <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Hi Carlos, >> >> Our company purchased three(3) Compaq laptops from Octagon SM Megamall >> branch some four (4) months back and all the laptops came with DOS. They >> didn't give us any hassles whatsoever. Maybe now MS is forcing them to do >> this bullying tactics but hey MS was able to bully even the big >> manufacturers like HP to have Vista pre-installed on their Mini-Notebook >> coz >> if they won't follow what MS wants then MS won't certify their drivers. >> >> Jan >> >> On Sat, Jul 26, 2008 at 6:54 PM, Carlos Yu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >>> Hi, >>> >>> Just wanted to share a true story with PLUG members. One of CYWare's >>> programmers' laptop wouldn't power up yesterday and since we were >>> chasing a deadline for a project, I decided to purchase a new one right >>> away. I went to Octagon in Park Square 1 Glorietta and found a decent >>> Compaq laptop reasonably priced at 40K PHP. The laptop box said it came >>> free with the DOS operating system which didn't matter to me since we >>> were going to install Linux on it. >>> >>> I called the sales guy, handed him my credit card, and told him I wanted >>> to purchase the machine. He then told me that they were not allowed to >>> sell the laptop unless I purchased an operating system with it. I told >>> them that my company, CYWare, sells primarily Linux based products and I >>> would be installing Ubuntu on it. The sales guy insisted that a >>> licensed operating system had to be installed on it and told me I had to >>> purchase Vista with the machine. I then asked for the manager and >>> explained what I was trying to do. The manager instructed the sales guy >>> to make a phone call and after the phone conversation, they re-iterated >>> the same policy: Windows Vista had to be purchased with the machine. I >>> then asked the manager if he was willing to give up the sale because >>> there was no way I was going to pay for something I really didn't need. >>> To my amazement, he said he was. >>> >>> Needless to say, I took my business elsewhere. After visiting a few >>> stores, I realized that the nice laptops all came with Vista. I ended >>> up going to WellCom and buying a more expensive laptop that came with >>> Windows Vista installed. Of course, once it got back to the office, the >>> hard drive was reformatted and Vista was replaced with Ubuntu. >>> >>> I know I could have researched the purchase more carefully, but >>> unfortunately, I was in a rush and foolishly assumed that a laptop >>> purchase would be simple. Go figure... > > -- > Daniel O. Escasa > independent IT consultant and writer > contributor, Free Software Magazine (http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com) > personal blog at http://descasa.i.ph > Twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/silverlokk > If we choose being kind over being right, we will be right every time. > > > _________________________________________________ > Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List > http://lists.linux.org.ph/mailman/listinfo/plug > Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph > -- ---------------------------------------------------- bong dizon law.norms.code http://lawnormscode.sync.ph _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List http://lists.linux.org.ph/mailman/listinfo/plug Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
