If a business raises its prices, what notice must it provide to its customers of its price increases? What if the customer has a regular, standing order that is paid automatically through its bank?
If a business raises its prices, what notice must it provide to its customers of its price increases? What if the customer has a regular, standing order that is paid automatically through its bank?
If the business has a contract with its customer, then its pricing and process for notice of price increases should be outlined in the contract.
If the business does not have a contract, then the business can raise its prices for future orders at any time.
If the customer does not receive advance notice of a price increase, the customer may be able to object when its next order is billed at a higher-than-expected price, and may be able to reject the product based upon the price increase -- but really, the customer should be careful not to put itself in a position of automatically paying any amount that the business bills when it intends to authorize only a fixed amount based upon existing prices. If the customer fails to notice a price increase, and tries to complain several months later despite accepting product at the new, higher price, odds are the customer will be out of luck.
If this is a theoretical situation, the seller is best served by entering into a contract with customers outlining pricing and price increases. For consumer contracts, state law or regulation may require specific advance notice. Even in business-to-business transactions, if the seller tries to increase the price without notice, the seller may find that it ends up having the shipment rejected, having the payment reversed, and possibly losing the client.