Can a business change the advertised price for a service without notice?

Can a business change the advertised price for a service without notice?

I looked online in March for a whitewater rafting trip and found one weekend price for $125 per person with every 12th person going free. I took a couple of weeks getting a group of 30 people together then called to make the reservation and was told I would be sent a group organizer package, which didn’t come for 6 weeks (I had to make another call to remind them to send it). When I received the package, it listed the trip for $149/person. In the meantime, I had collected $125 from everyone in the group. When I called to ask about the discrepancy, the company told me that they changed the website in early april (just before I called to make the reservation April 16). The original ad did not say that you had to call by a certain time to get the lower price. They told me that the people who made reservations before they changed the website will get the $125 price, by my group will not. Can I bind them to the original price?

Asked on May 12, 2009 under Business Law, California

Answers:

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