No it is not economics 101, or any such thing.
The guys at fractal are very honest, straight up people, and I simply cannot believe that they would engage in dishonest, illegal business practices. I believe that you will be charged the amount that was explicitly promised that you would given as a member of the wait list at the time of purchase, and if you have a difficult time figuring out how to achieve that, simply email or call
sales@fractalaudio.com, or, better yet, call the main number and enquire as to how to achieve it. They said that the wait list has first priority, and ALWAYS said that we would be served first, based on entry date to the wait list.
To do otherwise would be illegal, and I am not willing to believe that Fractal would engage in that sort of practice based on what I know about them as a company.
See the definition of bait and switch below:
Bait-and-switch is a form of fraud used in retail sales but also practiced in other contexts. First, customers are "baited" by merchants' advertising products or services at a low price, but when customers visit the store, they discover that the advertised goods are not available, or the customers are pressured by sales people to consider similar, but higher priced items ("switching").
The intention of the bait-and-switch is to encourage purchases of substituted goods, making consumers satisfied with the available stock offered, as an alternative to a disappointment or inconvenience of acquiring no goods (or bait) at all, and reckoning on a seemingly partial recovery of sunk costs expended trying to obtain the bait. It suggests that the seller will not show the original product or service advertised but instead will demonstrate a more expensive product or a similar product with a higher margin.
[edit]Legality
In the United States, courts have held that the purveyor using a bait-and-switch operation may be subject to a lawsuit by customers for false advertising, and can be sued for trademark infringement by competing manufacturers, retailers, and others who profit from the sale of the product used as bait. However, no cause of action will exist if the purveyor is capable of actually selling the goods advertised, but aggressively pushes a competing product.
Likewise, advertising a sale while intending to stock a limited amount of, and thereby sell out, a loss-leading item advertised is legal in the United States. The purveyor can escape liability if they make clear in their advertisements that quantities of items for which a sale is offered are limited, or by offering a rain check on sold-out items.
In England and Wales it is banned under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.[1] Breaking this law can result in a criminal prosecution, an unlimited fine and two years in jail.
