Originally Posted by
dilanesp
It isn't exactly a lie, but you are using a weasely definition of "advertised price".
It isn't as though United put these fares in a display ad on page 3 of the NY Times.
And you don't know anything about defamation law. Calling the passengers fraudulent is an opinion, not defamation. Stop complaining because people criticize you. When you use that description, you only show that you are afraid of the criticism, which must mean it hits home.
If I search United's fares and they display a price back to me, that is an "advertised price". Advertising doesn't have to refer to third parties, it just as easily refers to a first party telling you what their price is. The website is a point of sale, similar to you going to a United salesman, asking the price, and purchasing the ticket from them and getting fully ticketed after going through United's pre-ticketing audit system.
If the salesman tells you the wrong price, United is responsible for checks in place to prevent the finalization of the sale.
At the same time, "fraudulent" is defined by the law, but people can interpret the law and it would take a gross or even intentionally wrong accusation to ever be labeled as defamation... If a court ruled that the specific action was not fraud and you still publicly accused the party of acting fraudulently, then it may be a different story.