Are they allowed to do this?

Dano · 20 Oct 2009 at 20:51

Raikiri said:
Fixed.

They have no obligation to honour the price, even if they've taken the money. It will almost certainly be in their T&Cs.

Their T&C's mean absolutely squat if it's in contravention to the consumer rights act and various other laws.

Sinque · 20 Oct 2009 at 20:52

Who the hell is this guy?

Stuff · 20 Oct 2009 at 20:52

Dark_Angel said:
If you come here asking for advice, and expect to receive any then I suggest you do care what people here think of you...

I'm here to talk to people that want to help/advise, not people that wanna troll and argue for the hell of it.

Volcs said:
It's not great customer service but it's not in breach of any trading law.

Aye, I was afraid that was true.

JonJ678 said:
It sounds too much like a con to me. Such as offering to sell it well below what they're willing to, in order to trap the customer into a sale he didn't really want to be in. However as they are offering the opportunity to just take the refund, I'd go with that and buy from ocuk instead.

Alternatively you can take this as an invitation to haggle, and you may well get somewhere if you call. At the least you stand a reasonable chance of working out if it was an honest mistake on their part or not.

edit: If the offer of a refund was not on the tables, is it correct to say that they would then be in breach?

I would have ordered from OCUK in the first place, but they don't stock the product. As you say, I'll try and haggle with this. I'm gunna give them a ring tomorrow as hopefully speaking directly to someone will get the result I'm after.

JBuk · 20 Oct 2009 at 20:52

If they've accepted your payment and you've recieved an invoice then that's a contract and they should be sending you the goods

Charlie Bravo · 20 Oct 2009 at 20:54

Dark_Angel said:
If you come here asking for advice, and expect to receive any then I suggest you do care what people here think of you...

Regardless of that, I too thought the bitching comment was a little uncalled for and was also under the impression that once a company takes payment, they enter a contract with the buyer.
Anyway, we shall see what said company comes back with.

Dark_Angel · 20 Oct 2009 at 20:57

I agree that the comment was a little harsh, but responding by being equally harsh doesn't get anyone anywhere.

Still, I won't derail the thread any further. I also was under the impression that if the cash is taken then the deal is done, but then I haven't researched in to it to know for even slight certainty.

Volcs · 20 Oct 2009 at 21:01

JBuk said:
If they've accepted your payment and you've recieved an invoice then that's a contract and they should be sending you the goods

The contract is formed when the supplier accepts the offer - if they've used any form of generic online T&Cs the taking of funds does not constitute acceptance.

JBuk · 20 Oct 2009 at 21:04

Volcs said:
The contract is formed when the supplier accepts the offer - if they've used any form of generic online T&Cs the taking of funds does not constitute acceptance.

Surely If they have taken the money that is an acceptance?

wez130 · 20 Oct 2009 at 21:07

if you have paid, as in, they have taken the money out of your bank / paypal etc, then they have legally entered into a contract and agreed to supply you that item at that price that they have taken.

If the money has not left your possession, then no contract has been formed as of yet and thus the retailor can decide to decline your offer of purchase.

[FnG]magnolia · 20 Oct 2009 at 21:07

The number of responses above which include the phrases "Surely ..?", "I'm almost certain ...", "probably ..." indicate, as always when this type of question which no one knows the definitive answer to, that the OP should speak to someone who can actually guide him rather than give their unqualified opinion.

Speak to the CAB or a solicitor. You know, someone who acutally knows the answer. All of the above is just opinion and therefore next to useless.

Stuff · 20 Oct 2009 at 21:10

wez130 said:
if you have paid, as in, they have taken the money out of your bank / paypal etc, then they have legally entered into a contract and agreed to supply you that item at that price that they have taken.

If the money has not left your possession, then no contract has been formed as of yet and thus the retailor can decide to decline your offer of purchase.

Would this override any obscure clause in their T&C as its legally binding?

[FnG]magnolia;15136940 said:
The number of responses above which include the phrases "Surely ..?", "I'm almost certain ...", "probably ..." indicate, as always when this type of question which no one knows the definitive answer to, that the OP should speak to someone who can actually guide him rather than give their unqualified opinion.

Speak to the CAB or a solicitor. You know, someone who acutally knows the answer. All of the above is just opinion and therefore next to useless.

Agreed. As much as I appreciate the replies and advice, I'd like to know what my legal position is in the matter. I'll see what I can find regarding the laws.

JonJ678 · 20 Oct 2009 at 21:12

There must be a couple of lawyers on here, though they might choose not to offer advice for free

Volcs · 20 Oct 2009 at 21:13

JBuk said:
Surely If they have taken the money that is an acceptance?

Taking payment is automated online - hence T&Cs that will almost certainly state this is not acceptance. Stock systems aren't always accurate so if the supplier goes to pick the product and find they haven't got any left they obviously can't supply it so would breach contract if that was the case - they cover themselves to avoid this.

In the US you can only take payment from the customer on dispatch of the goods which avoids this confusion somewhat.

Dano · 20 Oct 2009 at 21:14

Camelpaw said:
Would this override any obscure clause in their T&C as its legally binding?

Law overules T&C's everytime, you just need to ascertain whether what they have done is legal or not.

Stuff · 20 Oct 2009 at 21:14

Volcs said:
Taking payment is automated online - hence T&Cs that will almost certainly state this is not acceptance. Stock systems aren't always accurate so if the supplier goes to pick the product and find they haven't got any left they obviously can't supply it so would breach contract if that was the case - they cover themselves to avoid this.

In the US you can only take payment from the customer on dispatch of the goods which avoids this confusion somewhat.

I understand what you're saying, but they are actually offering me the product, but at the raised price. Therefore, they do have it in stock... I understand it may be as simple as they forgot to update their website price, but to be honest, tough poop! It's not my fault, and I shouldn't be put out by their mistake.

Dano said:
Law overules T&C's everytime, you just need to ascertain whether what they have done is legal or not.

Ok, thanks for confirming that

JBuk · 20 Oct 2009 at 21:16

[FnG]magnolia;15136940 said:
Speak to the CAB or a solicitor. You know, someone who acutally knows the answer. All of the above is just opinion and therefore next to useless.

Recently a relative had a similar issue albeit with a full pc system , the retailer had sent an invoice and taken the money but then said there had been an error, Consumer Directs advice was that the retailer were now legally obliged to provide the goods , they couldn't do this but offered a lesser specced system with a massive discount

[FnG]magnolia · 20 Oct 2009 at 21:17

JonJ678 said:
There must be a couple of lawyers on here, though they might choose not to offer advice for free

There are, although I'm not sure they speciailise in this field and any advice they give would have to come with a plethora of exemptions incase the OP ended up in front of a judge due to poor guidance

The CAB or the OP's own solicitor will immediately be able to offer solid guidance based on law and precedent. OCUK members, for all their good intentions, are offering their thoughts. Nothing more.

-BA- · 20 Oct 2009 at 21:19

@ OP - try looking on the Office of Fair Trading website:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/resource_base/legal/distance-selling-regulations/

They have the distance selling regs there in pfd format and also a helpline number at the bottom.

I personally would have said that a contract was entered into as soon as they took payment. That is not always at order stage but if they chose to take payment at that stage then that is when the contract was agreed upon.

Ring the helpline and check your rights............

@ those tearing off their piece of flesh. OP was sticking up for himself from an uncalled for post. IMO you turned on the wrong person. Someone with 7k posts should perhaps have treated the OP with a little more respect? It isn't any biggie but turning on a fairly new poster for sticking up for themselves is kinda lame.

decmatt · 20 Oct 2009 at 21:19

As their systems are automated, that does not constitute acceptence on their end of a contract. Think of it as your buying a magazine, the que is very long, you can throw the exact amount of money at the cashier and walk out, this is theft even though you have paid the amount of money if you waited in the queue. Their T&C's will say what their acceptence is, ther eis no law saying taht their automatic payment systems constitute acceptence.

Bear · 20 Oct 2009 at 21:20

Camelpaw said:
I'm here to talk to people that want to help/advise, not people that wanna troll and argue for the hell of it.

I wasnt trolling nor arguing for the sake of it. I replied to your post, it was a mistake on their behalf and they infomed you of your choices and you dont like the choices. I would just get my money back and be done with it, its hardly a big deal for a bit of RAM.