Do they have to sell it to me?

[[TW]Fox]

Hi guys,

I requested a price for a special order part from an online store. They returned my request with a price for the item I wanted. I ordered the item, and my credit card was charged.

The next day I receive a telephone call to verify the part I ordered was the right one, as its a special order part and I'm not entitled to a refund if its wrong. I tell them I'm happy with this, and they order the part from the supplier.

5 days later I get a telephone call saying the part has arrived but the price I was quoted was wrong. They come up with an excuse about how the price requests are done by a third party, etc etc. They offer me the item at 'cost price' but this is still some £80 more than the price I've paid.

The price I paid for the item was very good - less than half retail price which normally would suggest that it was unreasonable to expect it to be honoured. But this particular online retailer specialises in selling stock at significant reductions from the manufacturers list price - I've ordered parts from them in the past for less than HALF the manufacturers price, and had the order fulfilled.

So where do I stand?

 

[Morgoth]

I thought the contract would have been formed when they took the payment, do they have T&Cs on their website?

 

[Tute]

It's my understanding that when payment is taken, the contract is locked in and they can't cancel.

 

[Marine Iguana]

I thought the contract would have been formed when they took the payment

This

 

[TheCrow]

Nothing to do with there t&c, as soon as payment has been accepted you have both agreed the contract.

So yes they need to honour there mistake.

 

[Aero]

I'm no legal expert so this is just my opinion not legal advice, but surely you have had an offer (the initial offer), acceptance (agreement of the price & part) and consideration the payment? CAB for more advice?

 

[mejinks]

By special order part, do you mean the suresuck3000 super deluxe? I noticed they wouldn't give a price out on it either.

I'm very confident that the above posts are correct, a contract is formed once they have taken payment, although suing them for breaching that contract could be very difficult.

 

[Participant]

By special order part, do you mean the suresuck3000 super deluxe?

Stupidly, I Googled it .

OP - you offered to purchase at that price, retailer accepted. Offer and acceptance constitutes contract so I reckon you can start to get forceful.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Is there some legislation I can quote here? They didnt seem bothered

'If you dont want it dont worry, we'll just put it up for sale'

 

[Muffin`]

o/t

Stupidly, I Googled it .

Google really does have some super duper code to find it that fast.

 

[MagicBoy]

Sale of Goods Act 1979. They've taken payment therefore the contract was formed at that price.

 

[Strife212]

A big high street game store took peoples money then cancelled all the orders, companies don't seem to give a **** about regulations

 

[Rroff]

I'm sorry but the people above are wrong (I work in retail)

The contract is to either supply the item as described or a complete and full refund of all costs to you.

Sorry.

The only way they couldn't get out of it is if you had already physically recieved the item.

 

[JBuk]

Does their T&C's state anything about it?

iirc, because of past pricing mistakes by online retailers some now have T&C's that state they can cancel an order at any point up until it's been dispatched whether payment has been taken or not.

 

[Clipsey]

Yeah as above, they entered a contract to deliver the item as you wanted. Sadly they cannot complete their end of the contract so you are entitled to your money back. This happens a lot with advertising type-o's etc so in a way it's to protect against that.

 

[[TW]Fox]

The thing is they ordered the item for me especially - and were keen to point out before they did so it was non refundable.

Now suddenly it is because it suits them?

I'm sorry but the people above are wrong (I work in retail)

The only job description I'd accept as being any more learned than anyone else in this thread is from the legal profession. I worked in retail for 7 years and that still doesn't make me an expert on retail law

 

[MagicBoy]

I'm sorry but the people above are wrong (I work in retail)

So did I. Under SOGA the contract is formed once payment is taken. Unless something newer supersedes this such as the DSR then I don't see how the seller can wriggle out of this. They probably will make it very difficult to do so however.

 

[JBuk]

The thing is they ordered the item for me especially - and were keen to point out before they did so it was non refundable.

Now suddenly it is because it suits them?

If it's in their T&C's then yeah, it sucks and tbh it's poor customer service if you're a frequent buyer

Maybe speak to somebody more senior and explain you're a loyal customer ,etc and see if they can meet halfway?

 

[Rroff]

The thing is they ordered the item for me especially - and were keen to point out before they did so it was non refundable.

Now suddenly it is because it suits them?



The only job description I'd accept as being any more learned than anyone else in this thread is from the legal profession. I worked in retail for 7 years and that still doesn't make me an expert on retail law

Agreed - but we run into this at work not completely infrequently where we've taken someones money but don't have the item in stock and can't get more stock of the item... legally they are entitled to a refund.

So did I. Under SOGA the contract is formed once payment is taken. Unless something newer supersedes this such as the DSR then I don't see how the seller can wriggle out of this. They probably will make it very difficult to do so however.

Yes a contract is formed and binding at this point... the contract is (usually) to either supply the item as described or refund... the exact terms of the contract may vary but thats how most commerce is done and is within consumer law.


Obviously the terms of the contract can vary from place to place - and may or may not hold up under local law - but the above is tried and tested and is fully compliant with the law... if you push it they might offer you some form of gratis rather than lose a customer but thats another story.

 

[Participant]

In this article, Amazon were able to get out of a pricing error by stating that a contract was only formed once goods were confirmed as having been dispatched.

Retailer seems to have a statutory 30 days after payment is taken before consumer can enforce price .