Zanussi Integrated dishwasher - £94 delivered @ B&Q Possible misprice

Finally had a reply to my email of complaint:

Thank you for your email. Whilst we understand that you are disappointed, the situation remains whereby stocks of the dishwasher were exhausted and the model is discontinued.

In circumstances such as these where a system error occurs, B&Q will rely on the entirety of the terms and conditions that are incorporated at the point when the customer makes a purchase. The terms and conditions are detailed at the link below.

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/templates/contentlookup.jsp?content=/wcn/staticcontent/help/terms.jsp

In particular B&Q will rely on one term under prices and payment, which states.

“We reserve the right not to supply you at our discretion”

By now you will have been refunded monies taken in payment. You appear to be claiming that B&Q have breached the contract with you. B&Q’s position is that any claim you have for breach of contract is not valid as you have not actually suffered any loss now that the monies have been refunded and that we are legitimately relying on the contractual Terms and Conditions by not supplying you with the dishwasher.

We do appreciate that you may find this situation frustrating, but it is only as a result of a genuine system error and B&Q made their best efforts to inform you of this, and refund your money at the earliest possible opportunity.

Please accept our sincere apologies for the difficulties that may have arisen as a result of the system failure.

Kind regards

they cannot use phrases which disagree with the letter of the law such as "supply you at discretion". an order was made, accepted and funds taken.

They're just being shysters and trying to bluff it out so we don't sue. But they know they'd lose in court.

In particular B&Q will rely on one term under prices and payment, which states.

“We reserve the right not to supply you at our discretion”

That clause is laughable and they know it perfectly well. See the excerpts from the UTCC Regulations 1999 in my earlier post here.

B&Q’s position is that any claim you have for breach of contract is not valid as you have not actually suffered any loss now that the monies have been refunded

Once again, they're talking codswallop to try and throw us off the scent.

They're trying to kid us into thinking that expectation loss isn't recognised by law. In fact, expectation loss (a.k.a. loss of bargain) is the oldest and most established method of assessing damages for breach of contract in English law! (A good article about it here).

sanfly wrote: »

expect we will never know if B&Q settle with some customers, as a clause will be added to the settlement to keep quiet............otherwise they will be over run with claims

sounds like you have had a previous experience to say this.

Contacted Customers services direct, see below for response. I assume they know what we are entitled?

Thank you for your recent email concerning the dishwasher from B&Q. As the trader has refunded you the cost of the machine then legally they have remedied you for the breach of contract and do not need to offer you anything more.

You can still ask the trader for what you want as a goodwill gesture to you and we would advise you to put this in writing and send it to the traders Head Office. Our experience shows that a well worded letter often results in the consumer getting more than they are entitled to.

If you require further advice or information about this case, please do not hesitate to contact Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 quoting the case reference number.