The Hut.com Wall to Wall Entertainment Scam?

Ok these guys were advertising a Bon Jovi DVD for sale of which I ordered two for Christmas presents on the 19th. My expected delivery date was 25th Sept...well guess what....I get this email from them today:

Dear ***** ********,



We are sorry to advise that we are unable to supply your order for: Bon Jovi - Live: This Left Feels Right.



Due to extremely high demand our supplier is not out of stock of this title.



Your order has been cancelled and you have not been charged.



Once again please accept our apologies for inconvenience that may have been caused. Please contact our customer care team on 0870 240 8956 or at care@thehut.com if you have any further questions.



Kind Regards,



TheHut.Com Team


I have just fired off this response to them....lets see what they have to say:

Dear Zoe,

I am absolutely disgusted that you are refusing to honour the purchase made on the 19th Sept. I have checked your website today (10.49am) and you are still advertising the item as "available" although you have hiked the price up to £12.99. I feel this is a disgusting and vile tactic which can only be used to harvest email and actual names and addresses and telephone numbers.

I will be posting comments on every forum of which I am a member, Hot Deals UK, Money Saving Expert etc and many others.

I believe that a contract existed to purchase at the advertised price, yet it takes you until now to advise me that stock isn't available yet it it still being advertised on your website...in fact "my a/c" on your web site indicates the item should have been on its way by the 25th of September.

This is a totally dishonest way to do trading and will certainly do absolutely nothing for your status as an online retailer.

I suggest a quick response to my email is required and a suitable solution, i.e. you provide the items purchased as Christmas gifts at the originally agreed price.

Any one have other problems with this lot?
I'm now a retired teacher... hooray ...:j

Those who can do, those who can't, come to me for lessons:cool:

Comments

  • PeteMc
    PeteMc Posts: 567
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    The Hut have been absolutely fine with me after numerous orders.
    As they don't take your money until they dispatch then no contract did exist so your comment about the contract is incorrect. Extract from their T&C's :

    Any orders placed by you will be treated as an offer to purchase the goods or services from us and we have the right to reject such offers at any time. You acknowledge that any automated acknowledgment of your order which you may receive from us shall not amount to our acceptance of your offer to purchase goods or services advertised on the Website. The conclusion of a contract between you and us will take place when we (i) debit your credit or debit card or (ii) despatch the goods to you or commence the services, whichever is the earlier.


    Also using words like disgusting, vile and dishonest is a bit OTT and If I was the CS rep receiving this e-mail it would go straight into the bin. They may decide to respond though and advise you that your threat to post on forums words that could be construed as abusive and at the extreme, libellous, will result in legal action.

    You didn't say what price you ordered the DVD for but I assume it was less than £12.99. If The Hut made a mistake on the pricing then they are fair game but if they cancel before taking your money, that's life.
  • Torby
    Torby Posts: 1,704 Forumite
    Hi PeteMc,

    just for your info:

    Get Bon Jovi - Live: This Left Feels Right containing 2 dvd for just £3.69 delivered from TheHut.com. promotional code: WEEK01 will get you an extra 10% Off.

    so thats an advertised price of £3.33 delivered....quite a difference between that and £12.99,

    secondly, they still have them in stock (but at a higher price) and the fact it takes them 8 days to notify me is not exactly being reasonable.I have yet to hear of anyone who got the DVD as advertised

    thirdly, they say in their email "Due to extremely high demand our supplier is not out of stock of this title."...not out of stock and still advertised on their web site.

    Basically, they advertised an item, took all my details (and others) then tell me its not available (8 days later) but still have it on their site as available....but at a higher price!....what conclusion would you draw...either they made a mistake in the price....in which case say that...after all the displayed price is only an "invitation to buy"...so if you make a mistake own up...I can live with that....but to leave me and others for over 8 days before telling us the item is out of stock (when it isn't) is not really good practice.....is it?....bit disgusting really....so whats the option left if it wasn't a pricing mistake, the item is in stock and they say it isn't...can only be harvesting emails and addresses etc....and we all know what peoples opinions are of that type of tactic

    to sumarise:

    I am disgusted about the way they have done this
    Its dishonest to email me to tell me its out of stock...when it isn't
    Firms who harvest email addresses and other such details are vile
    I'm now a retired teacher... hooray ...:j

    Those who can do, those who can't, come to me for lessons:cool:

  • PeteMc
    PeteMc Posts: 567
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    Sorry still think you are blowing this out of proportion.

    It could have been a promo price for the first 10 orders but once the word gets round the internet, every man and his dog jumps on the bandwagon and unfortunately genuine fans lose out to the "order 2000 for ebay brigade".

    They were not dishonest as it is out of stock at that price, for example, Amazon regularly change prices up and down showing out of stock at £1.00 then back in at £5.00 some hours later. This is no different.

    If it was a mistake then yes they should have said.

    A ploy for harvesting e-mail addresses and other such details? I don't really think so considering The Hut are Asda and Boots DVD online as well. I get one or two e-mails a month from them at most. If you don't want any e-mails then change the settings in your account or ring them and ask them to remove your account.
  • gyzmo
    gyzmo Posts: 624
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    Generally, an advertisement is considered an "invitation to treat" - it is merely stating the terms on which they are prepared to enter into a contract. As such, as stated by PeteMC, it is the customer who makes the offer, which the seller is then free to accept or reject. If it were otherwise, then the seller would be bound to sell the product to anyone who ordered. given a finite number of supplies, this would be impractical.

    If they are still advertising the goods as being available when it is apparent that they are not available, then it could be construed as intentional misleading (like you see shops that have sales on but hardly anything is on sale). You could take this further, but you would be fighting a lost cause.

    As you have only lost time, you would be best to sweep this under the carpet and go with a supplier you know and trust in future.
    Don't bother trying to sue me - I've got no money!
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