When is an online order legally cancelled?

Nickname303 · 30 November 2015 at 10:18PM

Hi everyone, this is my first post so be gentle!

On Saturday night I ordered some items of jewellery from an online retailer. This morning I realised that I was going to have to cancel the order so at 10.45 am I sent them an emailing telling them i would like to cancel, this is what is stated on their website must be done if you want to cancel (or call and tell them).

At midday I received an automated email telling me that my items had been despatched. Then at 1.30pm I received another email from someone telling me again that my items had been despatched so if I wanted to cancel I would need to send them back.

So my question is, in the eyes of the law, was the order cancelled the minute I sent them the email saying I wanted to cancel? Because if theyve sent me the goods an hour and 15 minutes after I legally cancelled then surely I can tell them that I want them to pay the return postage charge when I send them back? Or isn't the order legally cancelled until they reply acknowledging the fact?

They would no doubt say they didn't see my email cancelling the order until after they despatched the items (which may or may not be the case), but where do I stand with regards to asking them to pay the return postage? Did they do wrong by still sending me the goods or not? I can't prove when they read my email cancelling the order.

Thank you in advance for any advice

powerful_Rogue · 30 November 2015 at 10:27PM

I would presume its when the email is read and a human acknowledges the cancellation.
For something time sensitive such as cancelling before the order is dispatched, the best course of action would have been to call and cancel.

Nickname303 · 30 November 2015 at 10:49PM

Thanks. I did think about calling, but then I figured that if I emailed them I would have physical proof of my cancellation notice, rather than a phone conversation which they could potentially deny took place. Maybe i should have done both! If I have to pay the return postage because its my fault then fair enough, I was just wondering if they had indeed been fair (in the eyes of he law) by sending the goods after I sent the cancellation notice. The cynic in me thinks they may have received my cancellation email and though oh crap were going to lose out on a £300 order here, let's just quickly get it sent out to him and make out we didn't get his cancellation email in time!

System · 30 November 2015 at 10:56PM

You don't have to accept the delivery and you've done all you need to do to cancel. They may be able tell the courier to redirect it back to them so it never gets to your door anyway.

Nickname303 · 1 December 2015 at 2:11AM

It seems as though they're not interested in doing anything like that. The email I had from them said I'd just have to send it back to them if I want to cancel. It's the fact that sending it back would maybe cost me a fair bit of money that bugs me. It's jewellery worth £300 so I will need to send it back to them with some sort of insured post (special delivery?), which I'm assuming won't come cheap.

Is refusing the parcel an option? If I refuse to take it then surely they can then turn around and say well we fulfilled our end of the contract by sending the package to you, if you're going to refuse to accept it were not going to give you a refund at all. I don't have the inclination to start a major war with them over this. Im merely asking if they were legally in the wrong or not so that I could maybe approach them about paying the return postage if I think i have a case.

The close timing between me cancelling and them sending is what is making things a bit ambiguous. If I'd cancelled the day before, or days before, and they still sent it then obviously I would tell them to !!!!!! off. But the fact that I only cancelled just before they (apparently) sent it is what's confusing matters about where I actually stand regarding this.

The first respondent to this thread has stated that the order would only be legally cancelled when they actually respond to my cancellation message (which I kind of expected). So if that is the case then I don't really have a leg to stand on because in the eyes of the law the order had not been cancelled before they sent it out.

As stated previously, I will always have my suspicions that they maybe knew I'd tried to cancel it but still quickly sent it out in the hope that I'm not going to bother to send it back and they keep their sale. Maybe that didn't happen and they are being genuine, who knows, but I can't prove that anything underhand went on even if it did!

ThumbRemote · 1 December 2015 at 9:44AM

Legally the exact point at which you cancelled isn't defined. The main question is whether it's worth fighting with the company over.

neilmcl · 1 December 2015 at 9:59AM

You're over thinking this. You've done enough to cancel he contract. Just refuse the delivery.

agrinnall · 1 December 2015 at 10:03AM

Without knowing the weight and size of the jewellery it's impossible to be sure how much Special Delivery will cost, but large letter size weighing between 100g and 250g costs £7.25 for value up to £500.

You can check yourself here.

pinkshoes · 1 December 2015 at 10:12AM

Nickname303 wrote: »

Is refusing the parcel an option? If I refuse to take it then surely they can then turn around and say well we fulfilled our end of the contract by sending the package to you, if you're going to refuse to accept it were not going to give you a refund at all. I don't have the inclination to start a major war with them over this. Im merely asking if they were legally in the wrong or not so that I could maybe approach them about paying the return postage if I think i have a case.

The close timing between me cancelling and them sending is what is making things a bit ambiguous. If I'd cancelled the day before, or days before, and they still sent it then obviously I would tell them to !!!!!! off. But the fact that I only cancelled just before they (apparently) sent it is what's confusing matters about where I actually stand regarding this.

The first respondent to this thread has stated that the order would only be legally cancelled when they actually respond to my cancellation message (which I kind of expected). So if that is the case then I don't really have a leg to stand on because in the eyes of the law the order had not been cancelled before they sent it out.

As stated previously, I will always have my suspicions that they maybe knew I'd tried to cancel it but still quickly sent it out in the hope that I'm not going to bother to send it back and they keep their sale. Maybe that didn't happen and they are being genuine, who knows, but I can't prove that anything underhand went on even if it did!

I would imagine that the order was already waiting for dispatch before they had seen your email. Emails are often not monitored 24-7, and even if they are monitored frequently, chances are that the person reading it is not the person dispatching the goods.

Legally, you can cancel whenever you like within the distance selling regulations.

I assume that it is being sent tracked, so if you refuse the delivery, the package should just end up back with the supplier and the tracking should reflect this. Check with the courier when it arrives and tell them the order was cancelled.

Worst case scenario is that you will have to pay for it to be returned.

peachyprice · 1 December 2015 at 6:30PM

For £300 worth of jewellery I wouldn't be refusing the delivery. You're then at the mercy of the courier actually sending it back. It's not worth the risk for the sake of £7.50.

daytona0 · 1 December 2015 at 11:17PM

Well some thoughts:

- Why buy an item if you are going to cancel it almost immediately?

- MOST customers WANT the order, so a fast dispatch time will take higher preference than the odd cancellation request received via email.

- Email queues can sometimes be horrendous. NEVER email with urgent matters because it doesn't get done!

- If you reject the parcel then YES, the item goes back for free but........... what happens if the company says that they haven't received the item (legitimately or not)? Whilst you may not legally bear the liability, it may be a very long drawn out process to get your refund.

I'd probably just accept the parcel and take a small hit with tracked returns (declare the correct value, too, otherwise you'll get stiffed if it gets "lost" and you find your maximum claim value is like £50!). After all, this whole situation derived from the fact that you processed an order and then, for god knows what reason, decided to immediately cancel it! It is your mess in complete honesty and *may not* be a cost which the seller should be legally obliged to bear.

When is an online order legally cancelled?

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