Consumer Rights: MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

crazy_guy

This thread is brill! - I'm a firm believer in not letting these companies take the mickey and after every letter, the company in question backed down but after reading martins article on consumer advice i got a question.



"Service charges
You do not have to pay service charges. And if the service charge is included in the food – you are legally entitled to deduct a reasonable amount if the service was not as expected – say 10% - 15%."

A local restaurant has the habit of including a 10% service charge, always thought these were legitimate, but what legislation says your under no obligation to pay these charges?

Art_2

animalmagic wrote:

Hi.I purchased an archos MP4 PDA direct from Archos web site & it arrived faulty.After contacting Archos I was told to post item for repair. It cost me appx £7.40 to post. Can I charge Archos for this posting as they sent me a faulty product.Could I have taken it to a retailer of Archos for them to return.What are my rights. Thanks

Legally the company has to put you back into the same position you were in before the problem i.e. they should return your postage costs.

On a purely practical point you have to decide if it is worth the time and effort you may have to expend in getting your costs back. It could cost you more than your postage.

Regards,
Art.

Art_2

crazy_guy wrote:

This thread is brill! - I'm a firm believer in not letting these companies take the mickey and after every letter, the company in question backed down but after reading martins article on consumer advice i got a question.



"Service charges
You do not have to pay service charges. And if the service charge is included in the food – you are legally entitled to deduct a reasonable amount if the service was not as expected – say 10% - 15%."

A local restaurant has the habit of including a 10% service charge, always thought these were legitimate, but what legislation says your under no obligation to pay these charges?

If a service charge is said to be included in the bill, you are entitled to reduce the bill by the amount stated if you are not happy with the service. If no amount is stated ask the waiter how much it is. If he can't tell you then you can deduct up to 15%. You must inform the restauant of your action and the reason for it.

Having said this I must say it would be strange to continue to use a restaurant where the service is so bad that you would want to deduct the charge on more than one visit. The restauant could argue that you are just attempting to get away with a reduced bill - and I wouldn't trust any food they put in front of me under these circumstances.

Also remember that a service charge is in lieu of a tip and not in addition to it.

Regards,
Art.

noni

Have upgraded mobile and do not like the phone and did not think my new tarrif is particularly what i want. was told i could change my mind.
Carphonewarehouse say i can only change phone not anything bout contract as they say i had that chance when original contract taken out dec 2005.
Post from another MSE member says under distance selling i can cause it was over phone not in shop. Really need quick clarification as going into seventh day 2morrow. Wits end with CPW loyalty staff.

ScottishSapper

noni wrote:

Have upgraded mobile and do not like the phone and did not think my new tarrif is particularly what i want. was told i could change my mind.
Carphonewarehouse say i can only change phone not anything bout contract as they say i had that chance when original contract taken out dec 2005.
Post from another MSE member says under distance selling i can cause it was over phone not in shop. Really need quick clarification as going into seventh day 2morrow. Wits end with CPW loyalty staff.

Was original contract for 12 or 18 months? If 12 months then you are now out of contract so you should be able to select a new tarrif. If it was 18 months then you are basically stuck with it.

If this is a new contract and done over the phone then I would think that the distance selling rules would apply. Check out the Consumer Direct website at:
http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/your-rights/fs_c01.shtml
in short it says:
Distance selling
Distance selling means purchasing goods and services using the telephone, fax, by mail order or from the Internet or digital TV. In other words, when you buy goods or services without face-to-face contact.

Most goods and services bought this way are covered by regulations that protect you. However, there are a few exceptions, which include:

Financial services, such as insurance.
Timeshare.
Goods bought from a vending machine.
Contracts concluded with a telecommunications operator using a public payphone.
Contracts for the sale of land.
Auctions.

Art_2

noni wrote:

Have upgraded mobile and do not like the phone and did not think my new tarrif is particularly what i want. was told i could change my mind.
Carphonewarehouse say i can only change phone not anything bout contract as they say i had that chance when original contract taken out dec 2005.
Post from another MSE member says under distance selling i can cause it was over phone not in shop. Really need quick clarification as going into seventh day 2morrow. Wits end with CPW loyalty staff.

Distant selling rules do not apply in your case as you are out of time. I assume you have an 18 month contract. I don't think Carphone would obtect if you wanted to upgrade your tariff but they won't go with a downgrade until your existing contract is over.

Regards,
Art.

crazy_guy

Art wrote:

Also remember that a service charge is in lieu of a tip and not in addition to it.

Thanks for the answer - was just curious thats all! Nah the restaurant that i go 2 is great but recently they have added on a 10% service charge and then they have the cheek when paying by card whether i would like to add a tip! I quickly say no to stop a rant that i'm already paying 10%!!:p

noni

ScottishSapper wrote:

Was original contract for 12 or 18 months? If 12 months then you are now out of contract so you should be able to select a new tarrif. If it was 18 months then you are basically stuck with it.

If this is a new contract and done over the phone then I would think that the distance selling rules would apply. Check out the Consumer Direct website at:
http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/your-rights/fs_c01.shtml
in short it says:
Distance selling
Distance selling means purchasing goods and services using the telephone, fax, by mail order or from the Internet or digital TV. In other words, when you buy goods or services without face-to-face contact.

Most goods and services bought this way are covered by regulations that protect you. However, there are a few exceptions, which include:

Financial services, such as insurance.
Timeshare.
Goods bought from a vending machine.
Contracts concluded with a telecommunications operator using a public payphone.
Contracts for the sale of land.
Auctions.

Contract taken out on 20/12/05 for 12 months.

Art_2

noni wrote:

Contract taken out on 20/12/05 for 12 months.

I would wait for 2+ weeks and then you are legally entitled to a new contract. If they won't budge it seems very petty.
I think I would also look at another outlet to do business with and tell Carphone why you are leaving them.

Regards,
Art.

maneesh_2

Dear ##### #####




Reference: Lg L204wt 20 Lcd 5ms 1680 X 1050 16001 Tilt Tco99



We have been contacted by our stock control team who have advised that we are unable to process your order due to above the item being out of stock. We have contacted our buying team for a new delivery date however they are unable to advise when this will be coming back into out stock therefore we have removed the item from your order.



We can confirm that no payment has been taken for this order.



Please accept our apologises for any inconvenience or annoyance caused.



Kind Regards

Ebuyer Support Team

The problem is is that they had plenty in stock and they did accept my payment and then later refunded it.

I thought once a merchant accepts payment that they are legally binding a contract, and to say they hadn't taken any money takes the cheek.

It seems like it was a misprice as I did buy the monitor for £150 and now they're selling it for £250, but they haven't mentioned this in the letter, and they had already taken payment, then refunded it later.

Anything I can do fellow moneysaving stand for your right consumers!