"Garden Buildings", Delays, Refunds, Cancellations...

scullster

Blood is boiling......... I learnt at 17:30 that the cancellation of the order on my much delayed and much complained about shed could incur a hefy cancellation charge....


Background:

• Ordered the above (specifics removed to protect the guilty) on 22nd March - over £200, "off the shelf" on a 2wk delivery on a credit card
• Next day - received a phone call to confirm the delivery would be 2 to 3wks (okay, lost a week but still happy)
• 4wks - no contact, so I chase them
• Receive an email that goods will be dispatched to courier end of month, 5.5wks after order placement, 30th Apr. "Courier would then contact me to arrange delivery"
• 6wks - still no contact. I chase on Tues threatening to cancel unless resolved quickly - promised of return call by close of business.
• Give them until lunch on Weds (I really am quite patient don't you think), I call them back to be again promised a return call.
• Hear nothing so I call later on Weds to instruct them to cancel, am adivsed to email the request which I dutifully did (politely).
• Get a written response - they have the brass neck to quote Distance Selling Regs and 30d to turn round a refund!
• TODAY (over 6.5wks, and just over 1 wk since it "allegedly" arrived at couriers), they wish to slap me with a cancellation charge of £85 as the goods have been dispatched to the courier + "Do I wish to proceed with the cancellation" (oh and there is still no indication of delivery date)

I've emailed them to confirm that they leave me no choice but for me to accept delivery to avoid the cancellation charge.

But where do I stand?
Cancellation is in their T&C's BUT they are clearly being unreasonable, they clearly didn't stick to their original promise and I have been reasonable, as well as time I have given plenty of warning. If they had stuck to the agreement, I would have no reason to cancel - I want [STRIKE]this[/STRIKE] a wooden structure!
Would I have grounds to dispute the charges with my credit card company?

As it stands, surely they are obliged to give me a prompt delivery date or am I in no mans land with no leg to stand on - unable to cancel because of the threat of a fee but no onus on them to deliver promptly (remember - almost 4 to 5wks late currently!)

I'd really appreciate views.

Ivory_Tinkler

If you ordered online or by phone then the distance selling regs apply and they have to give you a full refund within 30 days of your written cancellation. They can take up to 30 days to refund (although a good retailer wouldn't make you wait that long) and they are not allowed to charge cancellation fees or restocking fees either. Stand your ground for a full refund and get the shed from elsewhere.

scullster

I'm not quibbling too much about the 30d because that it was the regs. say (it was an internet purchase - I didn't make that clear) - its just the cheek of it all.

I've been looking again at their T&Cs and under cancellation, it refers to returning the goods within 7d of delivery and that I would be eligible for return costs - can't argue, that sounds reasonable.

But I've not taken delivery, I have no delivery date and the goods are over 6wks late. They are claiming for an aborted delivery charge because the goods were dispatched from the manufacturer to the courier at the end of April.

vikingaero

Is this Garden Buildings Direct aka Kybotech?

If it is then search for Kybotech on the forum to find the thread with the long complaints.

scullster

No - its a different company. I will post the details early next week once I've been into the boxing ring with them.

scullster

Took formal legal advice on this today and was surprised that there were no "ifs" or "buts".

• Under DSR, they have clearly failed to meet the contracted delivery date therefore the contract is effectively void.
• As the goods are essentially off the shelf, not a modified spec in anyway, they cannot charge me and cancellation charge.
• To fail to provide a full refund is likely to be unlawful

So I've been adivsed to speak to them in the first instance to explain I have taken legal advice and to bring their attention to the above. If they don't play ball, to follow it up in writing recorded delivery and to let my credit card co. re: Section 75 CCA protection.

As it happens, I've not managed to get through to them today (one could argue that I've been unable to get through to them even when I have spoken to them!). Will try again tomorrow

The_Pedant

Email counts as a 'durable medium' for the purposes of cancelling a contract.
You can therefore state that you expect the 30 days within which the refund should be received, to start from the date you originally confirmed your intent to cancel.

scullster

Thanks for that, I guess why they tell us to use recorded snail mail is more for the purpose of proof of delivery. Some email software gives the recipient the option to read the email but not send the requested receipt, e.g. Outlook, you even get to see who it is from before you open it. In the case of post, the individual doesn't usually get the opportunity to see who the post is from before they sign for it and quite often, it is a clerk totally unconnected to your case who signs for the delivery at the front desk.

Mekmj

Hello - they should have supplied the goods within 30 days (beginning the day after you gave them your order). A contract which has not been performed within the 31 days shall be treated as if it has not been made (they can't charge you cancellation fees). And they need to pay you back as soon as possible (within 62 days of your initial order.)
Hope this helps.

scullster

I phoned Consumer Direct again on Tuesday to clarify the position but was left less than certain - my first phone call to Consumer Direct, the lady was adamant, the second call, the guy (though he had to keep on putting me on hold and kept referring to his boss) was less than certain.

The concern is that they are referring to the Distance Selling Regs as being relatively new and there has not been too many cases through the court system - made it sound like a right lottery. I didn't feel like phoning up for a third opinion! He tried in the end to convince me of the 30d ruling which Mekmj refers to, i.e. not delivered in 30d therefore contract automatically terminated, but I needed to read the retailer's T&Cs.

But my point is that dialogue (though woefully poor on their part) has been ongoing. And whilst I threatened to cancel on a number of occasions, I didn't actually hit the eject button until 6.5wks (6/5/09) in. So I guess they could argue that by me continuing to communicate with them beyond the 30d, they assume that I still want the item delivered.

I didn't receive an email from the manufacturer until almost 5wks had expired (24/4/09), telling me that the item would be dispatched into their carriers on the 29/4/09, 5.5wks after the order was placed.

Whilst I hit the eject button on 6/5/09 (1wk after the item was supposedly dispatched to the courier), the order was resumed on 11/5/09 (7wks on from the order date). And as of today, I've still not had any contact from the courier to confirm a delivery date. When I tried to cancel, I was to incur abortive delivery costs as the goods had gone to the courier on 30/4/09 but how long can this go on for?

Does the fact that the goods have been supposedly dispatched 2wks ago to the courier (not me) mean that I should be responsible for so called abortive costs?

The law isn't black and white unfortunately, it is very grey in my eyes which is why solicitors are richer than me. Where does reasonable come into this, I have been extremely reasonable and patient, my retailer isn't.

Over to you......

scullster

So the order was resumed on 11/5/09 (7wks order date anniversary), because they'd threatened me with abortive delivery costs (£85) as the goods had been supposedly dispatched 2 wks previously

And now another full working week has passed without contact.