Married Tomorrow - Suit not arrived (Scotweb)

tox

As the thread says - I'm getting married tomorrow. I've paid for a custom suit and after two missed delivery dates they say they will deliver tomorrow.....the day of the wedding.. but they don't know what time.

As I can't trust them I've had to lash out £100 on a hire outfit.

They say that as I said the wedding was on 7/11 they will meet their obligation by delivering on that date. This seems to me quite unreasonable.

I'm trying to cancel and get a refund. Now I'm sure I can get that on the non-custom parts (distance selling regulations) - however the custom bits won't be covered under distance selling regulations. My thought is that they haven't exercised due care in their exercise of the contract.

I would have liked to get the gear and get the cost of the hire gear from them. But as they are playing hardball I would rather cancel.

So: the two scenarios I am now after are either 1 - full refund. 2 - £100 cost of the hire outfit.

Thoughts?

Fire_Fox

Have you had compensation for two missed deliveries? Wait until they fail to meet the deadline and put your complaint into writing.

vicshippers

What a nightmare!

You could argue that as they can't guarantee a time (or a 'before 10am' etc) service than they can no longer honour the terms of the contract. Are you speaking to someone, or conversing via e-mail? If you can, try and speak to them - ask them what they would do in your shoes.

I'm sure that this won't taint your day anyway, congratulations for tomorrow!

tox

Well they're doing a pretty good job at tainting the day... I'm £88 down already as I've had to hire a contingency get-up. I think they should cough that up.

bingo_bango

You really have the two options you outlined above yourself here. Rescind the contract and get a refund, or seek damages in the amount of the cost of the hire suit.

DSR will not help you unless a particular date was specified at the time you entered into the contract.

If I was in your shoes, I would seek to use The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, which makes delivery time an implied term of the contract. See Section 14 of the act for more details.

I don't see how you would have a problem arguing this one, as you really would need time to ensure that the suit meets the description applied, or the sample shown.

pinkshoes

Did the suit arrive on time???

A bit late now, but I would have given them a 10am deadline, and told them you would be leaving the house at 10am, and you will be expecting a full refund if it wasn't there by then.

If it didn't arrive on time, then I would pursue them for a full refund, as you didn't get to wear it!

edgex

surely a 'custom suit' involves being measured, having the suit made up, then having it checked for final fit & any neccesary adjustments?
then you would go back to the tailor to collect it.


& if the item is being delivered, & they know its to be used for a specific date, surely they would have to ensure delivery prior to that date?
the train operators wont send tickets out within a set number of days before they are valid for, so they dont get delayed in the post.


does the contract specify a delivery date?

Tim_Stevens

Much as I sympathise with your disappointment, I think the replies encouraging you to think you have a legal case are giving you rather bad advice. I used to work in another business selling custom made clothing online, and the law is (by necessity) different for goods that are made to order. You simply don't have the same rights of return or refusal as you would with other goods.

It therefore comes down to the contract between you and the vendor. In our business, we used to have quite strict terms and conditions that meant we were never liable for missed deadlines or consequent losses. Frankly it would have been impossible to run the business otherwise, since we were so dependent on other suppliers. In the rag trade fabrics run out overnight and can take months to replenish, and individuals with key skills get sick. So unless a deadline was a year away, we would never give a cast iron promise of any date.

If this company is similar, I'll lay money they say much the same in their T&C. So the question becomes, did they give you a written money-back guarantee that they would supply by the deadline they missed? Or did they simply advise it to you as their expected date? (That's what we would always do.) If they latter, I'm afraid you don't have a leg to stand on. And you'll just be spoiling your own honeymoon by wasting a lot of time and money if you try to go legal.

Hintza

Tim I don't know if you are correct or not, but taking the logical approach to this surely if you contract to have a suit delivered for a fixed date such as a wedding then if it doesn't arrive in time the manufacturer is at fault. If the manufacturer can't gurantee delivery or has a problem then it is up to them to inform the buyer as soon as they know there will be a problem allowing the buyer to make alternative arrangements.

If it was me I would have built in some additional time when I placed the order to cover these sort of things. Arriving at 10am on the day of the wedding is just far too short.

Mark_Hewitt

Indeed, I would argue that arriving on the day, or even late on the day before is unacceptable. As you don't know before you get it if there may be any problems which require you to hire a suit.

If I were you I'd get married in the hire suit and reject the one you've had made, do not even accept delivery!

bingo_bango

Tim I hope you work for a legal team somewhere, because with you on their side, consumers will have an easy ride in getting recompense.

Also, if the T's & C's of your company actively remove statutory protection as you claim, then offences are being committed under The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, and The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

Please tell us who they are so I can begin to prepare a case for the OFT.

Please don't come on here and spout such nonsense as you have above. Statutory consumer rights CANNOT be removed by the imposition of such a term as:

Tim_Stevens wrote:

In our business, we used to have quite strict terms and conditions that meant we were never liable for missed deadlines or consequent losses

Should you wish to, you can show me a letter of dispensation from the OFT allowing you to withdraw from UK legislation. I will accept your argument at that time.