Can they do this?

creamtea_2

Can anyone advise me. Been silly and allowed an unsolicited call lead to someone coming and quoting for guttering. Two hrs later unfortunately we signed to have it done paid £100. Husband is disabled (cancer) so we were so worried cancelled the credit agreement (no response) so sent another copy by SPECIAL DELIVERY. Cancelled the work. The Manager says we still have to pay over £3000 as he ordered the stuff - so desperately worried. Consumer Advice Centre said he can claim this. We are quite vulnerable.
Any advice please.

funky-footprints

have you got a copy of the original contract you signed. We almost got pulled in for staybrite windows, we only wrote the cheque to get rid of the stinky sales man, then went into panic mode ....... on reading the contract we realised we did have time on our hands.

I know when we originally cancelled the agreement we did send it by recorded delivery to cover our backs, what was the delay in sending the first and 2nd cancellation s on your part ..compared to small print cancellation ? ?

ben500

creamtea wrote:

Can anyone advise me. Been silly and allowed an unsolicited call lead to someone coming and quoting for guttering. Two hrs later unfortunately we signed to have it done paid £100. Husband is disabled (cancer) so we were so worried cancelled the credit agreement (no response) so sent another copy by SPECIAL DELIVERY. Cancelled the work. The Manager says we still have to pay over £3000 as he ordered the stuff - so desperately worried. Consumer Advice Centre said he can claim this. We are quite vulnerable.
Any advice please.

Don't mess about with this one, contact watchdog straight away and see if they have any history of dealings with the company or it's directors, if they have they will almost certainly be interested in hearing more and will I am sure be invaluable help to you.

It would be wise to get a free consultation session with a local solicitor taking the contract with you, you may well have a clause in the contract that permits them to purchase materials immediately and this may or may not be legal this you have to determine from a reliable source, I'm afraid I would not describe myself as a reliable source.

Even if the contract is valid the circumstances upon which it was obtained may again not be, this is another reason for seeking sound advice, for a start off £3,000 for materials for a guttering job, where do you live Buckingham Palace?

hollydays

i believed you had a 7 day cooling offf period too.
Are you wthin 7 days?

ben500

hollydays wrote:

i believed you had a 7 day cooling offf period too.
Are you wthin 7 days?

The cooling off period will cover the contract for work but there may be a proviso within the contract protecting the builder for any materials purchased prior to termination of contract, it sounds like a try on to me to be honest but that will not make it any less worrying for the op. Legal advice and watchdog is the way to go with this one.

lemontart

ordered materials .............thats agood one for a guttering company You MUST contact trading standards.

Heres the legal stuff for you - prolly already on this site some where

http://www.trafford.gov.uk/cme/live/cme982.htmConsumer Advice - Cooling-off Periods
Can I change my mind?
There are five main pieces of legislation, which give consumers the right to back out of contracts they have entered into. Remember you do not have to had signed anything in order to enter into a contract. Even by buying a newspaper from the newsagents you have entered into a contract to purchase goods!

Consumer Credit Act 1974
A consumer has a cooling off period of 5 days where:
Credit is involved.
The contract was signed away from trade premises.
There were face to face negotiations with the seller.
The 5-day period begins from the time the second copy of the credit agreement is received by the consumer.

Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000
These regulations apply where there has been no face to face negotiations with the seller. Examples of such a situation would be when you purchase online, by phone or fax.

In these circumstances you have 7 days from receipt of the goods or from agreeing for a service to be carried out to change your mind.

Check the terms and conditions of the contract, as you may have to pay for the return of the goods to the trader. You are not however liable for the original postage and packing charges.

The regulations do not apply in the following circumstances:
The item has been made to the consumers specification.
Business to business transactions.
Financial services.
When buying at auction.
When buying land, timeshare, package holidays, food, drink, transport, accommodation, catering and leisure services.
When buying from vending machines or payphones.
Timeshare Act 1992 & EU Timeshare Directive
When timeshare is purchased in the European Union (EU) or the property is in the European Economic Area (EEA) a cooling off period applies.

EU = UK, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, Denmark, Greece, Spain (including the Canaries and the Balearics), Portugal, Austria, Sweden and Finland.

EEA = EU states + Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein

If signed in the UK the cooling off period is 14 days, if signed elsewhere in the EU the cooling off period is 10 days.

Any associated credit agreement is cancelled automatically when you cancel the timeshare contract.

The seller must not seek or accept any money from you during the cooling off period.

Consumer Protection (Cancellation of Contracts Concluded Away from Business Premises) Regulations 1987
These regulations apply where there has been an uninvited visit by a salesman to your home or place of work.

The regulations apply to both cash and credit sales where the total price of the goods or services exceeds £35.

Where all these conditions are met a cooling off period of 7 days applies.

The Supply of Extended Warranties on Domestic Electrical Goods Order 2005
New rules giving cooling off periods, when buying warranties on electrical goods, came into effect on the 6th April 2005. See our seperate fact sheet on extended warranties for further information.

In addition to the above situations, where you have a right to a cooling off period, many retailers give cancellation rights, which are over and above that which they are obliged to offer. Check for notices in shops offering such rights or examine the small print in your contract.

Where you are entitled to cancel you should put something in writing to the trader explaining that you wish to exercise your right to cancel.

The above is only a summary of your rights. For more detailed advice see contact Trading Standards

lemontart

and here are your rights when buying from home

Rights when buying from home
Key Facts
The Distance Selling Regulations apply to both goods and services, where the contract is made without any face-to-face contact between supplier and consumer.


The Regulations do not apply to business-to-business transactions. Certain goods and services are excluded from some or all of the provisions. A separate directive covers financial services.


The Office of Fair Trading, Local Trading Standard Departments in England, Scotland and Wales and the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Investment in Northern Ireland are the designated enforcement authorities for these Regulations.
The main provisions of the Regulations are:

Goods must be delivered within thirty days unless agreed otherwise;


The consumer has a cooling off period in which they can withdraw from the contract for any reason. The cooling off period begins as soon as the order has been made and ends, in the case of services, seven working days after the day the order was made, or in the case of goods, seven working days after the day of receipt of the goods; and


Where the consumer notifies the supplier in writing that they wish to cancel the contract, they must be refunded with all monies paid within thirty days.

glen5213

Who is the company

Astaroth

Just to clarify.... they called you first did they? The trick most companies do these days is to send junk mail and get you to call them, if you do this then the contact is not considered unsolicited and you lose your rights to a cooling off period.

As others have said, they are clearly trying it on in terms of the amount they are claiming to have lost. Not only does £3k sound an exceptionally large amount for trade price guttering but realistically they would only be able to claim for parts which they are not going to be able to use else where (within a reasonable time scale) so unless you were ordering gold plated guttering with pink pokka dots.....

If you have Legal Expenses insurance on your Home insurance policy (contents or buildings) then they will have a 24/7 free legal advice line that will be able to help you and may be able to get involve in any legal contract dispute that occurs (as you are going to be the defendant then some insurers wont cover this)

creamtea_2

Thank you all so much for your advice, will act quickly. Cheers.

creamtea_2

Thanks to you all - such good advice. Cheers everyone.