want to cancel special order-where do I stand?

nancy1919

2 weeks ago I placed a special order with a furniture company to have a bed made to my specifications and to be delivered within 3 weeks. I gave a deposit of £40. Unfortunately the relative for which the bed was intended has just died and so I have just phoned the furniture company to cancel the order. The salesman told me i could not cancel as the bed had already arrived in their show room (although I hadn't been notified of this yet) and it was a special order.

The invoice states that specical orders are non refundable and there wil be a charge for storage of noncollected goods.

Where do i stand on this? I haven't received or paid for the bed yet and accept that I will lose my deposit.

WestonDave

You entered into a contract to have a bed made under the terms stated on the invoice. The manufacturer has gone to time and expense making it, and possibly has no other potential customers for a bespoke bed to your exact requirements. You are almost certainly going to have to pay for the full amount unless something like the Distance Selling regulations apply (whereby if you order something over the phone or off the internet you have a certain period to reject it - however I'm not sure if that applies to bespoke orders like this). It is unfortunate that the intended user of the bed is no longer able to use it, but that isn't the suppliers fault.

latecomer

You haven't got a leg to stand on, sorry.

nancy1919

Thanks Westondave and latecomer for your replies. I guess I'll just have to grin and bear it.

Been thinking more about this, though - what was the deposit for if it wasn't to compensate the firm if i cancelled?

latecomer

The deposit is to secure the order but once its made and delivered your are contracted to buy it as far as I know. Try phoning your local CAB they might be able to clarify?

nancy1919

But it hasn't been delivered yet.

latecomer

because its a special order I dont think you have the same rights. You asked htem to make you one and they did regardless of whether its been delivered yet. Anyway try citizens advice and they should be able to clarify.

nancy1919

I've now spoken to the Trading Standards Officer who has clarified the issue for me. It seems that a deposit confirms the order and fixes the price. I always thought it was to compensate the trader if the consumer cancelled the order. I'll be much more careful in future over the agreement I'm entering into and what will happen if I need to cancel an order.

System

nancy1919 wrote: »

I've now spoken to the Trading Standards Officer who has clarified the issue for me. It seems that a deposit confirms the order and fixes the price. I always thought it was to compensate the trader if the consumer cancelled the order. I'll be much more careful in future over the agreement I'm entering into and what will happen if I need to cancel an order.

think of it like this,
if you had got a builder around to build an extensoin and agreed a price, paid a deposit for them to get materials and start work, then you decide a couple of days before they have finished the entire job that you no longer want an extension, do you not think that you should pay for all the work/time or do you think the small deposit is enough?!

nancy1919

I understand what you are saying although in this case I haven't yet received the bed and don't really know if it has indeed been made yet. However I accept that I'll have to pay for it. As it's apparently ready for deliver there's no reason why they won't deliver by the date specified on the invoice. I'll await their call

vaio

Suzanne_Louise wrote: »

Hi there. The divan base on our bed has broken! It's very squeaky and we're pretty sure part of the frame's gone. . Does anyone know if there are any companies that mend the frames? It was quite expensive when my OH bought it (about 3-4 years ago), and with a little one, money's a bit tight. Any advice would be thankfully recieved!

How do you spell serendipity?