Order Cancelled by Currys

shenk1

I ordered a lens for my camera last week from Currys online.The item had been out of stock for quite a while but I waited to buy it as the advertised price was the cheapest I could find and it came back into stock on the 12/2/2011.
I placed the order on the 15th and was called to confirm some details by their security department on the 16th.
An e-mail was then sent to me confirming that my order was being processed.

Today (23/2/2011) I received an e-mail "CONFIRMING" that my order had been cancelled.I hadn't done this and I have checked the site and the item is no longer available:(

No explanation has been given to me for the cancellation so I have sent an e-mail to them asking why.This isn't as easy as it sounds as there is no e-mail address given on the site. I eventually found 2 addresses thanks to forums like this:T

Whilst I await their response I just wondered if there was any advice anyone could pass along to me.My own theory is that someone made a mistake on the price when it came back in stock and it should have been higher as to get the item elseware would cost an extra £200:mad:

Thanks for any help

shenk1

pcombo

You answered your own topic.

" have checked the site and the item is no longer available"
"No explanation has been given to me for the cancellation so I have sent an e-mail to them asking why"

Item obviously is discontinued or they cant get any stock.

Also they dont have to honour any price, As im sure you already know this.

shenk1

It was out of stock for 2 months and had just come back in according to the site.

As for honouring prices, if i walked into the shop and the price was wrong they would have to honour it (and they have in the past) so why the difference on the net?

Not being awkward here I'm just trying to see exactly where I stand for when I get their response.

Thanks for the quick reply:beer:

shenk1

pcombo

If you walked into a shop and the price displayed was £1 and they wanted £1.50 they dont have to honour the £1 display price. If you seena TV online for 1p and you bought 10 but original price was £500 they dont have to honour it.

tomwakefield

shenk1 wrote: »

As for honouring prices, if i walked into the shop and the price was wrong they would have to honour it (and they have in the past) so why the difference on the net?

Contract law:

Shop price: Invitation to treat
You taking the item up to the till to pay at the labelled price: Offer
Them taking your money: Acceptance
Offer + Acceptance = Contract

So a shop has a TV in the shop with a label for £300, when it should be £500. You take it up to the till to buy it, but the store does not have to accept your offer and therefore there is no binding contract, meaning they are not obliged to sell you at the marked price.

In practice, depending on the difference in price, they will often sell it anyway because
1) it makes a customer happy, and happy customers means money
2) they may still make a profit on the sale, albeit a smaller than intended one.

redped

What lens was it? Check out www.camerapricebuster.co.uk to see if you can get it cheaper elsewhere. Dixons/Currys aren't often the cheapest place to get lenses.

halibut2209

tomwakefield wrote: »

Contract law:

Shop price: Invitation to treat
You taking the item up to the till to pay at the labelled price: Offer
Them taking your money: Acceptance
Offer + Acceptance = Contract

Technically shouldn't that be Offer + Acceptance + Handing over the goods = contract. That's why a website can cancel an order before dispatch.

unholyangel

halibut2209 wrote: »

Technically shouldn't that be Offer + Acceptance + Handing over the goods = contract. That's why a website can cancel an order before dispatch.

Wouldnt that depend on whether their website stated when the contract was formed? ie upon receiving confirmation of order or when the items are dispatched?

I know most companies is on dispatch but there are still some that do it by confirmation of the order......although i'm guessing as soon as they come up against someone who ordered a out of stock item or a item at a price that was a mistake, they'll probably change to say on dispatch.

tomwakefield

halibut2209 wrote: »

Technically shouldn't that be Offer + Acceptance + Handing over the goods = contract. That's why a website can cancel an order before dispatch.

Online shopping is slightly different as you say. I was just dismissing the idea that a shop (physical shop rather than website) has to honour the price ticket as the OP thought.

unholyangel

tomwakefield wrote: »

Online shopping is slightly different as you say. I was just dismissing the idea that a shop (physical shop rather than website) has to honour the price ticket as the OP thought.

Agreed. I would say its still offer and acceptance which makes a contract but what is deemed to be acceptance may differ.

In a shop, it would be taking the goods to cashier, paying and them accepting payment. But online, because companies often have an automated "acceptance", it cant usually be seen as legally binding (unless their T&C's state that this forms a contract) as technically no person in their company has had a chance to review the offer and accept it. This is why most contracts are formed at dispatch, as obviously they would have had to review your order and pick it, pack it and ship it - thus constituting acceptance of the "offer".