I've received goods but no money has been taken - what are my rights?

Dislecksier

Hi,

I've bought some records from a label in the States, I've received the records, but the money hasn't left my account yet (it's been a month so far). I preordered the records back in January. How long do the company have to take the money from my account? At what point has a reasonable amount of time passed?

Also, if they take the money at a later date and this causes me to have insufficient funds to pay bills etc, what are my rights then?

One last thing, this is a multi-million dollar corporation I've ordered from, not an individual or a small DIY label. Doesn't affect rights on either side, but I just wanted you to know I'm not trying to rip anybody off!

Cheers

bcl999

Dislecksier wrote: »

Hi,

but I just wanted you to know I'm not trying to rip anybody off!

Cheers

So why not contact the company and ask them when they will be taking payment?

arcon5

Its odd that you owe them money (unintentionally) but are asking about your rights. You have the right to exchange your cash for their products, and if for some reason they don't charge you then your lucky, thats it. What kind of rights are you hoping for ?

You could ask them when payment will be taken? Or you could just chance it and if they do chase you at a later date not moan about it and pay it..

Dislecksier

HI BCL, I have asked them, and I got the almost automated response telling me that the money will be taken at the time of dispatch. This was a week ago when I asked!

Arcon, I don't mean my rights as in "this is now mine, you can't have any money" but obviously I don't want to keep £200 in my account forever waiting for them to take it, and if they decide to take it one day when there's insufficient funds in there, who's liable for any bank charges etc?

Are they breaching our sales contract by taking the money later?

Just to make this clear, I have no problem paying for these (or else I wouldn't have ordered them!), I just want to know how long I can reasonably/legally expect for them to take the money?

arcon5

I think the time limit for small claims court is 6 years. I could be wrong though.

It depends whats in your sales contract but if they took the money at a later date and you incurred charges I can't imagine them being liable since you authorised them to charge your card for the amount, they just took it later than expected.

Maybe they have charged the card, but its still pending, look at the balance and available balance on your account, are they different?

zppp

Dislecksier wrote: »

HI BCL, I have asked them, and I got the almost automated response telling me that the money will be taken at the time of dispatch. This was a week ago when I asked!

Arcon, I don't mean my rights as in "this is now mine, you can't have any money" but obviously I don't want to keep £200 in my account forever waiting for them to take it, and if they decide to take it one day when there's insufficient funds in there, who's liable for any bank charges etc?

Are they breaching our sales contract by taking the money later?

Just to make this clear, I have no problem paying for these (or else I wouldn't have ordered them!), I just want to know how long I can reasonably/legally expect for them to take the money?

Card authorisations are valid for six months for all retailers. This means that you need to account for the transaction until the payment is taken.

After the six months, they should contact you to arrange payment up to the 6 year overall time limit. (statute of limitations)

Enfieldian

Just keep the £200 in your account for the time being, it is not yours after all.... But hey, you can keep any interest you earn on it.

Equaliser123

arcon5 wrote: »

I think the time limit for small claims court is 6 years. I could be wrong though.

Bought from the US...

PZH

OP - have you asked your bank or card company if there is a payment pending or online block on your card ?

A few years ago I made a purchase and it didn't go out immediately. I didn't even notice until I tried to make another purchase about a week later (with a different online company) and the card didn't work.

When I called the Credit Card Company (MBNA) they said that they had stopped the card for online purchases due to suspected fraudulent activities. This turned out to be the first payment that they blocked and neglected to inform me.

Once all cleared up - both payments went out.

fred7777

Equaliser123 wrote: »

Bought from the US...

Then it may still be 6 years. The statute of limitations is 6 years in the UK but varies from state to state in the US. Which law applies depends on where the transaction was done.

But basically they can pursue you for the payment they didn't take until whichever law applies tells them they can't. The payment method you used may limit them from claiming via that method after a shorted time but they can still pursue you by other means.

If you don't have enough fund in your account when the money is taken and you become overdrawn you are solely responsible for the charges.

Aquatronixjenny

I've had this happen to me before, I gave a company my card details to pay for an item and they didn't process it immediately. In the meantime (1 month later) my card expired and a new one was issued (with a different number). About 2 months later I had a phone call from this company telling me that my payment was rejected! It was only a small amount but after checking my statements to make sure that they hadn't taken the money I just gave them my new card number.
I guess they just lost the information and when they found it they processed it?