Online "technical glitch" - can they do this?

renzotiger

Recently I went to make a few purchases at an online shop. When I got to the check out there was what looked like an offer of £20 off each purchase. Indeed, when the system produced an invoice for my purchase £20 was deducted. 3 working days later the money was taken out of my account. Today (6 working days after the purchase) I receive an email asking me to "phone up and cancel the order or pay the full price. This was not an offer it was a technical glitch". Are they within their rights to do this?

mo786uk

If the contract has been concluded - no

If it has NOT been conlcuded - yes


You need to look at their terms which will say when the contract is concluded 0 usually on payment or dispatch.

Basically if you havent got the goods already then your chances are slim as they will eithe rnot have concluded the contract or not send the item anyway.

wealdroam

There are excellent posts, this one and this one, which go a long way towards answering your question.

Might be an idea to review other posts in the thread entitled...

READ ME FIRST PLEASE . . . Useful links, Resources and FAQs

renzotiger

The T&C's do not state that the acceptance if contract shall be upon receipt if the goods. Furthermore, the statement if order I received did not state that acceptance of contract shall be upon receipt of goods rather than receipt of payment. See below


Payment and Stock Availability
Goods and prices are subject to availability. In the event that we are unable to supply the goods, we will inform you of this as soon as possible. A full refund will be offered where you have already paid for the goods.

Once you have chosen your goods, you can proceed to checkout and pay for your order by credit or debit card through our secure Protx payment server.! If you choose to mail a cheque or postal order for your payment your order will not be processed until we are in receipt of your cheque or postal order.

Once we have received your order you will receive an automatic confirmation e-mail. !As we process and ship your order you will receive further e-mails explaining your order status.
At all times until despatch you have the right to cancel all or part of your order. If you cancel only part of your order, please note that this may result in a change in shipping fees in correspondence with our shipping fees and policy at that time.

renzotiger

Thanks for the links wealdroam, I had looked at them
Already before I posted, a useful guideline within the articles but sadly not conclusive in this instance

renzotiger

This is the email I received from the store... 6 days after the order was placed & 3 days after the money was taken from my account!
Afternoon
!
There was an error at time of checkout and you were discounted £20.00 per order , if you wish to process with your orders we will need to charge you the difference.
!
As a gesture of goodwill we will not charge you postage and will upgrade your orders to Special Delivery
!
Can you please confirm ASAP that you wish to proceed and are happy for us to charge you the additional amount.!
!
We look forward to hearing from you.
!

renzotiger

No further advice on this guys & girls??

shaun_from_Africa

What was the name of the company?, so people have have a look at their T&C's.

Many companies state that a contract will only be formed once they have received payment and the goods have been dispatched.
I wouldn't be surprised to find something like this written in their small print somewhere,

renzotiger

As a new forum user I'm not permitted to post links, the web address if the company in question is:

made4fighters.com

The order was for training rationales and clothing.

Thanks for looking

shaun_from_Africa

I couldn't see anything stating when they consider the contract to be formed, but from reading the rest of their terms, I not really surprised.

They appear to be yet another company who either hasn't heard of the Distance selling reg's, or they've heard of them, but have simply decided to ignore them.
Their returns policy is totally illegal (the buyer is responsible for the original P&P costs, and they may even charge P&P if you cancel before the goods are dispatched).

To be honest renzo, you would be better off reordering from a retailer who at least follows UK consumer laws, as who knows what they would be like in the event that you had a problem with any faulty goods.

renzotiger

Thanks Shaun, I certainly won't be reordering anything from thus company but I'd like to give them a fright and make them think about their dealings with their customers. Thanks for your advice mate