M&S demanding more money for sale items I ordered online.

bongoshopping

11th July 2011 - I bought 10 items of furniture from Marks and Spencer's Sale, on line. I have an M&S account (credit card), I am a regular M&S customer and had been sent an email by M&S informing me in advance of this sale so I was on line the very moment the sale went live. Immediately after the order, I received emails confirming the items I had ordered, their individual prices and the total order value. I changed my mind about 2 of the items I ordered and cancelled them on line within 1 hour of making the order. The other items I had ordered remained -8 items.
12th July 2011 - I rang M&S to confirm the cancelled items had been cancelled and the remaining 8 items were still going through. They went through each of the 10 items of the order with me (including the prices) and confirmed this.
15th July 2011, M&S rang me to advise me delivery date would be 10/8/11. We discussed and confirmed which items were being delivered, as 2 of the 8 items I had ordered were not on the M&S persons delivery list. They advised I would get another call about the outstanding 2 items and that 2-3 days prior to the delivery dates, they would ring again to arrange a 2 hour delivery slot.
19th July 2011 - M&S rang to confirm delivery date for the 2 outstanding items and that all 8 items would be delivered on the same date of 10/8/11. 19th July 2011 - M&S put the total amount for the 8 items of my furniture order on my M&S card.
1st August 2011 - M&S wrote me a letter confirming furniture delivery of all 8 items on 10/8/11 and advised me I had until 5th August to change this delivery date without incurring a £100 re-arrangement fee.
6th August 2011 (today) - M&S rang me to confirm the 2 hour delivery slot for 10/8/11 (this coming Weds).
6th August 2011 (today) - M&S rang me and said; -
· an 'anomoly' had occured on the website when I placed my order on 11th July.
· this 'anomoly' had resulted in them advertising the furniture and processing my orders for the incorrect amounts.
· that I should have been aware of this (!??)
· that I had to pay a further £3,500 to get my furniture delivered this Weds or the order would be cancelled.
I have already got rid of my own furniture to make room for my new furniture coming in 3 days time.
The Customer Services Advisor who rang me to tell me this was very reluctant to put me through to his Manager. Eventually he did, and she was adament I had to pay the additional amount or the order would be cancelled.
They both said they had no record of my call to them on 12th July when I confirmed which items I had cancelled and which were still ordered. They repeatedly said this was important because this phone call would have been 'a confirmation' of my order and the prices I had seen.
My original order and the prices I ordered the items at were confirmed to me in emails from M&S at the time of my order. I can also access my account on the M&S website, and my order and the prices for the 8 items are clearly illustrated on my account at the prices I ordered them at.
Despite this, the 2 M&S staff seemed very clear this was my fault and not the fault of M&S. They repeatedly stated the reduced prices I paid for the items were not the price - they simply would not engage with the fact it had been a sale when I ordered and that I therefore expected the prices to be reduced!
I have been told a Senior Manager will ring me on Monday (bearing in mind this furniture is meant to be coming on Weds) to advise me of my position, but that he will probably say the same thing. Can M&S demand this additional money from me in order for me to get my furniture? Do I have any legal rights as a consumer in this situation?

shellsuit

Ouch, I can hardly read that sorry, the text is too small.

bris

They are allowed to cancel the order because a mistake has been made with the price. With a £3500 difference it was not a small mistake and one they clearly think you are trying to take advantage of. have a look here which will explain it better.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3277262

gordikin

...do you really expect anyone to read that? What do M&S T&C's say?

bongoshopping

bris wrote: »

They are allowed to cancel the order because a mistake has been made with the price. With a £3500 difference it was not a small mistake and one they clearly think you are trying to take advantage of. have a look here which will explain it better.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3277262

Thanks - The £3,500 is the overall additional money they want for all of the 8 items not just for 1 item. I could understand if it was just 1 item at a daft price, but I ordered 8 items of furniture - over a range of furniture types and styles - all were reduced and M&S are trying to say all 8 items were priced wrongly, at the same time and in the same sale.

bongoshopping

gordikin wrote: »

...do you really expect anyone to read that? What do M&S TC's say?

I read the T&C as the contract is made when a) they charge you and b) they confirm delivery. So I feel they have already done both.

The 2 M&S staff/Manager I spoke to this afternoon stated this is not the issue and stated I should have known the reduced prices I ordered in the sale, were not correct as they were reduced too much!

wealdroam

bongoshopping wrote: »

Do I have any legal rights as a consumer in this situation?

Yes you do.

You have a right to be refunded all monies paid.

M&S have a right not to sell the things to you when they have made a mistake.

The fact that you have email confirmation of the order does not matter.

Their T&Cs say...

Acceptance of your order

Please note that completion of the online checkout process does not constitute our acceptance of your order. Our acceptance of your order will take place only when we dispatch the product(s) or commencement of the services that you ordered from us.

If you supplied us with your email address when entering your payment details (or if you have a registered account with us), we will notify you by email as soon as possible to confirm that we have received your order.

So they have confirmed that they have received your order.
They will not have accepted your order until the goods are dispatched.

Clearly they have decided not to accept your order.
They have however decided that if you really want the stuff then you can pay the revised price.

Their T&Cs go on to say...

If we cannot supply you with the product or service you ordered, we will not process your order, inform you of this in writing (including e-mail) and, if you have already paid for the product or service, refund you in full as soon as reasonably possible.

This is all explained in the link in post #3.

Take the refund and move on. You won't win this argument.

dinglebert

Any other forums you want to post this in? Its already in the grabbit with one of those apoligies if I have poste in the wrong forum messages

bongoshopping

dinglebert wrote: »

Any other forums you want to post this in? Its already in the grabbit with one of those apoligies if I have poste in the wrong forum messages

As you kindly point out, I initially posted in Grabbit and as soon as a HELPFUL poster suggested this Forum would be more beneficial, I moved my thread to it. We aren't all perfect I guess......

peterod1

I would suggest you real ALL of the T&C's and not just the ones that support your argument. If after reading them you still believe you have an argument then I suggest you take further action, possibly legal. However, having read the T&C's myself I do not think you have a leg to stand on and think you were a bit premature in disposing of your existing furniture. If the price variance is £3500 (average £437.50 per item) surely you must have thought it was too good to be true?

bongoshopping

peterod1 wrote: »

I would suggest you real ALL of the T&C's and not just the ones that support your argument. If after reading them you still believe you have an argument then I suggest you take further action, possibly legal. However, having read the T&C's myself I do not think you have a leg to stand on and think you were a bit premature in disposing of your existing furniture. If the price variance is £3500 (average £437.50 per item) surely you must have thought it was too good to be true?

Thanks - I really appreciate other posters who give advice as I'm truly in a situation I did not anticipate being in.

When M&S sales start, I am always at my laptop with my 'to buy' list as the best bargains always go quickly. I rarely deviate from my list. This time I did, but I cancelled the 2 additional items within 1 hour of making my order.

I didn't get rid of my furniture until last week after I received an M&S letter confirming the delivery date of the ordered furniture (they had already phoned to tell me of the delivery date before that).

I thought I had done really well in the sale - I did not think it was too good to be true. You live and learn!