Accepting terms and conditions

molar

Hello

A while ago I commissioned some graphic design work from a company I found over the Internet. I made a verbal agreement with them via e-mail and paid them a 50% deposit after sending my requirements.

Now fast forward five months and I still haven't got what I wanted from them. I just took a look at their terms and conditions and one of the clauses is no refunds and another is that work can take up to 180 days to be completed.

Their website states:
'When you agree by email or any other means such as instant messaging to commission work with us it represents a verbal contract between us. This means you are agreeing to our following terms and conditions:...'

Is that legally binding? I never saw these terms and conditions when I first got in touch.

Thanks.

taxiphil

Terms and conditions aren't always legally binding - there's something called the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 which means it doesn't really matter if both parties "agreed" to terms - if they're unreasonable, they're not binding.

The "no refunds" clause would definitely be considered unreasonable because it gives one party a unilateral right to take the other party's money without giving anything satisfactory in return!

So I wouldn't worry about their terms and conditions - the normal rules of contract still apply and you might have a strong case for breach of contract here if they've not provided a satisfactory service within a reasonable timescale.