Deposit refund/credit note query

MSD1970

A friend of my mum ordered a dining suite for £850 and paid £150 deposit. This was done just before Christmas. As yet, the shop has not itself ordered the dining suite from its supplier.

They have decided that the table will be too big so wish to cancel the order.

The shop has refused to return the deposit (which they are entitled to do), however they are also saying that they will honour the £150 against other goods if they place an order of £850 or more.

Should the shop not allow the £150 against a lower priced alternative order? i.e. they should either allow the £150 to be used as a credit note for anything or not at all.

Any advice?

bod1467

Was the order placed instore?

Flyboy152

MSD1970 wrote: »

A friend of my mum ordered a dining suite for £850 and paid £150 deposit. This was done just before Christmas. As yet, the shop has not itself ordered the dining suite from its supplier.

They have decided that the table will be too big so wish to cancel the order.

The shop has refused to return the deposit (which they are entitled to do), however they are also saying that they will honour the £150 against other goods if they place an order of £850 or more.

Should the shop not allow the £150 against a lower priced alternative order? i.e. they should either allow the £150 to be used as a credit note for anything or not at all.

Any advice?

Which they are not entitled to do. All they are "entitled" to is to cover any reasonable, provable losses. If they have not ordered the suit yet, they haven't lost anything at all. I'd recommend your mother's friend goes back to the shop and ask them to prove their losses.

arcon5

By not continuing with the order she is effectively in breach of contract and therefore liable for the companies losses as a result. Anything above this would be classed as a penalty and therefore illegal under consumer protection legislation. I would expect this to include an administration fee for handling the order, i'd say anything above £30-£40 is excessive.

So ask they return a healthy portion of the deposit or compromise on the minimum spend it can be applied to. If they fail to respond satisfactory you can persue them via the courts.

bris

If you placed the order in store, then by putting down a deposit you have entered into a legaly binding contract and the retailer may if they so desire ask you to honour the agreement. Despite what flyboy says you are not entitled to the deposit back so any form of credit is at the discretion of the store.
If you can prove the store have breached the agreement, then you would be able to get it back.

bod1467

Hence why I asked my question (#2). What the OP can and can't do hinges on this.

Flyboy152

bris wrote: »

If you placed the order in store, then by putting down a deposit you have entered into a legaly binding contract and the retailer may if they so desire ask you to honour the agreement. Despite what flyboy says you are not entitled to the deposit back so any form of credit is at the discretion of the store.
If you can prove the store have breached the agreement, then you would be able to get it back.

I thought we put this little myth to bed some months ago. All the retailer can claim is any reasonable and provable losses.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=42873192&postcount=16

arcon5

bod1467 wrote: »

Hence why I asked my question (#2). What the OP can and can't do hinges on this.

Nothing hinges on how op bought the goods at all

instore = proovable losses
online = full refund

If the former, still doesn't mean they can justify £150.

arcon5

bris wrote: »

If you placed the order in store, then by putting down a deposit you have entered into a legaly binding contract and the retailer may if they so desire ask you to honour the agreement. Despite what flyboy says you are not entitled to the deposit back so any form of credit is at the discretion of the store.
If you can prove the store have breached the agreement, then you would be able to get it back.

If op rejects the goods then the retailer is not able to honour the agreement. Op is therefore in breach of contract and liable for damages. Flyboy is infact correct and able to substantiate his comments -- I vaguely remember the thread a long while back where this was infact cleared up and substantiated by legislations. Do you care to substantiate this theory that deposits are wholely non-refundable? What if I bought a £100,000 car and paid 50% deposit -- do you think that would be reasonable also?

Flyboy152

arcon5 wrote: »

If op rejects the goods then the retailer is not able to honour the agreement. Op is therefore in breach of contract and liable for damages. Flyboy is infact correct and able to substantiate his comments -- I vaguely remember the thread a long while back where this was infact cleared up and substantiated by legislations. Do you care to substantiate this theory that deposits are wholely non-refundable? What if I bought a £100,000 car and paid 50% deposit -- do you think that would be reasonable also?

It was a long and arduous campaign and I thought we had resolved the issue for good, but it is possible some may have missed the conclusion.

MSD1970

Thanks for the responses.
To answer your question, the order was done instore.

I will suggest they try to get them to allow the £150 against another, lesse purchase. If they won't allow this I will raise the issue of provable loss.