Major pricing error, goods delivered

g24

I have a friend who ordered a product online, the retail price of which would typically be over £500. The web site in question seemed to go haywire and at checkout, took payment details for a transaction of exactly £0 (zero, free). The goods have since been delivered and no payment has yet been taken after two weeks.

The order was actually placed in good faith and there were some other circumstances why it is quite possible the product could have been free, but if this does turn out to be a system glitch and no payment is ever taken, where does my friend stand on this?

g24

tomjonesrules wrote: »

No consideration has passed and hence no contract has been formed.

Do you mean a contract was not formed because no payment was actually made? So if my friend (actually, it really isn't me) had paid 1p, the goods would be rightfully, if not morally, theirs?

There is a minor dispute going on with the company concerned for a sum approach the same level so this is karma to a certain extent.

shaun_from_Africa

If it was a £5 sale then there is a chance that it might be overlooked or ignored by the retailer, but I can't see this happening for £500.

A seller is not legally allowed to attempt to take more money for goods if they were mispriced on the website and payment was accepted and the goods sent to the buyer, but this doesn't appear to be the case here as you stated that "The web site in question seemed to go haywire and at checkout".
This indicates that it was a computer or website error and not a pricing error.

The retailer has up to 6 years to chase for the debt, and I doubt if they will just write off a £500 bill.

custardy

what are the sites T&Cs?
usuall it states contract formed on despatch/taking payment
is it a business or personal purchase?

ThumbRemote

If there was a misprice on the website, and they have sent the goods, legally the goods should be yours.
If there was an error taking payment, and the website just didn't process the card payment, legally you still owe the money.

paddyrg

As I understand it, a contract requires an exchange of some sort, so I would expect the company to stand a decent chance in court if they sued.

g24

This could have been a web site glitch but not a failure of the payment transaction process because the item was clearly listed at £0 after being added to cart whilst signed into an account which in some other cases could conceivably have offered the item at that price due to credit existing on the account or as a loyalty discount. Confusing.

So, there was no indication that a charge would be made for the item (so no payment avoided) and that didn't seem totally unexpected at the time. The end result was that no existing credit was used and no other payment taken. This was probably viewed as being more of a pleasant surprise than a webfail freebie.

We can't find this scenario covered in T&C. The terms do state the contract is completed when the goods are dispatched, no mention of payment.

This was a personal purchase and it's not a clear-cut case of a faulty web site being looted.

tomwakefield

ThumbRemote wrote: »

If there was a misprice on the website, and they have sent the goods, legally the goods should be yours.

I'm not sure it's as straightforward as this, as the OP has paid nothing, so there has been no consideration (as per other posts).

lateandlive

g24 wrote: »

This could have been a web site glitch but not a failure of the payment transaction process because the item was clearly listed at £0 after being added to cart whilst signed into an account which in some other cases could conceivably have offered the item at that price due to credit existing on the account or as a loyalty discount. Confusing.

So are you saying that the fact the item was priced at £0 on the final 'checkout' page could have, in your view at the time, been down to existing credit on the account covering the transaction??

Whilst loyalty discounts are not unheard of, there's very few companies who would offer a £500 item for free as a loyalty discount!

In all honesty, legal jargon aside, you acknowledge there could well have been a website error leading to the value being reduced to £0 on the screen. You know other factors (credit on the account for example) didn't come in to play, so in short - you know you have the £500 item and have paid nothing for it. As other posters have said - the company has six years to chase for the debt so even if you don't offer to pay, there's a good chance a letter will arrive when they discover their mistake!

somethingcorporate

I'm in the brigade that as no consideration has been paid then no contract has been formed.

I am pretty sure they can argue that in court as consideration is required for a contract to be entered into. If it has been 1p or £1 then you have a different argument (i.e. businesses that are sold for this value) but if absolutely nothing was paid then I cannot see how it could be binding on the company.