Charity shop mis-pricing

MediSin

Hi!

My skint friend is moving into her first flat soon. She saw a fridge in a charity shop last week priced at £100. She went back today and it was marked as £60 so she bought it. She paid partly cash & partly on a debit card and has a receipt. The manager of the shop talked the sales assistant through the whole process as she hadn't done card payments before. They agreed to hold the fridge for my friend to collect on Thursday.

They phoned my friend 10 minutes later to say "we've just sold you a new fridge for £60. We can't do that, you need to come back in."

She hasn't gone back yet. Am I right in thinking that as she had already paid before the manager changed her mind, the contract has been made and my friend legally owns that fridge at the agreed price? Are they allowed to change their mind & refuse to let her take the fridge? I know it's a charity shop, but my friend needs to furnish a flat for herself & a baby, for virtually no money, so she can't afford to be guilt-tripped...

Thanks!

cardinalbiggles

As far as I am aware its your friends fridge if she has paid for it, there's nothing that can be done once they have accepted payment in store.

micflair_2

I work in retail, if the money has exchanged hands then you own the item! I think the sticking point here is the fact that they still have it for you. I know if we sold something at a cheaper price we couldn't ring people up 10 mins later saying we had messed up bring it back! So I dont think they can do that, its just going to be a bit difficult as they still have the item in the shop so they could get arsey about it..

Forwandert

The sales contract is over, to late for the shop to dispute the price now. They had enough time to notice the error at the point of sale.

trukdiver

MediSin wrote: »

Hi!

My skint friend is moving into her first flat soon. She saw a fridge in a charity shop last week priced at £100. She went back today and it was marked as £60 so she bought it. She paid partly cash & partly on a debit card and has a receipt. The manager of the shop talked the sales assistant through the whole process as she hadn't done card payments before. They agreed to hold the fridge for my friend to collect on Thursday.

They phoned my friend 10 minutes later to say "we've just sold you a new fridge for £60. We can't do that, you need to come back in."

She hasn't gone back yet. Am I right in thinking that as she had already paid before the manager changed her mind, the contract has been made and my friend legally owns that fridge at the agreed price? Are they allowed to change their mind & refuse to let her take the fridge? I know it's a charity shop, but my friend needs to furnish a flat for herself & a baby, for virtually no money, so she can't afford to be guilt-tripped...

Thanks!

If she paid the asking price for the fridge then they have accepted her offer. They can't increase the price afterwards! If they had just agreed to reserve it till Thursday it would be another matter.

It sounds as if somebody else has come in, seen it there, and offered them more when they were told it had been sold - "fridge gazumping"?

spadoosh

As far as I'm aware the fridge is your friends! She should try and pick it up ASAP though or might come back to find they've 'accidentally' sold it to someone else! To which shell find nothing can be done except a refund!

Fosterdog

The contract was formed at the time she offered the payment of £60 and they accepted it, however if the fridge is still in the store she may have trouble getting it off them.

Is it a chain charity shop or just a local one? If it's part of a chain then maybe contact head office to see what they say about it.

paddyrg

Nit-picky I know, but has the contract actually been formed before the goods are handed over? Contracts, as I understand it, require an exchange - there has not been an exchnage yet. If she had taken the goods on the spot, that would be an exchange, but right now isn't it the same position as paying Amazon for a mispriced TV (when they can refund and cancel)

arcon5

paddyrg wrote: »

Nit-picky I know, but has the contract actually been formed before the goods are handed over? Contracts, as I understand it, require an exchange - there has not been an exchnage yet. If she had taken the goods on the spot, that would be an exchange, but right now isn't it the same position as paying Amazon for a mispriced TV (when they can refund and cancel)

Cash has exchanged hands. Amazon terms state when the contract is formed (upon dispatch). It's highly unlikely these terms are imposed in store

hawk30

paddyrg wrote: »

Nit-picky I know, but has the contract actually been formed before the goods are handed over? Contracts, as I understand it, require an exchange - there has not been an exchnage yet. If she had taken the goods on the spot, that would be an exchange, but right now isn't it the same position as paying Amazon for a mispriced TV (when they can refund and cancel)

There must be consideration, but consideration can take the form of a promise to do something. They promised to give her the Fridge when she came in on Thursday in return for payment of the £60. So there is a binding contract here.

Owain_Moneysaver

AIUI the fridge is now the buyers, and the seller has agreed to store it pending collection. If they sell the fridge to someone else (and it's not theirs to sell) then they may be guilty of theft, and the person buying the fridge will have no title to the fridge and it can be claimed off them.