Retailer refusing to refund "special order" purchase. Is this legal?

frontman

Hello,

We recently purchased a piece of musical hardware, a drum rack, from a fairly large, well known independent shop. The retailer did not stock the drum rack as a catalogue item but instead they said they could simply order the product from the manufacturer as a special order.

We made the purchase over the phone and took delivery of the item a few days later. Upon inspection and examination we came to the conclusion that it was not going to work for us, there was no fault it's just not a good fit for our needs.

We called and emailed the retailer straight away to arrange a return and refund feeling sure this was a normal procedure however the manager said it was a special order and that all we could have were credit notes. He lost his own way in the discussion and started to tell me how people cannot return special order items (because they are special orders), but a second earlier he told us we could only receive credit notes and not cash if we returned. It's all a bit confusing. Rather charmingly he then put the phone down on me stating he was too busy to deal with this.

At £350 it's a fairly big dent to absorb for a hunk of metal that's no use to us so I'm attempting to negotiate this situation with the retailer. Therefore I am seeking confirmation as to whether:

A) There are laws stating that if a shop (special) orders something in for you that you lose all rights to return it?
They are legally allowed to force us to accept credit notes over a normal cash/card refund?

The drum rack is in no way personalised to us, it's not built to order or anything like that, it's just a rack that they ordered in for us.

Your help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Optimist

If you made the purchase by phone including payment then it is covered under the Distance Selling Regulations and unless it was specially made to your requirements then you have the right to return.

If you ordered it by phone but paid in store then you have no right of return.

frontman

We purchased and paid over the phone. Despite the fact that the rack is not customised or manufactured to order they do say they special ordered it an this means we cannot return the item. Is that allowed?

wealdroam

frontman wrote: »

We purchased and paid over the phone. Despite the fact that the rack is not customised or manufactured to order they do say they special ordered it an this means we cannot return the item. Is that allowed?

No, it is not... as Optimist says.

Read this part of MSE's Consumer Rights article.

bris

DSR does not apply to retailers whose main business it shop retail. They are allowed the odd distance sale in situations like this without having to cover DSR.

ThumbRemote

bris wrote: »

DSR does not apply to retailers whose main business it shop retail. They are allowed the odd distance sale in situations like this without having to cover DSR.

Completely wrong. DSRs cover all Distance Sales

The OP is entitled to return the product to the retailer for a full refund, including outgoing postage costs, under the DSRs.

frontman

wealdroam wrote: »

No, it is not... as Optimist says.

Read this part of MSE's Consumer Rights article.

Thank you. I had already seen that page but I couldn't find mention of the retailer brining in special clauses re certain products so thought it best to ask

OlliesDad

ThumbRemote wrote: »

Completely wrong. DSRs cover all Distance Sales

The OP is entitled to return the product to the retailer for a full refund, including outgoing postage costs, under the DSRs.

I may be wrong, but i thought DSRs only applied if distance selling was a normal course business for the company,therefore a one off would not be subject to it.

bris

ThumbRemote wrote: »

Completely wrong. DSRs cover all Distance Sales

The OP is entitled to return the product to the retailer for a full refund, including outgoing postage costs, under the DSRs.

No you are completely wrong.

I don’t usually sell by distance means – do the DSRs apply to orders I sometimes get by email, phone or fax?

If you normally do business with customers face-to-face, the DSRs are unlikely to apply to an occasional order that you take by distance means, because the DSRs only apply to organised distance sales and service provision schemes. The DSRs are likely to apply to contracts concluded by distance means if

• standard procedures are used for processing orders
• standard form contracts for distance sales are used
• standard correspondence is sent out
• you routinely sell at a distance.

frontman

OlliesDad wrote: »

I may be wrong, but i thought DSRs only applied if distance selling was a normal course business for the company,therefore a one off would not be subject to it.

In this case the business operates an online shop as well as having a physical store.

System

OlliesDad wrote: »

I may be wrong, but i thought DSRs only applied if distance selling was a normal course business for the company,therefore a one off would not be subject to it.

Correct

From http://oft.gov.uk/business-advice/treating-customers-fairly/dshome/dsrexplained

If you normally do business with customers face-to-face, the DSRs are unlikely to apply to an occasional order that you take by distance means, because the DSRs only apply to organised distance sales and service provision schemes.