Cancelled Bargain?

Jimj40

I hope this is the right place to post this query!

I came across a "bargain" on the Woolies site last night - a Cuisinart toaster for £4.99. This seemed too good to miss so I ordered one smartly My card was promptly debited and a confirmation sent to me. This morning my account showed a scheduled delivery date and a "Ready to be Despatched" status.

I've just had a call from Woolies/Comet informing me that my order has been cancelled by them due to "no stock" (nothing to do with a normal RRP of £99, of course). I told them that I'm happy to wait for delivery until new stock comes in but that isn't possible as the "system automatically cancels orders when we're out of stock and there's nothing Woolies can do about it". To add insult to injury, they're suggesting I'd have to wait 3 to 5 days for a refund. I did tell them that I wasn't willing to accept a refund but where do I stand in this case, please?

SaraSeahorse

I am not an expert on contract law, loss ofbargain and all that stuff but their t&c state:

http://www.woolworths.co.uk/ww_p2/help/index.jhtml?section=15

"Any email or other electronic acknowledgement by us of receipt of an order placed by you does not constitute legal acceptance by us of your order. Acceptance of your order and the formation of a contract between us will take place when we send you an email confirming that the goods you have ordered have been despatched to you unless we have notified you that we do not accept your order or you have cancelled it in accordance with our cancellation and returns policy. "

Payment

Payment can be made by most major credit or debit cards in accordance with the payment methods section. Payment will be debited from your account upon or shortly before despatch of the goods to you.

Jimj40

Incidentally, I have emailed them pointing out their own Terms and Conditions: "For certain goods, information concerning stock availability is not available on the Website. If you order goods which are not available from stock, we will contact you by e-mail and you will have the option to wait until the goods are available from stock, or cancel your order in accordance with our cancellation and returns policy. In the event your order is cancelled, we will refund any payment already collected from you in respect of that order, in accordance with our cancellation and returns policy."

Once more into the breach, dear friends.... :fencing:

Jimj40

True, SaraSH

However, the person who rang me didn't say that they were cancelling my order per se but rather that they were having to refund my money (which they had already taken from my account and therefore they had already despatched the item or were just about to, ergo presumably have stock) due to lack of stock.

I've also just had a pre-recorded Star Wars computer voice call me to say that they had no stock and therefore couldn't deliver. Again, they haven't actually informed me that they have cancelled my order, just that they can't deliver due to lack of stock. This is in direct contradiction of their own T&Cs as above.

My, I do love a good scrap!!

RadoJo

I'm confused - was the item mispriced on the site at the time you attempted to purchase it, and that's why they won't send you one?

Jimj40

Not according to them. Their stance is "refund due to no stock", they've made no mention of mis-pricing.

Jimj40

I should have said in my first post that they didn't actually say that it was being cancelled by them, just that they had to refund me as they had no stock. No mention was, or has yet been, made of cancellation as such.

Am I just being bl**dy-minded or should I try to get them to cough it up?

SuperNashwan

Well it's always worth pushing the retailer to see how much they'll concede but legally in most cases of breach of contract you're entitled to damages amounting to your loss (ie normally a refund of the price you paid and compensation for any other consequence that isn't too remote). Getting them to actually deliver what you ordered for that price would be a remedy of specific performance, which is actually a remedy in equity rather than at law, meaning it's entirely at the court's discretion and rarely granted. And that's assuming you have a binding contract to start with, which is a whole other argument in itself.
I wouldn't waste too much time on this, think yourself lucky if you can score some vouchers or something.

dmg24

SaraSeahorse has quoted the relevant information. As you have no contract, then you have no remedy.

furrypolka

Yes, an acknowledgement of your order via email is not automatically an acceptance of your offer to buy the goods, therefore there is no contract between you and Woolies and you won't have any right to force them to sell you the item at any price.

Sorry.