removals late 'cancellation' fee - help please!!

worriedtenant

StuC75 wrote: »

Why did you make the reservation without ensure exchange had taken place? Only confirm such a booking once exchange has occurred.

but exchange and completion often take place on the same day or within only a few days.. so the alternative is to ring a removal company and say, 'hello, will you move me this afternoon/tomorrow please?' is it?

worriedtenant

spacey2012 wrote: »

Where did you sign the contract ? on the first page, on the last page or on EACH page.

not on the sheets at all, on a separate attachment to the email. The T&Cs had nowhere to sign at all.

giraffe69

When I was in a similar position I needed to book and it was made clear to me that if I paid a deposit and then cancelled I would lose this(the deposit was substantial). So I held off and hoped. It turned out ok. All this stress was from having too short a time between exchange and completion so although 4 weeks these days is a long time, less than a week makes these sort of things very difficult.
I would guess that if you are able to confirm a date soon and they can do it you will be ok.

spacey2012

worriedtenant wrote: »

not on the sheets at all, on a separate attachment to the email. The T&Cs had nowhere to sign at all.

Doubt its a legal contract then, in any case they would only be entitled to provable losses, any contractual penalty is unenforceable which is not related to an actual loss.

Was it something you printed and posted back with a signature on ?
If so only what is written on the same bit of paper you signed is worth anything.

G_M

worriedtenant wrote: »

but exchange and completion often take place on the same day or within only a few days.. so the alternative is to ring a removal company and say, 'hello, will you move me this afternoon/tomorrow please?' is it?

That is one of the reasons many people do not Exchange/Complete on same day! Time is needed to arrange the move.

If buyers chooseto Exchange/Completeon same day then they have to accept the difficulties that will raise.

worriedtenant

spacey2012 wrote: »

Doubt its a legal contract then, in any case they would only be entitled to provable losses, any contractual penalty is unenforceable which is not related to an actual loss.

Was it something you printed and posted back with a signature on ?
If so only what is written on the same bit of paper you signed is worth anything.

well, yes, except if you sign saying 'I agree to the terms and conditions' I suppose they can be written anywhere, on the side of a bus even. I still agreed to them I suppose. but, they stipulate the fee is to cover losses, which makes sense of course, I can't prove they havn't incurred losses, but I can assure you from the phone conversations it was provisional, unpaid, and other parties could have paid up for the day at any point in time!

I give up, I think it was predictable that seasoned forum-goers would jump on this in a bid to prove me wrong whichever way possible. I think I get the message.

NervousHomeowner

worriedtenant wrote: »

So why, if they cannot give my date out after I'd signed, did they repeatedly say over the phone that other people were enquiring about that day, and that they could book and pay and I could lose it?

its one, or its the other. If they were turning those people away, I would understand and accept they have promised to provide a service on a given day. I had not confirmed. I had not paid. As I cannot move on tuesday, it is a safe assumption I may need their services on another day, which I do (or would have done if they had not sent such a threatening email).

But you had confirmed, you signed their contract and returned it - you just hadn't paid the confirmation fee yet, which is why they were saying 'If you don't pay, we will have to give away your space to someone who will pay'.

Look at it from their point of view - you've booked a day, signed their contracts but then messed them around with getting payment to them. Then, to make matters worse, you've cancelled your date and are now refusing to pay their cancellation fee which is clearly listed in the contract you signed. You keep saying that you told them they could let other people take the spot if necessary but you only did this verbally, not in writing, and only after you'd signed their contracts. That puts them in a difficult position because if they allow someone else to then book that date, they have no physical proof of what was said and you could easily turn around and say 'Well hang on, I've got a signed contract here, I booked you and now you've double booked me!'.

With regards to exchange/completion taking place very close to each other - this is why most people arrange at least a week or two between exchange and completion. It is down to you to make sure that you arrange for enough time in between exchange and completion to sort out removals or to have a plan in place for if you want a short amount of time between exchange and completion. It isn't the removals company's fault that you failed to do that.

Personally, I'd try calling the company, apologising profusely for the mix up and asking if they would consider waiving/reducing the fee if you book a different date with them instead. It might not work but you can give it a go and see what happens.

_Andy_

"I give up, I think it was predictable that seasoned forum-goers would jump on this in a bid to prove me wrong whichever way possible."

I.e. you only wanted to hear opinions supporting your viewpoint. Why bother asking then?

harryenfield123

Morally you don't owe them anything because they were telling you that if someone else came along who wanted the same day and that they would give it to them because you haven't made a payment, I don't see why you should feel morally obligated to them. However, I have no idea about it legally but the best of luck to you. (I have been in a similar situation to this but I had let them know that I could not move at the arranged date the week before but they failed to act upon it, the lorry turned up at great expense to them. fortunately for me, and by pure chance, I had an independent witness to call and an itemised phone bill!!)

Dave_the_Ginger_Cat

_Andy_ wrote: »

"I give up, I think it was predictable that seasoned forum-goers would jump on this in a bid to prove me wrong whichever way possible."

I.e. you only wanted to hear opinions supporting your viewpoint. Why bother asking then?

Agree. Apaprt from occasional exceptions, most posters here will give good grounded advice. Occasionally it is not what you want to hear, that's a shame.