Please Help Solve a Consumer Rights Argument

jkkne

Hello all, hoping you can solve an argument I'm having with friends.

A friend has bought a membership for a Premier League football club. This membership entitles him to purchase away tickets (if season ticket holders don't sell out) get various club shop discounts and the odd event.

He bought the membership specifically to get tickets for a certain away game but unfortunately he didn't have enough loyalty points to qualify before the tickets sold out (ie - the people who applied before him had been to more games)

He bought it online and is claiming he is owed a cooling off period under the DSR's but the club have refuted this and said all sales are final.

I reckon he isn't entitled to anything and is throwing the toys out of the pram but another friend who works for the CAB (though only in the office, not advising folk!) insists he is.

I would put membership in the same category as tickets.

Should he be entitled under the DSR's to cancel the agreement?

wealdroam

As you are considering DSRs, on page 9 of the OFT's guide to DSRs it says:

Contracts to which only part of the DSRs apply (Regulation 6)
2.20 The requirements to provide pre-contractual information, written and additional information, the right to cancel and the obligation on the supplier to carry out the contract within a maximum of 30 days do not apply to the following types of contract:

• Contracts to provide accommodation, transport, catering or leisure services (for example hotel accommodation; plane, train, or concert tickets; car hire; or sporting events) where you agree to provide the service on a specific date or within a specific period.

Clearly that covers tickets, i.e. season tickets, to football matches.
I would suggest that the club membership is provision of 'leisure services... within a specific period'.
An annual membership, is it?

bris

No, DSR does not apply, you win.

halibut2209

By asking for the tickets, 'he' has used the service paid for. To use the vernacular, "end of"

wealdroam - it's not a season ticket, it's membership for a club which will grant them certain considerations above those of a non-member. But season ticket holders have higher rights and higher priority for away games. The loyalty thing is common with all football clubs. The more money you give to the club, the higher your priority.

unholyangel

As above, you lose the right to cancel under DSRs when the service begins (for contracts for services).

Any cancellation rights your friend has/had will be detailed in the t&c's so it may be worth having a look to see if they offer any kind of satisfaction guarantee or another way to get his money back. I wouldn't get too hopeful though.

jkkne

Superb, thanks guys. A good bottle of wine coming my way!

whatmichaelsays

The membership has provided him with exactly what it was supposed to - a place in the queue.

The problem was that the queue was too long - and he was somewhere toward the back.