Can I cancel order?

mumx3

My daughter was ring shopping and found one she liked but it was the wrong size, we went ahead and ordered the correct size and paid a small deposit and was told it will be about a week for it to come in, has to come from Italy we were told.
Fast forward to today now almost 4 weeks since ordering and still no ring, we went in store today and they said they are still waiting and are getting deliveries daily? this they have told me twice before when I rang them.
Its not an expensive ring £60, but we are fed up waiting.

Can we get our deposit back, to buy elsewhere? or do we have to wait as it's a 'made to order size'

InsideInsurance

By the sounds of it you bought it in store? In which case check what the returns/ cancellation policy is. For in store purchases have no automatic rights for returns and may struggle to cancel it on the grounds of it taking longer than it was claimed it would

frugal_mike

I would like to think that a term that says the seller can take as long as they want to deliver would be considered unfair.

What evidence is there of when it was agreed it would be delivered? Is there anything in writing on the receipt for example?

mumx3

frugal_mike wrote: »

I would like to think that a term that says the seller can take as long as they want to deliver would be considered unfair.

What evidence is there of when it was agreed it would be delivered? Is there anything in writing on the receipt for example?

No nothing on the receipt, the lady that served us told us it would be 'in sometime next week', its a small local jeweler in town.

frugal_mike

mumx3 wrote: »

No nothing on the receipt, the lady that served us told us it would be 'in sometime next week', its a small local jeweler in town.

Well the Sale of Goods Act says that payment and delivery of goods must be concurrent actions unless agreed otherwise. If they can't prove you agreed to a 4 week wait (and counting) I would say they are in breach of contract.

Perhaps send them a letter giving them a reasonable time (say one week) to deliver the goods or you will be cancelling for a full refund for breach of contract?

heart_free

As a previous employee of a manufacturing jeweller, I can tell you that it's quite common for items ordered from Italy to take up to 8 weeks, we always made sure the customer was aware of this before we took any payments. You should have been made aware of this when you purchased, and it shows either a lack of knowledge by the jeweller, or very poor customer service. The timescale is due in part to the delivery from Italy, and in part because it would have to be sent to an assay office to be stamped with a British hallmark - items manufactured abroad obviously are not assayed in Britain by the manufacturer. British made products are assayed directly by the manufacturer before delivery to the retailer. It's also quite common for European alloys to be more brittle than UK alloys, and are known to snap when stamped with a hallmark, which would mean the retailer needing to reorder with the Italian company. As an aside, never buy an item coming from Italy during August, when they have a national shutdown and it can add weeks onto the delivery.

The item is not custom made, it's just made to a particular size, which would be a standard UK or European size, so the jeweller would be able to sell in their shop and minimise any losses. I can't really see any reason why they would refuse to refund.

mumx3

Thanks everyone, I shall wait another week and then ask for a refund of my deposit, the shop is in the process of selling stock as it is closing down in December, so I do wonder if that has anything to do with it?

unholyangel

How did you pay for it? Have you made time of the essence with the jeweller?

mumx3

unholyangel wrote: »

How did you pay for it? Have you made time of the essence with the jeweller?

I paid a £15 cash deposit towards the ring.
When we went in store yesterday I did tell the assistant which was the same lady that sold it to us, that she told us it would be ready the following week, she just apologized saying they can't do anything as have to wait for it to be sent from Italy

earthstorm

mumx3 wrote: »

the shop is in the process of selling stock as it is closing down in December

Are they being forced to close down ( liquidation etc.) or just lack of business?

If they are closing down have they actually ordered your ring?

mumx3

earthstorm wrote: »

Are they being forced to close down ( liquidation etc.) or just lack of business?

If they are closing down have they actually ordered your ring?

They are closing 'due to retirement' I would hope they have ordered the ring!!