Online order - Dorothy Perkins help & advice please

Shopaholic_Bargain_Hunter

Hi everyone,
Really need help and advice regarding an order I placed online with Dorothy Perkins please.

Order placed on Friday 6th, for a £25 bag that was on offer with an additional discount code being applicable that reduced the bag further to £15, i received the email of order confirmation advising that the order was being processed on Friday.

Today I have received an email advising of the following:

"We're sorry but due to its popularity this item is now out of stock and we've been unable to dispatch it.

Why not take a look and see if there's anything else you'd like at dorothyperkins.com. We're always adding new lines so we're sure you'll find something to suit your style.

You can also use our store stock checker to see if your local store has the item you’re looking for. Simply click ‘check stores’ within the items product description to begin your search - it couldn't be easier!

Kind regards,

The Dorothy Perkins Online Team"

I have since checked on the dotty p's website and the bag is still available and not 'out of stock due to popularity' as quoted in their email, but the price has now been gone back up to the original price of £25.

Since I feel that my order has only been cancelled as they realised the price I was paying and subsequently do not wish to supply me the bag....can I contact them and ask for my original purchase at the original price as I have received the confirmation order email as does this equate to agreement between of us of the sale???

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated as this was a perfect Christmas present that was within my budget and I feel I'm being unfairly treated by a company that are willing to offer an item cheaper, allow a further discount to be taken to then change their mind on this at a later date.

Many thanks

marliepanda

They can cancel before despatch, as the contract is not formed.

You could certainly try emailing and say 'how can you say it's out if stock when it's showing as in stock on your website' but they don't have to sell it to you at £15.

Out of interest, was the code meant to be used in conjunction with other offers or was it a bit of a glitch?

Shopaholic_Bargain_Hunter

Thank you for replying and for your help

I'm definately going to call customer services as a result of the item still being in stock and see what they say.

With regard the offer + discount I'm sure it was allowed in conjunction with items already reduced/on offer..I'm not normally lucky enough to get a glitch.

Many thanks again

unholyangel

Can anyone find where Dorothy perkins say at which point the contract is formed/hat constitutes their acceptance?

The only thing remotely close that I can find is:

Once your order has been confirmed, we will not be able to make any changes.

The only actual terms and conditions I can find on their website seem to relate only to discount codes, special offers etc. However those terms do state they reserve the right to cancel if the code is invalid against the purchase.

wealdroam

unholyangel wrote: »

Can anyone find where Dorothy perkins say at which point the contract is formed/hat constitutes their acceptance?

The only relevant point that I could find is on their payments page where it says:

If you have paid on your credit, debit or charge card you, will only be charged once the goods have been dispatched to the delivery address. We will email you to confirm dispatch.

As you know, section 28 of SoGA says:

Payment and delivery are concurrent conditions.
Unless otherwise agreed, delivery of the goods and payment of the price are concurrent conditions, that is to say, the seller must be ready and willing to give possession of the goods to the buyer in exchange for the price and the buyer must be ready and willing to pay the price in exchange for possession of the goods.

It is this that has tripped up online sellers in the past... by accepting money they are committed to supplying the goods unless agreed otherwise.
Most online sellers now 'agree otherwise' with the customer that the contract is not concluded until goods despatch, but it appears that Dorothy Perkins have adopted a different approach.

As noted above, DP say that they do not take money until the goods are dispatched.
So there is no 'otherwise agreement', thus the contract is in place as soon as they take the money, and DP must be prepared to supply the goods.

OP, have they taken money from your card?
If they have not taken any money, then in my opinion they owe you nothing.

Shopaholic_Bargain_Hunter

Hi all,

I have checked my bank account and the payment is not physically showing yet, but as I did quite a bit of shopping online on Friday, it may still be included in my unavailable balance on my account.

I too have checked the website t&cs which are not the best to get the relevant information, but you seem to have found more info than I could so thank you for that.

I have rang the customer services who advised me that the email I received today is from the warehouse whose stock system is more up to date than customer services....however the bag still states in stock online in a new promotion of buy one get one half price...that started today I believe??? The young lady in customer services I spoke to was brilliant and I can't fault her...just fault the dotty p website

I think a word to the warning to everyone is if ordering online from dotty p's for Christmas presents be aware you may to get the item

Thank you everyone for your time and assistance in this matter, much appreciated. xx

unholyangel

wealdroam wrote: »

As noted above, DP say that they do not take money until the goods are dispatched.
So there is no 'otherwise agreement', thus the contract is in place as soon as they take the money, and DP must be prepared to supply the goods.
.

The section you're quoting is a term of the contract rather than mandating whether a contract has/has not been formed.

And anyway, even if it did mandate when a contract is formed, it would possibly be seen as legal jargon as the average consumer would not be able to understand its implications.

They've also said that once confirmed, they wont change the order - which evidently, they have done in OP's case.