help needed with distance selling rights/work scheme

lmsk1977

help!! My hubby works for Sky and they had an employee offer for new tvs. The price was to be paid over a period of ten months directly from your wage. The tv was ordered about 6 weeks ago but is not due for delivery until august. He has since had a few issues at work and is looking for another job. We would now like to cancel the order as we can not afford to pay for it all at once from his last wage when he leaves (this is what they've told us they will do). As the item has not even been delivered yet are we within our rights to just refuse delivery? We have already made one payment towards this item. Sky are saying we can not cancel the order. I know the distance selling rules mean usually you have a right to cancel an item within 14 days if its sold online etc but will this law apply to this situation and is there any situation where those rules would not apply? Thanks in advance!!

shaun_from_Africa

IMO, it's extremely unlikely that the legislation relating to distance selling (The Consumer contracts (information, cancellation and additional payments) regulations will apply to the purchase of the TV.

The reason that I think this is twofold.
Firstly the contract to buy must be concluded completely at a distance, and the second reason is that the regulations only apply to sales between a trader and a consumer.
a consumer is defined as someone who is acting for purposes which are " wholly or mainly outside that individual's trade, business craft or profession"
The 2nd point may not apply and your hubby might class as a consumer in this instance, but you will probably first that the distance point is the stumbling block.

The best bet will probably be to try and cancel before delivery rather that refuse that delivery.

lmsk1977

He has tried but they are saying he can not cancel it now. Do you think we will be entitled to ask to pay in installments rather than the entire balance from his last wage? I am so scared that if he leaves he will not receive any wage and this will cause severe financial hardship!!

mije1983

Was there any info provided when he signed up for the offer? For example 'what happens if I leave/retire/die before the item is paid for?' etc. If there was, and your husband agreed to it, it would probably boil down to whether or not it was an unfair term to make you pay it off in one go.

Edit: Just a thought. Was the TV discounted from the normal selling price? If so, and you can't cancel, could you look into selling on eBay or similar to recover the money?

wealdroam

lmsk1977 wrote: »

Do you think we will be entitled to ask to pay in installments rather than the entire balance from his last wage?

Of course you are entitled to do that.

lmsk1977

mije1983 wrote: »

Was there any info provided when he signed up for the offer? For example 'what happens if I leave/retire/die before the item is paid for?' etc. If there was, and your husband agreed to it, it would probably boil down to whether or not it was an unfair term to make you pay it off in one go.

Edit: Just a thought. Was the TV discounted from the normal selling price? If so, and you can't cancel, could you look into selling on eBay or similar to recover the money?

We could look at selling it brand new I suppose as it was a good deal, about £300 cheaper than in pcworld/currys but this could take some time...
Yes in the t&cs it apparently said if you leave we will recover the balance from your final wage, this would be ok if a large portion was paid off by then but at most it will be 2/3 payments depending on how long it takes to find another job.