Is an online order, 'made to order', but not personalised, exempt from a refund?

applewill

hi there,
Im planning on purchasing 40 teapot sets for a big event later in the year and have found one I like on an online site. Ive spoken to the retailer who said they dont stock 40 so will have to have them made to order which they are happy to do.

my question is, if i find myself with too many and need to send them back as Im not sure the exact number right now, provided I am within the 14 day period upon delivery (plus meet the other requirements) can I still send them back? they will not be customised in any way and are the standard one on their site. i remember from an earier occurrence that distance selling regulations stated that exceptions were "for the supply of goods made to the consumers specification or clearly personalised" so for me even though they are being made to order (or is this the wrong phrase?), by not being personalised i would still be covered. however the new consumer contracts regulations state bespoke or customised goods where bespoke could be made to order. When I google bespoke order or made to order they all seem to mention that the order has been customised/tailor made/personalised to the customers specification rather than just 'made to order' because they don't stock that amount of whatever it is they are ordering.

am i interpreting that correctly? thank you in advance!

Esqui

I'm reasonably sure that if it's a standard model they would normally sell, then they are not exempt. The quantity makes no difference.


Though I could be wrong.

shaun_from_Africa

When you state that you are thinking of ordering the teapots for a big event, is this something that you are organisng professionally?

If this is the case then the right of cancellation won't apply as this right doesn't apply to goods purchased by businesses or trade buyers.

applewill

Hey,

Thank you for both replying.

Yep this is a standard model that anyone can buy from their website.

I'm just an individual buyer, not a business, and Im not purchasing these for trade (they will be gifts!).

neilmcl

I'm not so sure that returning part of an order would be allowed under the CCRs, eg, you are allowed to cancel the contract as a whole, not keep parts of the order and return the rest.

bris

A big event and a specific gift sounds like a sample gift. It's not the kind of gift you give out unless it is a promotional gift. The numbers being vague would also point to not knowing how many will show up to your event, it does look B2B to me.

Regardless of that and assuming you give out tea sets as gifts to friends and family, the real problem you will have is the fact that a retailer will not take them back regardless of what the law says. If they go to the trouble of ordering you a large quantity of something they would not normally stock then you will have trouble returning them and rightly so.

marliepanda

bris wrote: »

Regardless of that and assuming you give out tea sets as gifts to friends and family, the real problem you will have is the fact that a retailer will not take them back regardless of what the law says. If they go to the trouble of ordering you a large quantity of something they would not normally stock then you will have trouble returning them and rightly so.

This is similar to a post yesterday, basically asking a company to do you a favour, then wanting them to take the hit when you make a mistake (wrong thing, too much etc)

And definitely sounds like a business gift/sample. Surely if it was a family gift you know how many are in your family...

applewill

Ok to clarify the big event is my wedding and they are gifts for people turning up as a thank you. This is also why I'm not 100% on numbers.

You make a good point neilmcl on returning part of the order, I shall have a rethink.

hi bris I understand your point. I was only querying where, if it does, say in regulations that if they made them to order because they don't usually stock the quantity I wanted, but were made to a standard set, that it would be exempt from the CCRs? I'm not saying I agree with doing this or will do it, but if there is nothing about it in the regulations, ignoring the ethics/morals, then what is to stop someone doing this? I agree that it would be harsh on the retailer but I do not make up the regulations. Not sure what you mean when you say that a retailer won't take them back regardless of what the law says.

Anyway I think I shall talk with the retailer and see how quickly they can make the tea sets which gives me more time to get a slightly more accurate number. I don't want to cause any issues so will be good to get this right. thank you for all your opinions.

ThumbRemote

Although you can't return part of an order, if you placed 40 individual orders you could return the unwanted ones as whole orders.

sjbrun

Have you tried letting the seller know this? If you let the seller know that you want 40 delivered but arent sure of numbers and may return 15% of them at the most the seller can plan for it and may order less t-pots before your return and so will be less of an issue rather than just causing him a problem with excess stock.