Housing Units Manchester - 25% charge to cancel/amend an order? Help?!

foundationsmcr

Hi people, I've just come off the phone from a very heated discussion with the Manager of Housing Units in Manchester. They operate an "all under one roof" home furnishings department store which my wife and I visited last Sunday. We had gone to look at buying a sofa bed, but when we arrived we realised we had caught the last day of their Autumn Sale so we took the opportunity to look at some bedroom furniture.

My wife is currently 7 months pregnant, and we've debated buying some form of orthopaedic mattress as she has really struggled with her back. Whilst we were there we ended up placing a substantial order (£3K+) for furniture including a mattress. We completed our order with a sales assistant as the store was closing and paid a deposit of 25%. We were maybe 90% sure on the mattress but thought that as the store was closing and it was the last day of the sale, we didn't want to miss out on a reduced price. We've since slept on it (if you'll excuse the pun) and decided to go for an alternative mattress which our midwife recommended yesterday at our first antenatal class. I rang the store to cancel the mattress from the order (reducing the order by £1175, but retaining the furniture element of £2071) only to be told that I would face a cancellation charge.

When I finally managed to get to speak with the store manager, he reaffirmed this and referred me to some T&Cs which were on the reverse of the sales order we had placed. In all fairness, when I had a look, it does say "any requests to cancel an order after after this time but before the goods arrive at Housing Units will result in the original deposit being retained."

With my wife having been in the store for well over an hour, carrying the weight of our child, I felt under pressure to confirm the order and make the deposit payment. At no point was it made clear to me that the deposit was non-refundable. Of particular concern was the fact that I felt under pressure further due to the store closing and the sale ending.

I'm a reasonable guy, I just want to remove one item from the order not cancel the whole thing! It's only been 1 week since the order was placed (a reasonable amount of time) and the store hasn't taken delivery of the mattress from their supplier yet. The store manager has offered store vouchers, but I don't feel this is a reasonable gesture given our personal circumstances and and the fact that I'm unlikely to want to shop there again following this experience!

Our midwife has recommended an alternative mattress that will be far better for my wife, but now I feel like we can't buy it because in doing so, I'd have to pay Housing Units £290 to amend a sales invoice!

I've never encountered a store refusing to amend an order in such a short space of time. You can bet if I'd rung up to upgrade the mattress, they would've been happy to take more money from me without asking me to pay for the other mattress!

Please help. What can I do?

wealdroam

foundationsmcr wrote: »

Hi people, I've just come off the phone from a very heated discussion with the Manager of Housing Units in Manchester. They operate an "all under one roof" home furnishings department store which my wife and I visited last Sunday. We had gone to look at buying a sofa bed, but when we arrived we realised we had caught the last day of their Autumn Sale so we took the opportunity to look at some bedroom furniture.

My wife is currently 7 months pregnant, and we've debated buying some form of orthopaedic mattress as she has really struggled with her back. Whilst we were there we ended up placing a substantial order (£3K+) for furniture including a mattress. We completed our order with a sales assistant as the store was closing and paid a deposit of 25%. We were maybe 90% sure on the mattress but thought that as the store was closing and it was the last day of the sale, we didn't want to miss out on a reduced price. We've since slept on it (if you'll excuse the pun) and decided to go for an alternative mattress which our midwife recommended yesterday at our first antenatal class. I rang the store to cancel the mattress from the order (reducing the order by £1175, but retaining the furniture element of £2071) only to be told that I would face a cancellation charge.

When I finally managed to get to speak with the store manager, he reaffirmed this and referred me to some T&Cs which were on the reverse of the sales order we had placed. In all fairness, when I had a look, it does say "any requests to cancel an order after after this time but before the goods arrive at Housing Units will result in the original deposit being retained."

With my wife having been in the store for well over an hour, carrying the weight of our child, I felt under pressure to confirm the order and make the deposit payment. At no point was it made clear to me that the deposit was non-refundable. Of particular concern was the fact that I felt under pressure further due to the store closing and the sale ending.

I'm a reasonable guy, I just want to remove one item from the order not cancel the whole thing! It's only been 1 week since the order was placed (a reasonable amount of time) and the store hasn't taken delivery of the mattress from their supplier yet. The store manager has offered store vouchers, but I don't feel this is a reasonable gesture given our personal circumstances and and the fact that I'm unlikely to want to shop there again following this experience!

Our midwife has recommended an alternative mattress that will be far better for my wife, but now I feel like we can't buy it because in doing so, I'd have to pay Housing Units £290 to amend a sales invoice!

I've never encountered a store refusing to amend an order in such a short space of time. You can bet if I'd rung up to upgrade the mattress, they would've been happy to take more money from me without asking me to pay for the other mattress!

Please help. What can I do?

How about paying a bit more and getting the mattress you want from them?

What's all this talk about a furniture shop and the last day of their sale?

I thought everyone new that was a marketing ploy, and after a few days there will be another sale.

You really should forget all about sales, and concentrate on price.

cookie365

foundationsmcr wrote: »

What can I do?

Accept the vouchers.

powerful_Rogue

foundationsmcr wrote: »

With my wife having been in the store for well over an hour, carrying the weight of our child, I felt under pressure to confirm the order and make the deposit payment. At no point was it made clear to me that the deposit was non-refundable. Of particular concern was the fact that I felt under pressure further due to the store closing and the sale ending.

I cant really see how the above is any fault of the shop.

Bantex_2

powerful_Rogue wrote: »

I cant really see how the above is any fault of the shop.

Maybe it was the store manager that got OPs wife up the duff?

Country_Cousin

Perhaps I am being dense, but if you have just paid a deposit, and are being offered a voucher - can't you pay some of the balance you owe on the rest of your purchases using the voucher ??

unholyangel

Is the furniture bespoke/customised?

Or is it just a case of you picking from whats available and them ordering it?

You could argue the deposit amounts to a financial penalty and contravenes the unfair terms in consumer contract regulations since (especially cancelling the day after) it is likely to be inflated sums beyond their actual losses (but bear in mind you are liable for losses they incur as a result of your cancellation - they just have no entitlement to any amount they could reasonable save).

If the items are made to your measurements and aren't just made to order, you'll likely find the costs incurred by your cancellation will be higher.

If it was close of business you ordered and start of business day you cancelled....I would either expect no cancellation charge or a nominal one.

5.1 It is unfair to impose disproportionate sanctions for breach of contract. A
requirement to pay more in compensation for a breach than a reasonable
pre-estimate of the loss caused to the supplier is one kind of excessive
penalty. Such a requirement will, in any case, normally be void to the
extent that it amounts to a penalty under English common law. Other types
of disproportionate sanction are considered below – Part III, Group 18(c).

5.3 Other kinds of penal provisions which may be unfair are damages and costs
clauses saying that the supplier can:
• claim all his costs and expenses, not just his net costs
• claim both his costs and his loss of profit where this would lead to
being compensated twice over for the same loss
• claim his legal costs on an 'indemnity' basis that is, all costs, not just
costs reasonably incurred. The words 'indemnity' and 'indemnify' are
also objectionable as legal jargon – see below, Part IV, Group 19(b).
5.4 Potentially excessive penalties. A penalty that states a fixed or minimum
sum, to be paid in all cases, will be open to challenge if the sum could be
too high in some cases.

5.6 Cancellation penalties and charges. A term which says, or is calculated to
suggest, that inflated sums could be claimed if the consumer cancels the
contract is likely to be challenged as unfair. For example, a penalty for
wrongful cancellation that requires payment of the whole contract price, or
a large part of it,20 is likely to be unfair if in some cases the supplier could
reasonably reduce ('mitigate') his loss. If, for example, he could find
another customer, the law would allow him to claim no more than the likely
costs of doing so, together with any difference between the original price
and the re-sale price.
5.7 There is unlikely to be any objection to terms which fairly reflect, in plain
language, the ordinary legal position – that is:
• requiring the consumer to pay a stated sum which represents a real and
fair pre-estimate of the costs or loss of profit the supplier is likely to
suffer, or
• stating simply that the consumer can be expected to pay reasonable
compensation, or compensation according to law.
Note, however, that a term which purports to reflect the law on damages is
open to challenge if it is potentially misleading.

JReacher1

Buying an expensive mattress seems a bit of an overkill when she's 7 months pregnant. Once she has the baby it's probably not needed.

Tell her to suck it up for a couple of months

foundationsmcr

Thanks for the input guys. Our mattress was due to be replaced, the fact the wife is pregnant just means I want to ensure the one we buy doesn't inflame her back problems.

We cancelled the order 7 days from the date we placed it. It's not bespoke or made to order.

I did wonder whether the term was unfair myself so I may raise this.

Thanks again

bris

But it's not unfair, you bought in store so have no right to cancel so anything they give you is a bonus. Your taking advice from someone who has no idea whatsoever that retailers have rights too. Google "loss of profit".

unholyangel

bris wrote: »

But it's not unfair, you bought in store so have no right to cancel so anything they give you is a bonus. Your taking advice from someone who has no idea whatsoever that retailers have rights too. Google "loss of profit".

How many times must we go over this. They have no right to cancel free of charge.

However in a contract, either party can cancel the agreement at any time - just not without potentially being liable for the actual loss incurred due to their breach if it is whats known as wrongful cancellation (which is exactly what I posted from OFT's guidance above).

There is no entitlement in law to any sum that can be reasonably saved. Google "mitigation of loss".

Perhaps you don't like that the law is heavily weighted in favour of the consumer, but thats the way it is.