Cancelled Order - BBC Rogue Trader - Expecting Problems

Adam1966

Hi,

At about 6.15pm this evening, I placed an order for a household electrical item costing £159 at a UK website that looked as if it was affiliated with the manufacturer. After placing my order, the next screen confirming my order showed that the seller is, in fact, a UK firm that was featured as a Rogue Trader on BBC Watchdog for refusing to accept goods returned within the 7 day Distance Selling time limit, rudeness to customers, giving false names, obstruction, etc., etc. I don't want anything to do with a firm like that so 10 minutes after placing the order, I sent a message using their online web form, instructing them to cancel it. I also rang them to confirm my cancellation instruction but was told to phone again in the morning to speak with the accounts department.

Anticipating trouble, I called my bank to try to put a stop on the transaction but, since it was a pending (not completed) transaction, they said I'd have to wait until it went through and then call again to initiate a transaction dispute if I didn't get a satisfactory response from the seller.

At 7pm, I sent an email to the seller to confirm again my instructions. I immediately received an email back with the automated message "replace: vacationEnabled". I emailed them again to query it, also attaching my first email, and this time I didn't get an automated reply.

I'd be very grateful for advice on the following questions:

1. Am I right to think I'm within my rights to cancel the order and ask for the item not to be dispatched, a) under the Distance Selling Regulations and/or b) because I don't think a contract has yet been formed. (Their website does not specify when a contract has been formed).

2. I'm anticipating that they will delay my refund for 30 days or more, based on online anecdotal evidence. Since I'm currently on disability benefits, this would cause me huge problems around Christmas. Would such a delay be legal, and could I open a transaction dispute with my bank immediately, rather than waiting the inevitable 30+ days, to try to speed things up?

3. If they ignore my cancellation instructions and proceed to dispatch the goods (which, again on their past record, they are likely to do), should I refuse to accept the goods from Parcelforce? For one thing, I don't want to have to pay to return the goods, which weigh 9Kg.

I don't want to name the trader just yet because for all I know, they may have mended their ways since appearing on Watchdog. However, if I do encounter the problems I'm anticipating, I will of course name and shame!

Thanks in advance for your help.

Adam

bukko

I'm afraid not everyone on here know what they're talking about.
What rediculously bad advice!
I would do the same in that position.

You are totally within your rights to cancel, in fact you have 14 days to do so.
According to the Consumer Contracts Regulations (which replaced the Distance Selling regs in June, I think) the seller must refund within 14 days of cancellation.

Hope it all goes well!

Hintza

bukko wrote: »

I'm afraid not everyone on here know what they're talking about.
What rediculously bad advice!

Where is the bad advice?

bukko

Hintza wrote: »

Where is the bad advice?

It has been deleted, hopefully by the poster.

AJXX

Was it a credit card payment?

Adam1966

It was a Visa debit card (not credit card) transaction.

Thanks for the advice so far (I didn't get a chance to read the now-deleted 'bad' advice!).

I'd be very grateful to hear your thoughts on whether I should refuse acceptance of the goods if the seller dispatches them against my instructions.

Thanks again.

Adam

arcon5

I'd just accept the goods personally, rather than the hassle of waiting for them to receive the rejected goods then process the refund.

Then do your research before ordering with a company and giving over debit card details!

It's not unreasonable that a company has had chance to cancel an order within this many hours of an order when the order wasn't even placed until the evening!

bukko

I wouldn't accept the goods for the reasons you have already said.

At the moment they have less than 14 days to refund your payment.
If you accept the delivery, the date will be 14 days from the day they receive them back from you.
If you never received the goods, IN MY OPINION (it doesn't mention this case in the regs, from what I can see) the original date should stand.

Adam1966

Thanks for all the advice. I rang them the morning after ordering, to confirm my cancellation of the order, which the woman on the phone agreed to and said she would process straight away. She said the refund may take up to 5-10 days which I can live with.

Their terms and conditions are non-compliant with the Consumer Contract Regulations but I've decided that if they do dispatch the goods against my wishes, I will accept them and send them back myself. That way, I will have absolute certainty about when they arrive back at the seller, which may be worth the £20 return shipping cost.

Thanks again for the help.

Adam