Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013

jazmad

We are moving house and have just chosen a surveyor to carry out a survey of our new home for £500. We found them online and have only dealt with them via email so far.

On instructing them, we received their T&Cs on 13 Feb and they have booked to carry out the survey on 24 Feb. They require full payment prior to releasing the report to us.

Having checked their T&Cs, their cancellation rights do not appear in accordance with the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. They state:
1) if cancel within 7 days, full refund
2) if cancel after 7 days (but before day of survey), £50 admin fee charged
3) if cancel on day of survey, 25% of fee charged
4) if cancel after survey but before report sent, 80% of fee charged.

Basically, they haven't asked for my permission to commence work within the (statutory) 14 day cooling off period and haven't notified me of my cooling off period anyway.

I have no intention currently of cancelling as we want the survey done, but I wonder if I would be entitled to cancel AFTER receiving the report and requesting a full refund as they have not not complied with the regulations. Has anyone ever done this?

Not looking for views on the moral position - I will consider what I feel is fair to do. I'm just interested in what people feel is possible and whether anyone has experience of this.

Thanks

Forwandert

jazmad wrote: »

We are moving house and have just chosen a surveyor to carry out a survey of our new home for £500. We found them online and have only dealt with them via email so far.

On instructing them, we received their T&Cs on 13 Feb and they have booked to carry out the survey on 24 Feb. They require full payment prior to releasing the report to us.

Having checked their T&Cs, their cancellation rights do not appear in accordance with the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. They state:
1) if cancel within 7 days, full refund
2) if cancel after 7 days (but before day of survey), £50 admin fee charged
3) if cancel on day of survey, 25% of fee charged
4) if cancel after survey but before report sent, 80% of fee charged.

Basically, they haven't asked for my permission to commence work within the (statutory) 14 day cooling off period and haven't notified me of my cooling off period anyway.

I have no intention currently of cancelling as we want the survey done, but I wonder if I would be entitled to cancel AFTER receiving the report and requesting a full refund as they have not not complied with the regulations. Has anyone ever done this?

Not looking for views on the moral position - I will consider what I feel is fair to do. I'm just interested in what people feel is possible and whether anyone has experience of this.

Thanks

Are you actually being serious?

bris

Forwandert wrote: »

Are you actually being serious?

Yes of course they are being serious, people on here now expect services and goods for nothing and actually believe they have a case.

mije1983

jazmad wrote: »

Basically, they haven't asked for my permission to commence work within the (statutory) 14 day cooling off period

If you haven't agreed to the work being done within the 14 days, how have you got the survey booked in on the 24th?

jazmad wrote: »

On instructing them, we received their T&Cs on 13 Feb and they have booked to carry out the survey on 24 Feb. They require full payment prior to releasing the report to us.

jazmad wrote: »

I will consider what I feel is fair to do.

If they do the survey, pay them the amount you agreed. That's the fair thing to do!

vuvuzela

jazmad wrote: »

We are moving house and have just chosen a surveyor to carry out a survey of our new home for £500. We found them online and have only dealt with them via email so far.

On instructing them, we received their T&Cs on 13 Feb and they have booked to carry out the survey on 24 Feb. They require full payment prior to releasing the report to us.

Having checked their T&Cs, their cancellation rights do not appear in accordance with the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. They state:
1) if cancel within 7 days, full refund
2) if cancel after 7 days (but before day of survey), £50 admin fee charged
3) if cancel on day of survey, 25% of fee charged
4) if cancel after survey but before report sent, 80% of fee charged.

Basically, they haven't asked for my permission to commence work within the (statutory) 14 day cooling off period and haven't notified me of my cooling off period anyway.

I have no intention currently of cancelling as we want the survey done, but I wonder if I would be entitled to cancel AFTER receiving the report and requesting a full refund as they have not not complied with the regulations. Has anyone ever done this?

Not looking for views on the moral position - I will consider what I feel is fair to do. I'm just interested in what people feel is possible and whether anyone has experience of this.

Thanks

You sound a real terrible piece of work. If you read the CCRs, one section clearly says :

~~~~~~~~
If the service is provided in full within 14 days The right to cancel can be lost during the cancellation period if the service is provided in full before the 14 days elapses.
~~~~~~~~

So, I hope you try and claim the money back and they rightfully sue you

societys_child

they haven't asked for my permission to commence work within the (statutory) 14 day cooling off period

Is there a statutory cooling off period for "services"? If there is, you've lost it anyway by allowing them to do the work on the 24th.
Now is the time to change the date of the survey, if you want to wait until the 14 day period expires . . .

and haven't notified me of my cooling off period anyway

Clearly shown on the website.

frugal_mike

societys_child wrote: »

Is there a statutory cooling off period for "services"? If there is, you've lost it anyway by allowing them to do the work on the 24th.

Yes, there is under the Consumer Contracts Regulations for distance and off-premises contracts. I can't remember off the top of my head exactly what the rules are for distance contracts, they differ slightly from off-premises contracts I think.

Not that the rules make OP's intention ok of course.

frugal_mike

Ok, The Consumer Contracts Regulations state that if the service is provided in the cancellation period

(6)!The consumer bears no cost for supply of the service, in full or in part, in the cancellation period, if—

(a)the trader has failed to provide the consumer with the information on the right to cancel required by paragraph (l) of Schedule 2, or the information on payment of that cost required by paragraph (n) of that Schedule, in accordance with Part 2, or

Parts l) and n) of Schedule 2 state that the trader must inform the consumer of:

l) where a right to cancel exists, the conditions, time limit and procedures for exercising that right in accordance with regulations 27 to 38

and

n) that, if the consumer exercises the right to cancel after having made a request in accordance with regulation 36(1), the consumer is to be liable to pay the trader reasonable costs in accordance with regulation 36(4)

So technically you can cancel the service free of charge if you are within the 14 day cooling off period and they failed to supply this information, (edit to add) even if they have already supplied the service in full.

But to willingly enter into the contract with the intention of getting the information for free on a technicality* is not good.

*I say technicality, but its an offence to fail to provide the information.

Poppie68

jazmad wrote: »

Not looking for views on the moral position - I will consider what I feel is fair to do. I'm just interested in what people feel is possible and whether anyone has experience of this.

Thanks

I love this bit "I will consider what i feel is the fair thing to do"...:rotfl:

...It would make you no better than a common thief ...

jazmad

Ok, I'll bite!

(Thank you frugal Mike for your reply).

On the main site, the guide to reclaim parking charges states what information had to be included on the charge and if any of this is missing, you can avoid the charge even if it is just. Anyone care to try to explain why my situation would be any different?

mije1983

jazmad wrote: »

On the main site, the guide to reclaim parking charges states what information had to be included on the charge and if any of this is missing, you can avoid the charge even if it is just. Anyone care to try to explain why my situation would be any different?

The parking section? The one that has the following in it?

The aim of this guide is to prevent you being out of pocket when most reasonable people would think the ticket is unfair.

Quite often the 'fines' as the companies that issue them call them, are not in line with their actual losses which they should be. That is what the guide is for, and also the dedicated section of the forum.


I guess you 'missed' my previous post, so I'll ask the question again.

If you haven't agreed to the work being done within the 14 days which you keep saying you haven't, how have you got the survey booked in on the 24th?


Edit: Any chance you can link to the Ts&Cs they sent you, or are they different to the ones online?