Cancelling order before receipt of goods

beefturnmail

Hi I placed an order online and which I then cancelled within half an hour. Two days later I received a reply from the company saying they can't cancel the order as it's already been dispatched.

I thought that if you cancelled before receiving the goods you weren't liable for return postage costs - is this right? In which case do I just refuse delivery? What if they leave it with a neighbour?

daytona0

Depends what their Ts and Cs say about cancelling orders and who pays returns postage... You'll have to follow the advice given there!

Good on the company for dispatching the items quickly! That will please a lot of people Sometimes cancellation requests are not received until after dispatch, or sometimes they have an automated process and it just isn't physically possible.

You can refuse delivery if you want, but that would put you in a position where the item is not tracked and it *could* cause issues in the future with the company possibly turning round and saying that they haven't yet received it (not to mention that you won't be in contract with the courier, so anything going wrong would need to be handled by the retailer). Might draw the whole thing out for a few months.

If left with a neighbor then you'll have to go pick it up, unless you want the neighbor to keep your item. The seller won't refund until they have the item in their hand!

But I think it all boils down to one thing; you were very silly in ordering an item and then cancelling within 30 minutes. Do you just like hassle? I don't understand the lunacy of some people!

I worked for an online retailer and it was rare but you got the occasional customer like you. Ordering, cancelling straight away (usually by email which takes 24-48 hours to pick up) and then getting snippy about a couple of quid to clean up their mess and return it. Some customers, to their (dis)credit, rabbited on so much (I'm talking at least 5x essay style emails) that they got goodwill beyond that outlined in the Ts and Cs but otherwise it was a NO.

beefturnmail

Seems like I am right under the Distance Selling Regulations https://conversation.which.co.uk/shopping/cancel-online-order-distance-selling-regulations-oft/

in that if you cancel your order before receiving your goods the retailer must pay return postage costs, even if their T&Cs says differently.

But does anyone know if this still applies under the Consumer Contracts Regulations (which replaced DSR)?

wealdroam

beefturnmail wrote: »

Seems like I am right under the Distance Selling Regulations https://conversation.which.co.uk/shopping/cancel-online-order-distance-selling-regulations-oft/

in that if you cancel your order before receiving your goods the retailer must pay return postage costs, even if their T&Cs says differently.

But does anyone know if this still applies under the Consumer Contracts Act (which replaced DSR)?

The Consumer Contracts Act (whatever that may be - did you mean Consumer Rights Act?) did not replace the Distance Selling Regulations.

The DSRs were superseded by The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

I am not sure there is anything in the CCRs, or indeed in the previous DSRs, that stated that if the order was cancelled before delivery then the seller had to pay the return costs.

I can well imagine the situation were a customer places an order and a despatch instruction is sent to a warehouse. Then, maybe almost immediately, the customer cancels the order. It could be that the warehouse does not automatically receive these order cancellation instructions so the order is despatched.

Who pays for the return is spelt out in the Regulations.
I cannot see what difference it makes whether the order has been despatched or not.

beefturnmail

wealdroam wrote: »

The Consumer Contracts Act (whatever that may be - did you mean Consumer Rights Act?) did not replace the Distance Selling Regulations.

The DSRs were superseded by The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

I am not sure there is anything in the CCRs, or indeed in the previous DSRs, that stated that if the order was cancelled before delivery then the seller had to pay the return costs.

I can well imagine the situation were a customer places an order and a despatch instruction is sent to a warehouse. Then, maybe almost immediately, the customer cancels the order. It could be that the warehouse does not automatically receive these order cancellation instructions so the order is despatched.

Who pays for the return is spelt out in the Regulations.
I cannot see what difference it makes whether the order has been despatched or not.

I meant the Consumer Contracts Regulations (now changed). I can't see anything in the DSR which specifically refers to cancellation before delivery either, but Which seemed to think there was and they're usually quite reliable. The CCR doesn't seem to mention it either as you say

bris

No, there isn't and never has been. It's been suggested to refuse delivery and it will go back to them but that poses other problems and is by no means regarded in law.


If the trader has supplied you with all the necessary info then even if you did refuse it and the courier charged them a return fee that could and usually is deducted from your refund.




The consumer already gets a good deal by getting their delivery costs back which the trader losses out on, they don't deserve to get shafted both ways. They are not the ones making rash decisions in the first place.

bris

The official regulations here.
Return of goods in the event of cancellation

35.—(1) Where a sales contract is cancelled under regulation 29(1), it is the trader’s responsibility to collect the goods if—
(a)the trader has offered to collect them, or
(b)in the case of an off-premises contract, the goods were delivered to the consumer’s home when the contract was entered into and could not, by their nature, normally be returned by post.
(2) If it is not the trader’s responsibility under paragraph (1) to collect the goods, the consumer must—
(a)send them back, or
(b)hand them over to the trader or to a person authorised by the trader to receive them.
(3) The address to which goods must be sent under paragraph (2)(a) is—
(a)any address specified by the trader for sending the goods back;
(b)if no address is specified for that purpose, any address specified by the trader for the consumer to contact the trader;
(c)if no address is specified for either of those purposes, any place of business of the trader.
(4) The consumer must send off the goods under paragraph (2)(a), or hand them over under paragraph (2)(b), without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days after the day on which the consumer informs the trader as required by regulation 32(2).
(5) The consumer must bear the direct cost of returning goods under paragraph (2), unless—
(a)the trader has agreed to bear those costs, or
(b)the trader failed to provide the consumer with the information about the consumer bearing those costs, required by paragraph (m) of Schedule 2, in accordance with Part 2.
(6) The contract is to be treated as including a term that the trader must bear the direct cost of the consumer returning goods under paragraph (2) where paragraph (5)(b) applies.
(7) The consumer is not required to bear any other cost of returning goods under paragraph (2).
(8) The consumer is not required to bear any cost of collecting goods under paragraph (1) unless the consumer agreed to bear them.

LABMAN

Which are not a reliable source BTW.

unholyangel

I'll agree which aren't as reliable as they used to be. But OFT was reliable: http://www.doctronics.co.uk/pdf_files/OFT913%20DISTANCE%20SELLING.pdf

Can a consumer cancel an order before they receive the
goods or where goods are lost in transit?
3.35 Yes. Where the DSRs give consumers rights to cancel, this right is
unconditional. If consumers cancel before they have received the
goods you must refund the total price of the goods, including any
delivery charges. Consumers who have cancelled under the DSRs
may refuse to accept delivery of the goods. Refusal in such a
situation cannot be treated as a breach of contract

Not quite sure the same would hold true for CCRs though. DSRs didn't (as far as I remember) allow retailers to make a deduction from a refund in any circumstances and only imposed a duty to return the goods once they had taken possession of them.

Restoration of goods by consumer after cancellation

17.—(1) This regulation applies where a contract is cancelled under regulation 10 after the consumer has acquired possession of any goods under the contract other than any goods mentioned in regulation 13(1)(b) to (e).

I suppose you could argue that given cancellation takes effect from when it is sent - there was no contract in place when the goods were dispatched. Or given the relevant section refers to the consumer sending them back or handing them over to someone authorised to receive them, that it too only applies once the consumer has taken possession of the goods.