Student Discount not being fulfilled help wanted

Richard_SOS

Dear MSE forum,

I ordered a new bike from a fairly large bike specialist in Yorkshire. I was told of their great deals and that they did student discount, 10% at that. As a student I thought this was fantastic.

I arrived at the bike shop and sat on a few bikes. The sales assistant couldn't believe the deal that was on the bike in the first place, saying how cheap it was.

The bike cost £999 and I asked him about the student discount. He said he wasn't able to give student discount on the bike as it was such a good deal already. He then offered me 20% off clothing and extras.

I didn't buy any extras but I did buy the bike, thinking that I couldn't get student discount on it.

I hanv't received my bike yet as some of the parts on the bike are still to be delivered to the company. So in my spare time I browsed their website and decided to see what they said about student discount.

Low and behold they say "Get an exclusive 10% off (name of brand) when you spend £150 or more and 5% off over £20, including sale items."

I went through the online process verifying my university email address and I was successfully given a code to copy and paste in the checkout.

I've done some research and this offer seemed to be first mentioned in a twitter feed in February 2016 and seems to be ongoing.

There was no indication that student discount was exclusive to the internet. And the there was no indication that the special offer wasn't included in the student discount.

I phoned them up to complain that I was mislead by the sales assistant only to receive the same comments - that they can't afford to apply the 10% as they would be making a loss on the bike. I replied that the bike shop made the deal in light of the student discount and that it was their risk. I asked about the student discount and it would seem that in the terms and conditions of the student discount I was entitled to it.

I have yet to receive my bike as it is still being built and I have paid in full for it.

I am hoping that someone can give me some advice on the matter and point me in the right direction.

Thanks for reading

Richard

sjbrun

Just buy it online and get the student discount and ask to see if you can cancel the instore order.

Most online stores and seperate to the high street shops so you cannot apply anything on their website to the shops.

They offered the bike at £999 and you accepted. They have declined your request for a further student discount. They are entitled to do that.

You could try phoning, ask to cancel and just buy the bike elsewhere. I doubt you will get any further discount since they have twice rejected your request for one.

Richard_SOS

I wish I could buy the bike online but the deal has since ended. It's a fantastic deal but at the point of sale I feel mislead by the sales assistant.

They have this to say in their T&Cs,

"We have included this term to protect us in the case that a mistake has been made in pricing, for example if we have inadvertently under-priced a product, or we are no longer able to supply a particular product for some reason. In the case of a change of price, we will always contact you first to ensure that the revised price is acceptable to you."

I think this is what they are trying to say, however I would argue that the price wasn't a mistake. However, it was lead to believe that I couldn't get student discount on the bike at the time, which was clearly false information.

naedanger

Richard_SOS wrote: »

I wish I could buy the bike online but the deal has since ended. It's a fantastic deal but at the point of sale I feel mislead by the sales assistant.

They have this to say in their T&Cs,

"We have included this term to protect us in the case that a mistake has been made in pricing, for example if we have inadvertently under-priced a product, or we are no longer able to supply a particular product for some reason. In the case of a change of price, we will always contact you first to ensure that the revised price is acceptable to you."

I think this is what they are trying to say, however I would argue that the price wasn't a mistake. However, it was lead to believe that I couldn't get student discount on the bike at the time, which was clearly false information.

When buying in a shop you cannot insist the shop sells at the price advertised or at the price on the shelf. I strongly suspect your case is no different. (The shop might possibly have committed an offence but that still does not entitle you to force them to sell at a price they are unhappy with.)

Since you bought at the price agreed at the point of sale I don't think you can force them to now honour a lower price nor do I believe you are entitled to withdraw from the purchase.

Richard_SOS

It's a great deal, and one that can't be emulated anywhere else. Thanks for your input.

My gripe is that I specifically asked for student discount. It doesn't say on the website that student discount is limited to a certain amount of deals. It says that it's applied to anything over £150, including sale items.

The sales assistant must have known this and chose not to treat me like everyone else.

The lesson is to know the detail of the discount before asking for it, and also know where to use it.

unholyangel

Richard_SOS wrote: »

It's a great deal, and one that can't be emulated anywhere else. Thanks for your input.

My gripe is that I specifically asked for student discount. It doesn't say on the website that student discount is limited to a certain amount of deals. It says that it's applied to anything over £150, including sale items.

The sales assistant must have known this and chose not to treat me like everyone else.

The lesson is to know the detail of the discount before asking for it, and also know where to use it.

Do you really think that store employees know every little detail about deals offered on the website? Or that employees will advise you of deals they have on their website as opposed to deals they are offering in store?

Lots of businesses offer different deals online than what they do in store and what the assistance advised you of may well be true - that the store don't offer a student discount on that bike due to it already being heavily discounted.

Did the website say that the deal was available in store? Or was it perhaps just giving you details of a deal they have available online? What was the price of the bike online?

Richard_SOS

Haha, what does that matter! Students come in all shapes and sizes, some young, some old, some part-time, some doing diplomas and others doing PhDs. Some students get funding, and some have savings, indeed some get paid a good wage while they are doing professional doctorates.

Richard_SOS

There was no differentiation between the online or in-store deal. I would be surprised if the store assistant wasn't aware of the student discount since it was well established and very simple in it's design.

This business don't differentiate between online and in store deals. They are the same. This is why I feel mislead. The in-store experience should be as transparent as the online shop, however it was my fault for taking their word for it rather than investigating it myself.

I wanted to do the deal in the shop so my bike could be built quicker - once they receive payment they put the bike in the build queue. Once I paid for the bike I didn't think of looking at the student discount details. However, as they couldn't build my bike for some time I explored the website further and realised that if I did the clicking and got the code after proving my student email I could have indeed got 10% off.

I've looked at some old advertising for the deal and it does not say that student discounts are excluded.

My problem with them is that I asked them in-store specifically for the student discount, I feel it was up to them to direct me the information on that offer as the information was there online, on their website.

wealdroam

Richard, it really is quite simple.

When in the shop, you agreed to buy an item at a price agreed at the time with the seller.

Err... that's it really... nothing more to it.


Except to say, as already pointed out to you, all sales in a shop should be considered final. This means that unless advised otherwise at the point of sale then you have no right to cancel the transaction, and thus no right to re-negotiate it.

steampowered

The sales assistant must have known this and chose not to treat me like everyone else.

I think it is more likely that the sales assistant did not know about the discount. A lot of sales assistants aren't properly trained in this stuff, especially in chain stores.

I doubt the sales assistant cared whether you got a student discount or not, as its not like the discount would come off his salary.

The best thing to do might be to call their head office (for a chain) or speak to the manager (for an independent store) to explain the situation. They might agree to take the 10% off your bill.

Richard_SOS

The store in question isn't a big chain store, it's a medium sized company that has two show rooms.

It looks like this company had too many deals going on simultaneously, ie the bike itself is incredibly good value and coupled with a student discount would have made it very reasonable. But it was a risk they may not have calculated well.