Full Payment up front requested prior to furniture delivery

davenottingham

Hi
I have ordered a new chair and have paid a deposit of approx £200.
It is due for delivery is a few days. I've been asked to pay the full balance now to allow it to be released for delivery.
Is the seller allowed to ask for full payment prior to delivery? If i do pay in full, and the item doesn't arrive, or is faulty, there is no incentive for the seller to remedy any issues.
Unless it is written in the small print of my deposit paperwork, am I entitled to hold say 20% back and pay this on delivery?
Thanks
Dave

TadleyBaggie

Full payment before delivery is pretty much normal with everyone I do business with.

Oakdene

Its no difference really to ordering a washing machine from a retailer in so much as you would pay in full before it arrives.

unholyangel

How did you pay the deposit and what are your options for paying the balance?

If its been by bank transfer or cash, I'd be very wary. It leaves you open to a whole host of problems - for example if they enter liquidation before completion of the contract.

If you've paid the deposit (or can pay the balance) by credit card (providing its not through an intermediary like paypal) then do that and you should be good to go - even if the retailer go under the card company are jointly & severally liable (so if you have a claim against the retailer, you have the same claim against the card company).

On a more technical note - what was agreed at the time the contract was entered into with regards to performance/delivery & payment? If nothing to the contrary was agreed at that time then payment & delivery are concurrent conditions.

davenottingham

OK... a few calls later and the update is as follows. The paperwork is currently not with me but the retailer has confirmed that my copy of the deposit invoice (paid by debit card at the time) stated full payment prior to delivery via BACS payment. I'll check this tonight. Not ideal, but if it's stated then I guess there is no alternative.
Can you pay by BACS via a credit card? (apologies if this is a daft question)

unholyangel

davenottingham wrote: »

OK... a few calls later and the update is as follows. The paperwork is currently not with me but the retailer has confirmed that my copy of the deposit invoice (paid by debit card at the time) stated full payment prior to delivery via BACS payment. I'll check this tonight. Not ideal, but if it's stated then I guess there is no alternative.
Can you pay by BACS via a credit card? (apologies if this is a daft question)

BACS is an electronic transfer between accounts - a bank transfer. Basically if anything goes wrong, you'll be limited to claiming from your debit cards bank for the £200 deposit within 120 days from delivery and only for limited reasons covered by chargeback. The rest you'd have to take court action against the retailer with no guarantee they'd have the assets to pay it.

What sum are we talking about here and how long until delivery? I tend to avoid companies who have bacs as their sole means of payment unless its for payments of around £3k or above and the balance isn't due until completion.

To be perfectly honest, if we're talking about a payment of even £1000, the fact they were willing to take deposit by card but not the balance would worry me slightly. Not taking card payments can indicate financial trouble or that the company has plenty of experience with customers wanting their money back.

Of course they could also be completely genuine and oblivious to things like this. Maybe research the company for reviews & also on companies house. You should be able to find out when they came into existence, who the directors are - if they have been involved with other companies and if so, what the reviews on those companies are and also look at their last statement of accounts. Bit late to be researching now but at best you get peace of mind, at worst it confirms your fears.

davenottingham

Thanks unholyangel
The delivery is next Monday and the BACS final balance payment is about £900. The company do get 99% percent good reviews anywhere I look on the internet. Fingers crossed!

unholyangel

davenottingham wrote: »

Thanks unholyangel
The delivery is next Monday and the BACS final balance payment is about £900. The company do get 99% percent good reviews anywhere I look on the internet. Fingers crossed!

I'm admittedly overly wary. On the plus side I've never been scammed (yet :rotfl:). Constantly aware that day could come though so perhaps makes me a little more proactive than most when it comes to looking for potential problems and how to circumvent them.

agrinnall

I'd tell them to update their paperwork, it hasn't been possible for a retail bank customer to pay by BACS since 2011, the only options for online payments from 1/1/2012 are Faster Payments or CHAPS.

bris

Do you buy a coat without first paying, or go on holiday with paying the travel agent? You're argument makes no sense, of course you need to pay for it.