Difficult Distance Selling

jcarver007

Looking for advice on following that isn't covered as far as I can see elsewhere.
1) a perishable item is ordered weeks in advance of delivery date. The order is bespoke in the quantity of item ordered and a specific delivery time chosen. Order form completed has cancellation charges if cancelling at short notice and are agreed to on form. No deposit is made before cancelling. Cancellation done 3 days after order placed and 2 weeks before delivery date.
Are cancellation charges allowed?

2) An online order form states in t&c's that non payment will result in 10% late payment charges per 7 days of non payment. Is this allowed if agreed to by ticking box for agreeing to terms?

3) a bespoke service is not bound by 7 days cancellation. Does this apply to a catering service which is booked in advance and the service and foods tailored to client but cancelled before the event date?

Any advice much appreciated

wealdroam

jcarver007 wrote: »

Looking for advice on following that isn't covered as far as I can see elsewhere.
1) a perishable item is ordered weeks in advance of delivery date. The order is bespoke in the quantity of item ordered and a specific delivery time chosen. Order form completed has cancellation charges if cancelling at short notice and are agreed to on form. No deposit is made before cancelling. Cancellation done 3 days after order placed and 2 weeks before delivery date.
Are cancellation charges allowed?

2) An online order form states in t&c's that non payment will result in 10% late payment charges per 7 days of non payment. Is this allowed if agreed to by ticking box for agreeing to terms?

3) a bespoke service is not bound by 7 days cancellation. Does this apply to a catering service which is booked in advance and the service and foods tailored to client but cancelled before the event date?

Any advice much appreciated

Why don't you tell us exactly what you ordered, it would save a lot of guessing?

At first I thought flowers - perishable.

Then it looks like cakes - maybe perishable too.

Then you talk about a service - a catering service.

Just ordering a multiple does not make it a bespoke order.
For example, if I order two watering cans, that does not suddenly become a bespoke order.

More information needed.

k3lvc

Maybe the question is the other way round - OP is the supplier of catering, has a poor contract/order system and is now trying to recoup money after being cancelled on.

wealdroam

k3lvc wrote: »

Maybe the question is the other way round - OP is the supplier of catering, has a poor contract/order system and is now trying to recoup money after being cancelled on.

Yes, you might be right.
Perhaps the OP can clarify that too.

jcarver007

Hi
Yes this is coming from a supplier wanting to tighten up the ordering and make sure what we are doing is correct.

The perishable item was ice cubes. And the order form question related to this. If the ice cubes were ordered with another company to fulfill the order does this affect cancellation charges as we paid other company beforeclient cancelled. If client agreed to terms and conditions with cancellation charges, are these not applicable?

angryparcel

jcarver007 wrote: »

Hi
Yes this is coming from a supplier wanting to tighten up the ordering and make sure what we are doing is correct.

The perishable item was ice cubes. And the order form question related to this. If the ice cubes were ordered with another company to fulfill the order does this affect cancellation charges as we paid other company beforeclient cancelled. If client agreed to terms and conditions with cancellation charges, are these not applicable?

If you are ordering ice cubes then why dont you just invest in an ice cube maker and then make these yourself as and when you need them

waamo

How are ice cubes bespoke?

wealdroam

Tell us more about the service you are providing?

Ice carving?

If you have started to provide the service within the cancellation period allowed, without the explicit permission of your customer, then it is you that have taken the risk.

unholyangel

The more specific you can be, the more specific answers you'll get.

It does sound as though the goods are exempt from the right to cancel under CCRs - Consumer Contract (Information, Cancellation & Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 but you would still have to comply with the other provisions (such as making certain information available to consumers in a durable medium before the consumer is bound by the contract).

As for the 10% charge, I think you may have problems with that.

From unfair terms guidance:

5.14.2 A requirement to pay unreasonable interest on outstanding payments, for
example at a rate excessively above the clearing banks’ base rates, is
likely to be regarded as unfair.

The current BoE base rate is 0.25%. You may be able to argue 10% is reasonable if that is genuinely how much it will cost you but I'm sceptical that that is the case given you're quoting a flat percentage to apply in all cases. In a breach of contract situation, each party is only liable for the reasonable losses incurred as a result of their breach (and the party not in breach has a duty to mitigate their losses). Requiring a party to pay more in damages than you actually suffered as a loss would likely amount to a penalty (unenforceable in english law).

The same would be true in reverse though. If you breach the contract, you're only liable for actual losses incurred. Your customers can't demand you pay them 10% of the contract price just because you were in breach.

ETA: Bespoke for the purpose of the regulations (which give 14 days minimum to cancel btw - up to a year & 14 days if you dont provide the consumer with the necessary information) means goods that are clearly personalised or made to the consumers specifications. You might allow your consumers a choice of what they can order but if they're only selecting from options you're giving them then its not bespoke.

jcarver007

So if the ice cube order was 240 bags. These were produced for this client who ordered this amount and also picked a time of delivery. I would have thought that was bespoke?
The BoE interest is something we should look at following. I think the 10% is one we have seen elsewhere.

A lot of our orders are short notice (within 7 days of event) and payment often comes just before delivery. Hence why we have the cancellation charges. We have often turned away business because a time slot is already filled by a client, only for said client to cancel late.

My view is then they should be liable to cancellation charges for ice
Thanks

Thanks.

angryparcel

jcarver007 wrote: »

So if the ice cube order was 240 bags. These were produced for this client who ordered this amount and also picked a time of delivery. I would have thought that was bespoke?

No he has just ordered 240 bags of stocked ice cubes

bespoke

(of goods, especially clothing) made to order.
"a bespoke suit"

(of a trader) making bespoke items of clothing.
"the bespoke tailors of Savile Row"

(of a computer program) written or adapted for a specific user or purpose.
"completely bespoke software systems"