Consumer Rights - Online Pricing Error - Advice needed!

hazelnotts

OK, so I checked my credit card account online today and guess what? Yep, the money has been taken....I guess it just took time to show up.

So, my understanding now is that they have formed a contract in accepting my money? Anyway, I've dropped them an email saying that as they can now deliver to my postcode and already have my money, I presume I will receive the Hostess Trolley within the next week (their site says delivery in 1-3 working days). :j

I'm hoping this will work, but if they come back with more reasons why they cannot supply this product at this price, what do I do then? In other words, how do I make them complete their part of the contract??

jonesMUFCforever

You can't but you can sue for the loss of bargain.
Say the trolley cost £60 including postage on the site you have ordered from but say £100 from all other shop/sites you could claim for your 'loss' of £40.

hazelnotts

Great - thanks. Presumably I would do this through the small claims court?
I really just want to them to think that I know my rights and am willing to take it further if necessary....even if that's not the case!

I can honestly say that although a bargain would be great, I pretty much expected it would come to nothing when I ordered it. The really annoying thing about this whole scenario is that they've tried to fob me off with excuses instead of openly admitting they made an error. Plus it's taken them a whole week for them to remove it from their website....during which time plenty of other people could have willingly given them their personal and financial details in the hope of getting a cheap trolley.

Having said all that, I could be wrong and they might be happy to sell at that price, but fairytales don't often happen in real life!

hazelnotts

OK, so the saga continues.......

Having contacted Popcorn-UK to say they have taken my payment so can they please send the product, I received (yet another) e-mail from them, this time saying that the item was out of stock and they did not know 'when or at what price it would be back in stock'. They then went on to say that they have refunded my payment in full.....

I responded to this by saying that, to my understanding, their acceptance of my payment of £101.40 meant that they were contractually obligated to supply this product to me at that price. In addition, their own terms and conditions state a contract is made when they email confirmation of full payment, whether I receive that confirmation or not.I haven't received such an email, but seeing as they are issuing a full refund, they have themselves admitted that full payment was received by themselves....

Anyhoo, to cut a long story (and email) short, I got a response from the Managing Director apologising for the incompetence of their suppliers for failing to tell them they were out of stock (?!) and offering me £30 for my disappointment.

Quite frankly I am becoming increasingly annoyed. It's pretty obvious that the issue here is not stock availabilty but price. Still, I wanted to know exactly where I stood before going back to them, so I contacted 'Consumer Direct' who offer advice on such matters. And this is where my tale of woe becomes even more complicated.....

The woman I spoke to at Consumer Direct said that no contract is formed until the goods have been received by me. This is because the 'purchase' is online and is therefore affected by the 'Distance Selling Regulations' of 2000. She said that ordinarily, receipt of payment would constitute formation of a contract, but only in a normal 'shop/customer' scenario. I questioned whether their own Terms & Conditions could overrule this (as they clearly state when a contract is formed), and she advised not. Has anyone else heard of this?! I checked out the Distance Selling Regulations myself, but couldn't find anything that matched what the Consumer Direct advisor told me. It seems pretty strange to me that a retailer can wriggle out of a pricing error scenario by simply claiming their product is out of stock and issuing a refund?! Surely this would be a great way to obtain people's personal details and get a bit of interest on the payments (albeit temporarily) without having to actually follow through on supplying any goods?!

So my dilemma is where to go now. I think I have 3 options, but don't know which tack to take:-

1) Play hardball, refuse the £30 and threaten to take legal action for breach of contract (and throw in the OFT as an extra measure)
2) Play softball, explain that if the issue is regarding stock availability I will wait until they have sourced a new supply and expect that they are still contracted to honour the original price.
3) Accept the £30.

Can anybody tell me where I stand? I don't want to go down the legal route if I really don't have a leg to stand on.....

Biggles

Reject the £30 and demand a pound of flesh.

guppy

Biggles wrote: »

Reject the £30 and demand a pound of flesh.

Seems harsh for what appears to be a genuine pricing error. I know its a business not a person, but I'm not sure I'd want to be judged so harshly every time I make a mistake!

Biggles

Seems harsh for what appears to be a genuine pricing error

The thing is, the OP knew it was a pricing error, admitted s/he 'expected it would come to nothing', yet isn't satisfied when s/he's offered £30!

I hope the MD hears of this thread, withdraws his offer of £30 and gives her a piece of his mind.

hazelnotts

Biggles wrote: »

The thing is, the OP knew it was a pricing error, admitted s/he 'expected it would come to nothing', yet isn't satisfied when s/he's offered £30!

I hope the MD hears of this thread, withdraws his offer of £30 and gives her a piece of his mind.

You know, I thought this website was all about consumer rights....
It appears that some people think it's OK for a retailer to take your money and then feed you one lie after the other about why they can't send you the product you've already paid for....

Had they been honest and up front about the pricing error in the first place (and not taken my money), I would have happily let it be... I, however, do not like being treated like an idiot.:mad:

mitchb

Accept the £30, deduct the cost of your phone calls, keep enough to buy yourself a drink and donate the rest to charity. That way everyone wins.

It is true you wont get anywhere as online purchases are treated differnt.

I have been in the same situation myself and it is really annoying, but you just have to move on.

guppy

hazelnotts wrote: »

You know, I thought this website was all about consumer rights....
It appears that some people think it's OK for a retailer to take your money and then feed you one lie after the other about why they can't send you the product you've already paid for....

Had they been honest and up front about the pricing error in the first place (and not taken my money), I would have happily let it be... I, however, do not like being treated like an idiot.:mad:

Yea, but rights are generally intended to protect people from being ripped off. Not to help people take advantage of other's mistakes.

Maybe the reason they didn't admit the pricing error is exactly because they are afraid of being shafted because of it? Just playing devil's advocate.

Personally I don't see what there is to be angry about here, you knew it was too good to be true, and haven't incurred any losses due to their mistake. Surely the £30 is a good offer in the circumstances?