Contract with Sunflow Ltd

borntobemild

My mum has signed an agreement with Sunflow Ltd for a replacement 2kw fixed wall heater, for which they are charging her £1,460. They've taken a deposit of £582. With her agreement, I intend to ring them tomorrow and cancel this, as it's a ridiculous amount of money. BUT - is this now a legal contract? Is she entitled to her deposit back? How do you suggest I go about approaching them? She's 80, lives on her own (a couple of hours away from us) and has just recovered from cancer.

Hoogle

To be fair without reading the contract terms and conditions on deposit returns it is hard to say. But I would have thought it should have a 14 day cooling off period. Have you got quotes from other companies including installation to see if it is the going rate or not.....

borntobemild

No, not yet. But nearly £1.5k for one wall heater seems unbelievable. The most expensive 2kw wall fixing heater I've seen is around £300 - so over £1000 to remove the old one and fix a new one??

LilElvis

Where was the contract formed? Was it in her home or in a store? Even if she signed at home did she visit a store during the sales process?

I fail to see though how your mother's age or illness has any bearing.

shaun_from_Africa

How long ago did your mother sign the contract?
http://www.sunflowltd.co.uk/terms-sale/

Terms of sale

The customer has the right to cancel this agreement up to 7 days from the date of contract by sending a written notice of cancellation to: Sunflow Ltd. Arley Works, Templars Way Ind. Est., Royal Wootton Bassett, SN4 7SR

If it's close to the 7 days, it would be worth spending a few pounds and sending a letter tomorrow morning using Special Delivery next day delivery.

borntobemild wrote: »

I intend to ring them tomorrow and cancel this,

When you call, make sure your mother is there as Sunflow have every right to refuse to deal with you. If this happens, ask your mother to speak to them and get her to state that she gives her permission for you to deal with the matter on her behalf.

stuartJo1989

LilElvis wrote: »

I fail to see though how your mother's age or illness has any bearing.

Well, I would assume that an 80 year old who has just battled cancer is a bit more vulnerable than your everyday consumer.

pmduk

stuartJo1989 wrote: »

Well, I would assume that an 80 year old who has just battled cancer is a bit more vulnerable than your everyday consumer.

Whilst I'm sure we all accept that, it doesn't give them any additional legal rights or special consideration in the law.

borntobemild

StuartJo - exactly. The salesman was with her for an hour, gave the impression he was an approved supplier with the management company of her retired housing block, ignored her when she said it was more than she really wanted to pay - generally a very hard sell. And she just wasn't up to dealing with it.


Fortunately, it turns out you're all correct; when I rang them they said she has 7 days to cancel in writing, which can be either by email or letter. So she's doing that this morning. Thanks for the reassurance.


I had a quote from a friend, unfortunately a long way from her, who said he'd charge around £320 for the heater and £70 for fitting it - so I'm sure we can get her a considerably better deal.

borntobemild

pmduk - it looked to me at one point as though signing the agreement and paying a deposit meant she was locked into a contract - and I was then looking at mis-selling. I was thinking that maybe being old and vulnerable would be grounds for saying she felt pressured into buying - which was entirely true.