Ella June Designs

MothballsWallet

theonlywayisup wrote: »

To be fair, she hasn't set herself up as some others do, I would be happy to see her responses rather than she's deleted into oblivion. There isn't anything in her CP that shows she is who she says, just her posts and they are in response/defensive to posts here.

Fair enough - I think it would be a good idea for Gabriella to do that any so she's got official recognition and people can't claim she's not who she says she is.

hollydays

Also I’m a bit confused about the address of this business as you say on mse
51 Upper Tything, Worcester, WR11JZ, ( its the first floor above “ premier carpets and flooring”?)
On one of your posts you said for a sample sale ” don’t worry there will be signs up on the day” which suggests there are no signs normally.

The first floor of that carpet shop has units certainly some known as unit 1, 51a upper tything which seems to suggest your address should be 51a too?

Under ‘terms of service’ you have

SECTION 20 - CONTACT INFORMATION
Questions about the Terms of Service should be sent to us at sales@ellajunedesigns.co.uk

On one of your posts for sample sales you say “ there will be signs” this suggests it’s not perfectly clear where your premesis are.

Fosterdog

So you’ve chosen to ignore the actual legislation two of us have linked to and others have explained to you and you still insist on using illegal returns policies. That tells us all we need to know about your character and how you conduct your business. You previously plead ignorance, you have now been informed so ignorance is no longer an excuse you can use. You are wilfully ignoring UK legislation on consumer rights, particularly contracts made at a distance.

LilElvis

I'm particularly liking this little gem from the site's "Terms of Service" page:

"SECTION 18 - GOVERNING LAW

These Terms of Service and any separate agreements whereby we provide you Services shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of 3 K1 Building Worcester GB WR1 1HL."

https://ella-june-designs.myshopify.com/pages/terms-of-service

This obviously explains why they don't feel they need to comply with UK legislation - because they're bound instead by laws of their own making :rotfl:

hollydays

Perhaps the seller needs next week to consult a solicitor who specialises in consumer law and comes back with a new fresh set of t& cs if that’s what’s required.
Perhaps this being the weekend that has been hard to obtain.

hollydays

Does unholyangel have any comment to make on this?

Fosterdog

You are correct that your actual made to measure items can be excluded but you are also still excluding the standard UK sizes from the drop down box in your exclusion.

This is exactly what you have written on your website:

All customers hold the right to cancel their order with the time frames specified below. The time frames do vary depending on your order due to manufacture and shipping times.

Made to order items with standard shipping: You may cancel your order without any given reason within 72 hours of purchase. Please contact us within this period to cancel an order.

Made to order items with express shipping: You may cancel your order without any given reason within 48 hours of purchase. Please contact us within this period to cancel an order.

Pre-made / Sample sale items: You may cancel your order without any given reason within 24 hours of purchase. Please contact us within this period to cancel an order.

Returns

As all of our products listed on site are made to measure they are not eligible for return. This includes products that are made to both standard UK dress sizes and custom measurements. These products can only be returned for a refund or exchange if the item is faulty or not as described. Our policy lasts 30 days. If 30 days have gone by since your delivery date, unfortunately we can’t offer you a refund or exchange.

This is the part that is ignoring the law. It doesn’t matter that you make each item to order, the fact you make them to standard UK sizing means that by law you have to allow change of mind returns on those items.

Gleeful

This is the 4th result when googling Ella June Designs

unholyangel

Made to order goods are not exempt from the right to cancel.

Goods made to the consumers specifications or clearly personalised are - but this means made to a specification that is not part of range you offer as standard to customers.

So a dress that is completely tailor made to measurements the customer provides would be exempt from the right to cancel (the rest of the regulations still apply though - such as provision of certain information by durable medium, period for performance etc).

However if its made to a "uk standard size" then its being made to your specifications (not the customers) and is not exempt from the right to cancel.

Also, my mother was a seamstress - I'd be very surprised if you are designing a pattern from scratch every single time. You might have to make a pattern if you haven't done it to those measurements before but if its a standard sizing you're not going to make it from scratch every time, you'd keep it and reuse.

If you paid for legal advice to be told that made to order (rather than made to the consumers specifications) are exempt, I'd get my money back from whatever online service you used and go and see a proper solicitor.

BIS even provided implementing guidance (clicky) for businesses to use. It tells us:

14. An item made up following a consumer order does not necessarily make it
a bespoke item which is exempt from cancellation rights. An item, for example
a sofa or computer, can be assembled following an order but the component
parts may be made up of parts offered from a standard range. So, for
instance, a sofa where the consumer chooses a fabric and colour from a
range on offer will not be bespoke for the purposes of these Regulations.
However, if the consumer asks the trader to source a special finish and which
is not in the range generally offered by the trader, that is likely to be a
bespoke item.

Also note that you cannot say:

To be eligible for a return, your item must be unused and in the same condition that you received it.

You can't refuse to accept returns on this basis. However if you provide your customers with all the necessary information in a durable medium, the customers handling goes beyond what might be allowed in a shop and that handling diminishes the value of the item, you're entitled to reduce the refund by the diminished value (up to the whole contract price).

Nor can you say:

There are certain situations where only partial refunds are granted (if applicable)
Any item not in its original condition, is damaged or missing parts for reasons not due to our error
Any item that is returned more than 30 days after delivery

The consumer rights act prohibits you from reducing the refund within the first 6 months after sale and as above, you can only reduce the refund if you provided all the necessary information.

Nor can you say:

You will be responsible for paying for your own shipping costs for returning your item unless a garment is faulty.

This is because the consumer rights act doesn't just cover faulty goods, it covers goods that fail to conform to contract (ie goods may not be faulty but may not match their description which would entitle the buyer to reject them for a full refund and you would be liable for return postage costs).

Also, your indemnity clause in ToS is completely useless against consumers. You can't have legal jargon in a consumer contract.

Your terms should indicate who the contracting party is. If you are a sole trader and ella june designs is a trading name, you need to say that - that the website is operated by gabriella surname trading as Ella June Designs.

Your disclaimer....can't disclaim liability for things which are within your control/foreseeable.


Thats just what I picked up having a glance over your ToS & returns policy.

Remember also that you need to provide certain information in a durable medium - websites are not durable. If you fail to provide that info, your customers have up to 1 year & 14 days to cancel then a further 14 days to return the goods. Again if you fail to provide that information and the customer returns goods that have been damaged, you cannot reduce their refund to account for diminished value. Again if you dont provide the information in a durable medium, you're liable for return postage costs.

So it really is in your interests (rather than the consumers) for you to adhere to law.

bris

The alarm bells do ring for me tbh . it would be very difficult to make a dress to order for £30. Even at minimum wage the time it takes to make the dress simply wouldn't be worth it.


Then there's the whole sale, you have to wholesale for around half retail, this needs a huge mass production factory, similar to the Chinese factories.


The T&C's are also definitely wrong, standard sizes and colours picked from a drop down box are not personalised and not exempt from statutory law. If everything is made to order, why even bother with those sizes in the first place?