A question with regards to price matching

khshare

Hi,

My first post here and unfortunately it is to seek advice rather than give it.

On Friday, 24th November, I purchased a couple of items from a reputable (in their circle) online retailer. The retailer has the following statement attached to all their product pages:
"Price Match: We'll match any UK reputable company - please enquire via our contact form"

I would like to note at this point that this price match promise does NOT have any qualifying conditions or mentions any where on the site.

Later that same day, I found both products I purchased at much lower prices (saving of £17 on a £90 purchase). I emailed the vendor I purchased from and was told they do not price match on black friday deals. This is fair enough, so I requested a refund and promptly made the purchase at the cheaper site.

The first vendor contacted me this morning to tell me that the goods had already shipped on Friday so they could only accept a return if I paid them the return postage - on an item I had yet to receive.

I conveyed to them that paying for the privilege of them not honouring their price match promise didn't sit well with me. They were quick to state, "As you had placed the order and it has been shipped we have fulfilled our duties to get the product to you
there is no laws on price matching especially as a sale price
if you are unhappy then you will have to return the item to us in as new condition for a refund as stated
there is no point arguing about this matter as there are no other options
so it is up to you to decide whether you would like to keep "

DPD have just been to deliver the product and I refused to accept delivery. They had me sign non acceptance even though I didn't want to, as the driver claimed if I didn't they would just continue to try to deliver instead of sending it back to the vendor.

I would love to hear your thoughts and if my actions are right or otherwise.

Thanks

JJ_Egan

Spent £90 original order .
Saving £17 new order .

My initial thoughts are i may have done as you or i may have avoided the aggravation for £17 .

khshare

JJ Egan, I can totally see where you're coming from and usually, I'm not this petty. However, when they word emails that suggest there are no laws governing price matching, which says to me they think they can do as they please, it certainly gets under my skin.

This is their email to me just a few minutes ago when I refused to accept delivery:

"Thats your choice if thats hat you want to do no problem.
When the package then returns to us you will be refunded minus any carriage costs."

dj1471

If their T&Cs require you to pay return postage for a change-of-mind cancellation then you have to pay it, however since you have refused delivery there will be no return postage costs.

As such you should expect to be refunded in full, including the cost of standard delivery. If you paid for faster delivery you will lose the difference between standard delivery and the delivery option you chose. All per the Consumer Contracts Regulations.

You're probably in the right with regards their offer of price matching, but it's hardly worth pursuing when you can simply order elsewhere.

Shaka_Zulu

The thing is you shouldn't buy until you have all your ducks in a row and done all the price comparisons then you either deal with the cheapest or ask "before" purchase whether they will price match.

Price matching is just a bit of a racket anyway unless there is some material advantage eg John Lewis 5 year guarantee.

khshare

@dj1471 I didn't pay any postage and the order was over a certain value.

Also, I'm not pursuing them for not honouring their price match. As I said to them, if they don't care to honour it, that's fine with me, I'll simply take my business elsewhere. Which is what I did.

Unfortunately, they are now trying to charge me the return delivery cost of an item I did not actually accept delivery on.

@Shaka_Zulu of course I agree with you and this is precisely what I normally do anyway. One thing I don't agree on is your suggestion on asking before purchase if they will price match. Why would I when their site clearly states that they will and does not equate this service to any event, period or exclusion.

Fosterdog

Just because you refused delivery doesn’t mean there were no costs to the company to get it back, they can deduct what it actually cost them in this case. If you don’t like the charges they will deduct for you rejecting it and essentially using their courier you had the option to accept the free delivery and return it at your own cost using the courier of your own choosing.

khshare

Fosterdog, I'm not suggesting that there were no costs to the company. I am merely stating my displeasure at a company charging me for delivery when they are refusing to honour their own price match guarantee.

What you're suggesting seems very anti consumer rights. They get to renege on a promise AND charge me for the privilege? I'm not suggesting you are wrong, because I've seen some strange stuff over the years, but where exactly is the consumer protection in this?

dj1471

Fosterdog wrote: »

Just because you refused delivery doesn’t mean there were no costs to the company to get it back, they can deduct what it actually cost them in this case.

Only if their T&Cs specify that the customer is responsible for the return delivery cost and they provided these to the OP by a durable medium (e.g. email). If not then the retailer is responsible for any return delivery costs.

Fosterdog

dj1471 wrote: »

Only if their T&Cs specify that the customer is responsible for the return delivery cost and they provided these to the OP by a durable medium (e.g. email). If not then the retailer is responsible for any return delivery costs.

Yes of course but at this stage we have no reason to believe that they haven’t complied, although I do wonder in this situation what would happen if the durable medium was included in print inside the box which was refused.

Khshare there is a difference between consumer wants and consumer rights. The legislation is there to protect both parties not to give unfair advantage to the consumer, the business has rights too.

khshare

I was going to post a link to their returns policy but since I'm new, I can't post links.

It doesn't state that returns are charged to the customer at any point in that policy.