Two orders placed – 1 cancelled, both delivered!

sam_r2d2

I would be very grateful for any advice on this rather interesting situation!

I placed an online order for a mirror on 25th March for £350. Delivery time was estimated to be up to a month

2 Days later the website had a sale where the same mirror was £280. I rang customer services and asked if they would be able to honour the new lower price. I was told they would have to speak to their manager and they would call me back in 48 hours.

This didn’t happen so on the 29th I placed a new order, in my wifes name. I emailed them and asked to cancel the original order. They replied stating that I had forgotten to add the order number number and that once I supplied them with that they could cancel the order, so I replied with the order number.

I didn’t receive a confirmation so on the 4th April I emailed again asking if the order had been cancelled. I received a reply on the 4th saying that it has been passed on to customer services manager and will be actioned within the next 48 hours and then 3-5 days for money to be back in account.

At 17.55 on 9th April I receive a dispatch email for both orders. The one in my wife’s name turns up yesterday – no problem, this is the order I want. I tried to ring them yesterday to ask about the 2nd mirror that should have been cancelled but received no answer after trying several times.

I managed to get through to them this morning and the manager was extremely rude – she ignored the fact that I had requested cancellation and basically said she wasn’t copied in on those emails so she couldn’t cancel it and tough luck I will have to pay to have it sent back. I refused delivery when the courier arrived this afternoon.

However, it appears they have swapped the tracking numbers on the 2 orders and attached my wifes name to the “expensive” order and my name to the discounted one, even though it should have been the other way around. This is all clear in the original order emails!
So, they are stating that I have signed for the £350 order and sent back the £280 one, although it is due to their error (I suspect it was not an error and a calculated move!)

My question is basically what steps can I take to ensure the refund is for £350 and not £280 – Is it better to pursue the fact that they should have cancelled the other order in the first place or that they have swapped the names on the parcel tracking service, essentially tricking me/claiming that I have signed for the wrong one

Thank you for any help

Deastons

The items are the same - doesn't matter which one is the "more expensive".

You have both items - they sent one of them in error. Contact them and ask them to collect the incorrect item and refund your £350.

[Deleted User]

sam_r2d2 wrote: »

I suspect it was not an error and a calculated move!

It will have been an error, not a calculated move.

sam_r2d2

Deastons wrote: »

The items are the same - doesn't matter which one is the "more expensive".

You have both items - they sent one of them in error. Contact them and ask them to collect the incorrect item and refund your £350.

Thanks for your reply - I don't have both, i spoke to the courier when he arrived today with the 2nd one and rejected the delivery.

My concern is that due to their error with the delivery label that they will claim that i have accepted the £350 parcel and rejected/sent back the £280 one, so i wondered if there was any advice on that type of error to make sure i get the £350 back

Deastons

sam_r2d2 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply - I don't have both, i spoke to the courier when he arrived today with the 2nd one and rejected the delivery.

My concern is that due to their error with the delivery label that they will claim that i have accepted the £350 parcel and rejected/sent back the £280 one, so i wondered if there was any advice on that type of error to make sure i get the £350 back

But you asked to cancel the £350. If they labelled them incorrectly and you accidentally sent back the £280 one, they need to re-send that and collect the £350 one.

Or they could let you keep the one you've got and just refund your £350.

Either way, if you gave them plenty of notice that you wanted to cancel the order and they still sent it, you should get your money back. At the very worst (circumstances dependent) you might lose the P&P costs and have to pay for the return postage.

unholyangel

sam_r2d2 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply - I don't have both, i spoke to the courier when he arrived today with the 2nd one and rejected the delivery.

My concern is that due to their error with the delivery label that they will claim that i have accepted the £350 parcel and rejected/sent back the £280 one, so i wondered if there was any advice on that type of error to make sure i get the £350 back

Well from what you've said, you emailed them your cancellation including order number, so that would be pretty conclusive that you cancelled the more expensive order, no?

ETA: what do their terms say about when a contract is formed? With any luck, they will say its formed on dispatch. Which means they could never accept your offer of £350 because you withdrew it before they could do so and made a new offer of £280 (legality is a bit more complex than that, but thats the "in a nutshell" version).

sam_r2d2

unholyangel wrote: »

Well from what you've said, you emailed them your cancellation including order number, so that would be pretty conclusive that you cancelled the more expensive order, no?

ETA: what do their terms say about when a contract is formed? With any luck, they will say its formed on dispatch. Which means they could never accept your offer of £350 because you withdrew it before they could do so and made a new offer of £280 (legality is a bit more complex than that, but thats the "in a nutshell" version).

Their terms don't say anything about when a contract is formed. I have saved a copy of them in case it goes further

I have emailed them this morning clarifying that it is the more expensive order that should be cancelled, however after the way the customer services manager spoke to me yesterday regarding a minor error on their part i suspect this won't be the end of it!

theonlywayisup

What is the name of the company, I am sure one of the regulars to this forum will find the t&c about contract formation.