Cancelling a DFS sofa purchased online

digitalsoul1973

Hi
I purchased a sofa and armchair online from DFS about a week ago and paid in full using a credit card.
I now wish to cancel as the flat I was purchasing has fallen through. The purchase was made online, not in store and Ive yet to even receive a conformation email from them, although they did call to confirm.
Do I have a right to cancel it after 7 days? I always assumed online purchases of this type were covered and you could return within 14 days of receiving goods , but are there any loopholes DFS will use to get round this?
Cheers

[Deleted User]

Will probably be classed as made to measure so no cancellation

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/distance-selling-regulations

unholyangel

The CCRs give you the right to cancel for a minimum of 14 days, starting the day after you receive the goods and up to a maximum of 1 year & 14 days - depending on when the retailer provides you information on your cancellation rights.

There are exemptions and one of the exemptions is for goods made to the consumers specifications or clearly personalised but I very much doubt you have provided DFS with the measurements they'll be using to make your items and nor will you have asked them to source a special fabric that they don't already offer for sale as part of their range so that exemption will not apply and you will have full cancellation rights.

digitalsoul1973

Looking at their T&Cs they state:

Consumer Contract regulations only apply to your order if the goods have not been custom made to your specification or if you have not examined the product in one of our showrooms. If the Consumer Contract Regulations do apply you can cancel your furniture by notifying us, in writing, before delivery or within 14 working days beginning with the day after the date of delivery.

The key word here is the use of OR, which to me clearly states that Consumer Contract regulations will always apply if you have not examined the product in one of their showrooms, even if the goods have been custom made to my specification. If I was to programmatically implement that statement it would be:

if (isCustomMade == false || HasViewedInShowroom == false)
{
customerContractRegulationsApply = true
}

unholyangel

digitalsoul1973 wrote: »

Looking at their T&Cs they state:

Consumer Contract regulations only apply to your order if the goods have not been custom made to your specification or if you have not examined the product in one of our showrooms. If the Consumer Contract Regulations do apply you can cancel your furniture by notifying us, in writing, before delivery or within 14 working days beginning with the day after the date of delivery.

The key word here is the use of OR, which to me clearly states that Consumer Contract regulations will always apply if you have not examined the product in one of their showrooms, even if the goods have been custom made to my specification. If I was to programmatically implement that statement it would be:

if (isCustomMade == false || HasViewedInShowroom == false)
{
customerContractRegulationsApply = true
}

There are 3 types of contract under the Consumer Contracts Regulations.

“distance contract” means a contract concluded between a trader and a consumer under an organised distance sales or service-provision scheme without the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication up to and including the time at which the contract is concluded;

“off-premises contract” means a contract between a trader and a consumer which is any of these—
(a)a contract concluded in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, in a place which is not the business premises of the trader;
(b)a contract for which an offer was made by the consumer in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, in a place which is not the business premises of the trader;
(c)a contract concluded on the business premises of the trader or through any means of distance communication immediately after the consumer was personally and individually addressed in a place which is not the business premises of the trader in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer;
(d)a contract concluded during an excursion organised by the trader with the aim or effect of promoting and selling goods or services to the consumer;

“on-premises contract” means a contract between a trader and a consumer which is neither a distance contract nor an off-premises contract;

Now the right to cancel (part 3 of the CCRs) only apply to distance and off-premises contracts. If you view in store, there has been the simultaneous presence of the consumer & trader, you have not solely used distance communications to conclude the contract and therefore, the right to cancel does not apply (because its not an off-premises contract either).

However, they are categorically wrong to state the consumer contract regulations do not apply if you view in store because they do cover on-premises contracts too, its only the right to cancel/part 3 that doesn't apply.

But its also supposed to be 14 days, not working days. So thats a mistake in your favour.

digitalsoul1973

Thanks unholyangel! So in short you are saying that as I purchased online then I have entered into a distance contract and as such am able to cancel?

unholyangel

digitalsoul1973 wrote: »

Thanks unholyangel! So in short you are saying that as I purchased online then I have entered into a distance contract and as such am able to cancel?

Did you just select from options they gave you? For example, a fabric/colour choice that they would offer to anyone? If yes, you are able to cancel.

If the items usually come in (for example) leather and fabric and you asked them if they could do it in suede for you, then that would likely fall into the exemption of "made to the consumers specification or clearly personalised" (which is also exempt from the right to cancel, even if its a distance contract).

maisie_cat

_shel wrote: »

Will probably be classed as made to measure so no cancellation

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/distance-selling-regulations

I don't think that's strictly true, picking items from a predetermined list of options as patterns or colours is not considered bespoke or personalised, or at least wasn't originally. I think the wording in the act uses windows or curtains as an example, but I can't find it at the moment.

[Deleted User]

maisie_cat wrote: »

I don't think that's strictly true, picking items from a predetermined list of options as patterns or colours is not considered bespoke or personalised, or at least wasn't originally. I think the wording in the act uses windows or curtains as an example, but I can't find it at the moment.

I did a search through past posts on here and found it https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5504672/dfs-cancellation

unholyangel

maisie_cat wrote: »

I don't think that's strictly true, picking items from a predetermined list of options as patterns or colours is not considered bespoke or personalised, or at least wasn't originally. I think the wording in the act uses windows or curtains as an example, but I can't find it at the moment.

No examples are given in the regulations themselves.

Limits of application: circumstances excluding cancellation
28.—(1) This Part does not apply as regards the following—

<snip>

(b)the supply of goods that are made to the consumer’s specifications or are clearly personalised;

What you may be thinking of is this wegpage which state:

The following contracts do not have a right to cancel:
the supply of goods that are made to the customer's specification or are personalised - for example, a made-to-measure suit or pair of curtains, or a gift that has the recipient's name engraved on it. However, this exemption does not apply to items made to a customer's specification simply by combining stock items - for example, a computer put together from stocked parts or a car ordered from a fixed menu of items

The implementing guidance from BIS gives these examples:

I sell premier league football shirts online. Customers can order a shirt with
their own name on it or that of a premier league team player. Can the
consumer change their mind after they have ordered?
13. Items made to a particular, often unique specification are exempt from
cancellation rights on the basis that a trader might otherwise be left with a
product so specific to a particular consumer’s needs that there is no other
market for it once the consumer has cancelled the contract. Judgements of
what is truly bespoke will, therefore, inevitably be on a case by case basis. In
the above case, the customer should be able to cancel a shirt bearing a team
player name on it. However, a shirt bearing their own name would be likely to
constitute a personalised item to which cancellation rights do not apply.

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.

bris

digitalsoul1973 wrote: »

Thanks unholyangel! So in short you are saying that as I purchased online then I have entered into a distance contract and as such am able to cancel?

People usually look at this type of purchase in store before deciding to buy so the question is did you view this in store. You haven't actually stated whether you have or not. Not all online purchases are distance sales.