Item sent free now company want it back

gaspoweredcat

Around a month ago i spotted a bug on the Lenovo website, for some reason a laptop on the site was showing as the full price of the laptop discounted so mostly out of curiosity at the time i ordered it not expecting it to ever actually come, but to my shock i got an invoice stating that id paid £0.00 for the laptop and £4 for shipping and the laptop actually arrived.

now a month later ive had an email from Lenovo saying theyve noticed that it was a "technical error" and i either have to pay the full price of the laptop or return it but am i legally obligated to return it? after all i have an invoice/reciept from them stating that it was £0.00

neilmcl

Contracts can take into account "mistakes", so yes they can ask for the full (or I'd suggest a negotiated) price, or can ask you to return the laptop, at their expense of course.

At the end of the day you must have expected this to be an outcome.

kazwookie

Ask for a pre paid label and send it back

agrinnall

neilmcl wrote: »

Contracts can take into account "mistakes", so yes they can ask for the full (or I'd suggest a negotiated) price, or can ask you to return the laptop, at their expense of course.

At the end of the day you must have expected this to be an outcome.

I would agree in general, but in this case I'm not sure that Lenovo have the right to ask for anything. I think this is the relevant part of the sales terms:


PRICE AND TERMS OF PAYMENT

4.1
Prices payable for Products or Services are those in effect at the time of Acceptance. Prices may be indicated on the Site or an order acknowledgement but we will notify you of the final sale price at the time of our Acceptance.
4.2
We have the right at any time prior to our Acceptance to withdraw any discount and/or to revise prices to take into account increases in costs including (without limitation) costs of any materials, carriage, labour or the increase or imposition of any tax, duty or other levy and any variation in exchange rates. We also reserve the right to notify you of any mistakes in Product descriptions or errors in pricing prior to Product dispatch or Service provision.


https://checkout.lenovo.com/DRHM/store?Action=DisplayDRTermsAndConditionsPage&SiteID=defaults&Locale=en_GB&ThemeID=22100&Env=BASE&eCommerceProvider=Digital%20River%20Ireland%20Ltd.


For 4.1 the price notified was £0.00. And for 4.2 there was no notification prior to Product dispatch.



If there is some other error provision that Lenovo can rely on I can't see it.

Tom99

agrinnall wrote: »

If there is some other error provision that Lenovo can rely on I can't see it.

I agree, they can't rely on the Sale of Goods Act and you completed a contract at the agreed all in price of £4 in accordance with your contract's T&C.

I am sure Lenovo can afford their mistake and hopefully get their act together in the future. It might be different ethically if you had bought from a small retailer, for whom the loss of a laptop would be more significant

neilmcl

agrinnall wrote: »

I would agree in general, but in this case I'm not sure that Lenovo have the right to ask for anything. I think this is the relevant part of the sales terms:


PRICE AND TERMS OF PAYMENT

4.1
Prices payable for Products or Services are those in effect at the time of Acceptance. Prices may be indicated on the Site or an order acknowledgement but we will notify you of the final sale price at the time of our Acceptance.
4.2
We have the right at any time prior to our Acceptance to withdraw any discount and/or to revise prices to take into account increases in costs including (without limitation) costs of any materials, carriage, labour or the increase or imposition of any tax, duty or other levy and any variation in exchange rates. We also reserve the right to notify you of any mistakes in Product descriptions or errors in pricing prior to Product dispatch or Service provision.


https://checkout.lenovo.com/DRHM/store?Action=DisplayDRTermsAndConditionsPage&SiteID=defaults&Locale=en_GB&ThemeID=22100&Env=BASE&eCommerceProvider=Digital%20River%20Ireland%20Ltd.


For 4.1 the price notified was £0.00. And for 4.2 there was no notification prior to Product dispatch.



If there is some other error provision that Lenovo can rely on I can't see it.

But you're just looking at their own provisions in their T&Cs. I'm talking about the legal notion of mistake in relation to common law and contracts.

Lenovo made a mistake in relation to the pricing and the OP with full knowledge of the mistake took advantage and entered into a contract with them. The contract would therefore be void.

Tom99

neilmcl wrote: »

Lenovo made a mistake in relation to the pricing and the OP with full knowledge of the mistake took advantage and entered into a contract with them. The contract would therefore be void.

Under what Act would that be, can you be more specific?

gaspoweredcat

Thanks guys, ive emailed them highlighting this info, just have to wait and see what comes of it i guess

@neilmcl

"At the end of the day you must have expected this to be an outcome."

i didnt, i never expected them to actually send it in the first place! it took them a solid week to ship it out so they had a decent amount of time to notice the mistake which i fully expected them to do, i was gobsmacked that the order went through at all let alone that they actually sent it out

Hermione_Granger

Tom99 wrote: »

Under what Act would that be, can you be more specific?

It doesn't have to be under specific legislation.
There is a thing known as "contract law":

Contract law is the body of law that applies to the rights and obligations of the contractual parties under a contract. It governs the relationship, validity and interpretation of an agreement between two or more persons (individuals, companies or other organisations) regarding the sale of goods, the provision of services or exchange of interests or ownership.

And one of the provisos of this is that a contract can be declared void in the case of a unilateral mistake (a mistake by one party to the contract) provided that the other party was, or should have been aware of that mistake.

Unilateral mistake

A unilateral mistake occurs where only one party is mistaken as to the terms or subject matter. Often, this can lead to an unfair advantage for one of the parties. For a unilateral mistake to render the contract void, the mistake must relate to the fundamental terms and conditions of the contract. A unilateral mistake in relation to the quality of the subject matter of a contract will not result in the contract being void – unless the term as to quality is fundamental to the contract.

neilmcl

Tom99 wrote: »

Under what Act would that be, can you be more specific?

It's a Common Law principle regarding contracts.

stragglebod

A void contract is unenforceable. So the OP couldn't sue Lenovo if they refused to send the laptop.


But if Lenovo have already chosen to fulfill the contract, that's another matter entirely.