sharps have retracted their order - can they do this??

yas212

hope someone can help with this..
We had a sharps designer come last night and eventually quoted us 9500 for two sets of fitted wardrobes. We told him that the most that we could go was 8500, so he tried to get in touch with his regional manager to confirm that he can offer this to us.
He said if he doesn't reply then he'll put the order through at £8500, and we never got a reply on the night. So we signed the contracts and made the deposit via credit card.
Anyway, I get a call from the designer this morning saying that they couldn't honour the £8500 price, and the regional said that he's undersold it by £1000, so the best price that they could give us was £9500..
I understand that he wanted to make the sale, but he has been working for the company for 12 years so he must have known what their limits are surely? It's not like it's been a mis-price.. and if I wanted to cancel after paying a deposit, I highly doubt they would be so forthcoming. They have agreed to refund the deposit.. but can they just cancel a contract after later on deciding that they cannot offer an agreed price?

m0bov

What does your contract say? Have you paid a deposit? If so, I'd say the contract has been signed. If they won't honor it, then you could pay the full amount and then sure for the 1k.

I'd speak with your CC provider.

Paul_DNAP

Sounds like they are carrying on with shady pressure sales tactics, the classic "promise them you'll try really hard to get them a good price to convince them to sign the contract and then apologise that you couldn't after the deposit is in the bank" variant of a "bait and switch" scam.


If you can't pay the higher price, tell them it is unfortunate they could not meet the price you were promised and you will therefore accept them refunding your deposit and cancelling the order. If they play silly with the "sorry it's non refundable" then start looking at chargeback as an option.

yas212

m0bov wrote: »

What does your contract say? Have you paid a deposit? If so, I'd say the contract has been signed. If they won't honor it, then you could pay the full amount and then sure for the 1k.

I'd speak with your CC provider.

Yes we have paid the deposit and signed contracts with the agreed price... now they've come back to me saying they want an extra £1000 or they can cancel the order and refund the deposit. So the refund isn't the issue as we haven't lost out financially, it's really the principal and it's left a bit of a sour taste. I thought 8.5k was a reasonable price more than a steal!

Aylesbury_Duck

I think you have two choices.

1. Pay the full price then sue afterwards for the £1,000, using all the documentation you have.
2. Walk away and shop elsewhere.

I'm unsure as the legality/practicality of option 1. I'd choose option 2 anyway, because why would you want these people in your home and building wardrobes when they've shown how they operate? If you did go ahead with them and had a problem later on, would you trust them to put it right or would they even bother if they know you've sued them?!

There must be other retailers about. Walk away.

verityboo

If they are refunding your money, take it and run. Google will find you a seemingly endless number of stories of people having problems with furniture fitted by the company

Go and give the business to a reputable company which doesn’t use silly high pressure sales techniques, give it to a company that trades on its reputation and high quality

yas212

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

I think you have two choices.

1. Pay the full price then sue afterwards for the £1,000, using all the documentation you have.
2. Walk away and shop elsewhere.

I'm unsure as the legality/practicality of option 1. I'd choose option 2 anyway, because why would you want these people in your home and building wardrobes when they've shown how they operate? If you did go ahead with them and had a problem later on, would you trust them to put it right or would they even bother if they know you've sued them?!

There must be other retailers about. Walk away.

Definitely don't want the hassle of option 1. It's a shame really as my family and I have had a great experience with them until now.. unless they apologise and honour their original offer, i'm going to have to tell them to fly. On the bright side.. I have great wardrobe drawings that they've drawn up for me.

DoaM

£9,500 for fitted wardrobes! :eek: Are they gold-leaf finish or something?

molerat

DoaM wrote: »

£9,500 for fitted wardrobes! :eek: Are they gold-leaf finish or something?

I assumed that price included the extension on the house to put them in

Aylesbury_Duck

And the clothes to go in them!

macman

The contract was formed when the OP paid the deposit. So to me it seems like a clear breach of contract, unless the written terms offer the supplier a way of backing out.