Clarity on bespoke items under CCR

McOnie

As the title suggests, I am looking for clarity on whether or not the items I have in questions would be 'bespoke' in regards to CCR.
I work for a company which sells particular timber items that are listed on our website in a particular size but are actually cut and manufactured from raw material. Would these be considered 'to the consumers specification or personalised' and be exempt from cancellation rights?
We also offer a tool that allows customers to specifically define their requirements for the same matierla which I know would count as bespoke, it's just a question of whether or not the other listings we offer do or not. We would like to get this right to make sure we're both protecting our own interest and also that of the customer (as well as being on the right side of the law).
Any information regarding this would be greatly appreciated.

Fosterdog

From what you describe the items would be made to order rather than bespoke items, you as the company have chosen the specification of the items, whether you choose to produce hundreds in advance or make each one to order is entirely up to you but doing the latter does not make the items bespoke or personalised.

As for the tool you offer to define requirements, depending on exactly how the tool works the items may or may not be bespoke, having a tool to allow specific requirements doesn't automatically mean the order would be exempt.

Also don't forget that any exemption would be related to change of mind cancellations only, the consumer would still have full rights for items not delivered in time, faulty items, not as described items, etc.

ToxicWomble

If the tool for example is a s simple as a different sized drill bit then not bespoke.
If you have to have a new tool made for just one order then that would be bespoke.

McOnie

Fosterdog wrote: »

From what you describe the items would be made to order rather than bespoke items, you as the company have chosen the specification of the items, whether you choose to produce hundreds in advance or make each one to order is entirely up to you but doing the latter does not make the items bespoke or personalised.

As for the tool you offer to define requirements, depending on exactly how the tool works the items may or may not be bespoke, having a tool to allow specific requirements doesn't automatically mean the order would be exempt.

Also don't forget that any exemption would be related to change of mind cancellations only, the consumer would still have full rights for items not delivered in time, faulty items, not as described items, etc.

Thank you for your reply, it does offer some clarification. Is there anything written is legislation that states this specifically as something we can refer to? I am asking this as I have a colleague who disagress that the fact it's cut to order means it's not bespok, not rhat I persoanlly disagree with you, just need something concrete that I can approach my MD with.

I fully understand that this would be related to change of mind only, and honestly this is the only concern of ours in relation to the return of the goods and whether how we charge for the return as the goods in question are not something that can be sent with a standard courier.

In regards to our tool, it is essentially a form where a customer can select a material of wood and then enter the sizes for each dimension (L x W x D) they want, which I would argue is definitley bespoke.

McOnie

ToxicWomble wrote: »

If the tool for example is a s simple as a different sized drill bit then not bespoke.
If you have to have a new tool made for just one order then that would be bespoke.

Just for clarification, our tool isn't something physical, its a form that a customer can use to define the sizes they need in all dimensions (L x W x D) as well as the material in which it is made from.

KatrinaWaves

If you have options to choose from eg. you can have a 10cm, 20cm, 30cm option then its not bespoke.

If I as a customer can say 'please make me one which is 22cm' then it would count as bespoke.

McOnie

KatrinaWaves wrote: »

If you have options to choose from eg. you can have a 10cm, 20cm, 30cm option then its not bespoke.

If I as a customer can say 'please make me one which is 22cm' then it would count as bespoke.

We have listings of a particular material, one example is an Oak Beam which we advertise as a standard size e.g. 200cm x 10cm x 10cm which is still cut to order, but our tool lets customers pick the material then enter in their own specific sizes e.g. Oak @ 103cm x 11cm x 15cm.

They are still all cut from the same material by the same machines but one is redily available to pick from and the other the customer needs to provide their input with their sizes. I'm just trying to find out if the former option would be considered bespoke or not.

I hope that makes sense and thank you for your reply.

KatrinaWaves

The former option is not bespoke (where they choose a preset)

Bermonia

OP I sympathise, I too have an MD who wants me to show them in writing where is says the can’t do anything they want!

As you offer wood of certain sizes they could not be considered ‘bespoke’, however as suggested above if you allow customers to request measurement that are not offered as standard then these could in theory be considered bespoke.

McOnie

Bermonia wrote: »

OP I sympathise, I too have an MD who wants me to show them in writing where is says the can’t do anything they want!

As you offer wood of certain sizes they could not be considered ‘bespoke’, however as suggested above if you allow customers to request measurement that are not offered as standard then these could in theory be considered bespoke.

Thank you for your reply, and the understanding of why i am asking.
We do already offer something like that for our customers so at least I am at the point where I understand whether or not some of the items we sell are bespoke.

I am just reading through the CCR and will be ammending our ToS to make sure we are fully compliant and our customers know what they have the right to and what is expected of both themselves and us in certian situations.

DoaM

Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 Part 3 - Right To Cancel:

28.—(1) This Part does not apply as regards the following—

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

The Implementing Guidance (PDF file) tells you what you want to know. Section H item 14 is relevant for example.

tl;dr ... using your website tool (probably) means bespoke = no cancellation for change of mind. Selecting a size from a predefined list = cancellation for change of mind allowed.

That doesn't mean the returns need to be free - you can still require the consumer to pay, but you need to give guidance on expected costs to return if it's not something that can be returned via standard post and requires a specialised courier.

Everything you need should be in the above two links.