Seller changed delivery date and refuses to accept cancellation before item delivered

petedc

I bought a printer from Currys PC World on ebay and payed by paypal credit. Currys then emailed to change the delivery date from 6th/7th July, 2020 to sometime after the 12th July when they would have stock. In the same email they said I could cancel the order by ringing a certain number. The new date was not acceptable to me and I called the number and after going through 3 or 4 menus I hung onto ringtone for a very long time. I had to close the phone call as other things were pressing and I used ebays contact the seller button to cancel the order. I received an email back from Currys saying that they could not cancel the transaction as it was a done deal and I needed to contact KnowHow to ask them to cancel the order. They went on to say that answering times were in excess of 1 hour. I have tryed to cancel the order via ebay who tell me only the seller can cancel. I have also opened a case as the goods were not delivered by the original agreed date. I believe I should be covered by European distance selling law and have every right to cancel before the goods are delivered for a full refund. As I needed a printer I have bought one from a different source.

What should I do next please.

GabbaGabbaHey

I understood that eBay delivery times are estimates, not guaranteed dates (especially with the issues currently caused to everybody by C19). Unless you had a contract with Currys which stated that "time is of the essence", I imagine that your best bet is to wait until the printer is delivered, and then to return it (possibly at your expense) under the Consumer Contracts Regulations.

petedc

Thank you for your input, but even so, distance selling law should cause them to cancel anyway. Shouldn’t it?
In the advert they do state free returns within 30days.

soolin

GabbaGabbaHey said:

I understood that eBay delivery times are estimates, not guaranteed dates (especially with the issues currently caused to everybody by C19). Unless you had a contract with Currys which stated that "time is of the essence", I imagine that your best bet is to wait until the printer is delivered, and then to return it (possibly at your expense) under the Consumer Contracts Regulations.

On ebay a buyer can expect seller to send within their stated dispatch time - the estimated bit relates to how long RM is estimated to take, and that's usually tight on actual delivery times anyway. As OP has been able to open an INR this item is deemed late and if not showing as dispatched should have been able to be cancelled.

OP< keep the INR case open and escalate it as soon as you can, if something arrives refuse delivery . Seller's are penalised if an INR case is closed against them, so may well actually cancel now to avoid the defect. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

You'd have to check the emails from Currys to see when acceptance occurs, if it's upon payment then you can cancel within 14 days beginning on the day after delivery, if they accept your order upon dispatch and it hasn't been dispatched yet my understanding is you can cancel as a contract hasn't been formed yet. 

eBay dates are estimates and even the dispatch time has "usually" next to it with "Delivery times may vary, especially during peak periods...." so I can't see any dates given for an eBay purchase are set in stone as guaranteed and goods should be delivered within 30 days as per the regs (of course eBay offer you more than your consumer rights through their performance expectations). 

A note on the above post, refusing delivery doesn't guarantee a win with an eBay INR claim.