Cancellation rights 14 days - what constitutes commencement of a service?

brixtonia

I cancelled a carpet clean service from a large company due to the announcements about Tier 4 and a more contagious virus being "out of control". The office was closed over the weekend and did not open again until 930am Monday. The appointment was 8am on Monday so the first I got to speak with someone was after they texted me to say they were going to be late. The operative had not been briefed on any new measures to take account of the news of the virus and was not even aware of Tier 4. I could not speak with anyone in the office as it was not open so I told him I would like to cancel the appointment and reschedule when we were all better informed. When I emailed them to say that I would be in touch to reschedule they advised that they had refunded the charge less £50 (about35%) which they said was in line with their cancellation policy requiring 2 working days notice.  I pointed out that they had sold me the service over the phone within the past week, that cancellation rights are set out in the Consumer Contracts Regulations and that I was entitled to cancel at any point within 14 days of making the order. Their response was that my statutory right ceased once the service had begun and, because their operative was en route, the service had begun.

I'm not sure that they are right on either point are they?

JJ_Egan

Are you in a defined Tier 4 area ?

Fosterdog

Did they email or send you any T&Cs when you booked? If so what to they say about commencement and cancellation?

brixtonia

Their T&Cs require 2 working days notice - which had already expired upon booking (as I discovered after booking). Nevertheless, their T&Cs are secondary to statutory rights of cancellation provided for in the CCR. Their T&Cs don't define commencement, but I don't think their definition would not necessarily apply to the CCR anyway.

Fosterdog

brixtonia said:

Their T&Cs require 2 working days notice - which had already expired upon booking (as I discovered after booking). Nevertheless, their T&Cs are secondary to statutory rights of cancellation provided for in the CCR. Their T&Cs don't define commencement, but I don't think their definition would not necessarily apply to the CCR anyway.

It's not quite as simple as statutory rights negating their T&Cs, that is only the case if their T&Cs try to remove your rights. There are provisions within CCRs for shorter terms for cancellation rights if the service is due to commence earlier than the 14 day usual right to cancel. That is why the exact wording of their T&Cs is important. If they haven't followed legislation and provided the correct information then you are in the right and due a full refund, if they have followed legislation and provided the correct information then you might not have the right to cancel without incurring costs.

unholyangel

Fosterdog said:

brixtonia said:

Their T&Cs require 2 working days notice - which had already expired upon booking (as I discovered after booking). Nevertheless, their T&Cs are secondary to statutory rights of cancellation provided for in the CCR. Their T&Cs don't define commencement, but I don't think their definition would not necessarily apply to the CCR anyway.

It's not quite as simple as statutory rights negating their T&Cs, that is only the case if their T&Cs try to remove your rights. There are provisions within CCRs for shorter terms for cancellation rights if the service is due to commence earlier than the 14 day usual right to cancel. That is why the exact wording of their T&Cs is important. If they haven't followed legislation and provided the correct information then you are in the right and due a full refund, if they have followed legislation and provided the correct information then you might not have the right to cancel without incurring costs.

There isn't provision for a shorter cancellation as such. What the ccr say is that a trader must not begin providing the service within the cancellation period unless the consumer expressly requests it.

But they still need to inform the consumer of their statutory right to cancel and that the right will be lost if they request provision begin before the end of the cancellation period. If they havent, they can't make any deduction from the refund even if they have started providing the service. 

brixtonia

unholyangel said:

Fosterdog said:

brixtonia said:

Their T&Cs require 2 working days notice - which had already expired upon booking (as I discovered after booking). Nevertheless, their T&Cs are secondary to statutory rights of cancellation provided for in the CCR. Their T&Cs don't define commencement, but I don't think their definition would not necessarily apply to the CCR anyway.

It's not quite as simple as statutory rights negating their T&Cs, that is only the case if their T&Cs try to remove your rights. There are provisions within CCRs for shorter terms for cancellation rights if the service is due to commence earlier than the 14 day usual right to cancel. That is why the exact wording of their T&Cs is important. If they haven't followed legislation and provided the correct information then you are in the right and due a full refund, if they have followed legislation and provided the correct information then you might not have the right to cancel without incurring costs.

There isn't provision for a shorter cancellation as such. What the ccr say is that a trader must not begin providing the service within the cancellation period unless the consumer expressly requests it.

But they still need to inform the consumer of their statutory right to cancel and that the right will be lost if they request provision begin before the end of the cancellation period. If they havent, they can't make any deduction from the refund even if they have started providing the service. 

There is no doubt that I asked them to perform the service within the 14 days period.  I did not see any T&Cs before purchase - the emailed receipt advised that I could read T&Cs on their website (no link). The T&Cs mention a 48hr notice period for cancellation but there is no mention of losing any statutory right to cancel.

Also, doesn't that clause only apply once the service has been fully performed?

(2) In the case of a service other than supply of water, gas, electricity or district heating, the consumer ceases to have the right to cancel a service contract under regulation 29(1) if the service has been fully performed, and performance of the service began—
(a)after a request by the consumer in accordance with paragraph (1), and
(b)with the acknowledgement that the consumer would lose that right once the contract had been fully performed by the trader.

In this case, no one has even been to my address - let alone carried out any service there.

I have to admit I find the legislation quite confusing.

Flight3287462

Can't understand why you cancelled.  Each to their own.

I doubt you will be getting anymore without going to court and that would be rather disingenuous on your part.  

unholyangel

brixtonia said:

unholyangel said:

Fosterdog said:

brixtonia said:

Their T&Cs require 2 working days notice - which had already expired upon booking (as I discovered after booking). Nevertheless, their T&Cs are secondary to statutory rights of cancellation provided for in the CCR. Their T&Cs don't define commencement, but I don't think their definition would not necessarily apply to the CCR anyway.

It's not quite as simple as statutory rights negating their T&Cs, that is only the case if their T&Cs try to remove your rights. There are provisions within CCRs for shorter terms for cancellation rights if the service is due to commence earlier than the 14 day usual right to cancel. That is why the exact wording of their T&Cs is important. If they haven't followed legislation and provided the correct information then you are in the right and due a full refund, if they have followed legislation and provided the correct information then you might not have the right to cancel without incurring costs.

There isn't provision for a shorter cancellation as such. What the ccr say is that a trader must not begin providing the service within the cancellation period unless the consumer expressly requests it.

But they still need to inform the consumer of their statutory right to cancel and that the right will be lost if they request provision begin before the end of the cancellation period. If they havent, they can't make any deduction from the refund even if they have started providing the service. 

There is no doubt that I asked them to perform the service within the 14 days period.  I did not see any T&Cs before purchase - the emailed receipt advised that I could read T&Cs on their website (no link). The T&Cs mention a 48hr notice period for cancellation but there is no mention of losing any statutory right to cancel.

Also, doesn't that clause only apply once the service has been fully performed?

(2) In the case of a service other than supply of water, gas, electricity or district heating, the consumer ceases to have the right to cancel a service contract under regulation 29(1) if the service has been fully performed, and performance of the service began—
(a)after a request by the consumer in accordance with paragraph (1), and
(b)with the acknowledgement that the consumer would lose that right once the contract had been fully performed by the trader.

In this case, no one has even been to my address - let alone carried out any service there.

I have to admit I find the legislation quite confusing.

If they had given you the right information in a durable medium before you were bound by the contract (websites aren't durable, even if they had included it on there) and you cancelled after expressly requesting the service begin early, you would be able to cancel but would be liable for the cost of what was provided as a proportion to the whole contract price. Once the service has been fully performed, you wouldn't be able to cancel. 

However, as they didn't provide the required information in the required format, they can't charge you a penny. 

Of course getting them to agree may not be straightforward. Chargeback wouldn't work for this but s75 would. So, did you pay by credit card?

brixtonia

Hunyani_Flight_825 said:

Can't understand why you cancelled.  Each to their own.

I doubt you will be getting anymore without going to court and that would be rather disingenuous on your part.  

I haven't fully explained why I cancelled as it's not relevant to my question and I was not seeking reassurance about my reasons or even to complain. I've not mentioned any intention of going to court either.
I would however like to fully understand my position before responding to the company, especially as better understanding my rights will almost certainly be useful in the future. I fail to see why this would be in any way disingenuous but all insights are valuable and I appreciate the effort you have put in to responding. 

brixtonia

unholyangel said:

brixtonia said:

unholyangel said:

Fosterdog said:

brixtonia said:

Their T&Cs require 2 working days notice - which had already expired upon booking (as I discovered after booking). Nevertheless, their T&Cs are secondary to statutory rights of cancellation provided for in the CCR. Their T&Cs don't define commencement, but I don't think their definition would not necessarily apply to the CCR anyway.

It's not quite as simple as statutory rights negating their T&Cs, that is only the case if their T&Cs try to remove your rights. There are provisions within CCRs for shorter terms for cancellation rights if the service is due to commence earlier than the 14 day usual right to cancel. That is why the exact wording of their T&Cs is important. If they haven't followed legislation and provided the correct information then you are in the right and due a full refund, if they have followed legislation and provided the correct information then you might not have the right to cancel without incurring costs.

There isn't provision for a shorter cancellation as such. What the ccr say is that a trader must not begin providing the service within the cancellation period unless the consumer expressly requests it.

But they still need to inform the consumer of their statutory right to cancel and that the right will be lost if they request provision begin before the end of the cancellation period. If they havent, they can't make any deduction from the refund even if they have started providing the service. 

There is no doubt that I asked them to perform the service within the 14 days period.  I did not see any T&Cs before purchase - the emailed receipt advised that I could read T&Cs on their website (no link). The T&Cs mention a 48hr notice period for cancellation but there is no mention of losing any statutory right to cancel.

Also, doesn't that clause only apply once the service has been fully performed?

(2) In the case of a service other than supply of water, gas, electricity or district heating, the consumer ceases to have the right to cancel a service contract under regulation 29(1) if the service has been fully performed, and performance of the service began—
(a)after a request by the consumer in accordance with paragraph (1), and
(b)with the acknowledgement that the consumer would lose that right once the contract had been fully performed by the trader.

In this case, no one has even been to my address - let alone carried out any service there.

I have to admit I find the legislation quite confusing.

If they had given you the right information in a durable medium before you were bound by the contract (websites aren't durable, even if they had included it on there) and you cancelled after expressly requesting the service begin early, you would be able to cancel but would be liable for the cost of what was provided as a proportion to the whole contract price. Once the service has been fully performed, you wouldn't be able to cancel. 

However, as they didn't provide the required information in the required format, they can't charge you a penny. 

Of course getting them to agree may not be straightforward. Chargeback wouldn't work for this but s75 would. So, did you pay by credit card?

Thanks.
Firstly - yes I paid by CC. 
Secondly - regarding proportion of what was provided, can they charge anything when no one attended the address? When I spoke with them they said they were running late and would be with me in half an hour or so. They deducted about 35% of the full price.