Distance Selling Regulations - cancellation before dispatch?

dan-_3

First off, this one is my own fault for not doing the usual due diligence with a new retailer, but I'd like your opinions on the best way forward. 

I've just spent a few hundred pounds on an electrical appliance with a retailer I have never used before. It was a late night purchase and I was taken in by a 'special offer' countdown clock and the familiar shopping environment that all Shopify retailers have. I paid on my credit card.   

The order confirmation arrived immediately, but the following day I noticed a lack of detail about the delivery information. The order confirmation did not include all the information required to be compliant with the UK Distance Selling Regulations. On browsing the website further, I noticed that there was no UK telephone number, only a PO box address and only an e-mail address for contacting them. Further digging revealed a terrible TrustPilot score, no obvious entry on Companies House and a T&Cs page that still contained Shopify's standard text that the retailer is supposed to edit to show their own T&Cs. This is when the alarm bells really started to ring. 

My questions are as follows:

1. Am I better off trying to cancel as soon as possible, before any notification of dispatch? This would be to avoid any potential arguments about damage in transit or courier charges. Or am I better off waiting it out to see what arrives (if anything) and then falling back on Section 75 if there are any issues?
2. If I think there is something dodgy, on the basis of the website and order confirmation mentioned above, am I under obligation to report it to my credit card issuer now, or should I give the retailer a reasonable amount of time to make a delivery first? So far, I have sent a simple request to give an estimated delivery date, as a way of testing if they respond to customer service requests.

Thanks in advance.

visidigi

cancel it asap if they will let you.

Ergates

dan-_3 said:

First off, this one is my own fault for not doing the usual due diligence with a new retailer, but I'd like your opinions on the best way forward. 

I've just spent a few hundred pounds on an electrical appliance with a retailer I have never used before. It was a late night purchase and I was taken in by a 'special offer' countdown clock and the familiar shopping environment that all Shopify retailers have. I paid on my credit card.   

The order confirmation arrived immediately, but the following day I noticed a lack of detail about the delivery information. The order confirmation did not include all the information required to be compliant with the UK Distance Selling Regulations. On browsing the website further, I noticed that there was no UK telephone number, only a PO box address and only an e-mail address for contacting them. Further digging revealed a terrible TrustPilot score, no obvious entry on Companies House and a T&Cs page that still contained Shopify's standard text that the retailer is supposed to edit to show their own T&Cs. This is when the alarm bells really started to ring. 

My questions are as follows:

1. Am I better off trying to cancel as soon as possible, before any notification of dispatch? This would be to avoid any potential arguments about damage in transit or courier charges. Or am I better off waiting it out to see what arrives (if anything) and then falling back on Section 75 if there are any issues?
2. If I think there is something dodgy, on the basis of the website and order confirmation mentioned above, am I under obligation to report it to my credit card issuer now, or should I give the retailer a reasonable amount of time to make a delivery first? So far, I have sent a simple request to give an estimated delivery date, as a way of testing if they respond to customer service requests.

Thanks in advance.

1.  Yes.
2.  No - not until/unless something goes wrong.

Manxman_in_exile

visidigi said:

cancel it asap if they will let you.

They don't need to "let" the OP cancel, do they?  If a contract has been formed then the OP can cancel during "the cancellation period" (basically within 14 days of receipt), and if a contract hasn't been formed yet, they can withdraw their offer at any time.

Wouldn't that be the case here?

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (legislation.gov.uk)  s29

Of course if (or when) the retailer won't refund is when the OP needs to go down the s75 route

dan-_3

Thanks everyone for the advice. Due to being very busy at work, I ended up not cancelling anything and the goods arrived via DPD only 5 days after order. All present and correct, and fully working so far. My question to their e-mail address never got answered, so I'm not expecting any after-sales service. Panic over, and thanks again.