made.com order cancellation

FreshlyCutFlowers

I purchased a sofa from made.com, on sale.
They sent me an order confirmation email and estimated dispatch date was 14 - 16 weeks later.
Today, they emailed me 18 weeks later to let me know that they cancelled my order and will refund me in 5 - 7 days.

I see that they still have other colour variants of the item for sale for full price on the site.. Is this really allowed? They have basically loaned my money for 18 weeks and not given me options to buy another version for the same price / discount vouchers / anything at all.

Aylesbury_Duck

FreshlyCutFlowers said:

I purchased a sofa from made.com, on sale.
They sent me an order confirmation email and estimated dispatch date was 14 - 16 weeks later.
Today, they emailed me 18 weeks later to let me know that they cancelled my order and will refund me in 5 - 7 days.

I see that they still have other colour variants of the item for sale for full price on the site.. Is this really allowed? They have basically loaned my money for 18 weeks and not given me options to buy another version for the same price / discount vouchers / anything at all.

It's allowed.  It's pretty rubbish behaviour, but nothing unlawful.

FreshlyCutFlowers

I am gobsmacked- in my native country I would have the rights for made.com to choose one of the following:
- Buy an item equivalent to the sale item elsewhere and have made.com pay the difference.
- Have made.com suggest an equivalent item from their webpage, again, replacing it for the sale items full value.
- Have the items full value (instead of sale value) returned to me.

I had no idea UK consumer rights were so poor.

born_again

Consumer rights are there to put you back where you started. Not give you something for nothing.

Some retailer will go over & above & offer something. Other just play by the rules.

screech_78

FreshlyCutFlowers said:

I am gobsmacked- in my native country I would have the rights for made.com to choose one of the following:
- Buy an item equivalent to the sale item elsewhere and have made.com pay the difference.
- Have made.com suggest an equivalent item from their webpage, again, replacing it for the sale items full value.
- Have the items full value (instead of sale value) returned to me.

I had no idea UK consumer rights were so poor.

I’d be interested to know which country these rights exist in, as they’re crazy. 

It’s poor service from Made if they’ve not engaged with you prior to cancelling and discussing it first. However, you’re not entitled to betterment. They’ve given you a full refund so you haven’t lost anything. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Loss of a bargain here?

Terms state

2.3 All orders are subject to acceptance by us. We will send you a confirmation e-mail after receiving your order and this will constitute acceptance by us. The contract between you and us will only be made when we send you this email. We will charge your chosen payment method after we accept your order. We will send a further email when your order has been dispatched.

So sounds like OP had a contract. 

Ditzy_Mitzy

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Loss of a bargain here?

Terms state

2.3 All orders are subject to acceptance by us. We will send you a confirmation e-mail after receiving your order and this will constitute acceptance by us. The contract between you and us will only be made when we send you this email. We will charge your chosen payment method after we accept your order. We will send a further email when your order has been dispatched.

So sounds like OP had a contract. 

What bargain?  Seems like a fairly straightforward purchase transaction to me.  The OP has the right to be put back in his/her original position if the contract cannot be fulfilled.  That appears to have happened.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Loss of a bargain here?

Terms state

2.3 All orders are subject to acceptance by us. We will send you a confirmation e-mail after receiving your order and this will constitute acceptance by us. The contract between you and us will only be made when we send you this email. We will charge your chosen payment method after we accept your order. We will send a further email when your order has been dispatched.

So sounds like OP had a contract. 

What bargain?  Seems like a fairly straightforward purchase transaction to me.  The OP has the right to be put back in his/her original position if the contract cannot be fulfilled.  That appears to have happened.

FreshlyCutFlowers said:

I see that they still have other colour variants of the item for sale for full price on the site.. Is this really allowed? They have basically loaned my money for 18 weeks and not given me options to buy another version for the same price / discount vouchers / anything at all.

So presumably discounted/on sale.

If OP is unable to find an equivalent (anywhere, not just with made.com) for the same price is that not what loss of a bargain is about? 

FreshlyCutFlowers

In Scandinavian countries the rules above apply to any online sales. You thinking that customers don't lose anything in a case such as mine speaks volumes about what has been normalized here and probably in many other countries.

The contract made.com has made is to deliver a certain item at a certain price at a certain time. Pulling out after holding my money hostage for 18 weeks with no compensation is hardly 'not lost anything'.

They lured a customer in with the above terms, a sale. I would have never even found their site if the item didnt show up on sale in google so they have earned brand awareness. This is why scandinavian countries have the above rules- once you put up a contract for an item you should never put the seller in an advantageous position, which has happened here.

I have lost 18 weeks waiting for this item and potentially lost out on sales from other competitors.

Anyway, good to know as I won't be going back.

Ditzy_Mitzy

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Loss of a bargain here?

Terms state

2.3 All orders are subject to acceptance by us. We will send you a confirmation e-mail after receiving your order and this will constitute acceptance by us. The contract between you and us will only be made when we send you this email. We will charge your chosen payment method after we accept your order. We will send a further email when your order has been dispatched.

So sounds like OP had a contract. 

What bargain?  Seems like a fairly straightforward purchase transaction to me.  The OP has the right to be put back in his/her original position if the contract cannot be fulfilled.  That appears to have happened.

FreshlyCutFlowers said:

I see that they still have other colour variants of the item for sale for full price on the site.. Is this really allowed? They have basically loaned my money for 18 weeks and not given me options to buy another version for the same price / discount vouchers / anything at all.

So presumably discounted/on sale.

If OP is unable to find an equivalent (anywhere, not just with made.com) for the same price is that not what loss of a bargain is about? 

I've always understood 'loss of bargain' to be a loss of profits that would subsequently made by the plaintiff were the contract to be fulfilled. 

To wit: a furniture maker contracts with a customer to manufacture a settee covered in leather of a precise grade.  Subsequently the furniture maker contracts with a tanner for a quantity of leather of the precise grade to be delivered.  The tanner cannot, for one reason or other, fulfil his contract which then frustrates the second contract between the furniture maker and his customer.  The whole thing falls apart, in effect, because the settee cannot be made to the specifications in the original contract.

The loss of bargain principle, as I understand it, allows the furniture maker to sue the tanner for the agreed sale price of the settee.  He has, after all, lost the money he would have made through no fault of his own.  It's one of those things that's more relevant to the commercial arena than that of the private consumer.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

It was my understanding that it was about missing out or losing an opportunity so in your example the furniture maker has lost out on profit but the customer would also lose out on owning the goods.

If they are able to source the goods elsewhere then they haven't lost out but if they have to pay a higher price to achieve that they can claim the difference in damages as they will have lost out on owning the goods at the previous price.