Refund of delivery fees of a scheduled shippment

rolko3333

Wonka_2 said:

Given your use of 'event' and the value behind them was this a B2B transaction rather than as a consumer ?

It will have an impact on the usefulness of the advice given

It is a business transaction

Manxman_in_exile

So what do the T&Cs on their website say about which country's laws the contract is subject to?  Do their T&Cs draw a distinction between ordinary consumer transactions and business transactions (like yours is)?  If you aren't sure just tell us who the seller is and somebody can check their T&Cs.  There's no harm in letting us know who they are.

Even if it was a business transaction you should still have some comeback if you made it clear to the seller that "time was of the essence".  That basically means that you made it clear to the seller that your purchase was conditional on them delivering the goods to you by a specific time.  Have you any evidence of that (eg emails or 'phone recordings) or is it just your word against theirs?

Personally, I'd have to say that I'd have little faith in a £3000 order made on 12 December being delivered before 25 December.  Especially if being imported from outside UK.  If they are agreeing to give you a full refund of the purchase price and only charging you 50% (£400?) of the delivery costs I'd suggest that this might be a good rresult for you in a business transaction.

(If you engage in a lot of relatively high value business transactions you should consider paying for legal advice as a business expense.  As others have said, most consumer transactions are protected by legislation,but businesses are expected to know the law, to be able to stand on their own feet and fight their own corner themselves.)

rolko3333

Thank you very much for your reply. Here are the terms and conditions: https://www.la-maison-chic.co.uk/terms-conditions/

We were also in contact with a legal counsel and he said, that because the delivery time was essential element of the contract, which was not fulfilled, we do not have to pay any costs. But as you stated out, it will be difficult to prove it because it was only confirmed by phone.  

Devongardener

Well the Despatch time is quoted as 15 to 20 days and you ordered on the 12th, so regardless of any verbal promise the manufacturer has complied with the contract.

Keep_pedalling

So ordered from the UK for delivery in Switzerland not the other way round. 

tripled

Those T&C aren't compliant with UK consumer law, which is pretty shoddy, however, as a B2B transaction consumer law doesn't apply.

They state International delivery is usually 15-20 working days, ie a month, the return shipping costs are the customer's responsibility and there is also a restocking fee of 10%.

Without any evidence of any agreement for delivery by a specific date, then you will have an uphill battle getting them to pay the return shipping.

Manxman_in_exile

tripled said:

Those T&C aren't compliant with UK consumer law, which is pretty shoddy, however, as a B2B transaction consumer law doesn't apply....

I know what you mean from a consumer point of view, but I'm not sure you're actually right? 

Their T&Cs do, on the face of it, seem to be non-compliant with consumer law, but they also contain that weasel-worded catch-all disclaimer:

"Consumer Rights

None of the above Terms and Conditions affects your statutory consumer rights"

despite the fact that the above T&Cs are obviously (I would say) written in such a way as to mislead consumers into thinking that, for example, they have to report faults within 24 hours and have to pay re-stocking fees.

I don't think these disclaimers should be allowed.  Sellers' T&Cs should make it clear what a consumer's statutory rights are and only include other T&Cs insofar as they give a consumer additional rights over and above those they already have under statute.

But as this seems to be a business transaction, I agree any consumer law considerations are irrelevant.  As I posted previously, if the OP doesn't really have any evidence that they made "time of the essence", then I reckon a full refund on the goods and a 50% refund on the delivery costs is a pretty good result.

Manxman_in_exile

Keep_pedalling said:

So ordered from the UK for delivery in Switzerland not the other way round. 

Thanks.  I didn't even notice that!

Flight3287462

I doubt the seller can be held responsible for any customs delays assuming they were despatched promptly.

I think they are being quite fair under the circumstances.

rolko3333

tripled said:

Those T&C aren't compliant with UK consumer law, which is pretty shoddy, however, as a B2B transaction consumer law doesn't apply.

They state International delivery is usually 15-20 working days, ie a month, the return shipping costs are the customer's responsibility and there is also a restocking fee of 10%.

Without any evidence of any agreement for delivery by a specific date, then you will have an uphill battle getting them to pay the return shipping.

As you said, due to the limited evidence it will be very hard to get the money back. So I think we leave it as it is. Thank you very for your reply!