Being asked for a cancellation fee I didn't know about

NBLondon

macman said:

How is it a 'rip off' to do several hours work for you and then bill you a very reasonable amount if you decide to cancel the print order you agreed? It was your choice to cancel, and your choice not to read the t and c's.

If the t&c were only presented on the bottom of the invoice, then hollie has a point,   Were they clearly presented on the website to indicate that the design consultation work was chargeable if no order followed?   

If the customer asks for an indicative quote and gets a mockup - that's not chargeable.  When the discussions started and work was done to agree a design, that's the point at which the designer should have made it clear that a contract has been entered into.

macman said:

 It's nothing to do with materials purchased.

Correct.

eskbanker

Hollie1985 said:

they asked if I could approve the design, they would then send an invoice and I would have 30 days to pay.

[...]

They said that by approving the design this enters me into a contract

[...]

I approved the design and asked them to send me an invoice.

Hollie1985 said:

He then asked if the design was approved, and I said yes please send me an invoice.

Seems to me that they (not unreasonably) equate your request for an invoice with entering into a contract, whereas you seem to regard the invoice as effectively no more than a quote rather than reflecting a commitment to proceed?

pinkshoes

Hollie1985 said:

Just to answer the above. I made a query on the website and then received an email with a mock up. We went back and forth as he didn't quite understand what I meant. He then asked if the design was approved, and I said yes please send me an invoice. The T&Cs were at the bottom of the invoice however at this point I had already approved the design.

Hollie1985 said:

@macman and where I completely agree it was my logo on a bag, the reason I went back and forth is because he didn't understand me when I said I wanted a grey bag with my circle grey logo in the middle. He misuderstood me a couple of times. I wasn't made aware of these charges. They have come back to say that I should of read the terms and conditions before sending the enquiry via their website. Whilst I appreciate their time, these charges were not transparent. What would of happened if they charged £100 an hour? Would the expectation just be for me to pay? With my business we go back and forth with our customers about their order and they pay when they are happy. If at any point they change their mind before payment has been made then that's our tough luck and just how business is. What would of been the harm in telling me that there was a charge should I not go ahead with the design? Seems people hid info in their T&Cs nowadays to fall back on and rip people off. I have left it now it can't be enforcable with no agreement from me and me not paying the invoice. The business has chosen to purchase raw materials before getting confirmation from me and me paying the invoice? I wasn't aware that was how some businesses worked. I was only asking for some advice on here as I cannot afford to pay the cancellation fee.

You seem to have contradicted yourself. You said YES PLEASE to approving the design. This is acceptance of a contract therefore they went ahead to start the job.

If you had not said yes please to accepting the design, then maybe you could argue nothing was agreed, but as they have this in writing, you have no leg to stand on whatsoever, and it would be really foolish to ignore this.

Instead of making you pay the entire invoice, they are offering you a reasonable fee instead, so you need to decide whether you opt for paying the full amount and having the bags made (how much was it?) or paying the £65 plus VAT.

Before approving anything, you should have asked for T&Cs if you hadn't read them. 

If you cannot pay then I suggest borrowing the money, as if they take you to court you will lose and you will then also be liable for costs. 

penners324

You've agreed the contract therefore the this sounds a very reasonable cancellation fee.

The contract is agreed at the time you approved the art work and requested an invoice.

Potbellypig

Hollie1985 said:

@macman and where I completely agree it was my logo on a bag, the reason I went back and forth is because he didn't understand me when I said I wanted a grey bag with my circle grey logo in the middle. He misuderstood me a couple of times. I wasn't made aware of these charges. They have come back to say that I should of read the terms and conditions before sending the enquiry via their website. Whilst I appreciate their time, these charges were not transparent. What would of happened if they charged £100 an hour? Would the expectation just be for me to pay? With my business we go back and forth with our customers about their order and they pay when they are happy. If at any point they change their mind before payment has been made then that's our tough luck and just how business is. What would of been the harm in telling me that there was a charge should I not go ahead with the design? Seems people hid info in their T&Cs nowadays to fall back on and rip people off. I have left it now it can't be enforcable with no agreement from me and me not paying the invoice. The business has chosen to purchase raw materials before getting confirmation from me and me paying the invoice? I wasn't aware that was how some businesses worked. I was only asking for some advice on here as I cannot afford to pay the cancellation fee.

Your understanding of how business works doesn't dissolve you from your legal responsibilities.

As for advice, your options are to pay it, or not pay it. If you don't pay it then the other business can take legal routes to recover their costs. This might be going all the way to court to get you to pay (probably wouldn't happen but they could), or they could write it off and move on. The bit inbetween that could hurt your business is if they provide negative feedback amongst your business peers and customers, and effect your sales going forward.

Just bear in mind that on the other side of this there is a person that has done work that your asked for, currently for free.

tightauldgit

If you approved the design and asked for an invoice (rather than a quote) then that sounds like you placed an order and are subject to the terms of placing that order. As a commercial entity you don't have the same protections as consumers and expected to be more savvy to the consequences of placing orders, etc. 

If you can't afford the £65 fee then your business is insolvent and you should be taking steps to wind it up.