Furniture Village. Do Not Buy In-store!!

jon81uk

john8solo said:

john8solo said:

jon81uk said:

That’s the same with all retailers. By law you can cancel and return (at your own cost for change of mind) for off-premises sales. But buy in store and it is assumed you had an opportunity to inspect the goods in store. 

However if it’s deemed you handled goods more than you would in store then they can reduce the value. Plus you may need to pay for the return. 

This isn't what the staff said. They just said no returns. Would have been happy to talk about it with them, pay for returns or any fees incurred within reason. 

We did have an opportunity to inspect the goods in-store. But their is a difference between trying it out in the store for 20mins, and sitting at home for many hours.... If we had purchased online, we could have tried the sofa for a whole two weeks and been within rights to return according to furniture villages rules.
So buy online, you have more rights.

You can't try it for two weeks. You have up to 14 days to cancel by law, that doesn't mean you can use an item for two weeks and then return it. For example if it was clothing you need to return with the tags on and unworn except to try on (same as you would do in store). The same would apply with furniture, if it is not in the new condition it was received in they can refuse the return or deduct from the refund. If you sat on it daily for two weeks they would be within their rights to deduct from the return to reflect that it is now a used item.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

tightauldgit said:

Alderbank said:

john8solo said:

Hi all, I just need to make this point clear! Do Not Buy In-store!
Go to the store, have a look around, see something you like or want, then leave the place and buy from the website. It's your choice obviously, this is my advice, here's why:

If you go to the store, have a look round, see something you like or want, then leave the place and buy from the website your consumer rights are exactly the same as if you buy in-store.

That's actually a really good point. Although I'm not sure how an online retailer would know/be able to prove that you went to a store and tried the item first unless they had a record of your visit.

Complete aside but I wonder based on that if an online shop could put in their T&Cs or online order that 'by placing an order on this site you confirm that you have visited our store and tried the item in advance' and short-circuit the right to cancel? 

That wouldn't stand up, a distance contract is 

“distance contract” means a contract concluded between a trader and a consumer under an organised distance sales or service-provision scheme without the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication up to and including the time at which the contract is concluded;

which is matter of fact.

A store could for example give a unique discount code tied to the customer's name to people walking out the store without buying anything which would demonstrate they had visited the store beforehand. 

It's all balance of probability over timeframes, however just because you've been in a John Lewis shop at some point in your life that wouldn't mean you could never form a distance contract with them in the future.

tightauldgit

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

tightauldgit said:

Alderbank said:

john8solo said:

Hi all, I just need to make this point clear! Do Not Buy In-store!
Go to the store, have a look around, see something you like or want, then leave the place and buy from the website. It's your choice obviously, this is my advice, here's why:

If you go to the store, have a look round, see something you like or want, then leave the place and buy from the website your consumer rights are exactly the same as if you buy in-store.

That's actually a really good point. Although I'm not sure how an online retailer would know/be able to prove that you went to a store and tried the item first unless they had a record of your visit.

Complete aside but I wonder based on that if an online shop could put in their T&Cs or online order that 'by placing an order on this site you confirm that you have visited our store and tried the item in advance' and short-circuit the right to cancel? 

That wouldn't stand up, a distance contract is 

“distance contract” means a contract concluded between a trader and a consumer under an organised distance sales or service-provision scheme without the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication up to and including the time at which the contract is concluded;

which is matter of fact.

A store could for example give a unique discount code tied to the customer's name to people walking out the store without buying anything which would demonstrate they had visited the store beforehand. 

It's all balance of probability over timeframes, however just because you've been in a John Lewis shop at some point in your life that wouldn't mean you could never form a distance contract with them in the future.

I'm not clear how what you posted counters my hypothetical - if a customer provides a statement that they have been to the store (or agrees to that statement) and tried the product (or whatever specific wording would satisfy the requirements of it no longer being a distance contract) then on what grounds would it not stand? 

The court would either have to conclude that it wasn't a distance contract or the customer misrepresented themselves in forming the contract. 

I agree that it shouldn't be possible to do it but I'm wondering on what grounds. Perhaps it would be an unfair contract term to require someone to try before they buy? Not sure.  

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

tightauldgit said:

I'm not clear how what you posted counters my hypothetical - if a customer provides a statement that they have been to the store (or agrees to that statement) and tried the product (or whatever specific wording would satisfy the requirements of it no longer being a distance contract) then on what grounds would it not stand? 

The customer isn't providing a statement by accepting terms and conditions, they agreeing to the terms of a contract.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/12

(2)Where regulation 9, 10 or 13 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/3134) required the trader to provide information to the consumer before the contract became binding, any of that information that was provided by the trader other than information about the goods and mentioned in paragraph (a) of Schedule 1 or 2 to the Regulations (main characteristics of goods) is to be treated as included as a term of the contract.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/31/enacted

(1)A term of a contract to supply goods is not binding on the consumer to the extent that it would exclude or restrict the trader’s liability arising under any of these provisions—

(d)section 12 (other pre-contract information included in contract);

Forcing a customer to accept a statement that they've been in store where it isn't the case contravenes their right of cancellation, implied terms under section 12(2), and thus is an unfair term.

Anything in Section 31 falls under the "Blacklist" which are terms that are always considered unfair