Online retailer refunds money and cancels the order

Terry_S_Mc

I wanted to get advice on this by people in the know of online purchase contracts.

Yesterday I made a purchase online with a retailer I had never used before but is within the UK. I also used the advert discount code from a newspaper which brought the price down considerably. I then made my payment and received an email confirming how much I had paid and giving my order number. It also said they were getting my order ready for me and it would be sent within a few days. Great I thought, brilliant company.
 
Then later on the same day I received a second email stating my order has been cancelled. It said they have cancelled at 'my request' and the amount has not yet been refunded. I had not requested that though.

Then later still I received a third email saying unfortunately 'they' have had to cancel my order as their system made a mistake giving me multiple discounts. I had ordered 3 items and received the discount for each item, which was correct.
   
I went back to the website this afternoon and went through the purchase process again just to test it as far as the payment page and found that they have now removed the discount code they gave in the newspaper ad as it shows as an invalid code now, but I do have copy of the emails showing the code worked and acceptance of my order.

Am I covered by the contract of sale though as my payment was accepted and I received a confirmation email with order number and price paid before they removed the discount.

I wanted to add this onto another thread with a similar tale here on MSE but that one has been closed. According to that one I would be within my rights to insist I receive the goods under the rules they had accepted my order and payment. It wasn't an exact copy of my issue though so am not sure.
If I do have that right to receive my order at the price paid what should I say to the company?

Sorry if this is longwinded but I wanted to explain as best I could. Thank you.

km1500

although in general you have a contract when you order something and pay this is subject to the retailers terms and conditions 

often these terms and conditions specifically  say a contract is not formed until the point of shipment of the order 

if this is true for this retailer then they are perfectly able to cancel the order and  refund you

powerful_Rogue

How much was the item? What was the discount? What was the final price?

noh

Which retailer?
Most if not all I have used state in their T+Cs that the contract of sale is formed on dispatch of the goods.

TELLIT01

It would be highly unusual for a retailer to allow 3 discounts to be added to an item.  If there was a system error then it is not unreasonable, or forbidden, for the retailer to cancel the order and refund.

Terry_S_Mc

km1500 said:

although in general you have a contract when you order something and pay this is subject to the retailers terms and conditions 

often these terms and conditions specifically  say a contract is not formed until the point of shipment of the order 

if this is true for this retailer then they are perfectly able to cancel the order and  refund you

Thanks, I have checked the Terms of Service just now on their website which are extensive. It doesn't say anything about the contract not being formed until point of shipment. They do say "they are not liable for any Errors, Inaccuracies and Omissions - product descriptions, pricing, promotions, offers, product shipping charges, transit times and availability. We reserve the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions, and to change or update information or cancel orders if any information in the Service or on any related website is inaccurate at any time without prior notice (including after you have submitted your order), except as required by UK law". 

So, in my case, I read that as - they won't be held liable for the inaccuracy, regarding what they said was a mistake by the system and that they reserve the right to cancel orders, even after they have been submitted, except as required by UK law. So I suppose I need to know what the law is regarding it. 

35har1old

TELLIT01 said:

It would be highly unusual for a retailer to allow 3 discounts to be added to an item.  If there was a system error then it is not unreasonable, or forbidden, for the retailer to cancel the order and refund.

It's was 3 items not 3 discounts with discount applied to total order

user1977

Terry_S_Mc said:

km1500 said:

although in general you have a contract when you order something and pay this is subject to the retailers terms and conditions 

often these terms and conditions specifically  say a contract is not formed until the point of shipment of the order 

if this is true for this retailer then they are perfectly able to cancel the order and  refund you

So, in my case, I read that as - they won't be held liable for the inaccuracy, regarding what they said was a mistake by the system and that they reserve the right to cancel orders, even after they have been submitted, except as required by UK law. So I suppose I need to know what the law is regarding it. 

The law allows for contracts to be voided due to error. As already requested, can you give us the numbers involved so we can get a better context?

powerful_Rogue

powerful_Rogue said:

How much was the item? What was the discount? What was the final price?

I noticed you didn't answer this question, so i'm guessing the deal was too good to be true.

Sounds like a unilateral mistake.

PHK

To answer this properly, we need to know who you ordered from. How much the item was, where you saw a newspaper discount  and how 'big' the discount was ?

Terry_S_Mc

powerful_Rogue said:

powerful_Rogue said:

How much was the item? What was the discount? What was the final price?

I noticed you didn't answer this question, so i'm guessing the deal was too good to be true.

Sounds like a unilateral mistake.

I don't want to say what the name of the company is or how much the products were that I purchased as that is personal and not important here.