Pages of a Store's commercial Terms not disclosed to me when signing

ctsoton

In July I paid in store a £1500 deposit towards a made to order sofa, and the remainder on buy now pay later finance.

The sales guy showed me on screen a single page of the order breakdown including some "terms" that stated:

-£50 a week storage charge if customer isn't ready to accept delivery
- the rest was related to how to care for the leather.

These were all read out and explained, he then asked me to sign the box underneath using my fingertip electronically to "CONFIRM THAT I HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND ALL THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS"

The deposit went through on my credit card, the finance application went through and was accepted.

He then said "I'll just print everything out for you"

He then gave me a print out of the same order breakdown with the leather advice, the finance companies terms.

It was on the journey home when I saw there was a second page of the stores terms and conditions that were not shown to me or explained.

These state:

"the order is a firm and legally binding contract........YOUR DEPOSIT IS NON RETURNABLE"


Had I known the deposit was non returnable then I would have gone away to think about it some more, to make sure I was 100% certain I wanted to go ahead.  I either would have decided not to proceed or gone back to the store with 100% certainty and knowledge that my deposit was non-returnable

Upon noticing this I tried calling to ask why this was withheld from me.  It took several attempts to speak to someone.  I explained I like the sofa but am not happy with the way the sale was handled.

The only response I've had from the company is from the manager of the sister store next door to complain my google maps review was for his store, not the correct one.


I've spoken to trading standards to complain that critical information was not disclosed, but they just kept saying "there is no right to cancel in store purchases"

I've emailed a formal complaint to the store and their head office but have had no response.

What are my rights here?

Is a Section 75 dispute for misrepresentation the next best step both to my credit card for deposit, and the finance lender for the remainder?

Is the failure to disclose or show the commercial terms a "misleading omission" under the Misrepresentation Act 1967, Consumer Rights Act 2015 and Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008?

user1977

Did they say the deposit was returnable? I don't think there's any legal implication that it is unless they tell you otherwise.

ctsoton

user1977 said:

Did they say the deposit was returnable? I don't think there's any legal implication that it is unless they tell you otherwise.

No, that's the point.

They didn't mention anything relating to cancellation or deposit.  

I was asked to sign page 1 of the terms to say "I have read and understand ALL" but I was only shown page 1.  The "non refundable deposit" was on page 2, which I was not given until AFTER I had signed page 1, paid the deposit and the finance agreement had gone through.


Last year at furniture village I placed a deposit on a lounge chair, changed my mind and got the deposit back no problem.


Trading standards said "the onus is on you to know what the law says and to ask" but it blows my mind a salesperson can withhold all pages of their terms before asking you to sign then expect you to be legally bound by clauses they did not disclose

MyRealNameToo

Deposits are "non-refundable" by standard, same as goods bought in store being non-refundable for change of mind, its up to you to check if you are uncertain and may want to change your mind that the contract/policy is different to the legal standard. In the absence of an explicit clause/policy that deviates from the norm then the norm applies. 

Haven't seen the screen you were looking at but when in a similar circumstance it was evident that there was a scroll bar on the terms so when they handed the thing over to me to sign I scrolled through the terms scan reading them in general and specifically looking for the terms I am interested in. 

sheramber

There is no right to change your mind when buying in store.

That applies to all purchases in store. 
 

Some stores  allow change of mind returns but that’s a goodwill gesture from them.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

ctsoton said:

Is the failure to disclose or show the commercial terms a "misleading omission" under the Misrepresentation Act 1967, Consumer Rights Act 2015 and Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008?

If purchased after the 6th of April this year the relevant sections of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 have been incorporated into The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA) 2024 and prohibit misleading actions and omissions that affect the transactional decision of the average consumer. 

This is broad and non-specific so a court would ultimately decide what is and isn't in breach, whilst I think there is a lot of practices that could fall under this, the legislation notes:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2024/13

Meaning of “average consumer”: general

(1)This section provides for how references to the average consumer are to be read for the purposes of this Chapter.

(2)The average consumer is—

(a)reasonably well informed,

(b)reasonably observant, and

(c)reasonably circumspect.

(3)The average consumer is to be treated as not knowing information in relation to a commercial practice where such information has been concealed by the trader (even if the average consumer might know the information from another source).

Whilst 3 might cover what you are saying, I think 2 would be the downfall as the right to cancel is a right afforded in consumer protection legislation and the ordinary position where such a right doesn't exist is no right to cancel. When you consider in store purchases have been this way for decades I think it's very thin ground. 

Nothing to stop your arguing such and stating you are exercising your right to treat the contract at an end but that comes with 2 things.

Firstly store and general customer service usually have a script and won't know much about the finer details of consumer protection legislation so you'd need to complain higher up if this is one of the national companies.

Secondly if they disagree, or ignored you, you'd have decide whether the cost of small claims justifies the risk, personally for me it doesn't, but I could of course be wrong  

ctsoton

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

ctsoton said:

Is the failure to disclose or show the commercial terms a "misleading omission" under the Misrepresentation Act 1967, Consumer Rights Act 2015 and Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008?

(3)The average consumer is to be treated as not knowing information in relation to a commercial practice where such information has been concealed by the trader (even if the average consumer might know the information from another source).

Whilst 3 might cover what you are saying, I think 2 would be the downfall as the right to cancel is a right afforded in consumer protection legislation and the ordinary position where such a right doesn't exist is no right to cancel. When you consider in store purchases have been this way for decades I think it's very thin ground. 

Thanks for your post.

I would assume the "average consumer" is familiar with being able to take items back to most stores, with proof of purchase as long as they're unopened.

Presumably - these are stores goodwill gestures, not rights given by legislation - but gestures the average consumer will be far more familiar with than "made to order items"



As for small claims, should the store want to hold me to the order then I assume S75 misrepresentation claims to my credit card and finance agreement lender would be the first port of call, then a complaint to ombudsman before reaching small claims.

Of course by that point the sofa could well be ready and the store could then attempt to deliver it.....

born_again

No chance of S75. In store purchase. Which unless they specifically state you can cancel or change your mind. Is not covered. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

ctsoton said:

Thanks for your post.

I would assume the "average consumer" is familiar with being able to take items back to most stores, with proof of purchase as long as they're unopened.

Presumably - these are stores goodwill gestures, not rights given by legislation - but gestures the average consumer will be far more familiar with than "made to order items"

Yes that's the kind of thing for a court to decide basically, of course doesn't hurt your argument to articulate such.

ctsoton said:

As for small claims, should the store want to hold me to the order then I assume S75 misrepresentation claims to my credit card and finance agreement lender would be the first port of call, then a complaint to ombudsman before reaching small claims.

Of course by that point the sofa could well be ready and the store could then attempt to deliver it.....

Where Section 75 applies the credit provider is jointly liable, you can go through their process and can go through the ombudsman process or can simply issue small claims against them instead.

£1500 isn't much so a credit company or a national retailer* may decide to let it go and refund the deposit to be done with it, but how far you would have to go before they fold is an unknown  

*Small shop might be more likely stick it out on principle.

user1977

ctsoton said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

ctsoton said:

Is the failure to disclose or show the commercial terms a "misleading omission" under the Misrepresentation Act 1967, Consumer Rights Act 2015 and Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008?

(3)The average consumer is to be treated as not knowing information in relation to a commercial practice where such information has been concealed by the trader (even if the average consumer might know the information from another source).

Whilst 3 might cover what you are saying, I think 2 would be the downfall as the right to cancel is a right afforded in consumer protection legislation and the ordinary position where such a right doesn't exist is no right to cancel. When you consider in store purchases have been this way for decades I think it's very thin ground. 

I would assume the "average consumer" is familiar with being able to take items back to most stores, with proof of purchase as long as they're unopened.

It's quite commonplace but I would doubt it's "most".

ctsoton

user1977 said:

It's quite commonplace but I would doubt it's "most".

It's semantics, I assume it's far easier to list stores that do accept returns rather than those that don't.