Retailer won't accept partial return of an order

sheramber

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Okell said:

Can you find that again?

Don't think so, does the forum go that far back?

I think she said something about a contract being made up of mini contracts or something along those lines but I could be wrong. 

This one?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5694648/returning-part-of-online-order?utm_source=community-search&utm_medium=organic-search&utm_term=return+part+order

Okell

Hmmm. 

It might be that one, but that one deals with rejection of goods and not cancellation of the contract...

I think it might have been more recent than 2017...

Problemis the search facility on here is !!!!!!

Okell

I suspect @A_Geordie might know

Alderbank

Well done @sheramber for tracing that reference.

If it is the one recalled by @the_lunatic_is_in_my_head it refers very specifically to s21 of CRA2015 where the consumer is exercising the right to reject some or all of the goods because some do not conform to contract.

This present case however refers to cancelling the contract under a different law, CCR2013. The surplus tiles conform to contract but are no longer wanted (change of mind).

The intent of CCR is to give the consumer the opportunity to examine the goods as they could in a shop. It doesn't grant the right to cancel the contract but keep the goods.

In English contract law, cancelling the contract means that from that point going forward neither party retains any of the rights which had been conferred in the cancelled contract. If the goods being retained was a car or washing machine for instance the consumer would lose all their CRA rights such as the right to repair, the final right to reject, etc. That would be a legal pickle and does not sound to be the legal intention.

The seller is permitted by CCR to reduce the amount of refund to allow for the reduction of value because of excessive handling, so I suppose that in practice they could simply reduce the refund by the price of those packs of tiles which the OP has said they do not intend to return, and that's probably what they will do. But I think they could argue that the contract is not cancelled until the goods are returned

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

sheramber said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Okell said:

Can you find that again?

Don't think so, does the forum go that far back?

I think she said something about a contract being made up of mini contracts or something along those lines but I could be wrong. 

This one?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5694648/returning-part-of-online-order?utm_source=community-search&utm_medium=organic-search&utm_term=return+part+order

No that's not it.  

I'm sure it was specifically regarding cancelling under CCRs rather than rejecting under CRA.

Okell said:

I think it might have been more recent than 2017...

Possibly around that time, it's a very distant memory.

Alderbank said:

The seller is permitted by CCR to reduce the amount of refund to allow for the reduction of value because of excessive handling, so I suppose that in practice they could simply reduce the refund by the price of those packs of tiles which the OP has said they do not intend to return, and that's probably what they will do. But I think they could argue that the contract is not cancelled until the goods are returned

That's a very good point in this instance.  

QrizB

No help to the OP, but if they'd placed two separate orders (one for each style of tiles) presumably they'd have avoided this problem?

sheramber

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

sheramber said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Okell said:

Can you find that again?

Don't think so, does the forum go that far back?

I think she said something about a contract being made up of mini contracts or something along those lines but I could be wrong. 

This one?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5694648/returning-part-of-online-order?utm_source=community-search&utm_medium=organic-search&utm_term=return+part+order

No that's not it.  

I'm sure it was specifically regarding cancelling under CCRs rather than rejecting under CRA.

Okell said:

I think it might have been more recent than 2017...

Possibly around that time, it's a very distant memory.

Alderbank said:

The seller is permitted by CCR to reduce the amount of refund to allow for the reduction of value because of excessive handling, so I suppose that in practice they could simply reduce the refund by the price of those packs of tiles which the OP has said they do not intend to return, and that's probably what they will do. But I think they could argue that the contract is not cancelled until the goods are returned

That's a very good point in this instance.  

Try this one

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5433770/returning-part-order-of-expensive-wallpaper?utm_source=community-search&utm_medium=organic-search&utm_term=return+oart+if+online+order

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

sheramber said:

Try this one

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5433770/returning-part-order-of-expensive-wallpaper?utm_source=community-search&utm_medium=organic-search&utm_term=return+oart+if+online+order

That's not the one I remember but says the same thing Thanks for looking.

unholyangel said:

Re having to cancel the whole order, I've asked trading standards and citizens advice this in the past.

The response from both was that if you purchased a 10 pack of something, then you'd have to return it. If however you purchased 10 units priced individually, then you would be able to cancel just one and keep the rest.

Plus theres also the fact the CCRs would mean they'd still have to accept the return even if the goods did form part of a commercial unit - the retailer would just be entitled to make a deduction (albeit up to the full purchase price - whether they could justify that is another matter) to account for the diminished value (but only if they'd informed the consumer of this prior to them entering into the contract).

A_Geordie

Okell said:

I suspect @A_Geordie might know

As far as I'm aware, there is nothing in the CCRs or any case law authority to suggest that the consumer has the right to partially cancel an order. There's nothing in the UK guidance that allows for this but the 2021 EU guidance* does say: 

5.5.1. Multiple or defective goods

A consumer may want to partly withdraw from a contract for multiple goods if wishing to cancel the purchase of only one or some of them.

Although the Directive does not expressly provide for such a right, it also does not prevent the trader and the consumer from agreeing on a partial withdrawal from the contract by returning only an individual good or several goods sold under a single order. In such a situation, where the goods supplied under the same contract include promotional items, the trader should not be obliged to agree to the return of only those items sold at full price.

So the EU guidance is saying that it is up to the consumer and the trader to agree a partial return but the trader is not bound by the CCRs to accept. *The EU guidance is post-Brexit and does not bind the courts but the CCRs haven't changed for for over a decade so the EU guidance still remains persuasive unless a senior court decides otherwise. 

In my opinion, I think the EU guidance is right in that the trader has no legal obligation to accept the return of a partial order because the consumer changed their mind or wanted to return items that they had too many of. There's a few things in the CCRs that appear to be in support of this position but I think the key point is: 

1. Regulation 35 (Return of goods in event of cancellation) states that if the contract that is cancelled is a sales contract, then either the trader has to collect if offered, otherwise the consumer should return the goods.

2. "Goods" is defined in the CCRs as any tangible moveable items, but that includes water, gas and electricity if and only if they are put up for sale in a limited volume or a set quantity.

3. "Sales Contract" is defined a contract under which a trader transfers or agrees to transfer the ownership of goods to a consumer and the consumer pays or agrees to pay the price, including any contract that has both goods and services as its object.

As an example, if the OP ordered 20 boxes of tiles or 10 boxes of one style and 10 boxes of another style but under the same order, both instances would still constitute a single sales contract.

The only ways I can think of getting around this is either the terms and conditions explicitly state that each line item of the order will constitute a separate contract or if there were two orders with two separate payments and that would constitute two sales contracts, which is what I think another poster suggested earlier.  

Edit: Updated correct references to the CCRs

Okell

A_Geordie said:

Okell said:

I suspect @A_Geordie might know

As far as I'm aware, there is nothing in the CCRs or any case law authority to suggest that the consumer has the right to partially cancel an order...

5.5.1. Multiple or defective goods

A consumer may want to partly withdraw from a contract for multiple goods if wishing to cancel the purchase of only one or some of them.

Although the Directive does not expressly provide for such a right, it also does not prevent the trader and the consumer from agreeing on a partial withdrawal from the contract by returning only an individual good or several goods sold under a single order. In such a situation, where the goods supplied under the same contract include promotional items, the trader should not be obliged to agree to the return of only those items sold at full price.

... In my opinion, I think the EU guidance is right in that the trader has no legal obligation to accept the return of a partial order because the consumer changed their mind or wanted to return items that they had too many of. There's a few things in the CCRs that appear to be in support of this position...

I think that probably makes sense.

It's interesting that the regs talk about an order with multiple items on it and how staggered  delivery dates might affect the 14 day cancellation window, but nowhere is there any suggestion that you can cancel part of an order with multiple items on it rather than the whole order