Wanted: Advice On Debenhams Online Order/purchase

Poppy9

cheekygilby wrote: »

Retailers cannot take more from your account than the agreed price of the item you wish to purchase, this is law! .

Read my whole post as you have misunderstood what I was saying. Currently you place an order for goods online and offer payment. Retailers accept payment i.e. money leaves buyers bank account and transfers into retailer bank account. However the retailer hasn't yet decided if he is going to supply you with the goods, sometimes they take weeks to decide. Then they decide no they won't supply the goods so you can have your money back. If a large company does this to thousands of customers they are earning interest on your money. They don't refund you what you paid plus loss of interest for you not have the opportunity to either earn interest on your money or spend your money elsewhere in those few weeks they held on to it. They take money from your account before they have decided whether they are going to provide the goods or not and yet not form a contract with you. This seems wrong. Once they have taken the money they should be obliged to fulfill their part of the contract i.e. supply the goods. In some cases it can prove problematic if you are purchasing high value goods and require them quickly i.e. ordering a washing machine from Currys because on-line they say they will deliver in 7 days. On the 6th day Currys cancel your order even though they have your £300 and advise you that it will take 5 days before you get your money back. Mmh wonder whose favour that works in:rolleyes:

dmg24

cheekygilby wrote: »

I am a senior in consumer law so I know what I'm talking about.

I have no idea what a 'senior in consumer law' is ... but that's us all told!

We knew what you meant Poppy9 ... x

Poppy9

dmg24 wrote: »

I have no idea what a 'senior in consumer law' is ... but that's us all told!x

it means he's an old hand in complaining to shops:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

cheekygilby

The law in basic format for Distance selling for order acceptance:
Online retailers can take the money at any stage of the transaction this means: at the point of order or when they dispatch.

Any retailer do not have to sell the consumer anything no matter what the reason is! With an online order you place the order but wait for the company to accept it, yes the money can be taken from your account without the order being accepted ( this is purely legal), all they have to do then is to accept and deliver the goods or cancel the order and refund. Retailers can accept the order at any point and this should be outlined in their T&C's

The retailer in law has upto 30 days to refund from the time the order is cancelled.

People ordering on the internet should read all terms and conditions before placing the order and I also strongly advise consumers to get more knowledge on internet shopping or more correctly Distance selling regulations. Consumers may then understand why companies act in such a way.

I also have to say that Distance selling regulations and Trading Standards etc are there to protect the consumer (the customer)and the retailer however the law is not all rosey and sometimes can appear to be unfavourable!!!. This is why other companies (big named retailers) go above and beyond the law in favour of the customer. Although this has in my opinion had the adverse effect as now our culture expects the same from other smaller companies and think they are "out of order" when they just stick to the law.

Companies do not have to compensate for loss of earnings or inconvenience, disatisfaction etc. The only time a company HAS to pay out is when it goes to court and they loose the case. A lot of companies nowadays will give compo as a goodwill gesture only but remember they dont have to do this and normally will only happen if the order has been accepted and delivered and you'r just not happy with the quality or whatever!!

So in conclusion
The law is there for a reason but the consumer nowadays expects more. When you complain about something make sure you know the facts before or if not be nice to the person who is trying to help with your disatisfaction. You will find you will get alot further being calm and collected than shouting and being abusive. Remember all the retailer HAS to do is accept and deliver the goods or cancel the order and refund.

dmg24

cheekygilby,

Have you just copied and pasted that in two different threads?!!!

Pint_Sized_Princess

cheekygilby wrote: »

Remember all the retailer HAS to do is accept and deliver the goods or cancel the order and refund.

Cheekygilby......I wouldn't have minded at all if they had just cancelled the order and refunded - but the whole issue I have with this is that Debenhams did ACCEPT my order, they then took my money and also INVOICED me. They even went so far to give me a final delivery date by which my goods would be received. (so basically they ACCEPTED and DIDN'T deliver)

It was only at the point that I was sat here with my order confirmed and accepted and looking forward to receiving the goods that Debenhams decided to send me a letter stating that that they were going to credit my account...... and out of interest they didnt even make reference in the letter to which item (from several) that they were refunding - so I actually had to ring them up to check this.

At least smaller retailers have the courtesy to ring you up and actually apologise for any errors or stock outs..........as was the situation when I ordered a TV online from Laskeys in the Xmas Sales. Maybe I'm getting old fashioned now but I believe the word is courtesy.

It's the smaller independent stores who make this "effort" that I will be looking to do any online shopping with in future.

Thank you all for your posts on this topic anyway. It's handy to know for the future!!! :eek: