empire direct - rubbish!

chmaiden

Hi
I ordered an AE Aegis Evo subwoofer from empiredirect.com...they had 2 in their clearance section when i ordered 3 days ago. Unfortunately, they delivered a centre speaker!!! I as told to call back in the morning when I phoned to complain and get it switched, which I did, to be told that they had sold out and will just give me a refund. What are my rights here. I want the sub, which is £50 more expensive everywhere else. Am I right in thinking that as soon as they take my money that they are contracturally obliged to provide those goods at the price? Am I being reasonable if I ask them to give me the extra £50 to go elsewhere?
Not sure where I stand!
cheers
c

santana-mx3

I can't see the extent of their obligations going any further than giving you a full refund unfortunately. They wouldn't have to supply the goods if they have run out. You may be able to get some sort of goodwill gesture out of them if you are lucky but even then I would expect it to be a discount voucher for their store (which won't help you if you want to buy elsewhere). By all means try and tell them you want the goods and you want them at the agreed price and see how far you get but I really don't think they are contractually obliged to do so. They certainly won't give you £50 to go elsewhere and I'm afraid I don't really think it is reasonable to expect it (though I do understand your disappointment/frustration).

elvis_bloggs

chmaiden wrote:

......... Am I right in thinking that as soon as they take my money that they are contracturally obliged to provide those goods at the price? Am I being reasonable if I ask them to give me the extra £50 to go elsewhere?
Not sure where I stand!
cheers
c

Search the Internet for your answer under customer rights, perhaps the most you will get is a full refund.

RedOnRed

"Empire Direct Rubbish"

Do you mean to say you've only just found out after all these years?

They've always been rubbish.

MarkyMarkD

I sued Empire Direct for exactly this reason, and won. PM me if you want to follow this up! Last time I looked they had not changed their Ts & Cs which are very poorly worded and don't defend their position at all.

Santana is wrong in principle. If you enter into a contract to supply goods and fail to do so, it isn't enough to say that you ran out. Empire very clearly accepted this order as they DID supply goods - just the wrong goods. They definitely entered into a contract.

In fact, Empire's position is even more clearly in the wrong than it was with me - with me, they just failed to supply, after accepting the order. Here, they accepted and attempted to fulfil the order - but got it wrong.

santana-mx3

MarkyMarkD wrote:

I sued Empire Direct for exactly this reason, and won. PM me if you want to follow this up! Last time I looked they had not changed their Ts & Cs which are very poorly worded and don't defend their position at all.

Santana is wrong in principle. If you enter into a contract to supply goods and fail to do so, it isn't enough to say that you ran out. Empire very clearly accepted this order as they DID supply goods - just the wrong goods. They definitely entered into a contract.

In fact, Empire's position is even more clearly in the wrong than it was with me - with me, they just failed to supply, after accepting the order. Here, they accepted and attempted to fulfil the order - but got it wrong.

I'm surprised at this. I would have thought that a full refund would be the extent of their responsibility and that anything further would have been down to goodwill. I'd be very interested to know how you got round this - it might come in handy if I'm ever in the same position!

chmaiden

I think that i read somewhere about "loss of bargain" etc...not sure it was totally legal but...
Also, I believe that once they have taken your money, which they certainly have with me, they are contractually obliged to deliver the goods within 30 days? I might be wrong tho!