Where do I stand

Carla74 · 7 July 2020 at 2:41PM

I ordered a bathroom suite in February, it was ready for delivery in March, they would not release the bathroom without payment so I paid by my Visa card and delivery was booked, then come lockdown and the bathroom didn’t get delivered, no problem, totally understandable. Bathroom then gets delivered in May and we rebook plumber etc, taken a call last week to be told we haven’t paid for the bathroom, our invoice has a 0 balance, saying “paid by card”
I’ve checked my bank and alas the payment wasn’t deducted, as a family we have obviously been affected by lockdown, mostly financially, where do I stand, they are now demanding payment and we simply don’t have it, I thought it had been paid and have been using what was in the bank to keep a family of 6 fed, I am a business owner which had been crippled by the virus.
its the companies mistake but they are taking no responsibility and threatening me with legal action.
Please any advice will be valued.

soolin · 7 July 2020 at 4:18PM

Carla74 said:

I ordered a bathroom suite in February, it was ready for delivery in March, they would not release the bathroom without payment so I paid by my Visa card and delivery was booked, then come lockdown and the bathroom didn’t get delivered, no problem, totally understandable. Bathroom then gets delivered in May and we rebook plumber etc, taken a call last week to be told we haven’t paid for the bathroom, our invoice has a 0 balance, saying “paid by card”
I’ve checked my bank and alas the payment wasn’t deducted, as a family we have obviously been affected by lockdown, mostly financially, where do I stand, they are now demanding payment and we simply don’t have it, I thought it had been paid and have been using what was in the bank to keep a family of 6 fed, I am a business owner which had been crippled by the virus.
its the companies mistake but they are taking no responsibility and threatening me with legal action.
Please any advice will be valued.

I'm not entirely sure what you are really asking? You need to make payment that is obvious but if you mean whether this should be immediate or not then that is something that needs to be negotiated with the shop. Unfortunately if you have already upset them by refusing to pay they are perhaps not likely to want to assist you with taking staggered payments and may go straight to court proceedings.

You have no argument at all that you didn't notice that what I assume is a large payment hadn't actually been taken and your personal circumstances are immaterial - I'm sure the bathroom shop has not come through this unscathed either.

The risk is that if you allow this to go to court and try and defend paying you could end up with a CCJ which may negatively impact your future credit facilities. Your best hope is to negotiate paying back as quickly as you can, perhaps by instalments if there is any goodwill left with the company.

elsien · 7 July 2020 at 4:22PM

It's unclear from your post - you say the plumber was re-booked, so has the bathroom now been put in - i.e. no option to return it?
It may be their mistake to start with but if you have the goods and are planning to keep them then they do need paying for. Negotiating a payment plan would seem to be the preferable option to being taken to court which they are fully in their rights to do.
I'm not sure what you think should happen - what would your compromise be, because keeping them for free clearly isn't going to be happening?

DoaM · 7 July 2020 at 5:11PM

After deciphering your post I can see that you attempted to pay, they thought you'd paid so delivered the goods, but when you checked records you find that the payment didn't actually go through. You're also saying that it is the company's mistake but give no detail as to how it is their mistake ... it could equally be your mistake, your card provider's mistake or their payment processor's mistake.

Bottom line, you owe them the money and they have 6 years to chase you for it though the courts. You have no reasonable defence so a judge will find in their favour. Talk with them, be reasonable and see if you can come to some accommodation on payment terms. If necessary pay using a credit card and then pay it off over a few months - yes, this will cost you in interest but you are coming at this from a very weak position.

Aylesbury_Duck · 7 July 2020 at 10:35PM

Is it me, or have there been a few of these type of queries very recently? People who order something, get it, don't get charged for it for whatever reason but still aren't convinced they should pay for it.

As advised, try and sort out a payment plan, although judging from what you've written, you may have already put their backs up so negotiation of payment terms might not be an option any more.

NameUnavailable · 7 July 2020 at 11:26PM

As a business owner, do you expect your customers to pay for your goods or services?

pinkshoes · 8 July 2020 at 12:39PM

Carla74 said:

I ordered a bathroom suite in February, it was ready for delivery in March, they would not release the bathroom without payment so I paid by my Visa card and delivery was booked, then come lockdown and the bathroom didn’t get delivered, no problem, totally understandable. Bathroom then gets delivered in May and we rebook plumber etc, taken a call last week to be told we haven’t paid for the bathroom, our invoice has a 0 balance, saying “paid by card”
I’ve checked my bank and alas the payment wasn’t deducted, as a family we have obviously been affected by lockdown, mostly financially, where do I stand, they are now demanding payment and we simply don’t have it, I thought it had been paid and have been using what was in the bank to keep a family of 6 fed, I am a business owner which had been crippled by the virus.
its the companies mistake but they are taking no responsibility and threatening me with legal action.
Please any advice will be valued.

It was a payment mistake and the bathroom needs to be paid for ASAP as otherwise they can and will take you to court for it. I'm assuming you fitted it and cannot return it?

I'm a little confused though. Bathroom suites aren't exactly cheap, so for someone checking their money so carefully surely you would have noticed that you had extra money in your account? Also, when it was delivered in May, you would then have had to pay the plumber. From past experience, the fitting bit can cost more than the actual bathroom suite, so if money was that tight I'm confused where you suddenly got the money to pay for a plumber, or was the plumber already paid for?

The bottom line is that a mistake has been made by them (not checking the money went through before sending) and you (not checking your bank account) so you need to now pay for the goods.

societys_child · 8 July 2020 at 8:07PM

I didn't notice this large payment hadn't been taken and I'm skint now . .

I don't think I should have to pay, I'm a business person btw.

Lol.

Where do I stand

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