my bargain order cancelled!!! not fair!!!

boogyboogy

I say this you bought a couch for 100-200 right which was its face value to the market, now that item is now being offered to the public plus another grand. So if argos where to return you to no finacial loss by way of a refund they would have to refund you the whole amount yes??its like buying a stock. Thats only taking a wild guess but I really feel you should try everything in your power to get the couch, I mean its not as if the company dosn't make enough money from the Irish public??Also its a shame the consumer agency actually has zero power-we might aswell just go and complain to our mothers.

anna77

idunnoutellme wrote: »

ye i just went and got my money back...was told the couch costs 1199.99 do you want it for that price?!!
there is another woman who posted tho who said she bought 2 couches and orders were cancelled - i wander if she wrote a letter or complained?

got a gift card for 50 euro saying sorry but thats it , not accepting it!!

anna77

Bugnut wrote: »

Agreed, when you get the "normal" customer service reply from a store staff member in Ireland ,call the UK helpline number and you get excellent manerly and prompt service - like you matter to the company.

The bottom line is the Consumer Affairs Agency here does nothing !
In the Uk they kick ass and take your case on and make calls on your behalf.
MY EXPERIENCE.
I ordered insulation from B&Q in Naas, took a day off for delivery, checked the day before all was ok, checked the morning of delivery and all was ok for that day.
3pm came and no delivery - called Naas back and was told none in stock, Hard luck basically.No Idea when they would get it back in !
Called UK customer services, no problem, arranged delivery from Liffey Valley and a Voucher for 50 quid .

I rest my case.

Get your couch - tough luck Argos - get it right or pay just like the rest of us.

Revolution not Evolution

We were dealing with the uk, and they were rude and not a bit sorry for what happened,. I have worked in customer care myself and never spoke to anyone they way they spoke to us.

soccerc

Irish Examiner Thursday, February 05, 2009

Buyers asked to pay €1,000 to get delivery of €119 Argos couch
By Niamh Hennessy

BARGAIN hunters were told to cough up €1,000 if they wanted delivery of a couch they had purchased for a little more than €100.

A mistake on Argos’s Irish website priced two corner couches at €119, which prompted eagle-eyed consumers to scoop up the offer. However, as they waited for delivery of the sofa they were contacted by Argos, who told them the price was in fact €1,199.99.

The incorrect price was on the Irish website only for three days following the launch of the latest catalogue. The correct price was shown in the Irish catalogue but the in-store system processed the lower price when shoppers went to purchase the sofa.

Argos said the 30 customers who purchased the sofa at the lower price have been contacted to say they will have to pay the difference if they want their sofa delivered.

A company spokesperson said: "We are sorry that the customers were disappointed and that they were unable to purchase the suite at the lower price. We pride ourselves on providing our customers with some great value deals and we can understand why they may have thought this was too good an offer to miss.

"Occasionally errors do occur with pricing, as in this case."

The spokeswoman said the company wrote to all customers affected to apologise for the misunderstanding and to offer them an appropriate gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience. She would not say what this gesture was.

"We are a large company and as a leading online retailer have a significant number of promotional offers running at any one time.

"We were aware of the pricing error on the website, which was the result of a genuine error. As soon as we realised the mistake we amended the item to the correct price. The correct price is now shown on the Argos website," she said.

Chief executive of the Consumers’ Association of Ireland Dermot Jewell said retailers are entitled to make mistakes and offer a refund to customers for the original price paid.

This is not the first time that mistakes have appeared on the Argos website.

A few years ago in Britain a £349.99 TV appeared on its website priced at 49p.

hellboy99

Bugnut wrote: »

The bottom line is the Consumer Affairs Agency here does nothing !

Totally agree, I've had dealings with them in the past and they are utterly useless, they're just as useless as Comreg.

antoinolachtnai

Now Dermot Jewell is an expert in contract law too. Where do they get this from?

So if I buy an item in a shop, then find it's fifty quid cheaper up the road, can I say I made a 'mistake' and demand my money back on the original purchase?

parsi

Interesting comment from that man Jewell who seems to be a muppet..

Here he says Argos are entitled to make a mistake,

here he says that Aer Lingus (in a similar issues) had a "binding contract" http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0417/breaking29.htm

The cynic is me says that he's happy to bully and bluster about Irish companies but is scared of the big boys.

colly10

parsi wrote: »

The cynic is me says that he's happy to bully and bluster about Irish companies but is scared of the big boys.

The cynic in me says that he doesn't actually have a clue what he's talking about and his day consists of running around like the guy in the quicksoup add

derry

hellboy99 wrote: »

Totally agree, I've had dealings with them in the past and they are utterly useless, they're just as useless as Comreg.

Comreg surely you mean FF excuse for a cosy cartel in telecoms which gets it bills paid from the telecoms giant so as to rip our faces with crappy slow BB and crappy phone service

I prefer the logical term CoNreg and then you know the animal your dealing with

Look the last few days where a few ministers have got more information about the price fixing sterling versus euro than pricing than Competition authority did in three years
Seeing as Charlie Haughy had the Irish nations biggest food and goods importing company in the 1980s so now why does it not surprise me the same outfits have FF well embedded in them to ensure we get screwed and even the EU wont touch this political hot potato
Just try going to the competition authority to complain about the Conreg cosy cartel and see the Berlin wall they build in your face and then you see the true story Ireland inc . with FF inc polcing policy see no evil hear no evil speak no evil and build a bueractric mountian of regulators to confuse and screw the **** from you
So now can screw you how they want

Derry

aoshea

Hi,I am the person who bought the 2 Corner Groups. I have received a refund cheque,(which I advised them on the phone I didn't want and the calls are recorded) which I copied and Returned with a strongly worded Letter to the MD of Argos Direct in Stafford England.
I have been ringing nearly everyday and it appears there is that many "Executive Teams" working on this that its getting to be a joke. I cannot get to speak to anyone of any importance on this matter,I have apperantly being dealing with the Managers Dept who keep telling me a different team will ring me back before 5pm, and They dont.

I have copies of the advertised Sofa's and a copy of the Listing which actually states in Red "Less than half price"

I also sent them this, straight off the Argos Direct Site:-:confused:

How can I check latest prices?

We're always lowering our catalogue prices and running special offers. With so many great deals, you might find that many items are cheaper than you thought! Luckily, Argos.co.uk always has the latest prices. Wherever you see a price advertised on this website, you can be sure it is the latest price available. Alternatively, there's now a fast and easy way to check product prices using our Price & stock checker located at the top of your screen. Simply enter the catalogue number you're looking for and we'll provide you with the latest price available.
Please note that prices can change on a daily basis. If you reserve an item for store pick up using our Check & Reserve service, the price you pay is the price in-store on the day you collect & pay for the item.
Back to top
I have a Solicitor on board now and meeting with him on Monday morn.The Small Claims Court can't take this on because they said its a "breach of contract " and they don't handle that, they advised me to get a solicitor,as did consumer affairs. I am peed of with them as well as I rang and rang them to see what they were doing about this collective complaint and I just keep getting fobbed off,but I'm not letting it go,I will fight them all the way.I received no Voucher! (not that I want one)Every legal person I spoke to says they have to give the sofa's as My receipt is my contract,It is not unreasonabe to think it would be so cheap as it was after xmas and everywhere has sales,If You were in A budget Travel Queue you may get a family holiday for a euro or go to clearys and queue and may get a Dyson for a euro. Its not my fault I got a sofa for less than half price!

antoinolachtnai

I don't see why you can't proceed with this claim through the small claims court.

'Breach of contract' is well within what the small claims court do from what I can see (rules at http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1999/en/si/0191.html)

You should ask your solicitor for advice on what the most cost-effective and workable method is before proceeding.

PaulieBoy

aoshea wrote: »

Hi,I am the person who bought the 2 Corner Groups. I have received a refund cheque,

And that's where you should leave it!
Be very careful which battles you choose to fight. It's all fine and dandy coming here and being backed up by some armchair solicitors, including the guy above who is telling the small claims court what cases they are able to handle. Incredible! Like he knows better than they do.

You are the one who has already spent a considerable amount of time on this, and you ain't even started yet, now add the cost of a solicitor, and you will not find one that will advise you not to take the case. They are all hungry right now and will take anything they can get.
But it's your money down the drain if you loose. Your money, good gone after bad, your time, your frustration, your lost life spent chasing this.

What are you chasing ? Your looking for two couches that you never had in the first place, so you can't miss them, and your risking a lot for them.

You will make the above armchair solicitors quite happy as you post your trials and tribulations, these people live off this stuff and will eat it up, but this "case" may well eat you up, your going to battle over some mistake that someone else made without mall intent.
Are you making a mistake as well ?
Good luck whatever you do :-)

GreeBo

jor el wrote: »

Even then, Argos' solicitors will likely argue that the contract was not valid, as no reasonable person would believe that price, and that it was an obvious mistake. Any contracts should be fair and reasonable, and a judge could rule against you if he decided that that this would be unduly unfair on Argos.

The trained Argos employee who sold the OP the item didnt think it was an obvious mistake. Where do you draw the line?

aoshea

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

I don't see why you can't proceed with this claim through the small claims court.

'Breach of contract' is well within what the small claims court do from what I can see (rules at http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1999/en/si/0191.html)

You should ask your solicitor for advice on what the most cost-effective and workable method is before proceeding.

I will do, I did speak to a person in Small Claims and this is what she told me however the Solicitor I'm getting is through Consumer affairs and think it may be low price,..hopefully,I have everything I did copied,receipts,letter to MD,Copy of Refund Chq (which I returned) copy of the advertised Sofa at the discount price Receipt for Registered Letter,so will let you know the update as soon as I do :-)

aoshea

PaulieBoy wrote: »

And that's where you should leave it!
Be very careful which battles you choose to fight. It's all fine and dandy coming here and being backed up by some armchair solicitors, including the guy above who is telling the small claims court what cases they are able to handle. Incredible! Like he knows better than they do.

You are the one who has already spent a considerable amount of time on this, and you ain't even started yet, now add the cost of a solicitor, and you will not find one that will advise you not to take the case. They are all hungry right now and will take anything they can get.
But it's your money down the drain if you loose. Your money, good gone after bad, your time, your frustration, your lost life spent chasing this.

What are you chasing ? Your looking for two couches that you never had in the first place, so you can't miss them, and your risking a lot for them.

You will make the above armchair solicitors quite happy as you post your trials and tribulations, these people live off this stuff and will eat it up, but this "case" may well eat you up, your going to battle over some mistake that someone else made without mall intent.
Are you making a mistake as well ?
Good luck whatever you do :-)

Thanks for the advise,I know I may be chasing my tail,and I can understand Human Error,but Its Human Instinct to want something advertised cheaply. It wasn't just an online error this went all the way to the counter machine and Tills and the person serving?? I will speak to this man tomorrow and see what he has to say and fill you in. :-)

jackofalltrades

Greebo wrote:

The trained Argos employee who sold the OP the item didnt think it was an obvious mistake. Where do you draw the line?

The person on the till inputs the code and doublechecks what the product is with you, they do this possibly a hundred times a day, its not like they get to see what it is and in turn can make a decision on whether its a fair price of not.

As far as the OP's claim goes its completely "fair" for Argos to cancel the order, whether or not its actually legally correct for them to do it or not. Fairness works both ways between companies and consumers.

Joey the lips

idunnoutellme wrote: »

Hey guys
the other day i went onto argos website, and they were advertisin a couch full size couch for 119eur!!! in the book it is 1199eur!!
so i went into the store, and checked their little electronic thing and it said the price is 119eur!! so without hesitation i went up and ordered it, nothin was said at the till, took my details etc charged for delivery and order will be at yours within 2 weeks - the usual stuff. so i was delighted!

today i get a call from the store - we're canceling your order - there was a mistake - come collect your money!!! can they do that??? they were advertisin for that price - should they not give it to me mistake or not??



any suggestions please

Fact once you paid for it you have a case. They have to give you that or one of simular type. This is important that its noted noting got to do with just being advertised

The contract is made when you pay and they give you a receipt. You can sue for breach of contract because of failure to supply especially considering you checked it twice, Once on the net and once in the shop.

Keep you receipt and contact consumer affairs and tell argos your going to a local rag if they dont honor the contract.

TheBigLebowski

aoshea wrote: »

Thanks for the advise,I know I may be chasing my tail,and I can understand Human Error,but Its Human Instinct to want something advertised cheaply. It wasn't just an online error this went all the way to the counter machine and Tills and the person serving?? I will speak to this man tomorrow and see what he has to say and fill you in. :-)

Speak for yourself. I'm human and it's not my instinct to do what you are trying to do.

junior_apollo

All you have to do is say you didnt see anything unreasonable about the price of the couch.. ie: you werent taking advantage of an obvious mistake...

The cashier in the shop did not see it as being a mistake either - they believed it to be a correct valuation of the product and sold it to you as such.

You paid in person so they cannot say the website was wrong... and they took your money and gave you a receipt and delivery details.

You can be sure if they charged you €1199 instead of €199 then it would be you who would have to chase them down.. so since they charged you €199 instead of €1199 then it is their problem.. not yours..

As consumer affairs have told you send in the letter... you have nothing to lose here as either you get your money back (worst case) or you get the cheap couch (best case)... even if it meant then arguing and you eventually going to small claims court (costs you €15 or less) then its worth it..

Consumer Affiars arent going to BS you on this one so if they say you have a case - then follow it through... bout time someone got a deal in this country...

Congrats and hope it works out for you... Keep us updated please...

maggy_thatcher

If I recall correctly, selling goods below cost price is illegal in Ireland? If that's still the case, couldn't Argos turn around and say that they can't sell them the couch for €119 as that would be illegal to do so (assuming they don't have a 1000% markup)? Then if the contract is illegal, it is null-and-void, and therefore everyone's back to square one?

Just a thought...

junior_apollo

maggy_thatcher wrote: »

If I recall correctly, selling goods below cost price is illegal in Ireland? If that's still the case, couldn't Argos turn around and say that they can't sell them the couch for €119 as that would be illegal to do so (assuming they don't have a 1000% markup)? Then if the contract is illegal, it is null-and-void, and therefore everyone's back to square one?

Just a thought...

I wouldn't be suprised if they have a 2000% markup!... they get the furniture made in asia for tuppence.. Why is it illegal to sell them below cost price?... Do you have any links to that outta interest?...

Climate Expert

Why are you wasting your time with a solicitor? Even if you win now you won't make up much money.

junior_apollo

Climate Expert wrote: »

Why are you wasting your time with a solicitor? Even if you win now you won't make up much money.

Id have to agree there alright... Small claims court to settle it then I totally agree.. but if ya have to pay for solicitor (unless its a mate and is willing to do you a favour) then its hardly worth while..

maggy_thatcher

junior_apollo wrote: »

I wouldn't be suprised if they have a 2000% markup!... they get the furniture made in asia for tuppence.. Why is it illegal to sell them below cost price?... Do you have any links to that outta interest?...

Just checked -- the law banning below cost price selling was abolished at end of 2005 -- http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/1108/groceries.html

So - forget everything I said

junior_apollo

maggy_thatcher wrote: »

Just checked -- the law banning below cost price selling was abolished at end of 2005 -- http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/1108/groceries.html

So - forget everything I said

Cheers, thanks a mil for the link.. i hadn't seen that before, good to know though...

antoinolachtnai

I'd be a fan of doing it the Small Claims Procedure way as well, although if the court staff are saying they won't take it, you will need to talk to a solicitor. Myself, I think that they will take it, and if you don't, you should force them to state their grounds.

Note that strictly speaking, there is no small claims court in Ireland. It is a small claims procedure, which is basically an arbitration or dispute resolution procedure. When you go to small claims, you are not strictly speaking going to a court.

If the solicitor is any good, he will strongly counsel you to use the small claims procedure if he thinks it is legally possible, if only so that he can avoid getting wrapped up in the thing himself. Despite what you may have heard, few solicitors are going to advise you to run up a big legal bill over a couch that you aren't out of pocket for.

Of course, what could happen is that Argos lose at Small Claims, get pig-headed and go on to the District Court. Then you need a solicitor and things get interesting.

junior_apollo

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

I'd be a fan of doing it the Small Claims Procedure way as well, although if the court staff are saying they won't take it, you will need to talk to a solicitor. Myself, I think that they will take it, and if you don't, you should force them to state their grounds.

Note that strictly speaking, there is no small claims court in Ireland. It is a small claims procedure, which is basically an arbitration or dispute resolution procedure. When you go to small claims, you are not strictly speaking going to a court.

If the solicitor is any good, he will strongly counsel you to use the small claims procedure if he thinks it is legally possible, if only so that he can avoid getting wrapped up in the thing himself. Despite what you may have heard, few solicitors are going to advise you to run up a big legal bill over a couch that you aren't out of pocket for.

Of course, what could happen is that Argos lose at Small Claims, get pig-headed and go on to the District Court. Then you need a solicitor and things get interesting.

I've used the small claims procedure myself recently... to claim money from the County Council... took 2-3 visits to the court house as the council were flaffing around wouldnt pay for their own solicitor (note that you do not need a solicitor for a small claims proceeding but a company HAS to have one to represent them...) In the end the Council refused to hire a solicitor (cost would have been greater than what I was claiming) and I received a cheque in the post from them for around €500 - just before xmas! wohoo...

Again if this route is open to you then take it... if you win you get the small claims money back also!...

antoinolachtnai

I don't think a company has to be represented by a solicitor. My understanding is that they are encouraged to represent themselves, because they won't get their costs no matter what way things go. The issue in that case might have been that employees of the local authority may not be authorised or may be unwilling to represent the authority (possibly because they knew they were just going to lose).

junior_apollo

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

I don't think a company has to be represented by a solicitor. My understanding is that they are encouraged to represent themselves, because they won't get their costs no matter what way things go. The issue in that case might have been that employees of the local authority may not be authorised or may be unwilling to represent the authority (possibly because they knew they were just going to lose).

Well when the case was called before the judge a manager in the relevant department within the council stood forward and the judge asked him who was their solicitor.. The judge then told him to go away and get a solicitor arranged and the case ended up being rescheduled for another date.

The second time nobody turned up in court and the judge asked me did I know anything about the situation as a council solicitor (not assigned to my case) stated that the council wanted to settle but could not say that officially since they werent representing the council for said case. I hadn't received any information from the council to the same effect as they were hoping I wouldnt turn up in court on both occasions and it would be thrown out.. after this episode the court house countacted them for payment and they send me out the cheque.

Cabaal

Joey the lips wrote: »

Keep you receipt and contact consumer affairs and tell argos your going to a local rag if they dont honor the contract.

No newspaper worth its salt or rag will give a crap about this case,