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help with harveys

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  • 19-06-2009 3:46pm
    #1
    pmcf
    Registered Users Posts: 132 ✭✭


    hopeing somone can give some advice with this my mother ordered a sofa and chairs from harveys in derry about 3 weeks ago as they had a 1 pound = 1 euro offer on so she paid 250 deposit,they have phoned her today saying that the only way she can get the offer now is to pay the rest of the amount before saturday otherwise she will have to pay the remaining balance in sterling can they do that ?.


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    #2
    Nody
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 18,316 CMod ✭✭✭✭Nody


    Interesting question; she's not fully paid for the item and I'd guess the reason to pay by Saturday is that is when the campaign ends. As always the devil would be in the details of the campaign and the reservation but tentatively I'd lean on yes they can.

    From a store point of view they'll argue it is ordered in GBP and since the campaign ends by Saturday anything paid after that has to be paid in GBP (i.e. they'll charge you X GBP and you get to pay the exchange rate for it). The EUR = GBP is only a temporary campaign and you could strictly speaking pay it in GBP as well.


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    #3
    antoinolachtnai
    Registered Users Posts: 9,793 ✭✭✭antoinolachtnai


    I don't agree. The company has taken a deposit and stated a price in euros. The deal is done, the price is agreed, and if the agreement was to pay on receipt of goods, that's still the deal.

    I can see how they've made a mess of their accounts with the euro thing and now they are trying to clean it all up by putting a finish date on it.

    That doesn't give them the right to vary the contract.

    I would offer to pay the rest in sterling when the item is actually delivered. However, it would be the value of the euros in sterling. So if the item was 1250 pounds sterling (say) and if she got it for 1250 euros, and so she now owes 1000 euros, I would be offering to pay the equivalent of 1000 euros (about 900 pounds, i suppose) when the goods arrive. I would allow myself a good sterling-euro exchange rate when negotiating (i.e., a few pence better than today) to allow for the cost of obtaining the sterling.

    In general, you really shouldn't pay for furniture in full until it's delivered or at the very least ready for delivery. I'm sure Harvey is a good guy 'n all, but too many people have been screwed by furniture retailers going wallop before.

    If you are getting nowhere, I would ring the european consumer centre, it sounds like one they might like.

    Also check http://www.consumerline.org/addresses/?cat=o


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    #4
    jimoc
    Registered Users Posts: 634 ✭✭✭jimoc


    I would think that if your mother has a receipt showing how much she has paid on the deposit and the outstanding balance on the furniture then this is what she has to pay, regardless of the expiry of the offer or any other considerations.

    If the receipt is in Euro, then happy days for you, otherwise I think she will have to pay the sterling value that is on the receipt.

    If they have just given you a receipt with a figure on it and no currency symbol shown, then its assumed to be the currency of the location that the company is based in.

    Let us know how she gets on.


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    #5
    calex71
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,126 ✭✭✭✭calex71


    It could argued that the Queens pound is not legal tender here no?


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    #6
    antoinolachtnai
    Registered Users Posts: 9,793 ✭✭✭antoinolachtnai


    The queen's pound? Not legal tender? In Londonderry? I thought all that had been settled?


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    #7
    calex71
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,126 ✭✭✭✭calex71


    antoinolachtnai wrote: »
    The queen's pound? Not legal tender? In Londonderry? I thought all that had been settled?

    lol bad choice of phrase sorry , what i mean is surely they cant make you pay in anything other than euro, as that is the currency of the state?


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    #8
    pmcf
    Registered Users Posts: 132 ✭✭pmcf


    jimoc wrote: »
    I would think that if your mother has a receipt showing how much she has paid on the deposit and the outstanding balance on the furniture then this is what she has to pay, regardless of the expiry of the offer or any other considerations.

    If the receipt is in Euro, then happy days for you, otherwise I think she will have to pay the sterling value that is on the receipt.

    If they have just given you a receipt with a figure on it and no currency symbol shown, then its assumed to be the currency of the location that the company is based in.

    Let us know how she gets on.

    i have just checked the receipt and there is no currency symbol on it unfortunatly and there is no mention of the deal so i think that shes going to have to pay the rest in sterling unfortunatly as she wouldnt have bought the suite if it wasnt for the deal.i will contact the consumer centre and see what they have to say about it on monday.i have thought about canceling the order but according to the receipt they would still charge us half the value of the goods for canceling so cant do that either.


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    #9
    pmcf
    Registered Users Posts: 132 ✭✭pmcf


    calex71 wrote: »
    lol bad choice of phrase sorry , what i mean is surely they cant make you pay in anything other than euro, as that is the currency of the state?

    sterling is the currency of the north not euro so thats what they would usually deal with just dont like the fact that there changeing the terms of the deal now to suit themselves


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    #10
    calex71
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,126 ✭✭✭✭calex71


    pmcf wrote: »
    sterling is the currency of the north not euro so thats what they would usually deal with just dont like the fact that there changeing the terms of the deal now to suit themselves

    Oooooooohhhhh didnt realise it was boughth in the north. I stupidly missed the Derry part of the original post.


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    #11
    Nody
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 18,316 CMod ✭✭✭✭Nody


    antoinolachtnai wrote: »
    I don't agree. The company has taken a deposit and stated a price in euros. The deal is done, the price is agreed, and if the agreement was to pay on receipt of goods, that's still the deal.
    This is UK though, the price is stated in GBP and they offer a exchange rate of EUR=GBP, don't change the fact the outstanding balance is in GBP and hence my above comment.


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    #12
    antoinolachtnai
    Registered Users Posts: 9,793 ✭✭✭antoinolachtnai


    The problem is that they agreed the exchange rate as part of the deal. The exchange of currencies and the purchase of the furniture were both parts of the one transaction. Mr Norman would not have offered that exchange rate if Mrs PMCF hadn't taken the sofa. Mrs PMCF wouldn't have bought the Sofa if Mr Norman hadn't offered that exchange rate.

    What exactly is written on the receipt I wonder?


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    #13
    darc
    Closed Accounts Posts: 677 ✭✭✭darc


    antoinolachtnai wrote: »
    . Mr Norman would not have offered that exchange rate if Mrs PMCF hadn't taken the sofa. Mrs PMCF wouldn't have bought the Sofa if Mr Norman hadn't offered that exchange rate.

    Harvey's is a UK furniture chain and nothing whatsover to do with Harvey Normans which is an australian chain.

    Promotion was for euro for sterling. They accepted the deposit within the deal they were offering. They cannot chnage the price of the contract except if tax rates are changed, so they MUST accept the balance in euro or sterling equivalent of euro.

    My guess is they've seen sterling get stronger and its likely it will move towards 1.3 over the next couple of months and now suddenly thier deal is costing them more than they expected. - though Sh1t.


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    #14
    antoinolachtnai
    Registered Users Posts: 9,793 ✭✭✭antoinolachtnai


    Blimey, Mr. Harvey then.

    I'd say they are just trying to sort out the mess in their accounts. Their pos probably isn't dealt up to deal with medium-term currency deals.

    The margins in furniture are very high. I wouldn't say the difference bothers them too much. Also, over a longer period, the shift is as likely to go their way as to go against them.


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