CURRYS PC WORLD CANCELLED ORDER THEY SAY THE PRICE WAS ADVERTISED INCORRECTLY ON LINE

Wandering Country Girl

after accepting an online order and debiting my card for a product advertised for approx. 10 days at a price and been told it was an on line price with no pre order facility - currys pc world have cancelled my order the next day claiming they made an error in the price posted. Consumer Advice is that we had a contract as they debited my credit card and that they must honor the contract or be in breach. Has anyone else had their online order cancelled. I understand from calling them all orders for this product were cancelled due to a pricing error. I was informed they will refund my card the amount they charged.

rameire

no. and ts&cs. if that doesn't suit Joe Duffy loves these.

Lux23

Wandering Country Girl wrote: »

after accepting an online order and debiting my card for a product advertised for approx. 10 days at a price and been told it was an on line price with no pre order facility - currys pc world have cancelled my order the next day claiming they made an error in the price posted. Consumer Advice is that we had a contract as they debited my credit card and that they must honor the contract or be in breach. Has anyone else had their online order cancelled. I understand from calling them all orders for this product were cancelled due to a pricing error. I was informed they will refund my card the amount they charged.

Who gave you that advice? Traders aren't bound by mistakes they make and well within their rights to cancel a contract if an error was made. They haven't done anything illegal here.

daheff

Lux23 wrote: »

Who gave you that advice? Traders aren't bound by mistakes they make and well within their rights to cancel a contract if an error was made. They haven't done anything illegal here.

They've taken payment (in full and final settlement for the product).....as far as I'm aware this makes the contract.


If they hadnt taken payment, then no problems. But they had.

Graham

daheff wrote: »

They've taken payment (in full and final settlement for the product).....as far as I'm aware this makes the contract.


If they hadnt taken payment, then no problems. But they had.

More and more Ts & Cs explicitly state that no order is created until an acceptance notification is sent to the customer and they reserve the right to refund a customer where such acceptance is not made.

Added:

From Currys Terms & Conditions:

Once you’re happy everything is correct and you’ve submitted an order you’ll be given an Order Reference Number and details of the products (and/or services) you have ordered. You’ll then receive an email headed ‘Order Acknowledgement’ recognising receipt of your order. We will then send a further email headed ‘Order Confirmation’ and this is when our contract with you begins. This second email also lets you know how your products will be delivered to you. If we have to cancel all or part of your order for any reason, we will email you to let you know.

Sometimes we have to hold our hands up and admit we have made a mistake by unintentionally publishing inaccurate information on the site (e.g. the price, description or availability of a product you have ordered). In this instance we may have to cancel your order at any time up to the point we send you the product(s), even if you have received your Order Confirmation email, and you will receive a full refund of any charges already paid.

daheff

Graham wrote: »

More and more Ts & Cs explicitly state that no order is created until an acceptance notification is sent to the customer and they reserve the right to refund a customer where such acceptance is not made.

Added:

From Currys Terms & Conditions:

not a legal person, but law of contract would apply and not what their t&Cs are. so if Contract law says a contract is valid from when money is taken, then their t&cs dont really matter.

The T&Cs listed here seem to be sharp practice...they are implying they make mistakes and take peoples money before they know they've messed up....could (knowingly) be a way of improving their cashflows temporarily when needed (not saying they are though).


But in any case OP should check if they got the order reference number and then currys have no leg to stand on.


Edit - this T&C could be deemed to be an unfair term

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/consumer_protection/consumer_rights/unfair_terms.html

What is meant by an unfair term?
As explained above, an unfair term in a consumer contract is a term that can cause a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations to the detriment of the consumer. There are 3 main categories that unfair terms may fall into:

Terms that give the supplier of goods or services the right to change the terms of the contract.

Graham

daheff wrote: »

not a legal person, but law of contract would apply and not what their t&Cs are. so if Contract law says a contract is valid from when money is taken, then their t&cs dont really matter.

This maybe true, most people wouldn't go as far as testing this in Court. Perhaps one of the consumer organisations would (have) or the OP might.

I suspect Currys may have taken legal advice on their Ts & Cs before publishing them but you never know.

daheff wrote: »

But in any case OP should check if they got the order reference number and then currys have no leg to stand on.

Apart from:

Sometimes we have to hold our hands up and admit we have made a mistake by unintentionally publishing inaccurate information on the site (e.g. the price, description or availability of a product you have ordered). In this instance we may have to cancel your order at any time up to the point we send you the product(s), even if you have received your Order Confirmation email, and you will receive a full refund of any charges already paid.

daheff wrote: »

Terms that give the supplier of goods or services the right to change the terms of the contract.

Terms don't appear to have changed recently. One would assume these were the terms the OP agreed to.

njs030

You made an offer to buy, they refused it.
No contract was entered into. A contract only starts when they accept your offer.

Unless you have an email saying order accepted or item shipped you don't have a contract with them.

Reminds me of the Vodafone iPhones for €50 a few years back. They didn't honour it either and there was nothing illegal about it.

ideb

notjustsweet wrote: »

You made an offer to buy, they refused it.
No contract was entered into. A contract only starts when they accept your offer.

Unless you have an email saying order accepted or item shipped you don't have a contract with them.

I don't think this is correct. As stated above, companies can put whatever they like in their T&C's, but if they don't comply with Consumer Protection law the T&C's aren't worth the paper they are written on.
I'm not a legal expert, but as I see it, They took the OPs money for the sale of a product. That is a contract. Otherwise they have no right to take the money.

OP get on to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. www.consumerhelp.ie

ohnonotgmail

ideb wrote: »

I don't think this is correct. As stated above, companies can put whatever they like in their T&C's, but if they don't comply with Consumer Protection law the T&C's aren't worth the paper they are written on.
I'm not a legal expert, but as I see it, They took the OPs money for the sale of a product. That is a contract. Otherwise they have no right to take the money.

OP get on to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. www.consumerhelp.ie

a contract requires offer and acceptance. In this case there was no acceptance.

theteal

In these online transactions isn't the money normally placed on hold by the bank temporarily as opposed going directly to the seller?

I could be completely wrong but I've a vague memory of similar happening in the past and because of this no contract wasn't legally formed

hotshots85

Today FM had a consumer law specialist on the radio the other day for this exact thing.

EU law covers the shops for "mistakes", even if cash has been taken it can be refunded, as long as it is a once off and not continued behavior that would deem it misleading behavior on the part of the shop they are fully within their rights to refund the cash and cancel the order.

hotshots85

Wandering Country Girl wrote: »

after accepting an online order and debiting my card for a product advertised for approx. 10 days at a price and been told it was an on line price with no pre order facility - currys pc world have cancelled my order the next day claiming they made an error in the price posted. Consumer Advice is that we had a contract as they debited my credit card and that they must honor the contract or be in breach. Has anyone else had their online order cancelled. I understand from calling them all orders for this product were cancelled due to a pricing error. I was informed they will refund my card the amount they charged.

Out of interest, what was the advertised price and the corrected price?

njs030

ideb wrote: »

I don't think this is correct. As stated above, companies can put whatever they like in their T&C's, but if they don't comply with Consumer Protection law the T&C's aren't worth the paper they are written on.
I'm not a legal expert, but as I see it, They took the OPs money for the sale of a product. That is a contract. Otherwise they have no right to take the money.

OP get on to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. www.consumerhelp.ie

Can you provide a link to the consumer protection law that covers what happens when an online retailer realises they have made a mistake and withdraws an item from sale? Before accepting an offer?
No...it's covered in the t&c's which the op agreed to when she clicked agree. Mistakes happen and no business will leave themselves open to losing hundreds of Euro on them...this thread pops up every few days which shows how often mistakes happen!

Graham

Here's a snippet from a response made by the European Consumer Centre Ireland which looks relevant.

It's not definitive by any means and it is given in response to a mis-priced online booking but it would be hard to see how the same advice wouldn't apply to the purchase of goods online:

Whilst it is the responsibility of the service provider to ensure that the information published on a booking website is correct and, under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, it is considered a misleading action to provide false or untruthful information that deceives or is likely to deceive the average consumer (e.g. bait advertising), if there is a genuine mistake on behalf of the trader in failing to display the correct price, the trader may claim that there is a defect in consent and the contract may be set aside. This is especially so if it could be deemed that the consumer should reasonably have known that the price displayed was the result of an error. The success of a case would ultimately depend upon the factual context and, in particular, whether the consumer ordered in good faith, unaware of any error. In such cases it may be possible to seek arrangements from the trader.

With this in mind, it is advisable to consult the terms and conditions of the booking website in question and see if any information is provided in relation to the formation of the contract and potential pricing errors. In this case, in the absence of any other element to compel the provider to honour the original price, and taking into account the discrepancy in price and the promptness with which the provider contacted you in relation to the error, it may not be possible to enforce the booking at the original price. If you are not willing to pay the additional amount, the trader should supply a full refund of any amounts already paid without undue delay.

My interpretation, you'd have to take your chances in Court to try and compel the retailer to honour the mistaken price.

Wandering Country Girl

Lux23 wrote: »

Who gave you that advice? Traders aren't bound by mistakes they make and well within their rights to cancel a contract if an error was made. They haven't done anything illegal here.

consumers association advice is that they offered an item at a price i tendered an offer they accepted & confirmed accrptance by issuing receipt & confirmation by email & charging my card - contract signed now they are in breach of contract

ohnonotgmail

Wandering Country Girl wrote: »

consumers association advice is that they offered an item at a price i tendered an offer they accepted & confirmed accrptance by issuing receipt & confirmation by email & charging my card - contract signed now they are in breach of contract

that is where you fall down. their terms and conditions define what acceptance is. their terms are quite clear. you accepted those terms when you made the offer.

Once you’re happy everything is correct and you’ve submitted an order you’ll be given an Order Reference Number and details of the products (and/or services) you have ordered. You’ll then receive an email headed ‘Order Acknowledgement’ recognising receipt of your order. We will then send a further email headed ‘Order Confirmation’ and this is when our contract with you begins. This second email also lets you know how your products will be delivered to you. If we have to cancel all or part of your order for any reason, we will email you to let you know.

Sometimes we have to hold our hands up and admit we have made a mistake by unintentionally publishing inaccurate information on the site (e.g. the price, description or availability of a product you have ordered). In this instance we may have to cancel your order at any time up to the point we send you the product(s), even if you have received your Order Confirmation email, and you will receive a full refund of any charges already paid.

Graham

Wandering Country Girl wrote: »

consumers association advice is that they offered an item at a price i tendered an offer they accepted & confirmed accrptance by issuing receipt & confirmation by email & charging my card - contract signed now they are in breach of contract

The contract that you agreed to that says they can cancel in the case of pricing mistakes?

ted1

daheff wrote: »

They've taken payment (in full and final settlement for the product).....as far as I'm aware this makes the contract.


If they hadnt taken payment, then no problems. But they had.

You'll find that they reserve money on the card , but only processed and took it when they ship orders.

Wandering Country Girl

Graham wrote: »

More and more Ts & Cs explicitly state that no order is created until an acceptance notification is sent to the customer and they reserve the right to refund a customer where such acceptance is not made.

Added:

From Currys Terms & Conditions:[/So you work Currys ? their t&c also states -:

ALSO from currys T&Cs

We acknowledge we have a legal duty to supply goods that are in conformity with a contract" they accepted my offer & debited my card thereby entering into a legally binding contract -

full payment - we have contract

Graham

Wandering Country Girl wrote: »

So you work Currys ? their t&c also states -:

ALSO from currys T&Cs

We acknowledge we have a legal duty to supply goods that are in conformity with a contract" they accepted my offer & debited my card thereby entering into a legally binding contract -

full payment - we have contract

Not entirely sure why you posted then, it sounds like you've already decided on the answer by ignoring the parts of the Ts and Cs that explicitly covers mis-pricing and ignoring the response I posted from ECC to a similar query.

If you can't persuade the retailer to honour the pricing error, your next option is to persuade one of the consumer associations to intervene or take a case on your behalf or pursue the supplier through the Courts yourself.

To answer your other question, no I don't work for Curry's. I can't imagine many of the other posters that disagree with your interpretation work for Currys either.

ohnonotgmail

Wandering Country Girl wrote: »

Graham wrote: »

More and more Ts & Cs explicitly state that no order is created until an acceptance notification is sent to the customer and they reserve the right to refund a customer where such acceptance is not made.

Added:

From Currys Terms & Conditions:[/So you work Currys ? their t&c also states -:

ALSO from currys T&Cs

We acknowledge we have a legal duty to supply goods that are in conformity with a contract" they accepted my offer & debited my card thereby entering into a legally binding contract -

full payment - we have contract

Why bother posting here if you are jsut going to ignore all the advice given. Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

Wandering Country Girl

notjustsweet wrote: »

You made an offer to buy, they refused it.
No contract was entered into. A contract only starts when they accept your offer.

Unless you have an email saying order accepted or item shipped you don't have a contract with them.

sorry they accepted ny taking payment in full & sending a receipt & confirmation of order

Wandering Country Girl

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Wandering Country Girl wrote: »

Why bother posting here if you are jsut going to ignore all the advice given. Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

njs030

Did the email say order confirmation or acknowledgement?

Graham

Wandering Country Girl wrote: »

sorry they accepted ny taking payment in full & sending a receipt & confirmation of order

This:

In this instance we may have to cancel your order at any time up to the point we send you the product(s), even if you have received your Order Confirmation email

Wandering Country Girl

Wandering Country Girl wrote: »

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

i posted to highlight this unsavoury practise by a major retailer + i am told by them their are numerous cancelled on line orders for same product which was advertised for a period of 10+ days prior to becoming available to order on line - i might add i contacted them before i ordered to confirm price & was told it was a "black friday" special - that was a week before it became available to order on line

Wandering Country Girl

Graham wrote: »

This:

just got legal advice & they debiting my credit card means we had a binding contract - small claims court it is

Wandering Country Girl

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

a contract requires offer and acceptance. In this case there was no acceptance.

there was acceptance i have a email thanking me for my order & they debited my card tge full amount not yet refunded

Graham

Wandering Country Girl wrote: »

i might add i contacted them before i ordered to confirm price & was told it was a "black friday" special - that was a week before it became available to order on line

You may stand a better chance with any complaint/action given that you'd specifically confirmed the price with the retailer.

What was the price difference? Was it just a good saving or would you say it was fairly obviously a misprice?

Either way, previous advice still stands but the chances of success may move slightly in your direction:

If you can't persuade the retailer to honour the pricing error, your next option is to persuade one of the consumer associations to intervene or take a case on your behalf or pursue the supplier through the Courts yourself.