Consumer law issue

poacher13

Hi all,
I'm foreseeing an issue with a very large online retailer that i just bought a pair of Campy Zonda's from for the rather tasty price of £157. Now the problem is that they have cancelled my order and refunded me the money against my wishes and removed the wheels from the website.
The question is i thought they would have to honour the contract due to the fact that they have received the order in an email and followed up the email with another to say that my order has been confirmed and dispatched.
Checking on the companies t&c it states:
Our Contract

When you place an order, you will receive an acknowledgement e-mail confirming receipt of your order. This email will only be an acknowledgement and will not constitute acceptance of your order. Wiggle retains the right to accept or reject this offer before processing the order. A contract between us for the purchase of the goods will not be formed until your payment has been approved by us, the prices have been verified, and the order has been processed and dispatched. A second email will be sent confirming these arrangements.

So, any ideas please? It would seem that all the requirements have been met to form a legally binding contract and i dont know how to approach it now?
To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
Thanks in advance.

cougie

Nope. I don't think they have to sell it to you.

poacher13

What makes you say that, even though their t&c have been met and they have confirmed dispatch?

neeb

Whatever the legal situation it's shoddy customer relations for a massive outfit like Wiggle to retract a sale simply because they made a mistake. They should be perfectly capable of absorbing the tiny loss involved, assuming they are making reasonable efforts to ensure these things don't happen very often. It's dishonourable, to be old-fashioned about it..

Grill

Happened to pretty much everyone who ordered them (myself included). Get over it.

galatzo

Don't hold your breath buddy. Online retailers cover themselves for cockups like this.
I started the original thread on this and I got cancelled too.
If something looks to good to be true then........

dj58

Galatzo wrote:

Don't hold your breath buddy. Online retailers cover themselves for cockups like this.
I started the original thread on this and I got cancelled too.
If something looks to good to be true then........

Look on the bright side, at least you didn't have to try and sneak them past the wife.

cougie

poacher13 wrote:

What makes you say that, even though their t&c have been met and they have confirmed dispatch?

Because that's the law ?

Now if they have actually sent it out and you do receive it - it might be different. Then again it might not - you'd probably have to send it back to them if it were a genuine mistake. After all - if the bank accidentally puts a million pounds in your account by mistake - you haven't the right to spend it.

gethinceri

But you would.

sloppyschleckonds

Has Speed_King been proved right after all this time?

diy

No Contract was formed. Three requirements of a contract.. Offer, consideration and acceptance - you only got 2.


When you place an order, you will receive an acknowledgement e-mail confirming receipt of your order (THE OFFER). This email will only be an acknowledgement and will not constitute acceptance of your order. Wiggle retains the right to accept or reject this offer before processing the order. A contract between us for the purchase of the goods will not be formed until your payment has been approved by us (CONSIDERATION), the prices have been verified, and the order has been processed and dispatched. A second email will be sent confirming these arrangements. (ACCEPTANCE)

You never got to acceptance

bendertherobot

poacher13 wrote:

Hi all,
I'm foreseeing an issue with a very large online retailer that i just bought a pair of Campy Zonda's from for the rather tasty price of £157. Now the problem is that they have cancelled my order and refunded me the money against my wishes and removed the wheels from the website.
The question is i thought they would have to honour the contract due to the fact that they have received the order in an email and followed up the email with another to say that my order has been confirmed and dispatched.
Checking on the companies t&c it states:
Our Contract

When you place an order, you will receive an acknowledgement e-mail confirming receipt of your order. This email will only be an acknowledgement and will not constitute acceptance of your order. Wiggle retains the right to accept or reject this offer before processing the order. A contract between us for the purchase of the goods will not be formed until your payment has been approved by us, the prices have been verified, and the order has been processed and dispatched. A second email will be sent confirming these arrangements.

So, any ideas please? It would seem that all the requirements have been met to form a legally binding contract and i dont know how to approach it now?
To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
Thanks in advance.

Do you have a tracking number?

Percy Vera

They're back on sale now, albeit at £263

schlepper

diy wrote:

No Contract was formed. Three requirements of a contract.. Offer, consideration and acceptance - you only got 2.
...
You never got to acceptance

This is spot on. For further clarity on this point, read this article. It was clearly a mistake, no doubt about it. You didn't get lucky. Move on.

lakesluddite

I wouldn't hold your breath poacher, we've been through this over on this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=40013&t=12994769&start=60

It seems most people have gone through the same process - ordered the wheels at £160(ish), had confirmation, but later in the day had another email that says that Wiggle couldn't supply, but they have been put on back-order. Then when you go into your account the back-order is also cancelled. I have also been sent this slightly ambiguous email, and have, this morning, contacted them via my account to ask what is going on with the order, given the wheels are now apparently in stock. I suspect they will have a stock response given that so many will be contacting them about this.

I am not expecting good news - it's obvious that someone has entered the wrong price and they pulled the listing asap, and as someone has intimated, they have no legal obligation to supply at that price. They will not lose all those £100's (ie the difference between the adverised price now and what we ordered the wheels for) - but they will perhaps lose a few customers.

poacher13

But as far as i can see i do have all 3 that i need. Isnt this email the acceptance?

The following order has been confirmed and sent out for you via the delivery method selected.

£159.28 1 x Campagnolo Zonda Clincher Wheelset Black Shimano/SRAM 9/10/11
£1.65 1 x dhb Portsmouth Triathlon Event T-Shirt Blue Large

£0.00 Delivery
£160.93 Grand Total

You can track the delivery of your order by going to http://dm4.metapack.com/metatrack/track ... eader=true Please be aware that items may be despatched in multiple consignments.

They will be picked up from Wiggle within one working day and should be delivered to you in 6 working days.

As these items have now been processed we are unable to cancel or amend them.
Should items be despatched that you wish to amend or no longer require, please wait for them to arrive,
then refer to the returns section of the website.
Complete all the required information and send the goods back to us.

Yours
The Wiggle Customer Services Team

markhewitt1978

No; the dispatch and you receiving the goods is.

What they have on their website is merely an 'invitation to treat' and you've made an offer and the offer has been accepted - but, the contract is only complete when you receive the goods, either party can cancel the contract at any time before that happens.

As you didn't get the goods there has been no completion of the contract.

The law is clear on this and there have been many many cases of this happening and the retailer is fully within their rights to withdraw the offer at any point before dispatch. So give it up, it didn't work out for you this time.

The only time the law is in your favour is that if you had received the wheels they could not then ask for them back, as the contract was complete.

ugo.santalucia

The same topic is discussed in the general section, please use that thread