2k deposit paid - can I ask for it back ?

[MARTIN3030]

Hmn so does not sound too convincing ?

Its rather amazing that they paid immediately.

Bookworm is a whiz with these issues I have asked her for an opinion.

[Bookworm]

1 - The product is designed to fit into only 4 possible choices of vehicles, so unless you asked for an adaptation to a different vehicle than one of the 4 listed, it is not custom made, so that wouldn't be an issue.

 

2 - No T&Cs anywhere on the site that I can see. Tsk tsk. How can you be held to terms that you have not been allowed to peruse or agree to?

 

3 - IMO, DSR fully apply. You have 7 working days to cancel from when you first receive the T&Cs including your rights to cancellation.

 

4 - The fact they - supposedly - ordered £2000 worth of products is unfortunate, but not your concern, so don't let them get you in a guilt trip.

 

5 - The consumer/business issue could be a problem only if you had already registered as self-employed or if you had agreed with the company that they are to supply you one of their "business opportunities" . It should be fairly easy to head that one off, I should think.

 

Ok then, I think that you need to send them a nice but firm letter to say that whilst you appreciate their comments, you have notified them of your cancellation fully within the terms of the DSR and that you therefore expect them to refund you in full within 14 days of this letter.

 

Stay strong and best wishes to your husband.

[AThousandBeautifulThings]

Thank you Bookworm and others - I feel more confident now about my rights. You live and learn!

I will come back on to tell you what's happened.

 

Thanks again.

[buzby]

Sorry, I believe you are being led a merry dance.

 

Whilst I can fully accept the reasons why you do not wish to proceed, the bottom line remains - you paid a deposit, which is your clear commitment to the other party that you wish to obtain the goods. There's no mystery about how deposits work - and with your money in their bank, willingly provided by yourself, they are under absolutely no obligation to return it if they have used the funds you provided to set in train the elements required to fulfil your order.

 

Additionally, there would be no requirement for terms and conditions - it was not an off-the-peg item, and was being prepared as part of an order willingly placed by you. Even if there were 4 variants, so what? They don;t provide their services for free, and you indicated your acceptance of the product type as you paid a deposit for it to ensure delivery

 

If they do not willingly agree to refund - and it appears they have no plans to do this, your only recourse is to take them to court. Whether you succeed in doing so, is open to the judge that hears your case, but I remain unconvinced that success is assured, and there is always the risk it will cost you more.

[Surfer01]

Bookworm is quite correct as every respectable business knows including mail order companies, there is a "cooling off" period of several days which is why it normally takes up to 28 days for you to receive goods. They are trying it on and more than likely they never ordered the goods immediately and as the units ordered are common to various vans that story does not wash either excsue the pun. No T & Cs, no contract!

[MARTIN3030]

Yes absolutely.

Thanks Bookie:)

[Bookworm]

Sorry, I believe you are being led a merry dance.

 

Whilst I can fully accept the reasons why you do not wish to proceed, the bottom line remains - you paid a deposit, which is your clear commitment to the other party that you wish to obtain the goods. There's no mystery about how deposits work - and with your money in their bank, willingly provided by yourself, they are under absolutely no obligation to return it if they have used the funds you provided to set in train the elements required to fulfil your order.

 

Additionally, there would be no requirement for terms and conditions - it was not an off-the-peg item, and was being prepared as part of an order willingly placed by you. Even if there were 4 variants, so what? They don;t provide their services for free, and you indicated your acceptance of the product type as you paid a deposit for it to ensure delivery

 

If they do not willingly agree to refund - and it appears they have no plans to do this, your only recourse is to take them to court. Whether you succeed in doing so, is open to the judge that hears your case, but I remain unconvinced that success is assured, and there is always the risk it will cost you more.

 

The Office of Fair Trading: Prior information and written confirmation

 

Written confirmation

 

When an order has been made you must provide send the consumer with written confirmation of the prior information (this can be by letter, fax or e-mail), unless it has already been provided in writing, for example, in a catalogue or advertisement.

No written contract, no T&Cs, no contract, full stop. THEY are in breach of the DSR, their mistake, their loss.

 

Furthermore:

 

 

 

The key features of the regulations are:

• you must give consumers clear information including details of the goods or services offered, delivery arrangements and payment, the supplier's details and the consumer's cancellation right before they buy (known as prior information)
  
• you must also provide this information in writing
  
• the consumer has a cooling-off period of seven working days.
  

 

Or:

 

Distance Selling (Mail Order, Telephone and Internet Shopping) Fact Sheet - BERR

 

Key Facts:

 

• The Distance Selling Regulations apply to both goods and services, where the contract is made without any face-to-face contact between supplier and consumer.

 

The main provisions of the Regulations are that:

• Consumers must be given clear information about the goods or services before buying;

• Goods must be delivered within thirty days unless agreed otherwise;

• Consumers have a cooling off period in which they can withdraw from the contract for any reason. The cooling off period begins as soon as the order has been made. In the case of goods, it ends seven working days after the day of receipt of the goods. In the case of services, it ends seven working days after the day the order were made. If the consumer agrees to the service beginning within the seven days, the right to cancel ends when the service starts; and

• Where consumers notify the supplier in writing or another durable medium that they wish to cancel the contract, they must be refunded within 30 days all money paid

(my bolding, obviously).

 

So, sorry to disappoint you yet again in your endless defence of companies, but IMO, supported by legislation, BERR and the OFT, OP has every right to cancel and get the totality of her money back. QED.

[buzby]

Quote away. You're certainly not impressing me or those businessmen who accept deposits from customers as their commitment to complete their order and they - according to you - can walk away? OR indeed a case I witnessed a few years ago whete a 'deposit' was upheld as being a legal commitment of the customer's ability to 'perform' (ie 'commit to purchase').

 

It would have been a very different matter if no formal commitment had been entered into, but a deposit evidences this, and to expect that you can walk away from it with no responsibilities is frankly, laughable.

 

But, instead of fooling the OP into a false sense of security that it will be a formality to get their money back, I remain against at your recklessness - but it's not for the first time and certainly won't be the last.

 

As previously noted, the ONLY way to get the money back if not given willingly, will be via the courts - and I look forward to their interpretation that a 'deposit' brings with it no responsibilities whatever.

[Bookworm]

And I look forward to them trying to convince a judge that they are a legitimitate busines with a legitimate claim to the money with no T&Cs, no contract, no cancellation terms etc... I can just see it: "Yes sir, we do operate online. DSR? What's that? No, we don't actually have any T&Cs for our potential customers, but we still hold them to those T&Cs."

 

Btw, remain against (aghast maybe?) my recklessness, but as long as you keep on disagreeing with my views, it only confirms to me that I am on the right track.

[buzby]

Try a Google on 'can I get my deposit back?' for more true stories of how people DON'T get their money back. I can cope with you believing in your advice, but not when it misleads others. If you even paused for a moment to contemplate WHY people are asked to pay deposits - if you think it is simply to keep the firm happy until the customer wishes to cancel their order on a whim or otherwise, then it would save a lot of time not to bother.

 

Shame I couldn't look forward to you coming into my shop demanding your deposit back, I'd have loved every second of it.

[hightail]

Shame I couldn't look forward to you coming into my shop demanding your deposit back

 

Surely the whole point here is that the customer hadn't been anywhere near the business premises to place the order and therefore different rules apply.

 

The company could actually save themselves this confusion by making their terms clear on their website - I couldn't find any and it's not OK for them to make them up as they go along. In any other situation where a deposit may not be refundable it is made clear before it's paid. In this case it was not - nothing was and the excuse for retaining the whole amount is lamentable.

[Bookworm]

Exactly. That's why the DSR exist, complete with cooling-off period.

 

No matter, apparently, Buzby thinks that randomly googling a sentence gives more accurate results than the OFT, BERR and the DSR themselves. Sad, but not unexpected.

[MARTIN3030]

Buzby- lets leave the OP to decide for themselves- based on whats been posted throughout this thread.

You dont seem to even offer a glimmer of hope here which is not what CAG should be about in the face of some constructive advice.

Ok so we know that you frequently do not agree with guidance given by people who have been here for a long time-but thats no reason to be contentuous or try to belittle those who are here for members.

Lets put it another way-give me one example of where you have challenged advice and been proved right after the person has either gone to Court and lost-or come out with no result without any Court.????

I would be very interested to know the answer.

For my part I can cite a few cases where the poster has gone on to win their case despite your efforts to insinuate they have little or no chance-or else face costs if they go for it.

I have no more to say-I think that says it all