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In July I visited a furniture store and put down a deposit on a sofa with estimated delivery date of November. The deposit was paid with my credit card, the remainder of the balance was on a buy now pay later finance agreement.
The salesperson showed me on his screen a one page order breakdown with items, price, estimated delivery date etc.
He then read through and explained a section on that page headed "care advice". This said:
- we cannot store your goods free of charge upon arrival into the UK
- we charge £50 per week storage
- cushions will soften with use
- leather will stretch
- wipe down weekly
- leather has natural markings.
Underneath this "care advice section" it said "I CONFIRM THAT I HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND ALL THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS"
I then signed on his tablet with my finger tip.
The deposit was paid via my card. The finance application was approved. The finance terms were explained. He then printed off a till receipt, the finance agreement terms and the same order breakdown with the "care advice".
On the journey home I saw that the store documentation had a second page, that was not shown to me. This page had a few more lines of leather care tips but also said:
- YOUR ORDER IS A FIRM AND LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT
- YOUR DEPOSIT IS NON REFUNDABLE
Having worked in sales all my life, both retail and B2B, I was surprised this had not been shown, explained or discussed. It left a bad taste because the salesperson had been very helpful in store.
I thought about it more over the weekend and made multiple call attempts to the store on the Monday. I could not reach anyone and made more attempts Tuesday morning and sent an email.
Later that afternoon I received a callback from a manager, who made no attempt to deny, dispute or challenge my claim that I was not shown the second page which contained all the commercial terms of the agreement. I said "the sofa is very nice but this is not how I like to do business". He did not offer any solution so I left a negative google maps review explaining the situation.
I then received a call a few days later from the manager of the sister store next door, claiming I'd reviewed the wrong store and could I edit my review. I said "I won't change anything until this has been resolved"
Having heard nothing for several weeks I sent in a formal complaint, which head office responded to by saying:
a) you were shown all the terms and signed to accept
b) these terms are clear that they're made to order and on cancellable
c) production is already underway
d) Consumer Contracts Regulation 2013 = no right to cancel in store made to order goods
e) you confirmed to the manager you wished to proceed.
A) is not true - my signature on the second page is just a duplicate of the signature on page 1.
B) I wasn't shown these so this is irrelevant.
C) I was actually told Italian factories shut down in August for summer
D) OK
E) false. This is evidenced by my a call a few days later from the other manager and my response that I wouldn't edit my review until this was resolved.
I have now spoken to my Credit Card company who were happy to log it as a section 75 due to misrepresentation and send me the relevant forms. The sofa currently is still in production with an estimated delivery of October/November. This is not an issue with the sofa, which was very nice but with the way the sale was transacted and the lack of resolution or response afterwards from two separate calls from store managers. (the store next door is part of same group)
If I had known the order was non cancellable and deposit non-refundable I would have taken more time to think about it. That could have been an hour. That could have been one minute. But the point is once that is made clear to you and you say "yes that's fine" you are doing so fully informed.
I spoke to the finance company who twice told me "section 75 only applies to goods" and wanted to log it as a complaint instead. I have not received any promised callbacks from a manager and am close to raising a formal complaint with them.
My household legal cover advisor has also said I have a potential claim against the store for misrepresentation due to the misleading omission of material information.
So my questions:
1. Is the finance company correct that s75 "only applies to goods" or are they just trying to evade the liability conferred by s75?
2. Is the store contract legally binding if the salesperson intentionally withheld key terms from me?
3. The store T&Cs state that the order is non cancellable - a right consumer legislation does not give you - states that the "ORDER IS A FIRM AND LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT" but if it is not legally binding/enforceable due to misrepresentation then which position is stronger:
a) you never had the right to cancel vs b) the store can't enforce the non return of your deposit
The salesperson showed me on his screen a one page order breakdown with items, price, estimated delivery date etc.
He then read through and explained a section on that page headed "care advice". This said:
- we cannot store your goods free of charge upon arrival into the UK
- we charge £50 per week storage
- cushions will soften with use
- leather will stretch
- wipe down weekly
- leather has natural markings.
Underneath this "care advice section" it said "I CONFIRM THAT I HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND ALL THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS"
I then signed on his tablet with my finger tip.
The deposit was paid via my card. The finance application was approved. The finance terms were explained. He then printed off a till receipt, the finance agreement terms and the same order breakdown with the "care advice".
On the journey home I saw that the store documentation had a second page, that was not shown to me. This page had a few more lines of leather care tips but also said:
- YOUR ORDER IS A FIRM AND LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT
- YOUR DEPOSIT IS NON REFUNDABLE
Having worked in sales all my life, both retail and B2B, I was surprised this had not been shown, explained or discussed. It left a bad taste because the salesperson had been very helpful in store.
I thought about it more over the weekend and made multiple call attempts to the store on the Monday. I could not reach anyone and made more attempts Tuesday morning and sent an email.
Later that afternoon I received a callback from a manager, who made no attempt to deny, dispute or challenge my claim that I was not shown the second page which contained all the commercial terms of the agreement. I said "the sofa is very nice but this is not how I like to do business". He did not offer any solution so I left a negative google maps review explaining the situation.
I then received a call a few days later from the manager of the sister store next door, claiming I'd reviewed the wrong store and could I edit my review. I said "I won't change anything until this has been resolved"
Having heard nothing for several weeks I sent in a formal complaint, which head office responded to by saying:
a) you were shown all the terms and signed to accept
b) these terms are clear that they're made to order and on cancellable
c) production is already underway
d) Consumer Contracts Regulation 2013 = no right to cancel in store made to order goods
e) you confirmed to the manager you wished to proceed.
A) is not true - my signature on the second page is just a duplicate of the signature on page 1.
B) I wasn't shown these so this is irrelevant.
C) I was actually told Italian factories shut down in August for summer
D) OK
E) false. This is evidenced by my a call a few days later from the other manager and my response that I wouldn't edit my review until this was resolved.
I have now spoken to my Credit Card company who were happy to log it as a section 75 due to misrepresentation and send me the relevant forms. The sofa currently is still in production with an estimated delivery of October/November. This is not an issue with the sofa, which was very nice but with the way the sale was transacted and the lack of resolution or response afterwards from two separate calls from store managers. (the store next door is part of same group)
If I had known the order was non cancellable and deposit non-refundable I would have taken more time to think about it. That could have been an hour. That could have been one minute. But the point is once that is made clear to you and you say "yes that's fine" you are doing so fully informed.
I spoke to the finance company who twice told me "section 75 only applies to goods" and wanted to log it as a complaint instead. I have not received any promised callbacks from a manager and am close to raising a formal complaint with them.
My household legal cover advisor has also said I have a potential claim against the store for misrepresentation due to the misleading omission of material information.
So my questions:
1. Is the finance company correct that s75 "only applies to goods" or are they just trying to evade the liability conferred by s75?
2. Is the store contract legally binding if the salesperson intentionally withheld key terms from me?
3. The store T&Cs state that the order is non cancellable - a right consumer legislation does not give you - states that the "ORDER IS A FIRM AND LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT" but if it is not legally binding/enforceable due to misrepresentation then which position is stronger:
a) you never had the right to cancel vs b) the store can't enforce the non return of your deposit