Online price change after order placed???

gsdjj

New Member
Feb 6, 2009
4
0
0
Lincolnshire
I have been browsing on line to find a cheap pair of Le Chameau Vatna wellingtons. I was directed by a shopping search site
with a link to a Company who were advertising them at £185 with free postage. I browsed back and forth indicating that the links worked, ( i wasnt using the back and forward buttons) through the rest of their site as there may have been other things I wished to buy.
I decided to keep my money and returned to the Wellies. I purchased them online using my credit card and confirmation came through in an email.

I then received another email saying that I must have found a web page that they had lost in cyberspace and that the boots were actually £205 did I still want them? The page that I have browsed earlier has now been deleted by them and I didn't print the original page that I viewed. They now offering them to us at the higher price.
Are they obliged to sell them to me at the lower price?

Please help?

:mad:
 

Tony

What Consumer Founder
Apr 7, 2008
18,307
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38
Bolton
Hi and welcome to the forum,

The answer is that it depends on whether they had accepted your offer or not i.e. is there a contract. For example, Amazon, who have been caught out my pricing errors in the past, only accept your offer when they ship the goods not when the payment is made.

They must be fantastic wellies - £200 sounds like a lot to me. Are they be worth it

Tony?
 

Tony

What Consumer Founder
Apr 7, 2008
18,307
3
38
Bolton
Your need to look in the terms and conditions - this is how Amazon cover themselves:

14. Our contract

When you place an order to purchase a product from Amazon.co.uk, we will send you an e-mail confirming receipt of your order and containing the details of your order. Your order represents an offer to us to purchase a product which is accepted by us when we send e-mail confirmation to you that we've dispatched that product to you (the "Dispatch Confirmation E-mail"). That acceptance will be complete at the time we send the Dispatch Confirmation E-mail to you. Any products on the same order which we have not confirmed in a Dispatch Confirmation E-mail to have been dispatched do not form part of that contract.
 

gsdjj

New Member
Feb 6, 2009
4
0
0
Lincolnshire
Im stuffed then?!

I take it from 2a that im stuffed. I thought last night that all they have to say is terribly sorry we are right out of stock so cant supply you. That way they dont have to oblige.

regards,
Jill


Terms and Conditions
1. Dispatch Policy. While every effort will be made to ensure that all items shown are in stock we offer no guarantee of availability and this electronic publication does not constitute an offer for sale. Goods are normally dispatched within 48 hours. If we are unable to despatch your order within 7 days, we will contact you by e-mail or telephone with an estimated despatch date and offer you the option of cancelling the order.
2. Prices and Tax. The price shown for the goods excludes postage and packing unless specifically stated.
Postage charges will be added once the order has reached the supplier. The customer will be informed of this price before charges are made to their account An estimate for these prices will be given on request. However postage and packaging to the UK mainland is free for all orders above £75. The Highlands & Islands of Scotland (postcodes IV, HS, KA27-28, KW, PA20-49, PA60-78, PH17-26, PH30-44, PH49-50 & ZE); Northern Ireland, Isle of Man & Isles of Scilly (postcodes BT, IM, TR21-25) and the Channel Islands will unfortunately occur a minimum postage charge of £10.00.
The price you pay will include VAT for all deliveries within the European Union. For deliveries outside EU, VAT will be deducted from the total price. Delivery to non-European countries may result in import duties payable on receipt of the goods. You will be liable for these duties.
2 a) We reserve the right to change prices and specifications without notice.
3.Cancellation and Returns. If you are not satisfied with the goods you have a right to cancel the contract, return the goods and receive either a full refund of your monies or replacement goods. Please send an e-mail/phone/fax to us before you return goods, telling us that you are returning the goods and why. The maximum delay for return of goods is 14 days from the day you receive your goods at the managers discretion.
Returns: Long Melford Saddlery will not, on long distances orders, be prepared to have special items of stock returned or refunded.There will be a postage/ re-stocking charge (5% on saddles + UK postage charge) for items returned, however, if sizes are wrongly ordered, there will be a postage charge on second delivery.
For all orders outside the UK please email for prices of postage.
4. Colours. The colour of goods may vary slightly from that shown on the website due to limitations of browser software and monitors.
5. Confidentiality. All confidential information, including credit card details, are held securely and only transmitted in encrypted form (via SSL). Customer details are not passed on to third parties and are used only in accordance with the Data Protection Act.
6. Indemnity. You agree to indemnify us against any claims, losses, liabilities, damages and expenses (including legal fees), arising out of your use of this site.
7. Jurisdiction. The Contract will be governed by the laws of England and Wales and the parties to the Contract submit to the jurisdiction of the English Courts.
8. Consumer Rights. None of the above Terms and Conditions affects your statutory consumer rights.
9. Company information. Long Melford Saddlery is the trading name of Long Melford saddlery and Clothing which is a company incorporated in England and Wales and registered under company number 002204874.
 

Tony

What Consumer Founder
Apr 7, 2008
18,307
3
38
Bolton
Acceptance

Those Terms and Conditions are not the best as they do not refer to acceptance:

Acceptance

With the online business process being automated there may be confusion as to when an offer is accepted. The basic rule is that for acceptance to be effective it must be communicated. However, as the law currently stands it is not clear when an online acceptance is communicated. For example, if the seller processes the customer's order through the website, but acceptance is made by email, is it communicated when the seller presses the 'Send' button, when it leaves the seller's email system, when it leaves the seller's ISP's mail server, when it hits the buyer's ISP's mail server, when it enters the buyer's email system or when the buyer reads it (or indeed any stage in between)? There are a number of initiatives which are intended to address this position – see our guide on EU and UK Regulations – but the safest course is to state, in the terms and conditions themselves, when acceptance will be deemed to have taken place.

One point to consider with an automated e-commerce process is the use of an automated receipt of order. Where there are a limited number of goods or where a serious pricing error has occurred, an automated acceptance could be disastrous, potentially binding the seller to contracts it cannot fulfill. In order to protect the seller any automated receipt should make it clear that it is simply a receipt of order and not an acceptance. The receipt should make it clear that the acceptance will follow later (when the seller has had a chance to check the order).The manner in which the content is formed and the point at which acceptance of order occurring should be made clear in the terms and conditions of sale.
From: Online Contract Formation | OUT-LAW.COM

This is a really tricky area... you always have the option to cancel under the distance selling regulations and to get them from elsewhere. I had a quick search and found them for about £200 with free delivery

Le Chameau - Vatna gore-tex lined hunting boots




Tony
 

gsdjj

New Member
Feb 6, 2009
4
0
0
Lincolnshire
Order cancelled

I have just written to the Company and told them what I think of their selling behaviour and have bought elsewhere.
I got them for £194 with free P & P


Thank you so much for the advice, at least for once I found out the facts before speaking out of turn!!!
Jill
 
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