thanks havinastella, i'm very glad this forum exists. i've contributed £10 (40% of the potential loss I would have suffered). i hope this is reasonable.

thank you to dx100uk and ericsbrother i have challenged Real Domestic Appliances and they have confirmed by email that they will refund me the full amount i paid. the bank has explained that they have 2 weeks to do so; or i can initiate a dispute under the visa cashback scheme. if they provide me a partial response (less the £25) i will send copies of the email sent from SMEG confirming their position was fraudulent. i am glad i do not have to go down this road, but disappointed that a company would so blatantly withold money on false pretenses. i am very happy that this forum exists and and will make a contribution to ensure it continues:) estuff

Sorry dx. i do not know what this is or how to do this? pat

I paid over the phone using a debit card thanks

I placed an order for a SMEG oven from Real Domestic Appliances today, a stockist listed on SMEG's website. Prior to placing this order I had phoned around all the stockist on the list to ask about availability of this product. Less than 2 hours after I placed the order, another stockist phoned with a better offer I contacted Real Domestic Appliances to cancel the order. I was advised that SMEG has charged Real Domestic Appliances £25 to cancel the order which I would need to pay. The order has been cancelled but this £25 witheld on this basis. I phoned SMEG to ask about this policy and spoke to Gemma who assured me that Real Domestic Appliances will not be charged as there was no attempted delivery. Gemma explained that this is in the policy agreement between Real Domestic Appliances and SMEG so Real Domestic Appliances will know this. I have sent an email to SMEG copied to Real Domestic Appliances asking for a reply in the next 5 days. What are my options for getting my £25 back if Real Domestic Appliances have deceived me? Pat