Dear Forum members, I’m new here, so please be gentle.

I need some help/advice re dealings with a large bathroom supply company.

They prepared some drawings for me and my wife for several bathrooms we needed. They were having a sale, and the salesperson said that if I put down some money, they would hold their sale prices for us after the sale. I put down £3000.00 on my credit card as a goodwill gesture and to secure the offer she had made.

Later she gave us a quotation with a list of products they hoped I’d buy from them. My wife told the salesperson that she didn’t particularly like the selection of products made for us, and we would look into alternatives. She went to work on it and decided the drawings prepared weren’t to our taste and we went back to her own drawings done before we visited said company. The selections of products likewise, we could get better prices anyway from other local suppliers and on the internet.

We had made no orders or purchases, or agreed any items. The salesperson wrote several emails asking for a deposit which we didn’t respond to as there was nothing on the quotation we wanted to order. My wife informed the salesperson we were changing the designs. There was no good reason to stick with this company for designs or product supply, so I notified the salesperson I would like my money refunded. The salesperson refused and said that on the back of their quotation were Terms and Conditions and they weren’t going to refund my money (I understand from this that they consider that I was/am in a contract with them).

This was the first I had noticed of their T&Cs, and they had not been pointed out to me/us or even referred to in the meetings - but I hadn’t placed any order anyway, nor have I signed anything. Their T&Cs state that “no order submitted by the buyer shall be deemed to be accepted by the seller unless and until confirmed in writing by the seller”.

The T&Cs also state: “Quotations are subject to withdrawal at any time before receipt of an unqualified order and shall be deemed to be withdrawn unless accepted within 30 days of their date”. The quote was in July 2016 and I still haven’t accepted it or ordered anything from the quote, or from the company.

Further: "The Buyer may not cancel the Contract without the consent of the Seller which, if given, shall be deemed to be on the express condition that the buyer shall pay the seller for all reasonable loss, damage, claims or actions arising out of such cancellation unless otherwise agreed in writing”.

Have I unwittingly entered in to a Contract without accepting the quotation, without having ordered any goods, without having signed anything and without having been shown the T&Cs (although they were printed on the back of the quotation)?

Am I in a position to get my money back from them, or will I have to order goods to the value of the £3000.00 I am in credit with them?

Am I under any legal obligations under these T&Cs or under any other consumer legislation?

don't mess around

go do a section 75 reclaim with your credit card company

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?473626-Section-75-and-Charge-Back..-gt-Whats-the-difference-and-how-to-utilise-them

Thank you for your reply dx100uk.

I read the link, it says I have to have made a purchase, and it goes on to say the card company carries equal liability for misrepresentation or breach of contract by the merchant.

As I haven't made a purchase or placed an order, I'm not sure that I can claim that the merchant is in breach of contract.

I'm not clear on what basis I can apply for section 75 reclaim

pers id be letting the card issuer worry that out.|||

you are £3K down.

You haven't ordered anything at all, so they have sustained no loss because they're not holding on to any stock for you.

Going by their t&c they should refund the money.

Which store is it?

I'm about to renovate our bathroom and would like to avoid them.

If they refuse a refund, do a section 75 before it's too late.

you cant cancel a contract because you dont have one to cancel. Therefore they have no reason to hang on to your money. Stop looking for reasons to be nice to them.

If the card co ask why the chargeback/refund you simply say they didnt supply any goods or services. The idea that thery were contracted to do so doesnt really enter into it that is to do with performance of a contract and they cant fulfil a non-existent order.

you cant cancel a contract because you dont have one to cancel. Therefore they have no reason to hang on to your money. Stop looking for reasons to be nice to them.

If the card co ask why the chargeback/refund you simply say they didnt supply any goods or services. The idea that thery were contracted to do so doesnt really enter into it that is to do with performance of a contract and they cant fulfil a non-existent order.

Exactly, how could they fulfil their part of the contract if you haven't ordered anything???