Littlewoods catalogue/website

[7mag]

Hi everyone. I'm new and this is my first post, so I hope it's in the right place.

I purchase goods from the Littlewoods catalogue/website quite frequently. I recently spotted a lounge suite for £120. Long story short, it was a mistake (should have been around £1000) but they agreed to supply it for the advertised price.

A few days later, I phoned to check delivery date, and a different individual then said that they would o longer supply for the price agreed. I asked him to listen to the tapes of the phone conversations which he did. He then phoned again to say that, regardless of what had been agreed previously, they still would not honour the £120 price.

I've written to the Chief Executive who has not replied. I've also requested transcripts of the conversations, but have not received them

Are they in breach of contract and, if so, what are my options? I'm sorely tempted to cancel all further payments on my outstanding balance.

[Bookworm]

Did they confirm the order in writing?

 

It all boils down to the time at which the contract will have been deemed to have been formed. You need to check their T&Cs to find out, in the case of online shopping, there is a strong possibility that acceptance only takes place after they have confirmed in writing acceptance of order and advised a delivery date, for example. So whether a breach of contract has occurred or not is going hinge on that.

 

Cancelling payments on your outstanding balance would NOT be a good idea, they can pursue you for that and thrash your credit rating in the process.

[KER]

Most online stores these days state the contract is formed "when the goods are dispatched to you" and not before - to avoid these sort of mispricings.

[7mag]

Yes, that reflects Littlewoods terms and conditions. But the account was debited for £120 when the order was taken and this (in my view) represents when the contract was established. I'm taking it to County Court, arguing that they are in breach of contract, and am claiming compensation for loss of bargain

[KER]

Yes, that reflects Littlewoods terms and conditions. But the account was debited for £120 when the order was taken and this (in my view) represents when the contract was established. I'm taking it to County Court, arguing that they are in breach of contract, and am claiming compensation for loss of bargain

 

 

Tis irrelevant I'm afraid and there have been countless of arguments over many forums over this.

 

When you click "place order" you signify that you accept their terms and conditions - one of which is "contract is formed on dispatch". They state that there are occasional mispricings. This is quite obviously a misprice and I'm guessing that Littlewoods will be able to back that up with printed copy.

 

The whole reason the "on dispatch" was put into the T&C's was because of the wonderful world of online mispricings

 

You have to have four elements to have a valid contract - offer, acceptance, intention to create legal relations and consideration. They will argue that as the goods had not been dispatched the offer you made had not been accepted.

 

I think you may find you will just lose more money by filing a claim than gaining to be honest.

[7mag]

I sought advice form OFT/ Consumer direct and they appeared to think that the debiting of the account for £120 was significant...it was on the basis of their advice that I lodged a claim. History may prove you to be right, of course!

[KER]

Right, but in real terms, there wasn't any money that passed hands was it? I'm assuming it was to buy on credit and pay off?

 

Still, please do keep me updated, I'm interested in how it goes

[KER]

wondering if any updates yet?

[7mag]

Today was actually a critical date, so I need to check with the court on Monday.

[KER]

So it's now a week past your critical date, what's the latest

[7mag]

They didn't respond so, as things stand, I'm expectimg to get notification of a judgement (presumably by default?) in the next couple of days. Suprised?

[KER]

They didn't respond so, as things stand, I'm expectimg to get notification of a judgement (presumably by default?) in the next couple of days. Suprised?

 

well yes, what was the judgment actually for?? (edit, I see, loss of bargain..)

 

I have a feeling that they will appeal it when they get your paperwork to be honest...

[7mag]

they might do that. But one would have thought that they would have defended the action in the first instance, on that basis?

[Zamzara]

I'm not aware of any caselaw that says what constitutes offer and acceptance can be defined in the contract. After all, if they're saying they never accepted the offer the terms of the contract never came into force, so that would be paradoxical.

 

The fact that they took payment is a strong indication of acceptance. Otherwise they deliberately took money they had no right to.

[KER]

It's on an account basis, they would just re-credit the account - no actual money changes hands!

 

This from another website which, although I admit the English isn't perfect, puts it quite succinctly!

 

"I think he meant the company is not allowed to refuse to supply an item legitimately advertised at a price, as this constitutes advertising fraud. Court president has held the "genuine pricing error" clause in terms and conditions to be legal though."