Not being upfront with payment terms

HarrierJoe

We've recently ordered a lounge suite from a well known Dublin-based retailer, and paid a deposit as it was stated that we need only pay the balance when ready for delivery to my house.

Because the waiting time is 8-12 weeks, and we found something else that could be delivered quicker, I decided to cancel my initial order.

When I spoke to the (same) sales person I informed him of my intention to cancel my order, upon which he stated that the deposit paid was non-refundable. I said to him that my wife and I were both present at the time of the transaction and he never informed us of this, nor was there a notice up stating this. He offered me an apology for not stating this to which I responded that this is simply not good enough - this is a financial transaction and he was not forthcoming regarding the terms before we comitted to the transaction.

I insisted that I want to contact their head-office and take this further and they said they'll first contact the supplier (beginning of the week) and speak to them, and then they will contact me back.

Now, i can understand that the deposit may not be refundable (altho many retailers offer a money-back guarantee) and if this was stated upfront, then I would have accepted that, but this is not the case.

Furthermore, I just noticed on the receipt and information leaflet provided after the transaction was completed that there are 2 places where we needed to sign at the time of the sale that states that we agree and accept:

1) The terms and conditions were explained to us,
2) We accept said terms and conditions (that was explained to us).

None of this happened.

How can I take this further when dealing with their head office? If the headoffice personnel become insistent, is there a consumer agency I can contact? Can I instruct my bank to reverse the transaction?

Any advice would be appreciated.

GerardKeating

HarrierJoe wrote: »

How can I take this further when dealing with their head office? If the headoffice personnel become insistent, is there a consumer agency I can contact? Can I instruct my bank to reverse the transaction?

Any advice would be appreciated.

You might not get anywhere with this, they kind of did you a favour when they let you cancel the order, they could have refused...

HarrierJoe

GerardKeating wrote: »

You might not get anywhere with this, they kind of did you a favour when they let you cancel the order, they could have refused...

But how can this be? In case I didn't express myself properly, they haven't cancelled the order yet. If they do, that's fine, but the indication the salesman gave me was "We'll see what happens..". What about consumer rights? What are the legal grounds they can claim? I think i have a pretty strong case

1. We were never told about the non-refundable deposit
2. We weren't said to sign the docket that states "The terms and conditions of this sale was explained to the customer"

This is a pricy item and i doubt if luck has anything to do with it, it's not just simply something I'll let go

Tom Young

Legal advice is not available here.

Talk to a solicitor.

28 Days is the period which you have to repudiate.