Beware of Eiretyres pricing and not fulfilling orders

ShannonLad

Hi, I know there are many fans of eyretyres on this site however I just wanted to share an unfortunate experience I had with them recently when I purchased tyres from them.

07.04.2014
-I placed an order with eiretyres.com at 10:36AM for four tyres @ €52.50 each total of €210 including VAT and delivery.
-Confirmation of order received from eyretyres.
-Follow up email from eyretyres that the tyres were out of stock and they suggested a replacement, the replacement tyres were €160 each total of €640 including VAT and delivery.
-I immediately checked the website and the tyres that I originally ordered were in stock however the price had been increased €52.50 to €185.20 each.
-The company was attempting to cancel my order due to a mistake on their website where the tyres were incorrectly priced.
-I responded via email stating that I wanted the original tyres that I ordered and that I could see from their website that the tyres were still in stock and the price had just been increased from €52.50 each to €185.20 each since my initial order.

08.04.2014
-Received a follow up email from eiretyres.com stating that my order had been cancelled.
-I responded via email stating that I would contact the European consumer Centre and that I knew they were lying about the tyres being out of stock and that I expected that my original order would be fulfilled.

-I contacted consumerhelp.ie but they couldn't help as the eiretyres.com website is operated out of Germany
-I contacted eccireland.ie and they said I could proceed through the European Small Claims Procedure however it is more geared towards getting my money back which is not what I want.

They said that eiretyres behaviour was both frustrating and unnecessary alleging product unavailability rather rather than acknowledging the error that was made with the pricing.

I won't ever buy tyres again from eiretyres, if they had simply told me from the start that there was an incorrect price listed for the tyres I purchased I wouldn't have been so annoyed but their first instinct was to lie to me about the tyres being out of stock.

Crap customer service!

quadrifoglio verde

Online retailing is slightly different to conventional retailing.
Invitation to threat applies, however you'll find that the contract isn't completed until you receive and accept your goods as set out in distance selling legislation.

You might be best check out the consumer issues forum, but I know when a load of us took advantage of very cheap iPhones on vodafones website, the contract could be cancelled as although we'd paid, the contract hadn't been fulfilled (delivered to the consumer) and so vodafone could back out.

hi5

Eiretyres are within their rights to do what they did, they don't have to supply you.

MugMugs

In fairness, people mess up. It happens. I can't see why you'd expect to receive pricey thread at a cheaper price to which they can source them due to a slight error on their behalf.

Granted they should have been honest about it however your expectance of getting the tyres at that price is a bit much.

mickdw

You ordered tyres that you obviously knew were incorrectly priced. In those situations its very likely that the mistake will be noticed prior to delivery.

It was worth a try but i don't see the point in crying now.

CJhaughey

Out of interest, what tyres did you originally order?

ShannonLad

thanks for your thoughts, I can certainly appreciate that there may have been an issue with the pricing but I wasn't to know this I simply saw the cheapest tyre and ordered them. I wasn't to know but that they were simply trying to shift them as they only had a limited number left.

In any case it wasn't the fact that they messed up the pricing on the website that annoyed me, it was actually that they lied to cover up their mistake.

The tyres I ordered were the Continental SportContact 5 235/40 R18 95Y XL with kerbing rib BSW.

A simple email that explained there was an issue with the pricing would have been fine.

I don't think they will be too bothered about loosing 1 customer.

MuppetCheck

Treat it as a blessing in disguise. The Sport Contact 5s are rubbish - I'm 7k km into a set and they're well over half way gone. Noisy buggers too.

A friend is changing them very soon on 11k km...

djimi

ShannonLad wrote: »

I don't think they will be too bothered about loosing 1 customer.

They wont be unfortunately. Companies have done things like this before; sometimes it appears even as a publicity stunt. A major online electronics retailer did it with a TV some time ago that was selling at somthing like €50; they didnt honor it obviously (as they have no legal obligation to do so), but they generated a lot of traffic to their site and got talked about on the radio etc. No publicity is bad publicity and all that...

I doubt thats what happened here; more likely to be an honest mistake. And from their point of view, its probably a lot easier just to tell you that they are out of stock rather than trying to explain the mistake and potentially have hassle on their hands from someone who starts demanding that they honor the sale (Im not saying thay you would have done, but plenty would have hounded them). It might not have been the right thing for them to do, but its possible that it was the easiest way for them to handle it from their point of view.

ShannonLad

@Muppetcheck, thanks for the info on the tyres, I'm just gonna get a set of cheap ones and sell on the car.

visual

Hang on if goods are advertised at a price and you payfor them then the deal is done.

I remember years ago clerys got themselves into similar situation they advertised a fur coat in window and there was a mistake in pricing

They didn't want to sell the coat at that price but where forsed to.

OP don't roll over.

djimi

visual wrote: »

Hang on if goods are advertised at a price and you payfor them then the deal is done.

I remember years ago clerys got themselves into similar situation they advertised a fur coat in window and there was a mistake in pricing

They didn't want to sell the coat at that price but where forsed to.

OP don't roll over.

The law is different when it comes to online retailing as far as I know. I dont know the specifics, but as far as Im aware, the seller can pull out of the sale even after the order has been placed and payment made, up until the point of shipping I think.

Guy:Incognito

visual wrote: »

Hang on if goods are advertised at a price and you payfor them then the deal is done..

If your in a shop and you buy something. The minute you have it, it's yours. They cant chase you down the road and demand it back.

This wasn't in a shop......

visual wrote: »

remember years ago clerys got themselves into similar situation they advertised a fur coat in window and there was a mistake in pricing

They didn't want to sell the coat at that price but where forsed to.

OP don't roll over.

Invitation to treat. They don't have to honour a priceing mistake. In a shop , online or anwhere else.

String

visual wrote: »

Hang on if goods are advertised at a price and you payfor them then the deal is done.

I remember years ago clerys got themselves into similar situation they advertised a fur coat in window and there was a mistake in pricing

They didn't want to sell the coat at that price but where forsed to.

OP don't roll over.

They are not forced to sell you something if it is priced wrong. People always seem to think that.

"Wrongly marked prices
Shops can and often do make an honest mistake about the prices they display. A common example would be where some price labels are wrong and the marked price is lower than what the price should be.
In such a situation your staff at the till need to point out that the marked price is wrong, then the customer has the choice whether they are willing to pay the proper price or put back the goods without buying them."

visual

djimi wrote: »

The law is different when it comes to online retailing as far as I know. I dont know the specifics, but as far as Im aware, the seller can pull out of the sale even after the order has been placed and payment made, up until the point of shipping I think.

Same laws apply and transaction is binding on payment

Guy:Incognito

visual wrote: »

Same laws apply and transaction is binding on payment

If that was the case the customer wouldn't be able to change their mind and send items back under distance selling laws.

djimi

visual wrote: »

Same laws apply and transaction is binding on payment

Payment has been made, but not necessarily accepted. Its a bit like walking up to a shopkeeper with an item and throwing a tenner at him and saying that the transaction has been completed, when in reality it hasnt until they have agreed to the sale.

Like I said, I dont know the specifics of the law, but there was a big discussion about it in the legal forum when the issue occured with the online electronic retailer, and from that it seems that the law does not apply to online retailers in the same way as it does to bricks and mortar stores, and that in a situation like this simply placing an order and paying via an online system does not equate to the sale being completed.

Guy:Incognito

AFAIK it's to do with automated systems. The system just accepts whatever the price is and its only when its flagged and checked by a person that the issue is known and reversed. The law allows for that delay I think.

corktina

E & OE applies I imagine

quadrifoglio verde

visual wrote: »

Same laws apply and transaction is binding on payment

Distance selling rules means that the contract isn't formed until the buyer has received and accepted the goods. This allows them to cancel before shipping basically.

With regards to clerys invitation to treat doesn't apply in that case as it could be argued that by having the coat in the window with the lower price enticed customers in and was an advertisement and not a price mistake. Had they not had in the window but the mistake had been made inside the store, invitation to treat would have applied as it's a misprice and not an advertisement.

visual

Web page is shop window.
Transaction is binding apon payment accepted.

Why do you think they lied about being out of stock ?

The law on cancel before shipping is not at sellers discretion.

The company opperates within EU and subject to EU and country of registration laws.

djimi

visual wrote: »

Transaction is binding apon payment accepted.

Payment hasnt been accepted just because someone fills in an online form.

Also, whats to say that the lied about stock levels? A €180 tire on sale at €59; its entirely possible that it sold out in a hurry. Unlikely perhaps, but we dont know all the facts in fairness.

visual

djimi wrote: »

Payment hasnt been accepted just because someone fills in an online form.

Also, whats to say that the lied about stock levels? A €180 tire on sale at €59; its entirely possible that it sold out in a hurry. Unlikely perhaps, but we dont know all the facts in fairness.

True we don't it might have been a marking ploy or done at a time when it was being compared to other sellers. Or most likely a pricing mistake who knows but your still entitled to buy at advertised price.

I don't think the OP will get satisfaction especially through our so call consumers protection agencies

but I do think a good will gesture should have been given.

I would still write to the company and requst they honour the advertised price.

djimi

visual wrote: »

Or most likely a pricing mistake who knows but your still entitled to buy at advertised price.

But this is precisely the point that is being made; when it comes to an online transaction you are not necessarily entitled to buy at the advertised price. Its not a standard transaction; there is no point in comparing it to purchasing from a bricks and mortar store.

visual wrote: »

but I do think a good will gesture should have been given.

I would still write to the company and requst they honour the advertised price.

The OP can chance their arm and ask; you never know what might happen! I wouldnt be holding my breath though.

Guy:Incognito

visual wrote: »

I don't think the OP will get satisfaction especially through our so call consumers protection agencies
.

By our I presume you mean the German ones?

ShannonLad

@djimi just to be clear I hit print screen when I placed the order and checked it again later that night, the tyres were definitely still in stock and I could buy them if I was happy to pay €185.20 a piece instead of the original price of €52.50.

They also stated that there was an incorrect price on the web site in a follow up email after I had send them a number of responses.

visual

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

By our I presume you mean the German ones?

Be worth a try

visual

djimi wrote: »

when it comes to an online transaction you are not necessarily entitled to buy at the advertised price. Its not a standard transaction; there is no point in comparing it to purchasing from a bricks and mortar store.



The OP can chance their arm and ask; you never know what might happen! I wouldnt be holding my breath though.

no offence but your out of your depth

advertised price is committed price
payment received is binding contract

Full refund may be in T&C but I doubt its justified because seller has decided to sell it for more after payment transaction has been completed.

Because it was electronic payment the transaction is instant money deducted from customer account instantly and credited to sellers account instantly.
The payment transaction was not in error it was for the correct amount and the transaction was successful. There is now a legally binding contract subject to T&C stated at sale.

Buyers remorse was added for customer protection not sellers discression

It doesn't matter if its a bricks and motar store or online what does matter is its registered address. It has to opperate within that country laws.

The fact that the tyre company may have made a pricing mistake is not the buyers concern.

Resolving their mistake by first telling lies is bad business and would put me off dealing with that company and only admitting to a pricing error after all other avenues have been exhausted shows lack of integrity

djimi

Im no expert in the matter so Im not going to argue further, but I will say that what you are saying goes against everything I have read regarding similar situations as the OPs.

Alanstrainor

djimi wrote: »

Im no expert in the matter so Im not going to argue further, but I will say that what you are saying goes against everything I have read regarding similar situations as the OPs.

I have to agree with you on this. I've been caught up in many bargain alert mis prices and it always comes back to the point your making.

Guy:Incognito

There's been loads of similar threads on here about different companies and the outcome is always that the order is cancelled and the money returned.

visual

djimi wrote: »

Im no expert in the matter so Im not going to argue further, but I will say that what you are saying goes against everything I have read regarding similar situations as the OPs.

this is opinion forum not legal so unless your reading it from official agencies then all opinions have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Ive see other crap projected as fact on here because they have brow beated the other posters in to submission.

Hope im now not one of those

What I was highlighting is contact is formed on successful payment transaction and contract fulfilled on delivery subject to T&C at time of sale. There may be clauses within T&C that allow the seller to cancle the transaction with full refund. I don't know as ive not read the T&C for that tyre company.

Even if there is not usless some consumer agency takes up the case it would probably requir legal advice and drawn out process to get justification something I wouldn't want to go through as life is too short.

quadrifoglio verde

Visual is it not the case with distance selling regs that a contract isn't formed until the buyer receives the goods?

While the price might be listed on the site, it isn't an advertised price. An advertised price would be eiretyres sending out a promotion, say through email, with this brand of tyre in this size for 50 euro.

A price listed on the website is the same as a price listed in a shop. Neither are advertised. If the shop has made a mistake, say they've priced car wax at 2 euro as opposed to 20, then they don't have to honour it under invitation to treat as a contract is only formed after the person at the till accepts the price. That is when the contract is formed.

However as a contract isn't formed until receipt and acceptance of the goods when you buy online, invitation to treat would apply until this point, would it not?

visual

Contract is formed at time of sale (payment) and completed apon receiving goods.

There is no contract once you receive goods unless you make a seperate claim


Any publicly accessible web site is the equivalent of shop window if they are selling goods or services.

quadrifoglio verde

visual wrote: »

Contract is formed at time of sale (payment) and completed apon receiving goods.

There is no contract once you receive goods unless you make a seperate claim

If I see finis car wax on detailingshed for 1 euro as opposed to 10 and I pay, I don't have a contract. Ive only confirmed my offer to buy said car wax at the price.

I then get an email from curran confirming my offer along with terms and conditions.
If the email says that acceptance will take place when goods are dispatched, I don't have a contract.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/consumer_w/consumer_different_ways_of_buying_e/consumer_buying_by_internet_mail_order_or_phone_e/how_a_distance_sale_contract_is_made.htm

visual

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

If I see finis car wax on detailingshed for 1 euro as opposed to 10 and I pay, I don't have a contract. Ive only confirmed my offer to buy said car wax at the price.

I then get an email from curran confirming my offer along with terms and conditions.
If the email says that acceptance will take place when goods are dispatched, I don't have a contract.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/consumer_w/consumer_different_ways_of_buying_e/consumer_buying_by_internet_mail_order_or_phone_e/how_a_distance_sale_contract_is_made.htm

do they speak english in wales ?

Alanstrainor

This really has turned into more of a legal discussion/consumer issues thread. Not much motoring related going on here. Going to close it.