Deposit retention

D1stant

I paid a significant deposit for a kitchen a few months ago

Circumstances have changed and I no longer can afford the kitchen

The shop is refusing refund ( even though nothing has been ordered or work done on the kitchen itself)

What's my position legally?

Pat Mustard

Did you sign a contract? If so, check the terms and conditions.

234

D1stant wrote: »

I paid a significant deposit for a kitchen a few months ago

Circumstances have changed and I no longer can afford the kitchen

The shop is refusing refund ( even though nothing has been ordered or work done on the kitchen itself)

What's my position legally?

Check your contract. The default position with deposits is that they are not meant to be returned if you pull out.

D1stant

No contract was signed. I just have a receipt

conorh91

A liquidated damages clause may be an implied contractual term of an oral agreement. The fact that there is no written contract is not particularly relevant.

How much was the deposit?

This is significant. A vendor cannot apply a penalty clause to deter breach of contract. The compensation he receives from the deposit must be proportionate to his losses.

D1stant

He did one site visit and a design for the kitchen - nothing more elaborate than you would get in Ikea or any other pre-sales kitchen place . The deposit was 2500

conorh91

€2,500, yowzer. How much was the estimate for the kitchen?

Santa Cruz

€2,500! Depends on what percentage the deposit is in ratio to the total cost. If it's 10% then I think the seller is entitled to retain as clearly he may have devoted a lot of time into the design. If it's 50% then it would be just a standard kitchen set up. Hardly justified keeping €2,500 but maybe €500 would be more fairer.

Bepolite

Quite a lot of what looks like legal advice going on here I'm not chiming in other than to say, seek legal advice and read the following in conjunction with your contract, which may simply be the retailers standard terms and conditions.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1995/en/si/0027.html

conorh91

Santa Cruz wrote: »

€2,500! Depends on what percentage the deposit is in ratio to the total cost. If it's 10% then I think the seller is entitled to retain as clearly he may have devoted a lot of time into the design. If it's 50% then it would be just a standard kitchen set up. Hardly justified keeping €2,500 but maybe €500 would be more fairer.

There is no legal basis for this kind of penalty in a contract. The law is clear. Penalty clauses are unenforceable.

Having said that nobody here knows if the retained deposit is tantamount to a penalty or whether it reflects the vendor's losses. Only a solicitor can advise the OP on that.

D1stant

Santa Cruz wrote: »

€2,500! Depends on what percentage the deposit is in ratio to the total cost. If it's 10% then I think the seller is entitled to retain as clearly he may have devoted a lot of time into the design. If it's 50% then it would be just a standard kitchen set up. Hardly justified keeping €2,500 but maybe €500 would be more fairer.

Its a kitchen not the Taj-Mahal. Standard stuff max 3 hours work including site visit

Kitchen was 14k so approx. 20% deposit

godtabh

D1stant wrote: »

Its a kitchen not the Taj-Mahal. Standard stuff max 3 hours work including site visit

Kitchen was 14k so approx. 20% deposit

So says you.