Misco.ie - Order cancelled due to "pricing error"

cmccarra

Hi,

A friend of mine ordered a TV (this is the exact product page: misco.ie/product/223874/Samsung-UE48H5500AKXXU-48-SMART-TV) off Misco.ie at the listed price of €544.89 inc. VAT on 30/1/2015 and received a copy of an 'order request' on the same day.

They then received an email from the company on the 02/2/2015 asking for proof of identity due to the type of items contained in the order. They sent on a scan of their passport on the 03/2/2015 which was accepted and the follow up email said their order was released. Subsequently they received an 'order confirmation' email on the same day confirming the order.

They assumed all was grand and were expected the order to come only to receive an email on the 06/2/2015 which said:

"Thank you for placing your order with Misco.co.uk.
Please be informed you that your order has been cancelled due to a pricing error.
If you would like to place a new order for an alternative product please do not hesitate to contact our Salesdesk on 0800 038 8880.
Please accept our apologies for the inconveniences and frustration this issue caused you."

A bit annoyed they checked the product page to find the price had jumped to
€710.94 inc. VAT.

I did a bit of checking myself and found the pricing history of the product from pricespy.ie: i.imgur.com/8ardPxY.png which shows that the TV was €544.89 from the 04/1/2015 up until the 04/2/2015, which shouldn't be an issue since they placed the order on the 30/1/2015 and received an order confirmation on the 03/2/2015.

The terms and conditions on Misco.ie states some of the following points:

- ‘Order Confirmation’ means our written acceptance of your Order

- We will accept your offer and create a Contract with you by sending to you an Order Confirmation once we have confirmed availability of the Goods or Services, verified your credit card or payment details as necessary and prepared the Goods for dispatch. We reserve the right to obtain validation of your credit or debit card details before providing you with any Goods or Services.

- The Order Confirmation will be binding on you unless there is an inadvertent discrepancy between the Goods or Services that you ordered and those detailed in the Order Confirmation. You should notify us as soon as you become aware of any such discrepancy

- 8. Errors and Ommissions
8.1 We make every effort to ensure that all prices and descriptions quoted in our catalogue and on our website are correct and accurate. In the case of a manifest error or omission, we will be entitled to rescind the contract, notwithstanding that we may already have accepted your Order and/or received payment from you. Our liability in that event will be limited to the return of any money that you have paid in respect of the Order...

They also said on the phone that there was a transaction carried out so there was nothing wrong with payment, though it doesn't seem likely that they will carry out the original order as it stands.

Since they have entered into a binding contract does that give us any standing? What do you think they should do? To me it doesn't seem like there was a pricing error especially if it had been that price for close to a month, I'm sure they would have had a few orders within that time. Can they use that errors and omissions clause that sweepingly?

Thanks for any help.

dudara

They say that they enter into a binding contract once the goods are prepared for dispatch. It seems like the goods were never prepared for dispatch, so I don't think any contract exists.

cmccarra

dudara wrote: »

They say that they enter into a binding contract once the goods are prepared for dispatch. It seems like the goods were never prepared for dispatch, so I don't think any contract exists.

An email saying the order was released was sent on the 02/2/2015 and the email detailed that the order was cancelled only came on the 06/2/2015, four days later. If something wasn't up the product could have easily been dispatched the 2nd or the 3rd - but four days to realise they needed to cancel this order? Six days if you count from the initial order request.

If there was a pricing error they had 4 steps (inital order, receipt of payment, verification of identity, order confirmation) in which they should have realised it.

My guess is that they screwed up in inventory somewhere, realised they didn't have anymore left in stock in which to give at that price even though it was stated as in stock and available at the time of purchase and had to purchase more which cost more. But wouldn't this be their issue not the buyers?

SteM

cmccarra wrote: »

If there was a pricing error they had 4 steps (inital order, receipt of payment, verification of identity, order confirmation) in which they should have realised it.

My guess is that they screwed up in inventory somewhere, realised they didn't have anymore left in stock in which to give at that price even though it was stated as in stock and available at the time of purchase and had to purchase more which cost more. But wouldn't this be their issue not the buyers?

Even if this is what has happened, it's still a pricing error. In your scenario they didn't amend the price on the site to reflect the price of the new stock. That's a pricing error in my book.

Either way I don't think your friend has any comeback.