Is a receipt a contract

Muckers

Looking for some advice here. So a few months ago I contacted a local bike shop about supplying a new bike to me. It's a brand new model with frameset delivery set for after Xmas. We agreed a price and I paid a very large deposit to hold the price. Most of the discussions were done via email. I have a receipt showing the full price, my deposit and the remaining balance payable on delivery. I received a call yesterday saying that their UK supplier had made an error and that the price has increased by €700. My question is, is my receipt a contract of sale. I think it is, and I see this price increase as an issue not for me, but between the shop and their supplier. Any thoughts?

cython

Curiously the CCPC page RE deposits makes no explicit reference to the impact of deposits on price, and whether it binds both parties to the agreed price, etc: https://www.ccpc.ie/consumers/shopping/buying-goods/deposits/ It does suggest you have entered into a contract, and outlines obligations around date, etc. Citizens Information is similar: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/consumer_protection/consumer_rights/deposits.html

Now perhaps you could infer from the lack of reference to price and the presence of a contract that it's a given that the price is binding (part of the exact product or service you are buying, for example), but I honestly don't know. For what it's worth, you may get better informed responses over here, as it is a consumer issue rather than cycling-specific: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=580

godtabh

From other forums a contract isnt formed until the item ships. Look at the consumer issue forum here for examples.

Have you looked around? Is the price €700 cheaper than it should be? if so I would think tough

smacl

Different type of purchase, but if the housing market is anything to go by, paying a deposit means very little and all the receipt guarantees you is a return of your deposit. I'd be surprised if you had any recourse beyond the money you've been paid being returned to you in full.

magicbastarder

is there any sign of the supplier or retailer making a goodwill gesture and lowering the price by any amount?

iwillhtfu

I would suspect invitation to treat applies. I don't recall the exact terms but basically the original price was wrong they're now aware of this and have notified you of the increase and presumably offered to go ahead with the new price. The lads over on the consumer affairs forum will have a better knowledge. It's a rough one though OP I can see your frustration.

plodder

There has been cases in the UK where an obvious mistake was made with online pricing, where the price was out by an enormously obvious amount, and those contracts weren't legally enforceable, but this looks more like a regular contract that should in theory be enforceable. Whether that will work in practice or not is another question. Someone other than the OP has screwed up though, so there should be recognition of that. If they aren't willing to meet you half way at least, then you could start talking about the small claims court maybe.

Victor

Muckers wrote: »

Looking for some advice here. So a few months ago I contacted a local bike shop about supplying a new bike to me. It's a brand new model with frameset delivery set for after Xmas. We agreed a price and I paid a very large deposit to hold the price. Most of the discussions were done via email. I have a receipt showing the full price, my deposit and the remaining balance payable on delivery. I received a call yesterday saying that their UK supplier had made an error and that the price has increased by €700. My question is, is my receipt a contract of sale. I think it is, and I see this price increase as an issue not for me, but between the shop and their supplier. Any thoughts?

Does the vendor have terms and conditions dealing with such a situation? If not, I would think it is their problem.

Presumably, your dealings have been with the Irish shop - you have no dealings with the UK supplier and you had no input into that relationship.

godtabh wrote: »

From other forums a contract isnt formed until the item ships.

This tends to be when you buy online and the vendor has terms and conditions specifying such a situation. to have such a situation with a bricks and mortar shop would be outrageous.

smacl wrote: »

Different type of purchase, but if the housing market is anything to go by, paying a deposit means very little and all the receipt guarantees you is a return of your deposit.

That refers to the booking deposit only. Once the contract is signed, it is enforceable.

axer

iwillhtfu wrote: »

I would suspect invitation to treat applies. I don't recall the exact terms but basically the original price was wrong they're now aware of this and have notified you of the increase and presumably offered to go ahead with the new price. The lads over on the consumer affairs forum will have a better knowledge. It's a rough one though OP I can see your frustration.

It's not an invitation to treat as that only applies before acceptance of an offer and consideration.

OP you do have a contact for the purchase of the bike. You have passed all the requirements for making a valid legally binding contract: offer, acceptance, consideration (deposit), intention to be legally bound (what would be the point of the deposit otherwise), capacity to contact.

The question is are you willing to take what is clearly a mistake (but not your fault) to the small claims court? - you have every right to do this. Do you want a good relationship with the bike shop / seller going forward? Or are you ok with them giving no legal flexibility in the future? If you are then the law is on your side.

ford2600

If it was me, I'd just walk away.

Life is too short to bring that hassle on yourself over a bicycle purchase.

Cee-Jay-Cee

I was in a very similar situation with an online retailer in the UK a while back. I was buying an aftermarket exhaust for my car. I was given the price of €930 (inc shipping to my door) which I paid in full. The exhaust was ordered from japan and I was given a date of 4 weeks for delivery. About 3 weeks in the retailer contacted me and told me that they had messed up and the price was mis-calculated and should have been €1110. I replied and basically said, that's fine but I was given the other price which I paid and I'm sorry but its not my problem. I got my exhaust a week later.

plodder

axer wrote: »

It's not an invitation to treat as that only applies before acceptance of an offer and consideration.

OP you do have a contact for the purchase of the bike. You have passed all the requirements for making a valid legally binding contract: offer, acceptance, consideration (deposit), intention to be legally bound (what would be the point of the deposit otherwise), capacity to contact.

The question is are you willing to take what is clearly a mistake (but not your fault) to the small claims court? - you have every right to do this. Do you want a good relationship with the bike shop / seller going forward? Or are you ok with them giving no legal flexibility in the future? If you are then the law is on your side.

The other thing to think about is the hefty deposit that was paid. If it gets legal then the deposit is going to be in limbo at the least for a long period.

I think what I'd do, is talk to them, leave them in no doubt that they are in the wrong legally (and every other way), and what are they prepared to do? If you can come to an agreement, then great. If not, get the deposit back and walk away. Obviously, if they get shirty about that option, then it's the small claims court, which incidentally is not a lot of hassle at all, except the time taken. Any reputable business would want to settle a small claims procedure, before it gets to the district court.

<edit>The limit for the small claims procedure is €2,000. So, that might be a factor as well.

magicbastarder

i guess in your situation though, the item had shipped and the vendor had a choice of refunding you, and being left with an item they had paid for, with no buyer, or selling it to you at the agreed price.
from what i can see from the OP, the item has not shipped.

smacl

Victor wrote: »

That refers to the booking deposit only. Once the contract is signed, it is enforceable.

Is a receipt for a deposit a contract or simply a document showing proof of payment though? My feeling is that it is the latter and as others have suggested the OP might be better coming to a compromise with the vendor. Even if it were a contract, I'd doubt the OP would get better than return of deposit if a claim was made.

Victor

smacl wrote: »

Is a receipt for a deposit a contract or simply a document showing proof of payment though?

A receipt is not a contract. It can be evidence of a contract, depending on what it says.

ted1

godtabh wrote: »

From other forums a contract isnt formed until the item ships. Look at the consumer issue forum here for examples.

Have you looked around? Is the price €700 cheaper than it should be? if so I would think tough

A contract forms when payment is taking as opposed to just a hold put on a card. Many places don’t take payment until they ship, shipping does not affect the contract

Muckers

Muckers wrote: »

Looking for some advice here. So a few months ago I contacted a local bike shop about supplying a new bike to me. It's a brand new model with frameset delivery set for after Xmas. We agreed a price and I paid a very large deposit to hold the price. Most of the discussions were done via email. I have a receipt showing the full price, my deposit and the remaining balance payable on delivery. I received a call yesterday saying that their UK supplier had made an error and that the price has increased by €700. My question is, is my receipt a contract of sale. I think it is, and I see this price increase as an issue not for me, but between the shop and their supplier. Any thoughts?

My view is that this is between the shop and their supplier.

the receipt is irrelevant, what is important is whether or not you and the shop entered in to a contract (which does not need to be written down anywhere) and I would say that yes, a contract was formed.

• The shop made an offer to sell
• You accepted that offer
• You both had the legal capacity to enter in to a contract.
• You made a consideration ( a deposit payment) which was accepted by the shop and at this point, a contract was formed.

Do you have something in writing from them that shows how much you the balance is and when you need to pay it?

axer

plodder wrote: »

The other thing to think about is the hefty deposit that was paid. If it gets legal then the deposit is going to be in limbo at the least for a long period.

I think what I'd do, is talk to them, leave them in no doubt that they are in the wrong legally (and every other way), and what are they prepared to do? If you can come to an agreement, then great. If not, get the deposit back and walk away. Obviously, if they get shirty about that option, then it's the small claims court, which incidentally is not a lot of hassle at all, except the time taken. Any reputable business would want to settle a small claims procedure, before it gets to the district court.

<edit>The limit for the small claims procedure is €2,000. So, that might be a factor as well.

The limit in the small claims court is probably one of the biggest factors that that route probably won't suit. There is also that the OP is probably not looking for damages but specific performance - from what I remember specific performance is at the discretion of the court so i'm not sure it is guaranteed as a legal remedy (whereas damages is) but I am open to correction on that. I agree with what is said here in that the legal route would be a pain for what it is worth so it is much better to try and resolve the issue without going down the legal route although can be made known to the seller as being an option.

Muckers

Hi all and thank you all for your replies today. I've opened a minefield of **** here it seems😆😆 The bottom line here is that I have no intention of taking this any further if the deal does not go ahead. The shop said they have contacted their UK supplier to know why they got the pricing wrong. The issue surround the handle bars and stem which have been designed specifically for this frameset. And yes they retail together at €700 which is nuts. Anyway ages ago I emailed the shop to ensure that the 2 items were included in the price. They in turn email the supplier who verified that yes they were included in the agreed price. They have changed their attitude now and want another €700. So that's where it is now. I feel the shop have to honour our agreement. If not then I'm out but have no wish to take it to the courts

AndrewJRenko

My bike shop screwed up the ordering of my bike in May 2015, so instead of the 2015 model costing €1k, I ended up with the 2016 model retailing at €1250 in October. They swallowed the cost, and never even tried to hit me up to pay this cost.