Online order for printer with play.com - cancelled without notification

[poohshunny]

Hi there. Yesterday my husband ordered an HP all in one printer from play. It was on their website priced at �54.99. Confirmation of receipt of the order was received soon after, and on checking this morning the order was showing as "Packing" - which according to Play.com means "Payment for your order has been successfully processed and Your order is now being prepared for dispatch".

He checked the order this afternoon and it showed as cancelled - no email has been received from Play.com to say it had been cancelled. The price of the printer has also shot up to �259.99 He's called play.com and is awaiting a call back from a supervisor to discuss.

Play's terms and conditions say the following:

"If an error is discovered in the price of the goods that you have ordered, we will inform you as soon as possible. In the event that you order an item and the price published on the Site is incorrect for any reason, we will contact you to let you know the correct price and ask you whether you still wish us to fulfil your order at this price. We shall be under no obligation to fulfil an order for a product which was advertised at an incorrect price. We shall give you the option of confirming the order at the correct price or if you so choose, to cancel the order altogether. If you cancel and have already paid for the goods in the circumstances described in this clause, we shall refund the full amount in accordance with these Terms."

No contact has been received from Play to offer to process the order at the higher rate - the order was just cancelled with no notification so far. They have said he should receive an email soon.

Can anyone advise if this is allowable or if there is anything that can be done to get Play to honour the original agreement?

[Postdog]

They are within their rights. If they sell at an incorrect price and you get the goods, nothing they can do to get the difference, but they are not obliged in any way to honour a price if they realise there is an error on there part.

[poohshunny]

Thanks for that Postdog. We thought that might be the case. I'll let him know.

[tpol]

I am sorry postdog, but your answer is incorrect. In English Law (Sale of Goods Acts, common law, case law, precedent, Tort) are very clear, once money has exchanged hands, a contract is formed and the Seller must honour the contract. Three steps: (1) Invitation to treat - when the item is advertised/displayed for a price (2) Offer - you make an offer (in practice you pay the price displayed (3) Acceptance of Offer - when the money is taken from you.

If Play have taken your money (Credit/Debit Card), then contact your local Trading Standards Office. They have all the relevant legislation, regulations, case law at hand for this kind of thing. Play cannot claim a 'mistake' and get out of it if they have taken the money. Until they take the money they can cancel an order at any time. For example if you walk into a shop and see something on the shelf for �200. If you then take it to the counter with the �200 and the counter staff decides they don't want to sell to you, they can do that. However, if they take the money (physical exchange of funds, whether they give a receipt at this point is irrelevant) and it is understood that they have accepted this money for the item, a contract has been formed. If they than realise that it was mis-priced by say �500 and should really be �700, not �200, they cannot do anything about it.

The law is on your side use it. However, if they did not take money from your account, then sadly they win. It doesn't matter if they have refunded the money. The contract for a printer @ �54.99 has been formed, they have to supply. Refunding does not absolve them of their legal responsibility unless you have asked to be refunded.

[dn1978]

Hi poohshunny,

I placed an order through play.com yesterday for a printer at that price, I guess it was the same printer.

I called them today after I had seen that they had cancelled the order, they said they don't have to sell it to me for that price as they hadn't taken the money for it.

I have just checked my credit card statement online and it shows they have charged me, so I am going to call them again tomorrow, and if they don't agree to sell it to me for that price I will take tpol's advice and get trading standards involved.

Good luck poohshunny and thank you tpol.

[ChuckFickens]

tpol is 100% correct, I've had the need to research this in the past!

and tpol as a new (green) user, welcome to the site. take a lot of things on here with a pinch of salt, but with answers like that you will be an asset.

[poohshunny]

Thank you for all your replies. The whole situation has been a chapter of disasters! Order placed on Saturday. Sunday morning order was marked as being processed. Sunday afternoon, order cancelled by Play. Funds taken from account on Tuesday. Still no refund or printer! I think Trading Standards will be his next port of call. Play have certainly not been very helpful when contacted either.

[kempie]

tpol is incorrect - of course Play.com is able to cancel the contract after payment has been made, just as the consumer is able to cancel the contract at that stage. However the Electronic Commerce Regulations state that such a clause as detailed in the question must form part of the "pre-contractual" information provided on the website (clearly this has been adhered to since poohshunny has quoted said clause) and that notification of any such cancellation must be given to the consumer. Once notification is received all bets are off!