Can I cancel order for goods with guarantee if shop in receivership now?

Hi all,

Does anyone know am I within my rights to cancel an order for goods not yet received if the shop is not in position to give me the guarantee that was clearly stated on the order?

Shop staff said fair enough but now receiver is harassing me telling me I will forfeit my 350 euro deposit if I do not accept the furniture by May 22nd. Receiver is claiming the guarantee "was just an offer".

The specifics are as follows:
Ordered furniture in January - paid a deposit (by credit card), balance was due on deleivery.
The order form (that I signed) clearly stated there would be a 5 year guarantee against defects for the furniture itself and also for the availability of add-ons (its a modular system).
The shop went into receivership a week after I ordered the furniture.
They told me I could have the furniture but not the guarantee. I said no thanks.
Apologies if there is already a thread about this type of query.
Thanks in advance.
L

On the face of it I would say you are within your rights The lack of the guarantee and availability of the add-ons would seem to me to be a material breach of the contract you entered into.

Thanks. I'll write a letter to the receiver. I have also contacted my Visa company claiming a chargeback refund but they have not decided on this yet as the recievers claim they are able to provide the goods. The receiver is quite a bully in my opinion.

He is and while he can supply the goods the goods were only part of the contract so stick to your guns

Yes, I would agree that the guarantee is now not available, nor is the option to purchase other modular units..

I don't think the modular units is important but the guarantee is.. and it seems that that would be unavailable.

Consumer Association is your only man... I'm not sure what will happen.. it's a tricky situation.

Thanks Joe. I agree that the Consumer Association should be able to help me but I have actually never been able to get any help from them in the past. Emails and voice-mails to them since last year remain unanswered (that was a different enquiry). Have you had any success contacting them?

Am hopeful the disputes department in my Visa company wil side with me. they have a copy of the contract and discussed it with me today. If they decide in favour of the receiver, then it will be yet another example of the consumer being the ultimate loser in this recession, though they will forever lose my business which would be stupid considering I use the card for work expenses too.
Will let you know the outcome,
L.

Well, it'll be great if the credit card co. does help..

I'm amazed that the credit card companies do offer refund like they do.. I don't think they get their money back although they might.. but wouldn't think so.. so they are effectively 'insuring' every retailer against going bust.. not an easy thing to do nowadays..

Does anyone know if the credit card companies lose money themselves if the refund the customers? And can it be for business use?, (i.e sole trader buying business supplies on credit card?)

And does it apply if a company tries to pass off damaged goods as new?, I have a problem with a company continually trying to pass off expensive kitchen worktops as new even though in some cases they are marked 'damaged'!.. very annoying and I am now not going to use the company again.. even though they are very well known.. and I need 8 or 9 solid wood worktops in the next two weeks!, total value 5K or so!

Hi Joe,
Check out here http://www.visaeurope.com/merchant/operationsandsecurity/rulesandregulations/chargebacks.jsp

My CC disputes department had in fact refunded me but now the receiver has "re-presented" the charge so Visa may not lose out on this.

I found out about the chargeback from a colleague of mine who ordered a laptop online but it never arrived. Worse still the delivery company claimed to have delivered it but it was signed for by another name. Colleague was able to get money back using chargeback scheme.

I always pay for stuff on CC now for this very reason. In fact Brendan recommends this on the sticky post at top of this forum.

Hi

A quick update - my Visa disputes department (actually Halifax) have sided with me and I have my deposit back - happy days! Am so glad I chose to pay by credit card instead cash.

L.