I placed an order for a washing machine online on the 2nd May. I called the company on the day to check that they had the item in stock, and they said they did. I asked about delivery, and they said "2-3 working days, but it can take up to 10".
So far, it hasn't been delivered, and they are unable to provide me with a delivery date. It appears the machine is with a delivery company who are being very unhelpful.
Where do I stand as far as cancellation goes? If I request cancellation of the order, are they obliged to cancel? If so, what is the relevant law?
You can reject the machine when it arrives under Distance Selling Regulations.
However, unless a delivery date is agreed as part of the contract (and yours wasn't, because that "2-3 working days" was *after* you entered into the contract[1]) then the seller has to make delivery within a "reasonable" time. That is usually taken in practice as 28 days.
If the seller is in breach of contract then you may be able to claim damages eg the cost of using a laundrette or loss of income after you were sacked for wearing smelly clothes.
You know those signboards outside building sites that say things like "Scroggins plc have worked [6][7] days on this site without a reportable accident". You could put one in your front garden: "Grunff has been waiting [1][4] days for his washing machine from ..."
Illuminate it with the christmas lights you haven't quite got round to putting back in the loft.
Email a photo of the signboard to the MD of the company and to the local paper.
Owain
[1] Of course, you might not have entered into a contract at that point, because a lot of online sellers have in their T&C that no contract exists until your order has been prepared for delivery etc, this allows them to withdraw if they've erroneously priced a plasma telly at £9.99 on their website instead of £999. In such case, it's possible that the
10 working days might be part of the contract, but it would probably run from the time of the contract eg when the order was prepared for delivery etc. You must read the T&Cs.
IANAL, but AFAICT the DSR right to cancel applies *after* delivery. Goodwill and a reasonable approach may yet be your friend.
On the other hand, a letter (recorded, natch) giving them notice to perform within a reasonable time (seven days should do it), and stating that 'time is of the essence' should sort you out.
A useful (business-oriented, but know thy enemy ...) guide at
Until the order has been specifically accepted - an automatic acknowledgement does not count unless it has been very badly worded - there is no contract to sell at the advertised price, so that is not really necessary.
A lot of web sales are done by drop shipping - the seller's supplier sending goods directly to the customer. If they are not sending goods out, it could be because they haven't been paid lately, which would suggest it is a good idea to get your money back as quickly as possible.
Section 10 of The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000, gives you the right to cancel at any time from the point at which the contract was agreed up to a minimum* of seven working days after the goods have been delivered. You must give notice of the cancellation in writing (which includes fax and email), sent to the last known address of the supplier, within that period.
If the contract specifies that you are required to return the goods, rather than the default of making them available to be collected, the seller can charge the cost of recovering the goods if you do not, but otherwise you should not be charged for cancelling the order.
If the supplier has failed to notify you of this right, in writing, in a durable medium accessible to you, no later than the delivery of the goods, the cooling-off period is seven days from the date on which you were notified of the right, or three months and seven days if you were not notified in that time.
No, the period starts as soon as the contract is concluded, and runs until 7 days after delivery (if the supplier gave the customer information about the DSR rights), or (in the absence of that information) 3 months after delivery - see s. 11(1) of the regulations at:
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