I am being threatened with legal action from a buyer from my site

J

jonnyboy

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I am really worried about a phone call I received earlier today.

Basically I have created a webiste that I am currently trying to locate stock from suppliers. In the meantime whilst my site is still improving in the rankings I have arranged for another website to process my orders.

Basically all I do is make payment and apply a special code for a discount on the suppliers site.

The problem is as I am still setting up my site, some of the prices of the products are actually incorrect and a buyer has spotted this and in turn purhcased 20 items of a particular product well below what I could buy them for anyway.

I therefore refunded the payment and advised that due to the postal strike here in the UK we do not have any stock.

He then sent me an email followed by a phone call advising he is a solicitor and that as I banked his payment I am legally obliged to fufil it. He also quoted various Acts to support his statement. As mentioned above I did actually refund it.

Please can anyone offer me some serious advice on this issue as he has subsquently sent a couple of follow up emails and I am really worried.

Regards. John.
 
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If you refunded the money, there is nothing he can do, even though he may complain about that.
 
You're fine. You did the right thing with refunding him. If he calls again tell him not to call back again and if he does he's the one who is breaking a law harassing you.
 
Thanks for the prompt respones but he was saying that I took his money and under some UK Sales Act then I am obliged to fufill it.

Does anyone have any ideas on this matter from a legal point?
 
I hoped you fixed the error as well, nothing would be worse then him simply re-ordering or trying to get you for what we call false advertising here in the states.
 
If you indeed refunded his money, than you did not "take" his money and therefore are not obligated to fulfill his order. As long as you have documentaion that his money was refunded in full, you should have no trouble.

In order to protect yourself in the future, make sure you put in fine print somewhere on your site (like a Terms & Conditions section) "not responsible for errors or omissions" and "all orders subject to availbility of items on day of order" This should cover you for future issues.
 
I got once a laptop worth about $1200 for only ~$220 only because the shop had the wrong price entered by mistake. Seems they didn't noticed that at first but after some time called me and asked to send me the rest $ - Fuck u I already paid for it worked :D

But there's really nothing he can do.. He just wants to get you to sell you to them those goods for that price! Just ignore him...
 
If money was refunded for a purchase and buyer accepted the refund, then seller-buyer agreement has been terminated. No need to worry dude. :)
 
You should do what amazon and all the big boys do. Have a link on your site to a disclaimer page, and say that in the event that a product is mispriced, you reserve the right to refund any purchases and not sell the product at the incorrect price.
 
I've been running various businesses in the UK for 30+ years so I think I know the rules here. There's nothing he can do as long as you weren't deliberately trying to mislead.

I'm not a lawyer so you should probably get legal advice if you are concerned. He will put it in writing if he is serious.

If he really is a solicitor and he harasses you, report him to the Law Society.
 
charliebones said:
If you indeed refunded his money, than you did not "take" his money and therefore are not obligated to fulfill his order. As long as you have documentaion that his money was refunded in full, you should have no trouble.
Click to expand...

beaglejuice said:
If money was refunded for a purchase and buyer accepted the refund, then seller-buyer agreement has been terminated. No need to worry dude. :)
Click to expand...

I have been looking into this recently and I have found that any prices quoted on a website etc are an invite to trade, they are not definite until the buyer pays and the seller accepts.

At the point of accepting the payment, its is a signed contract and the deal has been done.

Just because you refund it doesn't mean the contract wasn't made.

However, how someone would enforce that law across the Internet I do not know. Just stick a disclaimer in as others have said and you should be fine.
 
If he was to get trading standards involved he could make a claim that items were wrongly listed but he has to prove this. In a real store this is easy, they come in surreptitously and act like customers. On a website, assuming you have updated your prices he has no claim under law.

Don't sweat it, he is just trying it on, I have pulled this "I am a solicitor" shit in restaurants, anyone can say that. If he was a solicitor he would make one claim and wait for your response (think about it) the fact that he is harrasing you just shows he is trying it on.
 
what a joke, you can't sue someone for not rendering service if he doesn't accept your money. It'd be like trying to sue a convenience store for not selling you beer
 
I'm afraid I think he may possibly have a case - take a look at a similar situation to yours I found on http://www.legalbanter.co.uk/uk-legal-legal-issues-uk/2940-wrong-price-website.html
I'm not a lawyer , but as charliebones says , I'd get a T's & C's & E. & O.E small print up (perhaps claiming it's always been there!) asap
HTH
 
Lol..there are thousands of fraudsters on the net robbing people off thier money on daily basis. Most of these guys are running around freely scanning their next prey without any worries, and this guy is threatening you even after obtaining a full refund.
 
That happens alot online. It has happened to Target.com and Best Buy.com. They put the wrong price on an item, and a bunch of people buy said wrong priced item. The retailer discovers the error and refunds the money, and that is as far as it goes.

Tell him that he recieved a full refund, and NO you are under NO obligation to send him the items just because he paid you; he is full of shit, and trying to scare you. Ignore that moron.
 
He might have a case. In a real world situation, legally you need to provide them at the price promised, even if its a computer glitch or similar problem. Once you get sent payment it is like a contract. However it is online and you could come up with some BS reason which might save you but doubt he is going to get serious with this...
 
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