Online 'bargain' too good to be true

Mar 20 2011 Sunday Sun

PUB landlord Kelvin Henderson thought it was too good to be true when he spotted a bargain on the internet ... and it was.

Kelvin saw a settee for £29.50 from a top retailer when he was surfing the net.

He decided to go ahead with the purchase from Marks and Spencer thinking it was his lucky day. But his order was cancelled when the store realised the correct price was £999.

Bosses at the store had previously confirmed the placement of the order by email.

They even told Kelvin to make sure the furniture would fit into his room and phoned to arranged a delivery date for the corner unit.

Kelvin, landlord of the Red Lion in Wooler, Northumberland, said: “I was furious because, as far as I was concerned, I had purchased a new settee from Marks and Spencer over the internet.

“The item was priced at £29.50 so I clicked ‘buy’ and entered my card details.

“I received a confirmation email and a phone call to arrange a delivery date. Later, I received a new email from M&S to say my order had been cancelled because of a pricing error.

“Surely they can’t do this as I have rights as a consumer?”

He said the confirmation email matched the price of £29.50 with a correct description of the goods.

He said: “Marks and Spencer knew what they were selling and for how much. They should have taken more care when they sold me the settee.”

A spokesman for Marks and Spencer admitted Kelvin had received acknowledgement of the order and a phone call setting up a delivery date.

They said they were unable to honour the price and no financial agreement had been set up. Corporate PR manager Daniel Himsworth said: “As we thought, it was an online pricing error.

“As soon as the error was picked up we wrote to the customer to apologise and explain what had happened. Payment was never taken for the order. Such errors happen very rarely but, when they do, and it is a clear pricing error, we will always contact the customer at the earliest possibly opportunity to cancel the order and apologise.

“This is clearly stated in our terms and conditions and is common practice across the industry.”