Rutlands wood planes

[ste_5150]

Same here. Not happy seeing as an 'apparently' identical plane is being sold and shown as in stock.

B******s! You're right! I just looked on the site and it's the same part number and everything, only not reduced now. It seems they've clearly decided they don't want to sell them at that price and tried to pull a fast one.

 

[lurker]

I've just e-mailed

They accepted my order (I have confirmation) They have a contract to deliver to me at that price.

Their Web site shows the item still exists

Class action anyone??
Where is Jake when you need him

 

[wizer]

I think their only obligation is to refund you. You can't make them supply something they effectively don't have.

 

[studders]

I've just e-mailed

They accepted my order (I have confirmation) They have a contract to deliver to me at that price.

Their Web site shows the item still exists

Class action anyone??
Where is Jake when you need him

Hmmm? be interested to hear their response as I too have a confirmation e-mail of my order. It does say 'subject to availability' but it does still seem to be on sale at a higher price.

 

[lurker]

Well he has replied -very promptly

Dear Mr XXXXXXXXXXX,

Thank you for placing your order with Rutlands Ltd.

Unfortunately, on your order the Dakota Taiwanese Style Plane has recently become obsolete and unfortunately we will not be able to despatch this particular item on your order as we are out of stock for this item and cannot obtain any more stock in the foreseeable future.

As we cannot supply this item, we will cancel the order for this item alone and any allocation that may have shown for the product (we do not physically take the money until despatch) will ‘drop off’ within the next 2-3 working days.

However, there is the updated version of this plane still available at its standard cost. This can be viewed in more detail by clicking the following link: http://www.rutlands.co.uk/hand-tools/pl ... tyle-plane

Please reply as soon as possible confirming how you wish to proceed with your order and we will act accordingly.

If you have any enquiries or wish to make any other amendments to your order please do not hesitate to contact Rutlands Ltd.

Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused by this.

Kind Regards,
..............................................................................................

And I sent this back:

Luke,

This is obviously untrue as you are offering the item elsewhere, albeit at a higher price
You entered into a contract by accepting my order - I expect you to fulfil it and at the contracted price

Please refer this to the MD
Suggest to him he looks at
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... 462#389462
Where Rutland's "reputation" is under discussion yet again.

Also tell him I'm off to find the address of Derbyshire Trading Standards office

Expect a prompt reply

regards

 

[lurker]

I think their only obligation is to refund you. You can't make them supply something they effectively don't have.

True, BUT they did accept - I have confirmatory e-mail

 

[studders]

Well he has replied -very promptly

Dear Mr XXXXXXXXXXX...

Unfortunately, on your order the Dakota Taiwanese Style Plane has recently become obsolete

But they're still selling an identical model that has the same part No?

Hmmmm?

 

[big soft moose]

all of which makes me glad that i went with Workshop heaven , all be it at a slightly higher price - true i had a few issues with lack of delivery too - but matthewWH saw my post on here and contacted me imediately by pm to sort it out , without my even having to complain

now thats what you call good old customer service - perhaps rutlands could learn something here...

its also the case that we can learn the lesson about low prices - if you pay peanuts you get monkeyed arround on customer service - IMO its worth paying a little bit more to get decent customer care

 

[lurker]

If this gets nasty & they remove the higher priced one -we may need evidence its still being offered today.

Can I ask people to visit the site confirm its still being offered & make a diary note.

That way you can supply additional witness evidence they are lying.

I don't intend to let this pass. :evil: :evil: :evil:

 

[big soft moose]

If this gets nasty & they remove the higher priced one -we may need evidence its still being offered today.

Can I ask people to visit the site confirm its still being offered & make a diary note.

That way you can supply additional witness evidence they are lying.

I don't intend to let this pass. :evil: :evil: :evil:

I'd also suggest taking a screenshot (which if you dont know you can do by pressing alt and print screen - which pastes a screen shot to the clipboard from where it can be pasted into word. ) If you want to be super cautious you could also open a second window to something that establishes the date beyond doubt - like BBC news , or a newspaper etc.
then take a screen grab of with both open

 

[wizer]

I think their only obligation is to refund you. You can't make them supply something they effectively don't have.

True, BUT they did accept - I have confirmatory e-mail

Jim I honestly don't think that matters? I've ordered loads of things online that have ended up being out of stock. That confirmation is just an automated acknowledgement of your order. You might be lucky enough for them to offer you a discount on the newer item, but they certainly are not obligated. It's like going into a shop and asking for a tool and the guy says "yep, hold on" goes out the back to get it but when he returns he's found that it's out of stock. You wouldn't expect him to then magic one up for you.

 

[studders]

Well good luck Lurker, if they don't honour their offer then they have lost me as a customer.

 

[lurker]

You will note THEY said "the Tiawanese was no longer avialable"

But my order (& the confirmation) talks about Hong Kong

 

[studders]

They continued to advertise something, as a special offer, that they claim they don't have enough of to fulfill orders. Either they're telling a porkie or their stock control is rubbish. Either way it's not good.

 

[lurker]

Wizer

The point is THEY DO HAVE STOCK, it's just that they don't want to honour the price that they originally accepted (at that point they entered into a contract).

 

[ste_5150]

Before I saw the further replies, I had emailed them myself to complain. We made the same points....

I have kept a screenshot of the current item, showing the date.

I'm not letting it lie either, because it's so unbelievably blatant.

 

[studders]

You will note THEY said "the Tiawanese was no longer avialable"

But my order (& the confirmation) talks about Hong Kong

Well I'm confused. I too ordered the Hong Kong plane. They are now offering a similar deal on the Tiawanese plane whilst at the same time selling the same plane at a higher price???? If you check the normal priced plane it says 'in stock', if you check the reduced one it says 'no stock info'.

 

[ste_5150]

To be honest, it's a simple as this: I put an order in for an item. The same picture, with the same description, in exactly the same place on the website (even down to the order they appear on that particular page) is for sale for a significantly higher price, and they refuse to honour the order, telling me it's "discontinued" and I have to pay more if I want the "new" item.

It is not a legal responsibility to provide the item. It is, however, highly unethical to do that.

 

[lurker]

So .................... Currys have a washing Machine in the window on sale for £XXX - you go in and say "can I have that machine at £XXX" (offer)

" no but you can have it for a higher price" - thats legal but unethical. However the Trading Standards will jump on the seller for another legal reason (can't remember what).

"yes you can have it for £XXX" - thats acceptance of the offer and now there is a contract between buyer & seller.

 

[ste_5150]

I agree in principle, but the sort of "conditional on stock availability" stuff they put in the email opens the door to them doing this kind of thing. That's the problem - they didn't say "yes, you can have it at £x", they said that and a whole bunch of small print that basically removes our rights as consumers. I'm in the same place as you, I just think they put so many get-out clauses in there that it's best not to get lost in a legal argument and just make them realise that it's ethically wrong...