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Original poster

Told wrong price - charged £25 more

26 replies

wowfudge · 03/09/2018 14:46

I emailed a business for some price information and on the basis of the prices quoted, we booked in with them. When we came to pay it seemed more expensive than I'd expected so we said to the receptionist we'd check and get back to them if necessary.

Sure enough, we'd been charged £25 more than the emailed price and it was the price difference of this and another element which led me to book in with them. I sent a polite email, forwarding the email listing the prices and asked for a refund.

I've now had a response saying sorry it was mistake and I was charged the correct price.

If it was a couple of quid I wouldn't mind so much but £25 is a lot of money. What do you think?

OP posts:
MarthaArthur · 03/09/2018 14:48

Mistakes happen get over it. They righted their mistake straight away. What else did you want?

MarthaArthur · 03/09/2018 14:49

Sorry i meant the mistake was the original email and they explained it was wrong. My first post sounded snippy it wasnt meant to.

Original poster
wowfudge · 03/09/2018 14:50

They haven't righted their mistake though have they? And yes, your first post was snippy as.

OP posts:
Original poster
wowfudge · 03/09/2018 14:51

They haven't refunded me to be clear.

OP posts:
ballseditupagain · 03/09/2018 14:53

Think you may have missed out by paying as you have accepted the new price. I would go back to them one more time saying what you have said here and potentially contact trading standards depending on the product.

MarthaArthur · 03/09/2018 14:55

They explained it was a mistake in the email. What type of transaction was it? My point is they are not obligated to charge the first ammount. And depending on what the transaction in question was £25 may be loads or it may be little. Also you were in your rights to not agree to the transaction at the end.

AlexanderHamilton · 03/09/2018 15:00

Its a shame you paid. Assuming that you have the original quote on email/in writing (even if it was verbal is stands legally but is harder to prove) and assuming you didn't make an error like miss the fact the quote was nett rather than gross then you would have been within your rights not to pay the extra.

You could try putting a refund request in writing and if they refuse send a letter before claim threatening small claims. (not worth actually taking it to small claims for £25 though but a letter before claim often works.

HeadsDownThumbsUpEveryone · 03/09/2018 15:01

Well it might have been a mistake but that mistyped email was the reason you booked them and not a competitor. If they did this multiple times they could have a nice little earner. Hmm I assume you paid after the service was carried out which put you in a difficult position as you had already received the service. I would email them again and explain you would like a refund as you were misled in your enquiries and they only got your custom because of this price.

AlexanderHamilton · 03/09/2018 15:01

They are obligated to charge the first amount if they didn;t inform the customer of the error before the work was carried out/goods were supplied.

Original poster
wowfudge · 03/09/2018 15:21

Thank you HeadsDown and Alexander Hamilton - your comments are particularly useful.

OP posts:
TheWinterofOurDiscountTentsMk2 · 03/09/2018 15:25

Yes, it makes all the difference if its a service or something you can't refuse.
So if they quote you 50 pounds for shoes, you go to buy the shoes and they then charge you 75 pounds for the shoes, you have the choice to pay or not as you can choose not to take the shoes.
If they quote you 50 pounds for a haircut, you book and have the haircut and then they charge you 75 pounds, its different because you have no option to give back the haircut.
I would have refused to pay any more than the 50 pounds at the time. Did you raise it at the time or only after?

Returnofthesmileybar · 03/09/2018 15:29

What a load of shit, they have not righted their mistake Confused. No way! So if I get a quote for a Gardner/plumber/painter and they say £100, come do the job but say oh it's a mistake that was supposed to be £125, I have to say oh ok and accept it?? Not a hope! Not with services, they suck up the mistake not the customer

Original poster
wowfudge · 03/09/2018 15:40

I suspect from the reply they are trying to appeal to my better nature in the first instance. Getting it straight legally is helpful.

OP posts:
MarthaArthur · 03/09/2018 15:46

What i was thinking was it a transaction that was a guideline price and it ended up more time/ larger thing? Or was it straightforward like an object or pay by hour? You could always email them and set out what you would like, eg a refund of the £25 and threaten a bad review if thats on there. Depending on business its not clear cut if its illegal or not.

Original poster
wowfudge · 03/09/2018 16:00

No @MarthaArthur they simply told us the wrong price for a set item. They have said the person who emailed gave the price of something else. There is no way I could have known it was wrong and it was not so wrong to seem to be too good to be true as from my research pricing was rather random - one supplier charged more for A and less for B etc.

OP posts:
MarthaArthur · 03/09/2018 16:04

I apologise. By all means contact them again and see if you get the refund. Have they got a business page with reviews? If its a massive business it might be irrelevant but smaller businesses dont want negative reviews.

Original poster
wowfudge · 03/09/2018 16:43

Thanks. I don't want to make this too identifiable but what we've paid for is a two-stage process so I would like to obtain a refund pleasantly in order to keep relations good for the future.

OP posts:
MarthaArthur · 03/09/2018 17:05

Do they have a head office address? Maybe writing straight to them might work or email the ceo/director whoever and screenshot a copy of the original email and receipt.

Original poster
wowfudge · 03/09/2018 17:09

I'm going to try stating I booked in with them on the strength of the price quoted route first. I got an unclear text from DP earlier so need to check he hasn't responded to them before I do.

OP posts:
MarthaArthur · 03/09/2018 17:11

Hope it all gets sorted out and you get either a refund or the £25 refunded.

Jinglebells99 · 03/09/2018 17:36

Have you already paid? Not sure from your first message? What is the percentage of the £25?

Original poster
wowfudge · 03/09/2018 17:39

Yes we paid and said we'd check what we'd been told and get back to them if there was an issue. The % of the price is immaterial - it cost £25 more than expected.

OP posts:
Jinglebells99 · 03/09/2018 21:17

Hmm, well the percentage would bother me more if it was a higher percentage. For example if I bought a car and it was £25 more than I was quoted it wouldn’t be too big a deal. If it was a kettle, it might! I think you’d be reasonable to expect to pay what you were quoted though.

Original poster
wowfudge · 04/09/2018 14:50

Thanks for the advice yesterday - they've agreed to refund us the difference between the quoted price and what we were charged. Result.

OP posts:
FoodGloriousFud · 04/09/2018 15:50

I think the percent does matter. £25 isn't a lot of money but there's a big difference between an additional 5% or 50%.

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