By Sarah Left, 13 September 1999 00:25
NEWS Argos is facing legal action over its refusal to honour last week's sale of televisions for £3 on its Web site. London law firm, Taylor Joynson Garrett (TJG), has taken up the case on behalf of one of its employees, who purchased a £3 television from the Argos site. The firm claims the sale forms a binding legal contract, and that Argos is acting unlawfully by refusing to hand over the TV for the agreed price. Kiran Sandford, partner at TJG, sees the issue as a test case that can make or break the public's confidence in ecommerce. "People need to know that if they've clicked their order, got an acknowledgement, and agreed a price, then that's going to be followed through in the same way as any other transaction." But Nick Lockett, solicitor with Sidley and Austin, said the price is clearly a mistake. "In this case, a court is likely to find that the ordering parties must have known that the offer did not express the true intention of Argos, and therefore the contract is void. There is considerable case-law to support this." The bigger issue, he said, is that Argos' site misses out standard-issue ecommerce protection for retailers. "The case illustrates the benefit of properly drafted terms and conditions produced by someone used to writing ecommerce documents," Lockett noted. "Orders should be structured so that they're subject to availability, cleared funds and confirmation of price, specification, availability and cancellation in the event of errors." Argos says they have nothing to add to their earlier comment, that they have taken legal advice and have been assured that they need not honour the £3 sale price.
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1. A Reading
Argos will take your money without selling you anything. I tried to order 6 rugs which were claimed to be in stock but on the web page confirming acceptance of the order the quantity was changed to 1. I immediately cancelled the order and requested a refund. Within the hour I got an acknowledgement of the cancellation so in law there was no contract between us but 4 days later they tried to deliver 1 rug. I refused it but when I got the refund they had deducted the delivery charge. This is illegal. I have written to them but not yet received a reply.