Bruce123 Posted October 31, 2016 Posted October 31, 2016 I assisted my sister in upgrading her EE PAYG to 12 month SIM-only. We went into a EE shop and explained with wanted to go from PAYG to 12m SIMO. She explained that as an upgrading customer there are better details and showed two pages: For new customers For existing customers The 12m 500min, 500MB deal was £14.99 for new customers and £9.99 for upgrading customers. The latter seemed like a good deal (as it was £5 less than the normal price), so she signed up. However, it only became apparent after receiving the first bill, that £9.99 price was excluding VAT. I'm fairly sure first page of prices (for upgrading customers) excluded VAT and the 2nd page (for new customers) included VAT. She took these sheets away pretty quickly so I couldn't take them away with me. On checking the agreement she signed, the sales staff hand-wrote "Pre to post £9.99", but printed above it was "Offer details (Excluding VAT)", so I guess we should have checked it before signing. But is it legal to show prices in store that exclude VAT (with no writing to say this) and show another sheet side-by-side that does include VAT, not a fair comparison I would say? To be honest, I was "conned" by EE several years ago (they showed me prices in-store that they said were discounted, but as it turned out they excluded VAT), but I never bothered to chase it up with them. Many Thanks, Bruce.
Garacesh Posted October 31, 2016 Posted October 31, 2016 (edited) I'd certainly expect there'd be rules against this. Since all personal customers are required to pay VAT (I don't think under any circumstances a person can be VAT-Exempt, only an organisation) and since you weren't enquiring about a business account, it would be perfectly fair IMO to say that there were no grounds to show you ex-VAT prices. Might be a matter for small-claims (or 14-day 'cooling-off' contract nullification) Edited October 31, 2016 by Garacesh
MartinRouterKing Posted October 31, 2016 Posted October 31, 2016 Are you within 14 days? You should be able to cancel as you should be in the cooling off period.
zag Posted October 31, 2016 Posted October 31, 2016 You only have any legal standing if the contract did not state it was ex VAT as it doesn't seem to be covered by the advertising standards authority. But the cooling off period should be fine. Also vote with your feet, GiffGaff include VAT in all their material.
Bruce123 Posted October 31, 2016 Author Posted October 31, 2016 We're still within 14 days, but when I asked during the sale they told us that the "cooling off period" doesn't apply as it wasn't sold at a distance (online, mailorder, phone) and any refund would be at the manager's discretion. Thanks, Bruce.
JJonas Posted October 31, 2016 Posted October 31, 2016 When I did my Vodafone upgrade it was face to face and I was told by the salesman I had a 14 day cooling off period.
Garacesh Posted October 31, 2016 Posted October 31, 2016 We're still within 14 days, but when I asked during the sale they told us that the "cooling off period" doesn't apply as it wasn't sold at a distance (online, mailorder, phone) and any refund would be at the manager's discretion. Ah, yes. Unfortunately this is true. The 14-day cancellation period is only mandatory for distance sales, not all contracts (which I personally think is daft, but whatever..) Some companies, however, will honour it regardless of purchase method. Some.
Bruce123 Posted October 31, 2016 Author Posted October 31, 2016 You only have any legal standing if the contract did not state it was ex VAT as it doesn't seem to be covered by the advertising standards authority. But the cooling off period should be fine. Also vote with your feet, GiffGaff include VAT in all their material. According to https://www.asa.org.uk 3.18 Price statements must not mislead by omission, undue emphasis or distortion. They must relate to the product or service depicted in the advertisement. 3.19 Quoted prices must include non-optional taxes, duties, fees and charges that apply to all or most buyers. However, VAT-exclusive prices may be given if all those to whom the price claim is clearly addressed pay no VAT or can recover VAT. Such VAT-exclusive prices must be accompanied by a prominently statement of the amount or rate of VAT payable. However, I don't know if they are getting around the law by whipping out the pricing page in-store and then hiding it again? They could claim that it's not advertising. I still think that putting two price lists side-by-side ("for comparison" in her words) (one inc VAT and one not) isn't fair selling practice. Many Thanks, Bruce.
Michael Posted October 31, 2016 Posted October 31, 2016 3.19 makes perfect sense, as businesses are typically offered prices net of VAT. To Joe Public you would expect the price advertised to include VAT, seeing as it's not an optional tax, again as mentioned in 3.19.
MartinRouterKing Posted October 31, 2016 Posted October 31, 2016 Just say you are not getting signal! They will only cancel the contract in the 14 days for signal issues. Just say you don't get signal at work and can't use it.
jinnantonnixx Posted October 31, 2016 Posted October 31, 2016 (edited) If a salesperson told me that the price I would pay would be £9.99 per month then I would expect to pay £9.99 per month. Complain to head office. Tell them that you were mislead by the staff under the 'unfair trading' regulation. What about VAT and other charges? All price indications that can be seen by consumers must include VAT and any other compulsory charges or taxes. Postage, packing or delivery charges may be shown separately as long as they are unambiguous, easily identifiable and clearly legible. Edited October 31, 2016 by jinnantonnixx
Bruce123 Posted November 1, 2016 Author Posted November 1, 2016 (edited) Just say you are not getting signal! They will only cancel the contract in the 14 days for signal issues. Just say you don't get signal at work and can't use it. I did notice a clause on the agreement to say that I have checked the signal where I live and it is OK. Whether they could use the clause to refuse cancellation of the contract? I don't know... "I've done a 4G coverage check and understand that if I change my mind about a device I can't return or exchange it." (I am not sure if this implies I won't be able to return it if the coverage is not OK? It looks like they may be trying to link the two parts of the statements in an unclear way). Anyway, this is a point of principle for me, they shouldn't be showing customers ex VAT prices and comparing them to prices that include VAT to give the impression of a bigger discount than there really is, then adding VAT afterwards once the customer has made a decision based on misleading information. Kind Regards, Bruce. Edited November 1, 2016 by Bruce123
Garacesh Posted November 1, 2016 Posted November 1, 2016 Anyway, this is a point of principle for me, they shouldn't be showing customers ex VAT prices and comparing them to prices that include VAT to give the impression of a bigger discount than there really is, then adding VAT afterwards once the customer has made a decision based on misleading information. You're damn right they shouldn't. But unless you can prove it, and are willing to take the fight to them about it, you're ess-oh-oh-ell.
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