Can a UK website require me to pay shipping costs to return a guitar to the warehouse in China? Consumer rights lawyer DEAN DUNHAM responds

I bought a guitar online from a company website with a name ending in ‘.co.uk’. The website suggests it is a British trader. However, the quality of the guitar is terrible, so I decided to return it within the 14 day return period. The company agreed to this but says I have to pay the return cost and informed me it has to be sent to their warehouse in China! Do I have to bear the costs?

PW, by email

Consumer advocate Dean Dunham responds: You will see that the trader is required under Section 10 and Schedule 2 of the Consumer Contracts Regulation (as it is known for short) to clearly inform the consumer of his geographical and commercial address before the purchase is completed. if the two are different.

And if the trader has an alternative address to which the goods are to be returned, this address must also be made clear to you before you make your purchase.

Obviously the trader didn’t do this here as you got the impression they were based in Britain. So this means that the merchant should give you a refund and not charge you for returning the goods to China. If he refuses to do so, there is a breach of contract.

Dean Dunham writes that a company is obliged to inform customers if they are located in another country and whether this is the address to which goods should be returned

If the merchant continues to deny your rights and you paid by debit or credit card within the last 120 days, you can file a chargeback claim.

When you do this, make sure you tell the card provider that there is a breach of contract for the reasons I mentioned above. This is important because it is a prerequisite to making a claim. If no more than 120 days have passed since the purchase and you paid by credit card, you can make a section 75 claim, again making sure to state that there has been a ‘breach of contract’.

In either case, your card provider will simply cover the cost of the guitar and not the shipping costs to China, so don’t be fooled into paying these fees.

A holidaymaker has been asked to pay an extra £265 for his accommodation in Snowdonia, North Wales, after owners discovered the price on the original booking was wrong

I booked accommodation in Snowdonia, North Wales, online for September, and at the same time I also booked my train tickets. When I made the booking I thought the price was wrong because it was so cheap, but the transaction went without any problems and I also received confirmation via email. The owner of the accommodation has now discovered the incorrect price and has asked me to pay another € 265. Do I have to pay this?

LR, by email

Consumer advocate Dean Dunham responds: Where a trader makes a mistake in the price of goods or services, he will usually be able to successfully argue that he should not be bound by the incorrect price and that he should therefore terminate or vary the contract so that he can claim the additional costs.

In circumstances where the consumer knew (or should have known) that there was a pricing error, the trader’s position is significantly strengthened.

This is exactly what happened in a landmark lawsuit cited by traders as they defended claims in court following pricing errors.

In Hartog v Colin and Shields the judge said that there is a duty to correct an error which is known not to be the actual intention of the person making the error. You can’t just take advantage and ‘pick up’ the offer. So the trader here can ask you for more money, but there is more to it.

First, the merchant cannot ‘force’ you to pay the extra money. However, if you refuse, she may refuse to honor the booking. If you refuse to pay, you are entitled to all your money back.

The last element to take into account is the train booking. My view would be that you would be entitled to claim the cost of this from the trader if the train ticket was non-refundable because their mistake caused you a loss. The problem here, however, is that you knew the price was wrong before you booked the train tickets, thus contributing to your own loss, and in this case it would be difficult to substantiate a claim.