Cancelling an Order from Overseas

[sportygaz]

Hi,

I run an online shop and I buy my stock from a factory in hong kong, I go through a rep who is based in the UK and I send him a cheque and then he forwards the money to the factory in hong kong abd then it is shipped via courier from Hong Kong. My current stock order is now ready for dispatch but I do not want it now as I am unhappy with the way the rep in the UK spoke to me on the phone earlier today. I haven't paid for it yet.

So my question is - if I decide that I no longer want the stock can they take legal action against me?? Obviously they wont dispatch the goods anyway until I have send them the money.

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks
Gary

 

[ZARMarketing]

Hi Gary,

Do you know the Hong Kong factory and is there a chance you can deal with them directly. If you explain to them that you no longer want to use the intermediary.

You may also be able to save money going direct to factory.

Are you sure you definitely do not want to do business with the Rep, why don't you give him a cooling off period and explain that you do not like his attitude towards doing business with you and give him the opportunity to make amends or say goodbye to the business relationship and find another rep.

Have you signed anything by way of service agreement or purchase order with the factory? Or do you deal with the rep and he pays factory for order and he deals with import of goods in which case I think it could well be the rep here that has the deal with Hong Kong.

Cheers,
Zoe

 

[sportygaz]

Hi Zoe,

Thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately I cannot deal with the factory directly as they say I have to go through their UK agent.

Yes I am sure that I no longer want this order, the uk agent I deal with is just rude and greedy also. The way it works is that I send the money for the stock to the UK agent (rep) and he sends the money on to the factory and takes a cut, I think he used to be a co-owner of the factory at one time aswell and has a very close relationshsip with the staff at the factory.

I have not signed anything such as a service agreement etc but I did give them the go ahead via email to make my order (fishing equipment, made to my specification etc). The UK agent then emailed to say my order is complete and I agreed to forward him a cheque. Since then though I have spoken to him on the phone and I am sure that I want to move on from these suppliers and source my products from elsewhere.
They wont ship my goods until I pay which is fair enough, but if I choose to ignore them and not send any payment at all, can the factory or the uk based agent take any action against me??

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Cheers
Gary

 

[MartCactus]

Whether they can take action or not depends on whether you have a contract. A contract needs offer, acceptance and consideration (ie an exchange of something of value). You said

"but I did give them the go ahead via email to make my order (fishing equipment, made to my specification etc). The UK agent then emailed to say my order is complete and I agreed to forward him a cheque. "

A contract need not be in writing, but writing makes it easier to prove. Do they have standard terms and conditions that orders are subject to? Do these deal with cancellation?

To me it sounds alot like you have a contract - you gave the go ahead, they would have done that on the basis that you'd pay for the goods once made. Just because they don't ship until you've paid doesn't mean the contract doesn't exist prior to that - especially since this is made to your specs.

The other issue is whether they'd sue (how big is the order?).

Personally if I thought I could sell the gear I'd accept this order and then start looking for a new supplier.