help

[weezy1979]

please help , i am a student teacher and was to receive a cheque for money owed to me so i decided to buy a new leather sofa as my daughter has ruined the old one . i went to a large store and was told that i could order and pay once i received my cheque . once i left the store the attitude of the staff totally changed and they were very rude so i tild them that they could keep it . i have been told i now have to pay for the goods as i signed for them although i left no money or do not have the sofa ! please help , should i really be treated like this ?

[harper]

I would phone your local Trading Standards Department for advice.You entered a legal contract when you signed to purchase the goods ,so they are technically correct in saying that you must take the goods.However, there was also a verbal agreement about paying after you received your cheque.It might be your word against their word on the latter.Good luck.

[stanleyman]

If you agree to buy something, verbally or in writing, that is a legal contract enforcable by both sides. There is no law against being rude unfortunatley but if you really don't want it anymore you could state that the contract was conditional on you receiving the cheque and you haven't got it yet so they can't make you pay until you do. If they insist you can ask them to deliver it, they probably won't without payment or credit agreement so you could end up with a stalemate situation. It is unlikely but still possible that they would take you to court to enforce the contract but you would still be entitled to the sofa if you lost. You could state to the court that you made it clear to the store that the contract was conditional on you receiving the cheque and if you don't get it the contract is unenforcable.