[Closed] bike company sent invoice year later ..

This is just one of those out-there, crazy ideas, but, has the OP tried picking up the phone and talking to Canyon about it?

It sounds like it would be the best way to put across a message like, I thought I'd already paid for it, I don't have the money to pay for it in full now but perhaps we can come to some arrangement, however I don't think I should have to pay any more than the amount I'd originally agreed to pay a year ago.

@cynic-al: no, not confused; it's a contract under consumer law and all sales by Canyon are subject to German law.

Don't think he's interested in that, he just wants to see if he can chance it further and get the free bike he always wanted 🙂

I'm still curious as to the legal position; based on nothing more than a layman's knowledge of life-type-stuff, it [i]feels[/i] like Canyon hold none of the cards.

Has anyone forwarded the thread to Canyon yet? 😈

There may be more to this than we are being told by the OP.
The following is from a thread that is over a year old:

nobbyq - Member
i wouldnt wait , ive been waiting for a bike (strive )since sept , delayed every week ,now end of jan so i cancelled today , whos to say it wont be delayed in march again ,but only you can know !

The forum will have probably corrupted into a pile of squiggles and ampersands by the time they read it anyhow.

Edit: Ooh, plot thickens 🙂

*waves at lurking OP*

I'm sure that by now Canyon will be aware of this thread, [edit: beaten to it! ]and will have a good idea of who the purchaser is. Any claims of " I didn't get it " might not be believed.
A change of circumstance after a purchase is not a good reason to seek a cancellation of a debt. Even if you were not billed, there will be an assumption that you will have put those funds by in order to pay,.

Interesting conundrum. I don't think it's up to the OP to phone anyone.

It's Canyon what's cocked up and it is they who should have phoned, apologised and explained the situation before emailing or posting a confirmation including an invoice already suitably discounted to *at least* the point of sale sterling value.

So I would wait and see if this personalised contact materialises.

@bearnecessities: agree that OP is considering chancing this a bit further.
As for legal position it seems to me that Canyon hold all of the cards - the OP can test that at his risk.
For third time I suggest that OP calls Canyon to discuss and find mutually acceptable solution.
I've looked at Canyon's conditions of sale and there doesn't appear to be anything there which might contravene unfair contract terms legislation.
As I see it there are only a limited number of outcomes - discuss & agree resolution; discuss and Canyon write this off; do nothing and get away with it; do nothing and be sued.
Any other suggestions can be dismissed as non-starters.
Bored with this thread now.

He's had a personalised contact. It's an invoice for goods that he has received & used. Now it's time to pay. I can't see why the invoice should be queried at all, unless it's to check whether the original agreement was for E or £.
Regard the sale as 12 months' free credit, and arrange to pay like the honest person we'd like you to be.

No apology. They've cocked up and that should be their starting point if they want to recoup their loss.

That is my position. Apologise for your mistake, then we'll talk.

As soon as I read the OP I thought it might be about Canyon. They did this to me a few years ago, not for a bike but for spares which I thought should have been warranty parts. They took such a long time to actually [i]do[/i] anything, despite repeated emails, that the hold on my money/card expired. It's interesting to see that nothing has changed.

I'm amazed that they are starting sales in the US this year since they're clearly still such a mess. It's a shame, if the support/customer service was there they could do very well.

That is my position. Apologise for your mistake, then we'll talk.

Are you 12 years old?

No. Why, does politeness not apply to adults?

On a practical note it's not difficult, check the contract.

Does it say the price is in Euro or GBP? If it's the latter, write back to them and point out their mistake and ask them to resubmit the invoice in £. If the former, then you've got to pay the euro amount.

You might get some ex gratia discount because they acknowledge that they've messed up in taking payment. Because I think it's unlikely there's anything in the contract that says it's their duty to take the payment, it's your duty as the buyer to pay for things, not the other way around. So it's a case of appealing to their goodwill (i.e. don't be a dick about it).

No. Why, does politeness not apply to adults?

He was being generous, most people stop stealing toys long before 12.

Are you 2 public sector? I run my own business. If I had cocked up like Canyon have here, I would be apologising to my valued customer and looking to minimise the loss I face. Not just blankly firing an invoice over for more than the sterling amount from over a year ago.

I am.

#challengingstereotypes 🙂

It's a rubbish way of doing business anyway. Why do they mess about with bank transfers and not take cards!?

valued customer

TBH, I'd not consider someone that until they were holding up their side of the contract.

It's a rubbish way of doing business anyway. Why do they mess about with bank transfers and not take cards!?

It's a German thing.

IMO they can't reasonably expect you to pay the Euro price if the exchange rate has subsequently moved in their favour.

If your financial situation makes paying difficult now, perhaps they'd consider installments? Or just send it back?

the way i see it OP ha a number of options:
a) contact canyon and tell them that the person they are looking for no longer lives at that address
b) tell them he never received a bike from them and seeing as no money was taken he never chased it up with them (as previously mentioned)
c) contact canyon and tell them he will pay but cannot afford the full amount as the money he earmarked for the bike has been spent and he can only afford to pay it back in instalments
d) pay back the original agreed price in full
e) pay the invoiced amount in full
f) do nothing and see what happens next

either way canyon have cocked up...while there is a responsibility for the OP to have checked that the payment had been made after he got the bike...i can see how he wouldnt have checked.
i buy plenty of stuff online as do many other people...form places such as amazon and CRC...how many times do you check that the money has left your account. many people buy online under the assumption that once the payment details have been given and the item sent then the transaction has been completed.

if it was me i'd be asking for a discount on last years price due to their ineptitude and then insist on payment in instalments

i just bought a new bike at the weekend...paid for it on my card and then later that day checked my account to make sure the money had gone...which was a moot point really as i already had the bike by then...but if the money hadnt gone yet then i'd be contacting the retailer to tell them .

What did you buy in the end gonzy?

I can't help finding the whole "trying to find a way to get out of paying for something I have the benefit of" a bit distasteful. There's been an admin error at Canyon, that's all. The admin error doesn't remove your ethical (and I think legal) obligation to do the right thing and pay for the bike you have had, rather than try to wriggle out of it.

Drop them a line, attach original invoice, I'd suggest the following:

"Thanks for your invoice - I hadn't noticed the payment hasn't gone. I've reattached the original order confirmation at €XXXX. As this is clearly an innocent admin error on both our parts, I'd proposed splitting the original balance over 4 instalments of €XXXX, payable on the first of each month, starting XX/XX/XX"

Simple. Do the right thing.

Many of the small businessmen on this website will be used to this sort of thing, either buying / selling on 90 day's credit (which some big companies insist upon from their suppliers) or retentions dependent upon snagging etc. So payment requests often go missing until the end of a financial year or afterwards.

Pay it, it's the right thing to do.

What did you buy in the end gonzy?

reign advanced...see my other post for pics

[img] [/img]

see my other post for pics

ignore that Chakaping..here it is
[img] [/img]

That lamppost really sets off the orange nicely.

I think it comes with the bike.

That lamppost really sets off the orange nicely.

its actually red

the lampost was extra...i couldnt afford it 😀

Should have ordered it from Canyon

Those saying "say you never received it" surely canyon send their bikes via some sort of recorded delivery?
Contact them say you'll only pay the original price as it's their issue that they didn't take the money at the time and any change in the exchange rate isn't your issue. If you can't afford to pay it now I'd suggest put it on a credit card (or take out a new one) and transfer the balance to one of the 0% balance transfer cards.

IMO they can't reasonably expect you to pay the Euro price if the exchange rate has subsequently moved in their favour.

It didn't move in favour of Canyon, it moved away from the OP as I'd imagine the euro value for Canyon is fixed. We sell in Euros to people and our revenue doesn't change when GBP goes up or down, just the customer pays more or less in their terms rather than ours.

There's a lot of talk of moral obligation here, but surely that applies to Canyon too?

For most of us a bike is a big purchase. It's something we save for and we pull the trigger only when circumstances allow for it.

OK, the OP must have been feeling flush enough not to have noticed the money never left his account, but circumstances change. A year down the line you may not have a job. You may have a child. A new home. Car repairs. A sick pet... Even with the best of intentions it is not always possible to keep hold of the money for that length of time. It could also be the case that even small monthly instalments push you into real financial difficulty.

I would suggest in these circumstances, since it was their mistake, Canyon have a moral obligation not to be dicks too.

They should at least offer some kind of gesture of goodwill.

It didn't move in favour of Canyon, it moved away from the OP as I'd imagine the euro value for Canyon is fixed. We sell in Euros to people and our revenue doesn't change when GBP goes up or down, just the customer pays more or less in their terms rather than ours.

That's technically correct, but do you really disagree with me?

ignore that Chakaping..here it is

Lovely 🙂

Genuinely surprised at the number of people that think Canyon are entirely responsible for the OP being unable to manage his finances*

Fortunately I don't sell anything on here so I don't need to make a note of all the people who are actually saying he in entitled to just keep it!

Si

*and that's being generous. I simply don't believe he didn't notice he still had the money in his account.

I've had an email apologising for the last emails and that they were an error, they haven't actually authorised any payment and the bank confirmed that.

That's technically correct, but do you really disagree with me?

Actually yes I do because you suggested Canyon were making more on the transaction. In fact they're making the same as before, it's the OP who is facing a different sum (assuming he was quoted in Euros and a GBP conversion as our customers are). I know it's STW but I wouldn't have posted saying you were wrong if I agreed with you 🙂

Have to say, if it was me I'd be paying them- but I'd be paying them what it should have cost me back then, not today's brexit-shagged pound equivalent.

(well, if it was me I'd have noticed I hadn't paid, and sorted it out. But that aside)

And if I was them, I wouldn't have just sent out a random invoice as if it were business as usual.

Those saying "say you never received it" surely canyon send their bikes via some sort of recorded delivery?

Very much this - can't think of any retailer (including bike companies) who'd send something of any significant value, let alone a couple of grand, without tracked delivery.

ok i thought id paid it last january as i gave them card details and they shipped it to me

Does that translate roughly as 'ordered a bike from canyon and the clowns forgot to invoice me, thought I'd got away with it until those crazy kids in IT worked out how to fix the invoicing system'

All of STW's lurking might and not one bloody person that specialises in consumer law.

Well, not one daft enough to get involved that is.

Those saying "say you never received it" surely canyon send their bikes via some sort of recorded delivery?

i guess you missed the sarcasm in that comment 😉

Should have ordered it from Canyon

😆

Actually yes I do because you suggested Canyon were making more on the transaction. In fact they're making the same as before, it's the OP who is facing a different sum (assuming he was quoted in Euros and a GBP conversion as our customers are).

So you think Canyon should hold him to the original price in Euros?

Harsh.

Perhaps he should offer to pay the amount owing the next time the exchange rate is what it was when he ordered the bike , that way nobody wins . 😀