My Chinese takeaway turned up cold. Can I ask for my money back and, if so, should the restaurant or the delivery firm reimburse me?
J. B., via email.
Dean Dunham replies: Traders selling takeaway food have the same legal obligations under the Consumer Rights Act as retailers selling goods, meaning the food must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described.
Delivering cold food breaches the first two parameters and, potentially, all three. The effect of this is that there is a breach of contract and you, as the consumer, become entitled to a remedy.
The remedy will depend on what you did after the delivery. If you rejected the takeaway and refused to eat it, you will be entitled to a full refund.
However, if you chose to eat the takeaway – which most people do in this situation – you will only be entitled to a partial refund.
Cold order: Restaurants selling takeaway food have the same legal obligations under the Consumer Rights Act as retailers selling goods
The law does not provide any guidance on how much you should get, meaning it will be a matter of negotiation. In terms of who you should complain to, the answer is both the restaurant and the delivery firm.
But should you need to escalate your complaint, you must ascertain who you actually contracted with, for this is the party you will aim your ‘breach of contract’ claim at.
The contracting party will typically be the one you paid – however, this is not always the case.
Therefore, you will need to ask the delivery company what its terms and conditions say about this. Most will claim they act as an ‘intermediary’ or ‘agent’, facilitating the order and delivery, but not usually taking legal responsibility for the food itself – meaning your contractual rights will be with the restaurant.
If you make a complaint and it falls on deaf ears, you can make a chargeback claim if you paid with a credit or debit card by contacting your bank or credit card provider.
Explain that there has been a breach of contract and state how much you are looking to be refunded, remembering that if you ate the takeaway you cannot request a full refund.
Before making the claim, be sure to ascertain which entity you paid your money to so that you can cite this information to your bank or card provider.
Must I hand over my B&B room key?
A Bed & breakfast owner is insisting we hand in the room key when we go out, but it makes me uncomfortable.
The key is put on a peg behind the receptionist, but what if they leave the desk unattended? Can I refuse to hand it over?
R. E., via email.
Dean Dunham replies: It depends on what was communicated to you pre-booking and what terms you agreed to when you made it.
If the terms and conditions clearly stated you must hand your keys in to reception when you go out, this will be a contractual term and potentially legally binding.
Likewise, if the B&B’s terms and conditions state that guests also agree to be bound by some form of ‘house rules’ which contain this stipulation, it will potentially be a contractual term, which means you may have to observe it.
I have used the word ‘potentially’ as there are two circumstances where you could refuse to hand the keys in – without running the risk of being in breach of contract.
The first is if this could be considered as a ‘key term’ of the contract. If so, the B&B owner will have to show that it was made ‘prominent’.
This means the obligation to hand keys in was clearly communicated to you, or was clear to see, pre-booking.
If it cannot show this, the term will not be binding and cannot be enforced. My view is that this would not be a key term. However, the second is a far stronger argument.
The B&B owner will have an obligation to take reasonable steps in keeping your room secure, and you will have a reasonable expectation that the owner will take all appropriate steps to achieve this.
The obvious steps include having suitable locks and security measures in place, but this will also extend to keeping keys safe.
So if the owner has a practice of leaving keys unattended, as you have described, this will technically amount to a breach of contract on their part and you will be entitled to refuse to hand the keys in to avoid this.
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