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A few days ago I ordered 100 Euros using a travel agents website, to be picked up in their store and paid for them in GBP by debit card. I noticed just after that they aren't open on Sundays, meaning I won't be able to collect them before my trip. I emailed the company to ask them to cancel the order the next day, and they replied 2 days later saying that they can't accept cancellations.

Do they have a right to do this? I thought that I had a right to cancel any purchase I make online. Presumably if not, I'll have to sell the euros back using the worse exchange rate they give for that, which doesn't seem right.

Glorfindel
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fluidj
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    I would strongly consider if you actually need to change the euros back to pounds sterling. Are you likely to travel to Europe in the future? If so I'd put them in a safe place instead - either an actual safe, or maybe your suitcase in the attic so find them when you next go to pack. – Notts90 Jul 09 '19 at 14:13
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    They obtained those Euros for you, and transported them to the location you requested. That is a real service that was provided for you, hey have some expenses in it, and I'm not sure why you expect it for free. Perhaps the issue is with your sense of "what seems right". – Harper - Reinstate Monica Jul 09 '19 at 23:34
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    Note that there are many contracts besides foreign currency you can't cancel: tickets to a specific date, some food/hygiene products, digital downloads, services which are performed immediately etc. – Dmitry Grigoryev Jul 10 '19 at 08:56
  • Of course they have a right. – Emobe Jul 10 '19 at 10:52
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    "I'll have to sell the euros back using the worse exchange rate they give for that, which doesn't seem right." - Just hold onto the Euros for a bit. With a Boris Johnson PM'ship likely and a hard Brexit plausible, the likely trajectory for the GBP in the short term is downwards. If it falls enough you can turn your Euros back into more GBP than you started with, despite the currency trader's spread. – aroth Jul 10 '19 at 11:23
  • For the future, consider getting an account with Revolut or Monzo, which allows you practically free currency exchange to Euro (at current stock market price or interbank rate), and their prepaid credit cards work in Euro countries. You can just take cash out for free at an ATM when you're there, or never use cash at all. I do this all the time. – simbabque Jul 10 '19 at 11:40
  • @simbabque Or just simply use a bank that doesn't charge fees (e.g. Metro). That way you don't even have the hassle of managing a separate currency card. – JBentley Jul 10 '19 at 12:59
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    Foreign exchange rates are like stock prices---they rise and fall minute to minute. If a foreign exchange transaction could be cancelled, the process could be used for arbitrage: submit the transaction at rate X, then if the rate goes up, follow through, and if the rate goes down, cancel the transaction. This is why they don't let you cancel. – krubo Jul 10 '19 at 13:35
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    @aroth I'm skeptical that you can predict the direction of future FX rate changes based on such obvious public information, it would imply that forex markets are grossly inefficient – JBGreen Jul 10 '19 at 17:58
  • @Harper There was lack of meeting of the minds, in that the OP thought they would be able to get the money on Sunday. – Acccumulation Jul 10 '19 at 22:36
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    @Acccumulation and that would be a problem if the shop misled them. If they publish their hours, they are not at fault for lack of a customer's due diligence. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Jul 10 '19 at 22:56
  • @Harper Contract law requires meeting of the minds. A contract is defective it there is no meeting of the minds. There is "they didn't mislead" exception. Now, if you want to argue that even though there was not a valid contract, the shop still has an equity claim, that's another matter. – Acccumulation Jul 11 '19 at 02:20
  • @Acccumulation You're the one mentioning contract, not I, but now that you mention it... by your logic if I don't read the fine print in a contact, I didn't agree to it, no meeting of minds and it doesn't apply. Think through the consequences of what you are saying. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Jul 11 '19 at 04:48
  • Perhaps the confusion is sparked between cancellation versus redeem/refund. Most customer services personnel are proactive over customer term use. A refund will initiate another process that will deduct the fees accordingly. – mootmoot Jul 11 '19 at 08:34

1 Answers1

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The Financial Services (Distance Marketing) Regulations 2004 say in Section 11:

Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), regulation 9 does not confer on a consumer a right to cancel a distance contract which is—

(a) a contract for a financial service where the price of that service depends on fluctuations in the financial market outside the supplier’s control, which may occur during the cancellation period, such as services related to—

(i) foreign exchange,

So no, foreign exchange is specifically excluded from the right to cancel an online purchase.

Mike Scott
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    I fell foul of this when transferring a large amount of money between England and Australia with XE. I didn't realise a transaction was legally binding so created two new ones when the first one was over my transaction limit. In my case they allowed me to cancel the contract by paying the difference the price had fluctuated since creation. The lesson, if you really don't want the contract there might be avenues to cancel it for a fee, in my case the £150 was better than owing an additional £50k. – sam_smith Jul 10 '19 at 05:18
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    And the lesson is: don't purchase foreign currency, at least not as currency (vs gambling with it, which is another topic). There's absolutely no need to do so. This is 2019 and your ATM and credit cards work anywhere, and automatically convert currency at rates far below what any scammy currency changer will offer you. – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE Jul 10 '19 at 20:51
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    @R.. I’ve been told that in Germany a lot of places (including restaurants?) only accept cash. Is this no longer the case? – Tim Jul 10 '19 at 23:55
  • @Tim: Visit the nearest ATM just before you go out. There's no reason to bulk exchange money in advance. – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE Jul 11 '19 at 00:04
  • @Tim I went to Berlin in November 2016, we had utterly no problems paying everywhere with a VISA card - we took out perhaps 100 euros during our entire time there, and put everything else on the card. Even had no problems at any of the christmas markets! –  Jul 11 '19 at 01:02
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    @R..: You might want to add that you should not take the "convenience" ATM option of converting to your home currency. Your own bank almost always offers a better rate than the ATM operator. I.e. as an Englishman in Germany, don't take the GBP conversion offered. – MSalters Jul 11 '19 at 15:44
  • @MSalters: Indeed. Thanks for adding that. Even if you do mess that up, though, either way it's nowhere near as bad as the rate the money exchange shops are offering. – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE Jul 11 '19 at 16:00