The Alfa Romeo 4C lease thread

The Alfa Romeo 4C lease thread

Author
Discussion

AlfaAddict

86 posts

84 months

Saturday 18th March 2017
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Nationwide offering £437 9+23 deal on CHL 8k miles! A bit less than what Unity came back with!

GaryG182

288 posts

222 months

Saturday 18th March 2017
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Did anyone think about trying to hold them to the deal?

craigjm

17,908 posts

199 months

Saturday 18th March 2017
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GaryG182 said:
Did anyone think about trying to hold them to the deal?
Their T&Cs will cover this and say something like the order is not deemed as accepted until it is confirmed by the supplying manufacturer. As far as I can see nobody got as far in the process that Fiat accepted the order. Up to that point it is an offer to sell even if a third party takes a deposit.

Stuart J

1,301 posts

256 months

Saturday 18th March 2017
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There are some good s/hand deals to be had, I'm sure if you can finance it and buy well you won't loose 10k as the lease would have cost in 2 years and remember the lease was a base model, most of the s/hand ones are a better spec . I'm sure you could even bid sub 40 and get lucky , there are certainly less for sale than end of last year and as summer gets closer I can see a few more taking the plunge .

Russ_H

359 posts

221 months

Saturday 18th March 2017
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craigjm said:
Their T&Cs will cover this and say something like the order is not deemed as accepted until it is confirmed by the supplying manufacturer. As far as I can see nobody got as far in the process that Fiat accepted the order. Up to that point it is an offer to sell even if a third party takes a deposit.
Did anyone see the T&Cs before signing order form?

GaryG182

288 posts

222 months

Saturday 18th March 2017
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I didn't see anything, just received the order form after paying deposit and that refers to the t's&c's

Russ_H

359 posts

221 months

Monday 20th March 2017
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GaryG182 said:
I didn't see anything, just received the order form after paying deposit and that refers to the t's&c's
Same here - not sure how legally binding their T&Cs are if you're not informed of them before signing the contract.confused

craigjm

17,908 posts

199 months

Monday 20th March 2017
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Russ_H said:
GaryG182 said:
I didn't see anything, just received the order form after paying deposit and that refers to the t's&c's
Same here - not sure how legally binding their T&Cs are if you're not informed of them before signing the contract.confused
The document you signed would have made reference to you accepting the T&C's. If you did not see them before you signed then the lesson should be to thoroughly read everything before you sign and not just skip "the small print". If you were not provided with the T&C's you should ask for them before you sign. Signing for something without knowing all the details is a recipe for disaster and its how we ended up in situations like the PPI scandal.

There will be no comeback on Liberty as they were offering in good faith unaware it was based on a mistaken calculation. Only if Fiat accepted the order would it become legally binding. The situation is not too dissimilar to when people find a TV advertised on a website for £1 and then try and buy 100 of them. The company simply refuses the transaction and returns the money which would be covered in the terms and conditions of trade.


Edited by craigjm on Monday 20th March 12:52

carnat

5 posts

84 months

Monday 20th March 2017
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craigjm said:
The document you signed would have made reference to you accepting the T&C's. If you did not see them before you signed then the lesson should be to thoroughly read everything before you sign and not just skip "the small print". If you were not provided with the T&C's you should ask for them before you sign. Signing for something without knowing all the details is a recipe for disaster and its how we ended up in situations like the PPI scandal.

There will be no comeback on Liberty as they were offering in good faith unaware it was based on a mistaken calculation. Only if Fiat accepted the order would it become legally binding. The situation is not too dissimilar to when people find a TV advertised on a website for £1 and then try and buy 100 of them. The company simply refuses the transaction and returns the money which would be covered in the terms and conditions of trade.


Edited by craigjm on Monday 20th March 12:52
craigjm - as others have said they did not get/sign the order form before paying the deposit. The deposit was paid based on request and based on the verbal/written email agreement to supply a car with no reference to any T&C's. So not down to people not reading.... just never agreeing to them due to never being asked to.

I would guess from a legal point it would not be as cut and dry as you have suggested for Unity Automotive!
Not sure the deal is that good to start spending time and money on legals though rolleyes

The funny thing for me is after all these years of doing contract hire and having main dealers say that the great deal I have needs to be checked to make sure it is real and not from some scam/cow boys the first one that I have had an issue with is from a main dealer!!




imdeman87

886 posts

106 months

Tuesday 21st March 2017
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So just to clarify, what's the difference in price now compared to the original deal?

Mistakes happen - but it's how a company responds to their errors that's the true indicator of their customer service. In this case Alfa Romeo, your response is st. That's the simple fact.

VW did a similar cock up a couple of years ago for a Passat Alltrack. RRP of car was about £33k (DSG, loads of tech as standard, 190bhp etc.) and it was mispriced at around £160 per month on a 1+23 term. It should have been around £330 per month. VW confirmed that if a credit check had been completed and that you submitted an application (where you supply your bank details, address, job details etc.), then they would honour the deal.

The same thing happened with the Peugeot 208GTi a couple of years ago - £160 per month on a 1+17 term. Should have been £240 per month. All orders honoured.

Above 2 cars had far more orders going through too. I doubt over 100 4Cs were ever going to be ordered. The car has its niche and is not for everyone. Alfa have shot themselves in the foot here.

If I'd ordered, I wouldn't be dropping this case too easily. Especially, if I had signed an order form, paid a deposit, had a credit check to see if I could afford a £10k loan which invariably has a negative impact on my score/affordability for the next 6-12 months.

Do the right thing Alfa...

giblet

8,824 posts

176 months

Tuesday 21st March 2017
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The deal offered by Nationwide is £120 more per month, £3,840 more in total over the 2 years once you factor in the initial payment.

imdeman87

886 posts

106 months

Tuesday 21st March 2017
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giblet said:
The deal offered by Nationwide is £120 more per month, £3,840 more in total over the 2 years once you factor in the initial payment.
I'm sure Alfa could absorb £3k on a £50k car and the dealership could take a £800 hit.

Could have been great for brand awareness, plus they would have made some of the money back on overpriced services and factory fitted options.


garreth64

663 posts

220 months

Tuesday 21st March 2017
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From a video I watched on YouTube a while back, I'm sure these are pretty much hand assembled on a low volume production line.

Im not sure they would have the capability to ramp up production by several hundred cars more than they produce annually without excessively long lead times.


Russ_H

359 posts

221 months

Tuesday 21st March 2017
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According to Unity sales manager they'd taken 14 orders by Saturday
Not a huge amount for Alfa to do the right thing

I've got the unity & Alfa MD names and will be firing off an email letting them know what I think of Alfa customer service
Probably won't get me anywhere but will make me feel better!



carnat

5 posts

84 months

Wednesday 22nd March 2017
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Russ_H said:
According to Unity sales manager they'd taken 14 orders by Saturday
Not a huge amount for Alfa to do the right thing

I've got the unity & Alfa MD names and will be firing off an email letting them know what I think of Alfa customer service
Probably won't get me anywhere but will make me feel better!
Hey... don't be to ruff with unity automotive & alfa, I am sure if we had not done our maths right they would have smiled and given our deposits back!!!
The irony of being charged a deposit for contract hire which I have never seen before as they were worried about the long lead time and loosing out.

GaryG182

288 posts

222 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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Russ_H said:
According to Unity sales manager they'd taken 14 orders by Saturday
Not a huge amount for Alfa to do the right thing

I've got the unity & Alfa MD names and will be firing off an email letting them know what I think of Alfa customer service
Probably won't get me anywhere but will make me feel better!
Did you get anywhere?

Amateurish

7,697 posts

221 months

Wednesday 29th March 2017
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Did anyone have any further communications with Alfa or Unity?

matt1269

598 posts

173 months

Wednesday 29th March 2017
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Just the phone call from the unity manager who was very apologetic.
Bought a MX-5 instead now, basically the same right?

Nero77

190 posts

145 months

Wednesday 29th March 2017
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Can I ask, why is this an Alfa problem?? This was a Unity balls up, not Alfa. And I would say you have a decent claim against Unity, if deposit paid. Alfa have nothing to do with this and are not a party to any part of a contract.

People seem to be complaining because they can't get something on the cheap. If you couldn't have afforded it then (pre Unity balls up) and can't afford it now then not a lot has changed. There are some good second hand PCP deals c. 40k which I suspect can't too much more - and you actually get to own the thing.

Just my two cents, but whilst I think those paid a deposit should potentially force Unity to honour, those who lost out before they realised their mistake, grow up and stop complaining.

craigjm

17,908 posts

199 months

Wednesday 29th March 2017
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I'm sure unity T&Cs will have any liability for errors covered. Nobody will get a car and that's pretty much the end of it