Car dealer refuses to refund £500 deposit...
Discussion
Hi all.
It would seem that I have got myself into a difficult position with a car dealership with regard to a £500 deposit that I placed on a vehicle and I then withdrew from the sale the following day.
At this stage I am looking to establish whether somebody could advise me that I might have a case or that this could be in fact a lost cause and that I should put it down to experience?
Allow me to explain a little further:
On the Sunday 24th of May I made a £500 deposit using my Visa card against the purchase price of a used vehicle with an agreed purchase price of £27,000. At the time of placing my deposit I had every intention to pay the balance a couple of days later prior to collecting the vehicle later the following week.
Whilst at the dealership I signed a sales order form setting out the deposit that I had paid and the balance that was due. On the reverse of this order form there are 11 points making up the terms and conditions.
Upon my return home later that same day I had received an unexpected enquiry with regards to the sale and purchase of a new home. This effectively threw on its head the viability of the car purchase and so I decided that I should withdraw from the purchase of the car.
I telephoned the dealership the following morning, a bank holiday Monday and spoke with the representatives explaining my position, apologising and requesting my deposit to be returned. I was told that I would need to speak to the sales manager and I waited for a call from him which did not transpire, so I rang the dealership and spoke with the sales manager on the Wednesday. During a long conversation with the sales manager he repeatedly refused to refund me the deposit. I doggedly persisted and towards the end of the conversation he appeared to concede and would consider my case and would come back to me shortly with a suggested refund amount. I pressed him on this matter and suggested that we should agree an amount there and then. He said that he would not be pressed on the matter there and then and returned to his original stance of not offering any refund of the original deposit. He insisted that he was within his legal rights not to refund the deposit.
I have spoken with my credit card company and they were unable to assist me other than to direct me to the citizens advice bureau. When speaking to the citizens advice bureau they advised me to create a letter asking the dealership to justify the charges and to send it by recorded delivery. I was not left feeling very optimistic as a result of this conversation. I have just returned home after being away for a few days and I am at the stage of considering my next course of action.
My thinking is that if I had withdrawn from the sale a few days after the agreement to purchase the vehicle, then I could understand that the dealership would have lost opportunities to sell the vehicle to others, but given that I cancelled the sell within a 24 hour period bridging a very quiet Sunday, this does leave me feeling very hard done by. Regardless of how this leaves me feeling, I am most interested at this stage in establishing if I have a case or not?
If anyone can enlighten me on the above and offer me a reality check in the process I would be most grateful.
Thank you.
It would seem that I have got myself into a difficult position with a car dealership with regard to a £500 deposit that I placed on a vehicle and I then withdrew from the sale the following day.
At this stage I am looking to establish whether somebody could advise me that I might have a case or that this could be in fact a lost cause and that I should put it down to experience?
Allow me to explain a little further:
On the Sunday 24th of May I made a £500 deposit using my Visa card against the purchase price of a used vehicle with an agreed purchase price of £27,000. At the time of placing my deposit I had every intention to pay the balance a couple of days later prior to collecting the vehicle later the following week.
Whilst at the dealership I signed a sales order form setting out the deposit that I had paid and the balance that was due. On the reverse of this order form there are 11 points making up the terms and conditions.
Upon my return home later that same day I had received an unexpected enquiry with regards to the sale and purchase of a new home. This effectively threw on its head the viability of the car purchase and so I decided that I should withdraw from the purchase of the car.
I telephoned the dealership the following morning, a bank holiday Monday and spoke with the representatives explaining my position, apologising and requesting my deposit to be returned. I was told that I would need to speak to the sales manager and I waited for a call from him which did not transpire, so I rang the dealership and spoke with the sales manager on the Wednesday. During a long conversation with the sales manager he repeatedly refused to refund me the deposit. I doggedly persisted and towards the end of the conversation he appeared to concede and would consider my case and would come back to me shortly with a suggested refund amount. I pressed him on this matter and suggested that we should agree an amount there and then. He said that he would not be pressed on the matter there and then and returned to his original stance of not offering any refund of the original deposit. He insisted that he was within his legal rights not to refund the deposit.
I have spoken with my credit card company and they were unable to assist me other than to direct me to the citizens advice bureau. When speaking to the citizens advice bureau they advised me to create a letter asking the dealership to justify the charges and to send it by recorded delivery. I was not left feeling very optimistic as a result of this conversation. I have just returned home after being away for a few days and I am at the stage of considering my next course of action.
My thinking is that if I had withdrawn from the sale a few days after the agreement to purchase the vehicle, then I could understand that the dealership would have lost opportunities to sell the vehicle to others, but given that I cancelled the sell within a 24 hour period bridging a very quiet Sunday, this does leave me feeling very hard done by. Regardless of how this leaves me feeling, I am most interested at this stage in establishing if I have a case or not?
If anyone can enlighten me on the above and offer me a reality check in the process I would be most grateful.
Thank you.
b
hstewie said:
hstewie said: It seems rather short sighted by the dealer even if their T&Cs do allow them to do it.
"Let's make £500 and have a pissed off customer who will tell as many people as he can how we treated him, and won't go within a mile of us when he does replace his car or ever needs parts or servicing".
Couldn't agree more! "Let's make £500 and have a pissed off customer who will tell as many people as he can how we treated him, and won't go within a mile of us when he does replace his car or ever needs parts or servicing".
They had good stock and I would have liked to keep the option to return open. They did offer it against another vehicle within 12 months but that's not a lot of use to me really.
Ok then. I'll draft a letter tonight and call them again tomorrow.
It is a mess I know, but I can't let £500 slide under the circumstances.
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