We Buy Any Car
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andychomb

Original Poster:

4 posts

105 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
quotequote all
Wow, what a bunch of scam merchants..... I am helping my 80 year old father sell his immaculate VW UP, 1 year old and only 14k on clock. I booked an ppointmnent for him in Southampton. They "agreed" £6500 as a guaranteed value but then spent an hour pressuring my father into accepting £1100 less by finding imaginary scratches, siggesting excessive carpet wear (really?!!?) and generally being aggressive and unpleasant. The car is absolutely mint.

I am totally outraged and considering my options. Anyone else had this sort of experience???

Christmassss

650 posts

105 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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Its pretty standard to be honest.

Its part of their business model

Nickbrapp

5,277 posts

146 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
quotequote all
They always barter you down

I used car shop, the gave me more than WBAC and didn't reduce the amount

There's a service that I found that you list your car and dealers bid for the car then you choose the best, il try and find what it's called, think it may have been on parkers or carwow

Shaw Tarse

31,810 posts

219 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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Sell it via PH/Autotrader etc?

zedstar

1,769 posts

192 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
quotequote all
I get the distinct impression from the WBAC threads that the staff get bonused on their writedowns from the internet price, perhaps linked in with the eventual auction price. Hence their eagerness to reduce prices for items that seem like fair wear and tear.

Anyway OP if your Dad's already sold the car then I doubt he can do anything. Just try and explain to him that it's a good idea as he gets older to maybe run a few decisions by you.

On a seperate note though I have various members of my family want me to see 'whether they got a good deal' when they bought or sold a car. Normally they didn't. I have counteracted this by refusing to get involved or look at it unless they ASK ME FIRST.

GhostWKD

529 posts

229 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
quotequote all
zedstar said:
I get the distinct impression from the WBAC threads that the staff get bonused on their writedowns from the internet price
They absolutely do or at least used to, a friend of mine did a short stint of working for them.

t400ble

1,804 posts

137 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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Did you not go with him?

Dave Hedgehog

15,129 posts

220 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
quotequote all
i used trusted car buyer, no fee and paid me the offer price

JeS10

375 posts

182 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
quotequote all
When I went they counted the individual fingernail scratches under each handle and deducted £400 for it. I laughed and walked promptly. Evans Halshaw gave me more than WBAC would've even if mine was mint

andychomb

Original Poster:

4 posts

105 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
quotequote all
Thanks all. Happily my dad walked away having phoned me first, but I am a lawyer and I think they are in breach of contarct everytime they do this. I will certainly bring to the attention of Hampshire Trading Standards. If I had the time I would love to do a test case

andychomb

Original Poster:

4 posts

105 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
quotequote all
Thanks all. Happily my dad walked away having phoned me first, but I am a lawyer and I think they are in breach of contarct everytime they do this. I will certainly bring to the attention of Hampshire Trading Standards. If I had the time I would love to do a test case

clio007

602 posts

241 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
quotequote all
So why didnt you go with him?

What options do you think you have? The only one is to suck it up

Challo

11,607 posts

171 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
quotequote all
andychomb said:
Thanks all. Happily my dad walked away having phoned me first, but I am a lawyer and I think they are in breach of contarct everytime they do this. I will certainly bring to the attention of Hampshire Trading Standards. If I had the time I would love to do a test case
Why do you think its breach of contract? Its there business model to do these checks once the car is with them, why would they honour an initial quote based off the information imputed over the internet.

From their website:
What does 'subject to inspection' mean?
The price you see online is dependent on the information that you give us about your car. We make this price as accurate as possible, but it's not until we see your car and give it an onsite inspection that we can offer you a final price for your car, so the valuation should not be construed as a contract.

When you arrive at your appointment, a member of our staff will check over your car to make sure it matches the details you supplied online. If it does, we’ll confirm that the initial valuation was correct. If you wish to sell to us, we will transfer the money to your bank account.

If there are any discrepancies between your car and the details you gave us, or, if during the inspection, we consider that its value is affected by any aspect of its history or condition, including any unusual feature or customisation, which was not apparent to us when we gave the online valuation, the price that we offer for it will differ from the online valuation.

So that we don’t waste your time, if there is a change in the market value of your car resulting in a reduced valuation, then we endeavour to let you know what the new valuation is at least 24 hours before your appointment, so that you have the opportunity to cancel, if you choose to do so.

It's worth remembering that our ideal goal is to buy your car at a price that makes you happy and would make you want to sell with us again in the future

Jonno02

2,262 posts

125 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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Really depends on where you go. My experience was nothing but pleasant. The guy even took damage off that I'd described.

Challo

11,607 posts

171 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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Jonno02 said:
Really depends on where you go. My experience was nothing but pleasant. The guy even took damage off that I'd described.
Mine was the same, took a couple of £ off for scratches, and damage to the wheel but i made sure I listed as much as I could online.

Had a figure in mind and saved me the hassle of selling myself.

andychomb

Original Poster:

4 posts

105 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
quotequote all
Fortunately he wasn't desperate for the money so could walk away. I don't live anywhere near so couldn't go.

Point is there valuation is guaranteed and they are making a contract with the seller based on certain assumptions , that mileage is as represented, condition good for age etc etc etc.

davek_964

10,259 posts

191 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
quotequote all
Although I'm sure it seems unreasonable when the potential customer is an 80 year old, it's a fairly understandable business model. And to be honest, not that different from the way most dealers would operate when buying a car.

Your description of the car is curious. Mint or not, on a one year old small city car 14k is not really 'only' 14k.

Challo

11,607 posts

171 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
quotequote all
andychomb said:
Fortunately he wasn't desperate for the money so could walk away. I don't live anywhere near so couldn't go.

Point is there valuation is guaranteed and they are making a contract with the seller based on certain assumptions , that mileage is as represented, condition good for age etc etc etc.
did you read what I posted from their website. They state its not a contract.

Dolf Stoppard

1,367 posts

138 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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I'm guessing you don't specialise in contract law...

eldar

24,118 posts

212 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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Jonno02 said:
Really depends on where you go. My experience was nothing but pleasant. The guy even took damage off that I'd described.
Mine too. I got better than book price to my surprise. It was a couple of years ago, though.