Putting aside the legal issues surrounding the keeping of a deposit, I have never known Pendragon Head Office refuse to refund a customer deposit for a cancelled order on a used stock vehicle. The principle that they adhere to is that if there is no loss then the deposit will be returned.
The dealership may drag their heels over this as I mentioned, but once it gets to head office level it is usually resolved quickly. The only exception to this would be if the customer cancelling the order causes the dealer to incur a loss, for example if they especially sourced the vehicle on the customer's behalf and cannot find an alternative buyer for it, or if the customer had requested some additional accessories fitted to the vehicle prior to delivery before changing their mind.
Is there a schedule of situations for which a cooling off period applies? How do you know it wouldn't apply in this situation? Anyway, I'm not suggesting it definitely may be an option just worth checking and that it doesn't ONLY apply to distance purchasing!
I think that, in general, it might apply when a contract is formed other than at the seller's place of business. Even then, there may need to be explicit legislation - it's not a universal rule.
In the OP's position, I would phone Head Office and let them know that the dealership has made an administrative error in continuing to offer the car on the website - particularly at this new lower price. I'd point out that buying a car is a significant purchase, and how disappointed they are that the dealership's mistake and reluctance to honor the new price has tarnished the OP's perception of the company. I'd also point out how convenient it would be to have a good on-going relationship with the dealership for annual servicing, MOTs, tyres, etc.... And then ask if there was anything that HO could do encourage the dealership to improve this particular case of customer relations.
Annoying as it is, it does sound like a simple mistake in advertising a car on which a sale has been agreed but still remains on the dealers books because the purchase has not yet been fully concluded.
Bear in mind that used car prices do typically fall month by month (Sunday is the first day of a new trading month) so not only will the value of a car on sale fall and be reflected in price so will the part exchange value of the trade-in. If you were to try to negotiate a deal based on the new price you may well find that the changeover price to the buyer will be just the same, as will the dealer's profit.
Worth a go asking for goodwill but I would want to keep on good terms with the dealer in case of any potential problems with the vehicle once you do take delivery.
This happened to me too, I wondered if it had a strategic purpose; agreed verbally a sale on 1 October for what seemed a good price ~£10k, believe EH had had the car since mid-June; signed forms and paid on 7 October; today 13 October checked to see if web caches had retained what the car was originally offered at and was surprised to see its advertised price had been reduced by £760 the day after I verbally agreed the sale, i.e. 2 October, this was on autotrader and same on helpfindmea for 7 October; unfortunately no cache info for EH themselves; having agreed of course I never looked again after 1 October and may not have done if the thought had not occurred to me. Too late now though I would still like to know the original advertised price.
How strange!
My daughter bought a car from a Renault dealer on Sunday.
I was with her.
They gave her a good PX price, extended the warranty to 6 months, taxed it and insured it for a week and will fully valet and fuel it.
It was only £3795 so she paid a £250 deposit to collect it Tuesday.
When she got home she rang me to say it was on their website at £200 less.
I rang them today and they were totally apologetic.
They explained that prices are revised "centrally" on a regular basis and they hadn't been made aware of the reduction.
They agreed immediately to the revised price.
I would still like to know the original advertised price.
Hi Scottie and welcome to DS. Did you try the car dealers adverts in the back issues of weekly local (and maybe regional) newspapers? You could either get them from the papers themselves or local libraries.
Putting aside the legal issues surrounding the keeping of a deposit, I have never known Pendragon Head Office refuse to refund a customer deposit for a cancelled order on a used stock vehicle. The principle that they adhere to is that if there is no loss then the deposit will be returned.
The dealership may drag their heels over this as I mentioned, but once it gets to head office level it is usually resolved quickly. The only exception to this would be if the customer cancelling the order causes the dealer to incur a loss, for example if they especially sourced the vehicle on the customer's behalf and cannot find an alternative buyer for it, or if the customer had requested some additional accessories fitted to the vehicle prior to delivery before changing their mind.
But if the OP cancels, i.e. breaks his contract,, the dealer has, in theory, suffered a loss in that they will now sell the car for £300 less than the OP agreed to.
So (again theoretically rather than in real life) the dealer could keep the deposit and sue the OP for £100. ;-)
false advertising on their behalf, you have bought the car, so anyone enquiring about it will be told 'its just been sold' so noone was ever going to get that car at the lower price. Having dealt with EH in the past i can say they are lying useless bastards!
We got a new Fiesta ST from EH a few years ago. Nice sales team, great car. But it scrubbed the two front tyres in less than 6000 miles and although they checked the tracking etc, they refused to help with the price of new tyres (£85 each for those, thankyou very much).
Traded in the car for a Suzuki Swift Sport at Colin Appleyard just down the road and everything - sales, support, servicing and the car itself - has been perfect.
I wish people wouldn't do that. I have my zoom set to 150%, so to get the post and the buttons I hide the first column. So I never see posters or date/times.
I wish people wouldn't do that. I have my zoom set to 150%, so to get the post and the buttons I hide the first column. So I never see posters or date/times.
I wonder why posters do it rather than just start a new thread.
How do you actually find them that far back when the "Last" page in Advice is only September 2014?
I wonder why posters do it rather than just start a new thread.
How do you actually find them that far back when the "Last" page in Advice is only September 2014?
Probably via search either on this site or on Google. Digital Spy's forum pages rank quite highly on Google.
I wonder why posters do it rather than just start a new thread.
I apologise for not starting a new thread, as a newcomer to the forum my interest was whether there was a general issue with EH here, not whether I had got a bad deal at random - I felt the previous messages in this thread provided the required context for that discussion and potentially if people had "subscribed" to the thread they would see the new posts of a similar example and may also have an interest in whether it is a general thing rather than a one-off error by one dealer. Very few people probably check web caches etc so the fact that two examples are found from one national dealer, albeit one with a large volume of sales overall, may point to a much bigger issue. Incidentally I found the thread via google on "Evans Halshaw" and "reduce price".
I apologise for not starting a new thread, as a newcomer to the forum my interest was whether there was a general issue with EH here, not whether I had got a bad deal at random - I felt the previous messages in this thread provided the required context for that discussion and potentially if people had "subscribed" to the thread they would see the new posts of a similar example and may also have an interest in whether it is a general thing rather than a one-off error by one dealer. Very few people probably check web caches etc so the fact that two examples are found from one national dealer, albeit one with a large volume of sales overall, may point to a much bigger issue. Incidentally I found the thread via google on "Evans Halshaw" and "reduce price".
Don't worry about it. People on here moan when you don't post in existing threads and they moan when you do. I guess you can't please everyone.
Comments
The dealership may drag their heels over this as I mentioned, but once it gets to head office level it is usually resolved quickly. The only exception to this would be if the customer cancelling the order causes the dealer to incur a loss, for example if they especially sourced the vehicle on the customer's behalf and cannot find an alternative buyer for it, or if the customer had requested some additional accessories fitted to the vehicle prior to delivery before changing their mind.
I think that, in general, it might apply when a contract is formed other than at the seller's place of business. Even then, there may need to be explicit legislation - it's not a universal rule.
The receipt for the deposit might show whether or not it is refundable.
This is what I said initially, there may or may not be a possibility, check the conditions of sale!
That's a very useful link.
In the OP's position, I would phone Head Office and let them know that the dealership has made an administrative error in continuing to offer the car on the website - particularly at this new lower price. I'd point out that buying a car is a significant purchase, and how disappointed they are that the dealership's mistake and reluctance to honor the new price has tarnished the OP's perception of the company. I'd also point out how convenient it would be to have a good on-going relationship with the dealership for annual servicing, MOTs, tyres, etc.... And then ask if there was anything that HO could do encourage the dealership to improve this particular case of customer relations.
Bear in mind that used car prices do typically fall month by month (Sunday is the first day of a new trading month) so not only will the value of a car on sale fall and be reflected in price so will the part exchange value of the trade-in. If you were to try to negotiate a deal based on the new price you may well find that the changeover price to the buyer will be just the same, as will the dealer's profit.
Worth a go asking for goodwill but I would want to keep on good terms with the dealer in case of any potential problems with the vehicle once you do take delivery.
My daughter bought a car from a Renault dealer on Sunday.
I was with her.
They gave her a good PX price, extended the warranty to 6 months, taxed it and insured it for a week and will fully valet and fuel it.
It was only £3795 so she paid a £250 deposit to collect it Tuesday.
When she got home she rang me to say it was on their website at £200 less.
I rang them today and they were totally apologetic.
They explained that prices are revised "centrally" on a regular basis and they hadn't been made aware of the reduction.
They agreed immediately to the revised price.
Hi Scottie and welcome to DS. Did you try the car dealers adverts in the back issues of weekly local (and maybe regional) newspapers? You could either get them from the papers themselves or local libraries.
But if the OP cancels, i.e. breaks his contract,, the dealer has, in theory, suffered a loss in that they will now sell the car for £300 less than the OP agreed to.
So (again theoretically rather than in real life) the dealer could keep the deposit and sue the OP for £100. ;-)
Fallen again.
We got a new Fiesta ST from EH a few years ago. Nice sales team, great car. But it scrubbed the two front tyres in less than 6000 miles and although they checked the tracking etc, they refused to help with the price of new tyres (£85 each for those, thankyou very much).
Traded in the car for a Suzuki Swift Sport at Colin Appleyard just down the road and everything - sales, support, servicing and the car itself - has been perfect.
I wish people wouldn't do that. I have my zoom set to 150%, so to get the post and the buttons I hide the first column. So I never see posters or date/times.
How do you actually find them that far back when the "Last" page in Advice is only September 2014?
Probably via search either on this site or on Google. Digital Spy's forum pages rank quite highly on Google.
I apologise for not starting a new thread, as a newcomer to the forum my interest was whether there was a general issue with EH here, not whether I had got a bad deal at random - I felt the previous messages in this thread provided the required context for that discussion and potentially if people had "subscribed" to the thread they would see the new posts of a similar example and may also have an interest in whether it is a general thing rather than a one-off error by one dealer. Very few people probably check web caches etc so the fact that two examples are found from one national dealer, albeit one with a large volume of sales overall, may point to a much bigger issue. Incidentally I found the thread via google on "Evans Halshaw" and "reduce price".
Don't worry about it. People on here moan when you don't post in existing threads and they moan when you do. I guess you can't please everyone.