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On going saga this one. Took the Defender and its bent chassie back to the dealer Sat for a full refund. Banks just been on the phone and the check has bounced.... Phoned up to ask what's going on and had the phone put down on me, now wont pick up the phone or respond to any form of communication. So now have no vehicle or cash to buy another, Wife in tears who needs transport to do Her job. Any suggestions on what to do now
Police - fraud.
Police - fraud.
only if you can prove cheque written in the knowledge no clear funds on which to draw it. v tricky.
civil claims.
Was it little enough to get under small claims threshold of £10k?
Yes, go to dealer in person and politely but firmly request the monies. Make it clear that bounce no.2 will be taken as theft/fraud and you will go to police.
How did you pay - finane for car or credit card perchance?
Taxi to the dealer and have a word with them.
Scratch that - back there and raise so much hell (preferably when there is a customer present) that he opens his online banking and makes the payment there and then).
It works.
Name and shame the dealer
Over the 10k mark, I feel physically sick at the moment. Payed by bacs as he was a dealer and not a private sale wrongly. assumed I might have some protection. #fool
I'd be camping out there 'til I'd got the funds in my account.
Go back and demand money. Take a few mates for moral support
Also Ring 101, can't hurt
I have a sawn off basball bat and no regard for human life. Where does this tyke live.
I had exactly this same situation last year, talk to your bank whether you paid by credit card or not, they can get the money back for you.
It helped I sent itemised bills of my phone calls, the bounced cheque and loads of other supporting information.
Make sure there is no deposit mentioned as they will not pay that out.
Back to the dealer ASAP.
Take with you a [url= https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/going-to-court/going-to-court/taking-court-action/step-one-write-a-letter-before-action/ ]letter before action[/url] giving them 7 days to pay you "fully in cleared funds". Ensure you have evidence of you handing them the letter (and then follow it up with a copy posted by special delivery).
Make a proper scene and refuse to leave without the money - threaten and be prepared to go through with calling the police to report the theft if they refuse.
It's entirely possible that the dealer is in financial difficulties, so act fast.
Good luck - I'd be bloody fuming.
Oh and next time just pay by credit card then move the money back into your own account 😀
[url= https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ ]C.A.B[/url]
They'll help and they are free and will go to court with you
If they are in financial difficulty and likely to go belly up quickly would it be worth doing a deal on another car and selling it? Obviously it would have to be a car being sold for more than he owes you so you can sell for around the same.
Obviously he might sell you another crock of shit but it might be better than finding out he has declared himself bankrupt and you not getting a penny.
Plus 1 for turning up at the dealer with a couple of burly looking mates. If the Vechicle is still there and he refuses to give you the cash then its yours to take home legally - if he refuses to hadover keys then call police.*
Obviously this is going to go much better if its an 'evans halshaw' type business, rather than one owned by the likes of Phil and Grant Mitchell.
*I acknowledge that you will still end up with a broken car, but better than nothing
You can get the chassis changed for about £3500. Could always take a part refund and the car back and fit a nice galvanised chassis.
I know it's not ideal but just thinking of ways you can get sorted quickly in case it all goes bad and you lose it all.
Cheers for the support all.
Had a text back saying he is having some problems with his bank and will pay us next week. Going to threaten theft by fraud / police and a personal visit with burly mates and some Marzocchis
Jeez, what a total total bummer
+1 for going there & getting either money transferred or goods to the value of, if they go belly up whilst any legal things are go on you would probably loose the lot 🙁
Makes one think & as they say be careful out there
edit - paying next week is okay, but go & get a car of same value from them tomorrow morning when they open up in the meantime as surity
yup only thing I did wrong was not use a credit card to pay
It's still your vehicle. Get the cost of the chassis change in cash from the dealer and take it away. From the dealer's point of view his rid of you and a bent, unsaleable vehicle. From your point of view, you've got what ypu thought you'd bought.
[url= http://www.tonks4x4.com/customisation-from-tonks4x4/chassis.html ]Chassis change[/url]
A Defender with a shiny silver chassis is a thing to be coveted 🙂
Hope you get it sorted fast though.
OMITN has it I think
It's entirely possible that the dealer is in financial difficulties, so act fast.
I wouldn't wait OP - back and shout loudly before leaving only with the cash or a refund to the tune of a chassis and "distress"
Tricky situation...
I had similar with a well known northern Lotus dealership about 15 years ago, where they wouldnt return a (refundable) £3k deposit, they kept promising it, but nothing was forthcoming. In the end I went to the dealership and wouldnt leave until they electronically transferred the cash to my account and I had verified it with my bank. They went bust shortly after this.
Just get down there and cause a scene until they pay up (electronically - no cheques allowed)
If they go bust before they transfer the cash to you, you'll never see the money.
PS - If this is a defender 'specialist' , please name them so I know who to avoid.
Well what a tale!
I'd be there asking for a vehicle as security so you [i]do[/i] get your refund next week.
Plus, hate to say it, he doesn't sound too trustworthy so perhaps you go there tonight?
Ill name them if they don't play ball don't want to antagonise the situation or am I being to nice ??
Keep to facts and name them, there's nothing wrong with warning people about shoddyness just keep to facts.
Murray may have a good point.
Could be time to salvage what you can from the situation.
(albeit your mrs needs transport asap).
Had a look on ebay he's has quite a few for sale in the classifieds at the moment, so possibly that's not a good sign, off loading stock to free up my cash???
Had a look on ebay he's has quite a few for sale in the classifieds at the moment, so possibly that's not a good sign, off loading stock to free up my cash???
It does sound like they've got cash flow problems. I'm sure they probably intend to pay you, but it's not good. I'd put on as much pressure as possible. In fact, if it were me, I'd be looking into whether I could claim anything back for money lost arranging alternative transport too.
Don't wait till next week, he could be registered bankrupt or in administration by then , go get your car or another TOMORROW or the cash if he has it,sounds like he's stalling to me
Go with him to the bank tomorrow.
As said above get down there, if he winds it up you've had it. Legalised theft is what I call it.
[i]I wouldn't wait OP - back and shout loudly before leaving only with the cash or a refund to the tune of a chassis and "distress"[/i]
[i]Don't wait till next week, he could be registered bankrupt or in administration by then , go get your car or another TOMORROW or the cash if he has it,sounds like he's stalling to me[/i]
YEP! and Double YEP!
don't delay!
opens his online banking and makes the payment there and then).
It works.
Not if he has no money. Which he hasn't.
All those saying "pay by credit card", have you ever actually done that?
I know when I bought my car the dealer only took debit, cash or cheque. Presumably because CC charge a fortune for transactions, potential for charge back, etc.
All those saying "pay by credit card", have you ever actually done that?I know when I bought my car the dealer only took debit, cash or cheque. Presumably because CC charge a fortune for transactions, potential for charge back, etc.
I've paid by credit card for quite a lot of cars, the peace of mind in doing that is a lot better than handing over a big bag of cash.
Presumably because CC charge a fortune for transactions
Usually 3%, which is frequently passed directly to the buyer.
But is offset by cashback etc. and the protection to offers. A bit like Paypal, but with protection.
This is a worrying situation and I feel for you. Definitely go and get the Defender back for starters. Been here before in a very similar situation. You could end up going to court to get the money back, and when the court rules in your favour and orders the dealer to pay you back - if they have no money you're still forked. And going there with burly mates style 'solutions' is a load of tosh. This ain't the Sopranos, you'll just end up leaving with no cash and all of your burly mates with their tails between there legs.
Hope it all works out in your favour.
Just get down there and cause a scene until they pay up (electronically - no cheques allowed)If they go bust before they transfer the cash to you, you'll never see the money.
+1. Sounds like he's stalling. I'd be down there demanding a full refund or landy plus cost of a chassis swap (assuming other than the chassis it's a good 'un).
Thing is, you know that if you do a chassis swap the chassis will be the cheapest bit?
Chassis
+ mountain of fixings
+ suspension bushings (no point putting old ones back)
+ may as well raise/lower/uprate it
+ no point doing that without new dampers as well
+ weeks of labour
etc
etc
Don't do a chassis swap unless he gives you a really good deal.
All those saying "pay by credit card", have you ever actually done that?I know when I bought my car the dealer only took debit, cash or cheque. Presumably because CC charge a fortune for transactions, potential for charge back, etc.
Most dealers will allow a deposit with a credit card with no fees. If you pay for example a £200 deposit via cc for a £10000 car, the section 75 protection applies to the full amount. I know this is after the horse has bolted for the OP, but it's worth knowing.
[url= http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases ]Section 75[/url]
^ that is what we did with last three cars. Deposit on cc, rest on finance - and tell loan people it is a car loan.
Hopefully the credit card charges will be reduced or eliminated soon. The fee the banks charge is now capped at 0.30% as of December 2015
I'd be straight on line and filling in the forms for a [url= https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome ]Money Claim [/url] through the courts
The garage will receive notice of intending action in a day or so.
It worked for me with 2 bad debts recently, one an (ex)mate the other was Hewlett Packard.
They paid the costs too so it cost me nowt
Straight forward process too.
If the cheque has bounced surely its still your car?
I dont think he wants a knackered car though
Don't think the seller wants knackered knees either....
Well I hope it gets sorted satisfactorily as it sounds horrendous. I bought a car recently and being careful didn't make the payment until I was there. (it was a lot of money)
Anyway that evening I checked my balance and I'd paid him twice! What a nightmare, that took a week to resolve and was eventually paid compensation by the bank.....but at the time it was very stressful. Therefore the OP has my sympathy.
any update? and did you sleep at all last night? (I wouldnt have been able)
News?
Nobody really has "problems with the bank". What they have is problems with the amount of money in their account at the bank.
Next week is unlikely to see them with "fewer problems with the bank".
WRT the "get a different car from him" idea as a form of backup plan, you'd need to be absolutely sure it's a car the dealer actually owns. If he does sale-or-return and it's a customer's car you'll still be left with zilch if the company folds and the owner of the car, quite rightly, asks for it back.
Sorry to heart this. In what way was the chase bent and how did you establish that is was?
A few options if he doesn't refund. Replacement vehicle or the faulty one back are possibilities, this is in the face of nothing at all. Small claims will take time, and if he or his company are bankrupt by then it may be a waste of time and money.
I wouldn't be worried by the fact he has other stuff for sale, he is a dealer after all, and at least it means he will have money coming in.
Any update?
Worrappened?
Yup OP, sorry but we're all hanging on your sad situation here.. 😕
How do you keep a fool in suspense? Tell em you''ll pay em next week.
How do you keep fools in suspense? Tell a tale of being ripped off, ask for advice, don't tell said fools the outcome.
Nobody really has "problems with the bank". What they have is problems with the amount of money in their account at the bank.
Next week is unlikely to see them with "fewer problems with the bank".
Not really the case with business banking, I've had plenty of problems over the years caused by the bank rather than my own doing.
Removal of overdraft facility for no reason, on the Thursday before Easter weekend, four days with no cash available.
That one was a "clerical error" and I got £450 compensation and a massive bunch of flowers for mrsG as a "goodwill gesture" because it screwed up our BH plans.
Another time £4500 in cheques were paid in and appeared as cleared a few days later, then the following day the funds disappeared and they couldn't find any record of the cheques for the next four days, then the money appeared back in my account along with a £200 extra "goodwill gesture"
Quite a few other less significant ones too. For some reason it seems to never happen with any of my personal bank accounts, but has many times with my two business accounts.
Barclays managed to payout on a cheque for £1k from my dad's personal account twice - luckily for them it was to my sister... another time my bank mismanaged a transfer which meant a £10k payment to my builder was bounced - again luckily builder was a mate - so bank fu's do happen
Ok not a lot has happened since my last post but here it is.Letter sent recorded with advice from solicitors so he knows what are intentions are if he doesn't pay us asap. Secondly he stopped the check to prevent us from presenting it again. Finally got a response via text after hassling him via facebook, twitter & instagram saying he will pay us back when he sells another Defender.
Morally I should name and shame to warn others away but if I do I wont get the money back due to nobody wanting to buy from him.
I really need that money back.
Coolhandluke thanks for that link think ill use that if he hasn't coughed up by the weekend.
he will pay us back when he sells another Defender.
😐
That's shit, mate. It's easy to say that's not good enough*, but if it's your best chance of getting your money back, then here's to hoping he sells one. I just feel for the poor bastards who will be buying from them in order for you to get your money back.
*It's not.
You know he has no intention of giving you the money back,regardless of whether he sells another car. Its just a line to keep yoy away from his premises scaring cystomers away.
Get down there and be a nuisance until he pays
saying he will pay us back when he sells another Defender
If he's got/is getting another Defender to sell, why don't you have it?
[guy sounds like an utter ****t - surely his actions are illegal?]
He will not pay you. Back unless he is absolutely forced to. I would start legal action now,
Legal action starting on Sat as the consumer act of 2015 states that he has 14 days to pay us back. We reach that point on Saturday. What bugs me is that he has an industrial unit full of Defenders and hasn't offered lend one until this is sorted. On the flip side Loyyds Land Rover Carlisle who we put down a deposit on another have been very good and have said don't worry just keep us informed and we will just keep it until your ready. They are not all bars tools out in motor trade land.
I fear you are on a hiding to nothing and need to confront them and recover either your money or a vehicle to the value of.
He's just fobbing you off. How many other people does he owe money to, if he can't give you the money that you have him only a short while ago?
Remember the squeaky wheel gets oiled, how vocal are his other creditors? Being patient could well see you slide so far down the lost you get bigger all. A CCJ won't force him to pay you back and bailiffs cost money...
As matbee says, debt recovery costs money.
Be your own bailiff and get down there and recover the debt yourself.
Either cash or a vehicle to the same value. Cause a scene, do what you need to.
If he folds before you recover anything, you are screwed, get in there first before it happens.
@wool Please name and shame, you could prevent me from going to the wrong place to purchase a defender.
OP - bear in mind that you wont be the first person to have had this treatment from this person, he will be very experienced in the ways of ripping people off, he will know what works and what doesnt. he will know full well what the legal process is, how it works and what you can and cannot do. he will play the system to his advantage. Lets say you win a legal case, that doesnt mean he will pay you. he gets x days (cant remember how many) to pay you, then he gets a CCJ against his record. The CCJ will stop him borrowing money amongst other things that may be an inconvenience to him, but chances are he already has several CCJ's and they are not hurting him.
Your next step is to send bailiffs round (this costs you ) to recover the cash or goods to the value. He will have no goods to the value, he will ensure any stock is the property of a different legal entity. the bailiffs will return with nothing.
Your next step after this is to put a charge on any property he owns, and ultimately force him to sell it to pay you, chances are he doesnt have any property.
After that/inparallel you can force bankruptcy on him, again this is unlikely to bother him.
At this point you have won the moral battle, but you are still down £10k + legal fee's.
You are an amateur compared to him. IN parallel with the legal route, get down there and start actually making life difficult.
I speak from experience of taking a 'retailer' to court and winning, and going through all the above.
Also - please name him so others considering a defender dont get similarly stung, or at least try and use this threat of public naming shaming to get some money back.
Your next step is to send bailiffs round (this costs you ) to recover the cash or goods to the value. He will have no goods to the value, he will ensure any stock is the property of a different legal entity. the bailiffs will return with nothing.
Just assuming that might be the case and it goes that far, surely your CCJ would be against whoever or whatever company sold you the defender, and unless he registers each one to a different company, you'd then have your pic of the stock, even if they're not his.
TBH that sound like a helluva complicated way to run a business.
TBH that sound like a helluva complicated way to run a business.
Not if you're in the business of ripping people off. Like I say I speak from experience. I got the bailiffs in , they went round to the premises and couldnt take anything because it didnt belong to the person/entity I had my beef with.
In my case it took 1 year to go from the problem occuring to me winning the legal battle, then a further 6 months to actually recover my money. In my case I managed to work out what property was owned by the business, and started proceeding to put a charge on it, that made them pay, but in general its too easy for them to not pay.
If your wanting to know who it is and buying mail me and I will save you the pain that I am going through. The Defnder I returned is not up for sale on any site. I just don't want to name and shame publicly yet as its this weekend the 14 day is up. Just had a mate phone him up and see what he had for sale and get a feel for whats happening. He has one going out this week so I am praying it's going to work out. I am paying a visit on Friday solo unfortunately but a vist is needed.
Julians ^^^^ is right. Some people are experts at beeing bad.
I have just come back to this having had to use a debt collection agency who really stuck at it over a year and sorted it out.
Hilton Baird. Well recommended.
http://www.hiltonbaird.co.uk/CS/Debt-Collection-Services/
On the case, everytime I called, were up to date with case notes, know teh law inside out, organised bailifs, the whole deal.
I hope you get it sorted.
Hilton Baird contacted cheers for that
He has one going out this week so I am praying it's going to work out.
The trouble is, just because he hasn't paid you back, doesn't necessarily mean he hasn't the money to pay you back. It just means he's prioritising what he considers to be more important bills than you.
I agree with the others. You need to put on as much pressure as possible.
Friday's visit should result in you leaving with either your money, a vehicle to or exceeding the amount, or his bollocks. Do not let him mug you off. Seriously. Listen to everyone on here, whatever crap they may talk a lot of the time they are talking sense on this one!
Is he in the Northwest? Around Rossendale area?