Hello all,

Just after a second, third, etc opinion on the issue my better half has with Audi.

She is currently in the process of "maybe" buying an audi A3 Sportback 1.9TDie. The dealership was fairly keen to do a deal and after a visit to the dealership and a phone call a deal was struck and a deposit taken over the phone.

Now the propblem is this was two weeks ago and they still have not given in writing confirmation of the price/deal. She (and myself) have requested this 3 times now and have been promised it would be sent out that very day. Then we was told it would be sent out this Monday first thing by first class. Now the post here is very very good so it should have been here by now.

Just had a phone call to say they will e-mail it to me first thing tomorrow morning.

Now my issue is this does not fill me (or us) with great confidence in the customer service we will get from now on really. I've said that I was not happy at the service and the sales manager said he will make sure it all gets done, yet so far nothing has been done.

We are gettin to the view that maybe we should canx and ask for the deposit back. Are we being petty? Where do we stand?

Any help would be great

ta

PC

You have 14 days from receipt of goods to hand them straight back and get your money back, and since you've not even got the car, then yes you can get it back straight away

(Distance Selling Regulations, by the way)

screw em, there's plenty of other places to spend your money. i'm getting cheesed off with places not getting back with prices at the moment...:thumbdwn:

Very shoddy, bought swmbo's car over the phone (new) and within the hour of them taking a cc deposit they had emailed a sales order/invoice with full details etc. for me to sign and return

Money Back

yep, they should be bending over backwards to sell cars with the current climate, take your business elsewhere

Find out who's the Dealer principal and talk/write to them.

One of three is likely....

1) Either it's not really stock and an employee's trying to sell their car privately off the forecourt.

2) One of the employees likes it and wants it for themselves.

3) Basic incompetence.

J.

I'd get the deposit back and go somewhere else if I was you – there's plenty of other Audi S3s available out of there…

I can't believe they're being so lazy when their industry's up the creek. If I was spending ££££s on a car I'd expect top class service, not an earful of weasel words and excuses

I would have replied before but I've been away this weekend.

Well I'm glad its not just me and the other half being petty! We have requested a refund twice by e-mail so far and so far no reply but the salesman saying he cannot believe that the paperwork has no reached us. This is the same sales man that promised he would be e-mailing my other half first thing the very next morning to confirm the deal and price.

Have to say the other half likes the car but this has some what put her off buying an Audi.

Is it worth writing to Audi UK to complain?

Have to say in all the years I have bought cars I've never had this much trouble! :rotz:

Thanks

PC

You have 14 days from receipt of goods to hand them straight back and get your money back, and since you've not even got the car, then yes you can get it back straight away

(Distance Selling Regulations, by the way)

Not quite distance selling. This only applies if the dealer contacted you first and you've never set foot in the place.

However, if you've never signed an order form and have never had anything in writing, I'd be asking for my deposit back, or getting your credit card company to get it for you.

Not quite distance selling. This only applies if the dealer contacted you first and you've never set foot in the place.

However, if you've never signed an order form and have never had anything in writing, I'd be asking for my deposit back, or getting your credit card company to get it for you.

Not quite, I've never had any website contact me first and I've exercised my rights under the regulations a few times.

Not quite, I've never had any website contact me first and I've exercised my rights under the regulations a few times.

I'm with you on this one and have also used my rights.

If you buy online or over the phone you have rights to change your mind within 14 days and notify the seller in writing. If the good have been delivered then you can send them back at the sellers expense and they must refund you such that you are put in the position you would have been had the contract never been entered into. Eg they can't charge an admin fee, postage or similar.

Eg they can't charge an admin fee, postage or similar.

You do see places trying it on though with a "restocking charge"

But the op went into the dealership. What's buying over the Internet got to do with it?

ok I can see there is some confusion. Yes we originally went into the dealership to which the salesman gave us a fairly good discounted price, but with the usual hard sell he wanted a deposit taken there and then which we did not want to do. So we went back home and looked on Audi's website as I knew they were running a "promotion on fiance".

So with that in mind we phoned back and said we would be willing to do a deal on the offered discounted price of the car and on the audi fianance offer which also included an extra £1000 off the car.

They phoned back later saying the deal was available and to put it through they would need a deposit. So over the phone the deal was agreed subject to it in writing and test drive.

We have requested this 4 times now and everytime we have been told it will either be e-mailed or posted out that day. Yes I could have gone into the dealership and pick it up but with working down south and the dealership being up north its a bit of a trek for something that should have been posted.

Last week I phoned up explain that so far I was not happy with the way things have been done and I was assured by the Finance manage that he will post all the information out straight away and that he understands that I'm not happy and I could canx the deal with a refund if this was not done, only thing he did say is you would not get this good of a deal again.

So a week later and a few e-mails and a phone call still no paper work, so a refund was requested.

We have tried to speak to the finance manage and funny enough he is away at the moment, so as me and my girlfriend/other half/swsbo are working all this week, she asked her old man to pop in today and get the confirmation of the refund.

Needless to say they will not refund!!

So at the moment I'm not sure where we stand. :confused:

There is also a few other things the part exchange does have some out standing finance which they said was £xxxx infact its only £xxxx so there is a 300 difference there, the finance should be at 4.9% but from the telephone conversation with the finance manager its at 5.9% though he would not confirm this.

All in all if this is what Audi dealerships are like I'm really not looking forward to having to deal with them should there ever be a problem with the car.

But the op went into the dealership. What's buying over the Internet got to do with it?

Internet, phone and mail - All covered by Distance Selling Regulations

To the OP - speak to a solicitor

But because there has been face to face contact then, this case is not distance selling. Either way, no finance agreement has been signed and equally no formal order has been signed. The deposit may be seen as a commitment to purchase the vehicle, but until the finance is proposed and accepted by the finance company, I would say that the initial order hasn't been completed yet.

Our order forms state on the reverse what cancellation terms and conditions are and under what circumstances deposits will be kept, if you haven't signed any finance agreement or physical order form. I would, try to speak to the Dealer Principal and explain that you want your deposit back and see what he has to say about it.

If the deal was agreed and the money paid on the phone, then it's going to be a distance sale IMHO.

Exactly, if I popped along to Scan to have a look at something then subsequent bought it from their website it would be exactly the same thing!

I do agree though that speaking to the dealer first is the correct way to do things, although getting a letter in in writing inside of the 14 days would be a sensible thing to do just in case they don't want to play nicely.

Trust me, if there has been any face to face contact during the transaction, it is not distance selling!

see point 4

When do the Regulations apply?

1.The Regulations apply to distance contracts. These are contracts:

2.for the sale of goods or the provision of services;

concluded between a supplier and a consumer (note that business to business distance selling is not caught by the Regulations);

3.under an organised distance sales or service provision scheme run by the supplier (which will cover, for example, sales made through a call centre or from a website; but one-off contracts concluded by email are not intended to be caught by the Regulations);

4.where the supplier communicates with the consumer without ever coming face to face with the consumer in concluding the contract (i.e. by 'distance communication').

taken from this website

The UK's Distance Selling Regulations | OUT-LAW.COM

Did you pay the deposit with a credit card?

You'll have extra leverage through them if you did.

Otherwise start to mention Trading Standards in your conversations with the dealer and the Distance selling act. That'll normally grease the wheels.

If not, follow it through, give trading standards a bell, they are normally very helpful.

Personally if it was me, I'd want out of the deal asap no matter if they came through with the paperwork. It's a lot of money and that would taint the process of getting a new motor.

Plenty other people would do better for your business.

Has the OP been back into the dealer after paying the deposit? If not, then it is governed by the Distance Selling Regulations

Why mess around with emails post phones, just go to the AUDI dealer and say "do we have a deal or not" sign the papers and drive the car home, job done. Realistically a main dealer is not going to risk his reputation and keep your deposit, is he?

4.where the supplier communicates with the consumer without ever coming face to face with the consumer in concluding the contract (i.e. by 'distance communication').

taken from this website

The UK's Distance Selling Regulations | OUT-LAW.COM

That is the important point that I've highlighted.

The guy made an enquiry in person, however the conclusion of the contract, eg acceptance of contract, contract negotiations and payment of deposit were over the phone.