Broker orders cancelled by Skoda UK

[firebits]

1.4 TSI SE-L DSG Saloon, Graphite Grey, DCC, nozzles, interior LED, Phonebox thingy, Smartgate, Paddles, some other things

[Decto]

1.4 TSI SE-L DSG Saloon, Graphite Grey, DCC, nozzles, interior LED, Phonebox thingy, Smartgate, Paddles, some other things

Not a fully loaded car then, seems quite a hike.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

[firebits]

a tad excessive I thought

[thewinelake]

Have any of the U.K. Motoring press/TV picked up this story?

[UncleWang]

Have any of the U.K. Motoring press/TV picked up this story?

Well I'm still waiting to hear back from Jackie magazine, Antiques Roadshow, Jeremy Kyle and the chase !!!!

[firebits]

Would this be a Trading Standards issue?

[Decto]

Would this be a Trading Standards issue?

 

I don't think we would get far with trading standards, the supplier was unable to honour the contract and the modest deposit (as a fraction of the sale) was refunded without quibble.

Unlikely NCD would be held to a deal which allows us to purchase at an exaggerated discount when they are an intermediate in the process.

 

As I was looking at the KIA 1.6T Sportage and the 1.6T Xtrail, I called into the Skoda dealer on the same site to see if there were any 1.4TSI's available as cancelled orders.

After looking at the single 2.0TDI demo for a few minutes and being informed it was a SEL business (with Xenons +Columbus  ), the helpful chap said the Superb was a £29k car and offered to get me an Octavia brochure

 

Still I persevered and asked him to check if any 1.4TSI's would be available earlier than the expected 4 month delivery for a factory order (2-3 week factory shutdown in July). Apparently no, all 1.4TSI are allocated.

 

So, if our cars are built (mine was a 1.4 also) then they are allocated somewhere.

 

Just for fun.... the KIA sales exec was called Mohammed Ali which seems topical.

Edited 19 June, 2016 by Decto

[firebits]

There appears to be stock at Audi Dealers of the new A4 1.4 TSI SE (manual only)

[SurreyJohn]

There appears to be stock at Audi Dealers of the new A4 1.4 TSI SE (manual only)

And Motorpoint has loads of 1.4 TSI DSG Leons (delivery mileage, imports) as a smaller alternative

[Montegue]

Decto said "I don't think we would get far with trading standards, the supplier was unable to honour the contract".

Just a thought but I did not think that has been established as fact yet, only NCD have said so, I have not seen anything from Skoda to explain. Deposits were refunded quickly but there is a contract which has to be good regardless of the discount which in any event was and is available elsewhere. The NCD get out clause looks weak, could perhaps be challenged as "unfair".

[firebits]

Below is the statement from Skoda in full:

We understand you may recently have received a communication suggesting that ŠKODA UK has cancelled certain customer orders

because of discounting. We wish to clarify the position and reassure you that ŠKODA UK has not cancelled any customer orders

(either for this reason or at all).

We are, however, currently investigating the legal status of certain third parties which have been involved with ordering ŠKODA

vehicles. The purpose of the investigation is to ensure ŠKODA UK complies with its legal obligations. Whilst this may have

affected trade with such companies, we hope to find a way to be able to process all properly placed orders as soon as our

investigations conclude.

You are free to use an intermediary to negotiate/conclude a purchase on your behalf and/or arrange finance (in either case

purchasing through one of our network of approved ŠKODA retailers) and our investigation is not aimed at preventing any such

lawful activity

We have not been informed of any customer details and therefore we have been unable to be pro-active in contacting any customers

If you have placed an order you think may have been affected by this issue, and wish to obtain further information, you may

contact us on 033 300 37504.

[Montegue]

Thanks Skoda, clear as mud and unhelpfully implies that there has been illegal activity without saying what they mean - perhaps because there case is weak?.

[firebits]

Given the fact we have no cars I would say that the orders are in fact cancelled. Furthermore they say that we are free to negotiate the sale of the cars through the dealer network, which is a new deal.

Not cancelled orders means the car supplied at agreed terms. Calling a dealer tomorrow to negotiate a new deal is exactly that, a NEW deal!

[UncleWang]

Below is the statement from Skoda in full:

We understand you may recently have received a communication suggesting that ŠKODA UK has cancelled certain customer orders

because of discounting. We wish to clarify the position and reassure you that ŠKODA UK has not cancelled any customer orders

(either for this reason or at all).

We are, however, currently investigating the legal status of certain third parties which have been involved with ordering ŠKODA

vehicles. The purpose of the investigation is to ensure ŠKODA UK complies with its legal obligations. Whilst this may have

affected trade with such companies, we hope to find a way to be able to process all properly placed orders as soon as our

investigations conclude.

You are free to use an intermediary to negotiate/conclude a purchase on your behalf and/or arrange finance (in either case

purchasing through one of our network of approved ŠKODA retailers) and our investigation is not aimed at preventing any such

lawful activity

We have not been informed of any customer details and therefore we have been unable to be pro-active in contacting any customers

If you have placed an order you think may have been affected by this issue, and wish to obtain further information, you may

contact us on 033 300 37504.

Still very fishy whoever is at fault.....so glad I went elsewhere!

[Oldgits]

We have not been informed of any customer details and therefore we have been unable to be pro-active in contacting any customers

If you have placed an order you think may have been affected by this issue, and wish to obtain further information, you may

contact us on 033 300 37504.

Unless I'm misunderstanding this claim, it is completely untrue. On the request of Kate I sent a copy of my NCD order nearly two weeks ago.

[paddy wagon]

Unless I'm misunderstanding this claim, it is completely untrue. On the request of Kate I sent a copy of my NCD order nearly two weeks ago.

Yes I think you have misunderstood it.

That to me reads that NCD have not provided Skoda with a list of customers that Skoda can then in turn speak to.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

[Decto]

I assume NCD and their 'dealer' aren't that likely to share incriminating information given it seems lawyers are involved.

 

The confirmed orders that Kate has received copies of are likely to have ruffled a few feathers as these allow specifically timed fleet sales to be tied to a clear retail order, something I assume will be uncomfortable and expensive for the dealer if they were complicit.

 

As the car I ordered doesn't seem to be available from another dealer, it's interesting we can 'still source the cars', I wonder if the sourcing includes a 14 week lead time.

[maffyou]

Yes I think you have misunderstood it.

That to me reads that NCD have not provided Skoda with a list of customers that Skoda can then in turn speak to.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

Agreed.

So Skoda haven't cancelled any orders, so where are they then? They must have a record of the vehicles and where they were sent to? Which definitely suggests that someone - the dealer presumably - are deliberately withholding information. If we take Skoda at face value of course.

What a mess.

[Tony R]

Oh, the cars are not embargoed. Even today Skoda UK said that I was still free to purchase the car, I can even negotiate with a local dealer if I want. They even said if I did a fresh order for a new car they could simply just allocate the one already built if I wished. But of course, any new order does not have the same level of discount.

So what this all boils down to is price, so why does Skoda not come clean and say so. As far as I am aware, no unrequited purchaser has been told the reason for the non delivery of their order. All speculation so far, and as for the calls from Skoda that they are not sitting on the ordered cars etc, it is about time they damn well found out where any particular car is and why it is there and not with the purchaser. If they don't want to deal with or N C D, so be it but no reason why they cannot send the car to an appropriate dealer and honour the contract that they, Skoda agreed to produce. If they have an argument with N C D, so be it but that is where the matter should stay and not prejudice innocent persons.

[Oldgits]

Just had a car wow update, new cars £30,800 do the specs look familiar to anyone

[firebits]

Anyone had an update from Skoda today?

[SurreyJohn]

So what this all boils down to is price, so why does Skoda not come clean and say so. As far as I am aware, no unrequited purchaser has been told the reason for the non delivery of their order. All speculation so far, and as for the calls from Skoda that they are not sitting on the ordered cars etc, it is about time they damn well found out where any particular car is and why it is there and not with the purchaser. If they don't want to deal with or N C D, so be it but no reason why they cannot send the car to an appropriate dealer and honour the contract that they, Skoda agreed to produce. If they have an argument with N C D, so be it but that is where the matter should stay and not prejudice innocent persons.

I think there is a misunderstanding here.

I don't think anyone tried to buy a car directly from Skoda UK, therefore how do they become a Skoda UK customer

If Skoda UK shipped a car and sold it to a dealer, and they confirm they haven't got them, why does it become their responsibility, if they volunteer to help, still doesn't make them liable.

If the broker issued a conditional contract (and it has been stated many posts above that there was a clause that if not supplied to them, they just need to refund the money) it might be annoying, but doesn't create a legal claim for non performance.

The problem as far as I can work out is that various individuals aimed to save some money and took a high risk strategy that a supply route they weren't in control of, would deliver. If it didn't they would need a plan B.

Reading some of the emotional comments, it appears that some were unlucky.

In my view if a dealer offered NCD these cars at price X then withdrew, that is morally wrong, (but presumably allowed under their arrangement). If that dealer now chooses to buy them (from Skoda UK), but not sell them for a while, that is a commercial decision. No-one would care less if they were unallocated production, but irritating if part of that batch is what you had hoped for. I suspect the legal position is difficult as dealer is probably allowed to keep some cars for use themselves and this appears to be what they have done.

[firebits]

It is Skoda UK's insistence that we are their customers.  Regardless of how the supply model works, I ordered a Skoda which Skoda then built and delivered.  So the order has been accepted, built and shipped.  I as customer have no idea of how the fulfilment model of a car business works and nor should I care.  If the dealer happens to be ordering through their fleet department instead of their retail department and if this is against their license/agreement/whatever with Skoda then this should be an issue between the Dealer and Skoda only.  It's pretty poor that Skoda have brought the customer into this disagreement too.  The price must have been acceptable when Skoda built the car because they built the sodding car.

 

Sorry if I'm a bit emotional.  It has been 4 months now since I ordered.

[Sagalout]

I think SurreyJohn has it absolutely right in a legal/technical sense.

 

Skoda UK have taken a customer focused interest as it is their name that is being held at fault by all of you who have been affected by this. You believe that they have a duty of care towards you and whether that is legally correct or not you will stick to that sense come what may.

 

Skoda UK will understand that perception and will be working hard to manage that whilst sorting out whatever it is that has gone awry. I am sorry but I cannot see any form, implied or otherwise, of contract between you as individuals and Skoda.

 

It looks to me increasingly that Skoda are not the villains in this debacle but you will all have to be patient or vote with your feet if you cannot. At least they haven't yet said "tough but----"

[Decto]

As one of the affected, I have a plan B and the test drives are booked for next week. Note I ordered the Skoda without a test drive as the engine I ordered was not available. Alternate cars are available to my simple specification within a few weeks.

However if Skoda have built my order and the it's available on satisfactory terms then it's in both parties interest to do a deal.

I have no expectation that I have a contract with Skoda

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk