Arnold Shark! Urgent advice needed..

[Wenie28]

Hi all Im new to the forums,

 

I have got myself into a situation and I dont know how to get out of it.

Went to arnold Clark with cash in my pocket. sat down with a sales rep and said that Id looked at a few cars on the website. He found a similar one to what I had been looking at and immediately without asking phoned the other branch it was at and got them to send it to the branch. I felt he was a little pushy with this and said that if i would need to pay a deposit of £100 to inspect the car as they needed to guarantee I would come back and have a look at it (because of bringing it from another branch). He knew this wasn't my first choice of car but assured me I was getting a 'better' deal.

 

When I asked if there was any catch to paying the deposit - ie if I decided i didnt want the car...

The salesman said they would not keep my money and i could have it back I decided tha car wasnt right for us (my husband was with me at the time). I know you'll think this is really dumb and I realise that now but he told me to sign the 'receipt' so that if needed to get my deposit back and he wasn't there, I could just show this to AC and everything would be fine- i know, far too trusting and stupid of me. This was to be only my 2nd car and I'd never been to one of these dealerships before.

 

We had to wait a week to testdrive the car- I tried to inspect under the bonnet before test driving but couldn't properly as the engine was still warm. There were a few scartches on the back and the boot held a bald spare. when starting the car the salesman said that there maybe a lot of dust gathered on the brakes as it had been sitting for quite a while at the other branch - when discussing with him a week earlier, he said the car had just been traded in THAT day!? And I did feel it was taking too long for the car to slow down- more than a bit of dust!

I had a route planned out in my head but he said he would direct me where to go on the drive- it was, apart from one tight bend, a flat 5 minute route. the petrol light was on so hardly any fuel.

 

My husband then queried the price on the car and said he wasn't happy with the amount - again, the week before we hadn't agreed a price as the salesman said if we were happy with the car after test driving then we could discuss what they can do on price. My husband made two reasonable offers based on what we saw etc etc but they were refused and were told that they don't give discounts on a vauxhall?? My friend had been a week before and got 20% off the vehicle because they paid cash?? They are refusing to give our deposit back, not only that the salesman was shouting at us and trying to start a full blown argument! I really dont know what to do now- please help!

Edited January 24, 2011 by Wenie28

[scaniaman]

If you go far enough back the pages on this forum you will see that this happened to someone from the Preston area. In this case a Lexus had to be brought from Glasgow. Eventually the guy took them to court (against Sharks lawyers advice), and won his case. These salesmen? don't want you to go straight to another branch as they would lose their commission. It is strongly rumoured that they get a basic salary of £600 pcm. + a high commission rate.

Since your husband was with you and witnessed all that was said initially, i would be inclined to ask the police for advice, and failing any action from them, try Trading Standards.

Last year the OFT issued new regulations for motor traders, so it may be worth while getting your MP to push something from this angle.

They used to have a customer service manager contribute on this site, but he has not been on for a few months. His name is Alisdair Craig and is located at Clarks Glasgow HQ. Don't hold your breath though.

It's a pity you paid by cash as you could have asked your card company to do chargeback for you.

Best of luck.

[Conniff]

Don't bother with the 'nobody' calling himself Alister the wonder boy.

 

You write a letter addressed personally to the sales manager and tell him what you have said in your post. You ask them to return the deposit as assured by their salesman.

Tell them they have 14 days in which to respond with a cheque.

 

After that 14 days, if you have had no response or a negative response, then you send then an almost identicle letter headed Letter Before Action giving them another 14 days and finishing with 'no further correspondence will be sent and a claim will be made in the county court'.

 

Send all letters by at least recorded delivery.

 

Don't bother unless you are willing to do this. It will cost about £30 claimed back from AC and can be done on line - https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

[scaniaman]

Conniff, That's far better advice than i gave, but if it doesn't bring the required results, then a word to TS may eventually help others. Apparently, TS share a list of complaints, and if there are enough on the one trader they may act against the offending party.

[Wenie28]

Hi everyone and thankyou very much for your replies! My hubby phoned them the following day and advised he'd be collecting the cash deposit later that day - to which the salesman replied 'you'll need to wait and see if we have it..' so anyway my hubby went in and basically said that we were not happy with his aggressive behavior and low and behold - ..''heres your money back'' !! okay they still try to get one up by giving it as a cheque but at the end of the day Ive now gone to a local dealer who's given me the same model of car, less mileage, same condition for a grand cheaper and its had its MOT the day before and had brake pads and discs replaced. Tomorrow i think i'll drive up to AC, toot my horn and shout HAHA! well it would be satisfying but i too busy for that! lol

As a retail sales person myself one of the first things you learn is that 'the most important thing about customers is word of mouth..'

[scaniaman]

Excellent result, and without any assistance from AC customer services. A. Shark does not recognise what you say about customers and word of mouth---they have a never ending supply of feckless punters who don't mind being shafted, hence their business grows.

Only when large numbers of car buyers do what you have just done, will Clark's sit up and take notice----if their arrogance allows.

VOTE WITH YOUR FEET.

 

[Conniff]

What he ↑ said, plus "'the most important thing about customers is word of mouth..'" Only to some companies and Arnold Clark isn't one of those companies.

 

Well done.