Merc UK tell me they wont sell to irish customers!!!

arsebiscuit100

As per the thread title, a main merc dealer (not a franchise) are telling me they WONT sell me a car as I'm exporting it! What the hell is this absolute bull****!


Has anyone else come across this problem??



Any input would be very welcome - as I had booked a flight and was ready to go over and do a deal.

bazz26

Sounds like BS to me. Merc dealers here import cars and sell them on all the time. Have you tried another dealer within a reasonable distance? Maybe contact Mercedes UK also and ask them for clarification? I'm sure they will be interested to know if one of their dealers has incorrect information.

arsebiscuit100

bazz26 wrote: »

Sounds like BS to me. Merc dealers here import cars and sell them on all the time. Have you tried another dealer within a reasonable distance? Maybe contact Mercedes UK also and ask them for clarification? I'm sure they will be interested to know if one of their dealers has incorrect information.

Yes, they do - but are they buying off main mercedes uk dealerships - or from third party dealers OR auctions??

Moneymaker

Phone Mercedes UK and try clear it up.

I doubt there'd be an issue, unless Mercedes hate money or something.

noelf

arsebiscuit100 wrote: »

As per the thread title, a main merc dealer (not a franchise) are telling me they WONT sell me a car as I'm exporting it! What the hell is this absolute bull****!


Has anyone else come across this problem??



Any input would be very welcome - as I had booked a flight and was ready to go over and do a deal.

since your going over anyway and you still like the car just flash the cash oh are they breaking any EU rules in doing this

colm_mcm

Are mercs actually cheaper in the uk?

randy hickey

OP, if what you're saying is true, and I've no reason to doubt you, surely this leaves the dealership in breach of European legislation on say the free movement of goods and services within the EU, restrictive practices etc.?

mickdw

I've heard this before a few years back when it was an absolute no brainer. The time bmw introduced the 'sterling collection'.
Buy a genuine car from independent dealer. Problem solved.

colm_mcm

Oops, I thought it was a brand new car for some reason.

L-M

colm_mcm wrote: »

Oops, I thought it was a brand new car for some reason.

Me too, maybe because the fact that it's a second hand car makes it even more ridiculous.

h3000

colm_mcm wrote: »

Oops, I thought it was a brand new car for some reason.

+1

arsebiscuit100

Hi folks. Thanks for all the posts. I've an email in with Merc UK customer services - asking them to explain themselves! I can only imagine they are facilitating the manufacturers irish distributor...I mean...I simply can't see any other earthly reason for this policy....

arsebiscuit100

Hi folks. Thanks for all the posts. I've an email in with Merc UK customer services - asking them to explain themselves! I can only imagine they are facilitating the manufacturers irish distributor...I mean...I simply can't see any other earthly reason for this policy....


p.s. Yes, its a second hand purchase - not new car sale. Maybe there would be some sense in the policy if it were a new car purchase but its not.

noelf

What merc are you going for op and are the savings worth the hassle ..

hfallada

It could be just basic price discrimination ( proper economics term). It's when a seller says the same good in the same market for different prices. Usually because the seller knows some buyers will pay more. For this to work arbitrage must be in place. This is prevent the seller buying a cheaper car in one place and selling it higher in another.

The dealer could just be taking advantage of price discrimination. I know someone who tried to buy a projector from the brand in the UK as it was half the price of Ireland. My friend was told they Dont sell to Ireland and he must use an agent that charged double

arsebiscuit100

noelf wrote: »

What merc are you going for op and are the savings worth the hassle ..

It's turned out to be a fair point. However, there was no reason why this shouldn't be anything other than straightforward. There are savings - of a couple of grand. Flight cost 20 euro - and plan was to do a deal on the day and drive straight back.
Without these types of surprises, then it should be well worth the 'hassle' - and should be no more painful than driving to the opposite corner of the country over here to purchase a motor.

hfallada wrote:

It could be just basic price discrimination ( proper economics term). It's when a seller says the same good in the same market for different prices. Usually because the seller knows some buyers will pay more. For this to work arbitrage must be in place. This is prevent the seller buying a cheaper car in one place and selling it higher in another.

The dealer could just be taking advantage of price discrimination. I know someone who tried to buy a projector from the brand in the UK as it was half the price of Ireland. My friend was told they Dont sell to Ireland and he must use an agent that charged double..

So - at some stage, the main Merc dealer in ROI canvassed Merc UK to turn Irish customers away? How can this be acceptable or for that matter, legal?

Chris_Heilong

Its an open EU market, you can buy any car and do anything you like with it.

arsebiscuit100

Chris_Heilong wrote: »

Its an open EU market, you can buy any car and do anything you like with it.

Not as far as Merc UK are concerned, Chris!

P_1

arsebiscuit100 wrote: »

Not as far as Merc UK are concerned, Chris!

Have you pointed the EU free movement facts of life out to them? That'd be your first move I'd wager.

arsebiscuit100

P_1 wrote: »

Have you pointed the EU free movement facts of life out to them? That'd be your first move I'd wager.

I've emailed merc uk head office - asking them to explain the basis for this 'policy' and for them to confirm that it is in fact, their 'policy'.

BMJD

What is stopping you from rolling up at the dealers with a bag of cash, buying car and driving off, am I missing something here?

arsebiscuit100

BMJD wrote: »

What is stopping you from rolling up at the dealers with a bag of cash, buying car and driving off, am I missing something here?

What is stopping me is that they have already told me straight up - they won't deal with me as I'm based in ROI! I wouldn't mind but the two cars I was interested in are with 2 Mercedes dealerships (not franchised dealers) - and story is the same with both.

arsebiscuit100

Well, I got my answer from MB UK. Sorry you are dissatisfied....please contact M.B. IRL - with email and telephone number provided.


:-(


Blatant protectionism...and who would have lobbied for that? No prizes for coming up with the answer...

colm_mcm

Contact the press

BMJD

Trading Standards might be worth contacting as well

carsfan

Is it just dealers owned by mercedes uk that have this policy?
Can you buy from a franchised dealer and import?

mb1725

colm_mcm wrote: »

Contact the press

Joe Duffy, Pavee Point , Council for Civil Liberties, Amnesty, UN, .......... !

arsebiscuit100

colm_mcm wrote: »

Contact the press

I'm making them answer the questions I put to them. No intention of contacting MB IRL - why should I? What's it got to do with them? Nothing! Furthermore, my choice to 'export' the car is my own bloody business - that's neither the business of MB UK or MB IRL.

carsfan wrote:

Is it just dealers owned by mercedes uk that have this policy?
Can you buy from a franchised dealer and import?

Yes, just their actual dealerships in so far as I understand. I think if it was a franchised dealer, then they would deal.
Yes, trying other options. However, as you can imagine, there's complexity with buying overseas and bringing back - between financing options (the mechanics of getting them paid) - and time available. It was/is frustrating as they just happened to have 2 cars I had shortlisted - within half an hour of the airport I'm flying into. It's difficult enough to sort out without this pathetic protectionism of vested interests coming into the mix!

randy hickey

Taken from this website:

(The bold text is my emphasis)

"1. What can I do if I suspect that a business practice restricts competition?

In your daily life, you may come across situations in which there are signs of business practices which may restrict competition, such as those described in this site. For instance, companies have sometimes refused to accept orders from consumers from other Member States. Such a refusal may be a sign of illegal, restrictive practices and you may want to inform a competition authority about them.

Step 1: Decide which competition authority to inform

If the situation you have encountered is specific and limited to the country or the area in which you live, or involves no more than three Member States you may in the first place want to contact a national competition authority. The competition authorities of all EU Member States now apply the same competition rules as the European Commission and very often they are well placed to deal with your problem. If you think that a larger number of Member States are concerned, you may primarily choose to contact the European Commission.

Even if you are unsure about the scope of the problem, do not hesitate to contact either the European Commission or a national competition authority. The authorities cooperate and may allocate a case that could arise from your report between them as appropriate."


OP, I would definitely be taking this further.According to that particular website, your first port of call should be with the national consumer association in the UK.To complicate things, there has recently been a restructuring of this area in the UK in the last few weeks, but this should point you in the right direction:

"On 1 April 2013, local authority Trading Standards Services took on the lead role in enforcing consumer protection law, including at the national level. The OFT, and from 1 April 2014 the CMA, retains powers to enforce consumer law, with lead responsibility on unfair contract terms, using them to tackle widespread practices and market conditions that make it difficult for consumers to exercise choice or to seek out the best deal - for example, where consumers are prevented from switching suppliers by unfair contracts or where misleading pricing practices are widely used. On 1 April 2014 these powers transferred to the CMA."

(Taken from:http://www.oft.gov.uk/about-the-oft/work-and-responsibilities#.U2DoMq1dV5g )

Hth.

noelf

arsebiscuit100 wrote: »

Well, I got my answer from MB UK. Sorry you are dissatisfied....please contact M.B. IRL - with email and telephone number provided.


:-(


Blatant protectionism...and who would have lobbied for that? No prizes for coming up with the answer...

Well it will be interesting to hear what mb ireland come up with now I vaguely recall a car manufacturer being fined heavily for this several years ago by the EU

lomb

Easy solution, get a UK postal address and mobile sim. I have one that looks like a real address. Ring up another dealer, give the address and contact number and place the deposit, fly over and pre wire the cleared funds to their bank account (should be very safe). Keep your mouth shut about export.
I considered buying a 6mo old C220 as Merc UK cut the price 10k stg as a new models out but went no further. Drove an E220 cdi with the same engine and was dreadful tbh. Id rather an older 3.2 diesel or v8 petrol.

h3000

lomb wrote: »

Easy solution, get a UK postal address and mobile sim. I have one that looks like a real address. Ring up another dealer, give the address and contact number and place the deposit, fly over and pre wire the cleared funds to their bank account (should be very safe). Keep your mouth shut about export.
I considered buying a 6mo old C220 as Merc UK cut the price 10k stg as a new models out but went no further. Drove an E220 cdi with the same engine and was dreadful tbh. Id rather an older 3.2 diesel or v8 petrol.

Doesn't the OP need the V5 form for export though. The dealer won't hand that over unless they know the vehicle is going for export.

arsebiscuit100

lomb wrote:

Easy solution, get a UK postal address and mobile sim.

Besides the fact that h3000 has outlined the issue with trying that - why the hell should anyone have to lie to simply purchase something! It's just plain wrong on a number of levels.

noelf wrote: »

Well it will be interesting to hear what mb ireland come up with now I vaguely recall a car manufacturer being fined heavily for this several years ago by the EU

That's not going to happen. I got an email back saying exactly the same thing...we are "unable" to investigate your complaint, please contact MB Ireland.

They (MB - UK) WILL answer the question I put to them!

lomb

arsebiscuit100 wrote: »

Besides the fact that h3000 has outlined the issue with trying that - why the hell should anyone have to lie to simply purchase something! It's just plain wrong on a number of levels.


!

Because you want a car and you want it quickly. No one has the time to play games for a couple of thousand. Theres no lie. The DVLA will reg the car to your UK address. You get a little bit of the V5 and a receipt. Present that to the NCT for VRT and job done. If they refuse to reg it carry on driving it while you fill out a cert for export on the DVLA site. Ive done this before . No big deal.
Because your dealing with a main dealer it is very safe to wire cleared funds to them for the car. If you give a sterling draft drawn on an Irish account they might get suspicious as they usually ring the issuing bank to ensure its legit.

Guy:Incognito

I inderstand that its annoying and theres no reason they wont sell it, but where are people going with talk of restriction of movement of goods in the EU and breaking laws? The garage owns the car , they don't have to sell it to anyone they don't want to.

Oafley Jones

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

I inderstand that its annoying and theres no reason they wont sell it, but where are people going with talk of restriction of movement of goods in the EU and breaking laws? The garage owns the car , they don't have to sell it to anyone they don't want to.

I genuinely don't understand how you don't see the issue here.

Guy:Incognito

Oafley Jones wrote: »

I genuinely don't understand how you don't see the issue here.

The issue is that a garage own a car. They choose not to sell it to someone that doesn't live in the UK. They are not obliged to sell it to anyone they don't want to. Just like any other shop, they don't have to sell goods even if someone is standing in front of them waving money around.

Aside from that, why would you try force a company that has said it doesn't want your business, to do business with you?

donutheadhomer

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

The issue is that a garage own a car. They choose not to sell it to someone that doesn't live in the UK. They are not obliged to sell it to anyone they don't want to. Just like any other shop, they don't have to sell goods even if someone is standing in front of them waving money around.

Aside from that, why would you try force a company that has said it doesn't want your business, to do business with you?

I’m inclined to think like this also - OP has no contract with them and they are free to deal/treat with anyone they want - if you don’t like the terms of the contract then buy elsewhere.

RustyNut

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

I inderstand that its annoying and theres no reason they wont sell it, but where are people going with talk of restriction of movement of goods in the EU and breaking laws? The garage owns the car , they don't have to sell it to anyone they don't want to.

I think randy hickey answered this. There are laws in place to stop large corporations, MB UK in this case, using restrictive practices to manipulate pricing within the EU.

MagicFairyDust

Can't find the link but this was covered here before where Merc had released a press statement that Merc UK were no longer selling to Irish people for export. It's blatant protectionism of the Irish importer and frankly sickens me.

donutheadhomer

MagicFairyDust wrote: »

Can't find the link but this was covered here before where Merc had released a press statement that Merc UK were no longer selling to Irish people for export. It's blatant protectionism of the Irish importer and frankly sickens me.

Aren’t you lucky you don’t work in Mercedes Ireland then and worrying about losing your job because of people not buying your cars and buying in UK instead. Its not mercedes ireland’s fault the VRT is so high

h3000

donutheadhomer wrote: »

Aren’t you lucky you don’t work in Mercedes Ireland then and worrying about losing your job because of people not buying your cars and buying in UK instead. Its not mercedes ireland’s fault the VRT is so high

No it's not but a buyer should be entitled to an open market within the EU.

Guy:Incognito

h3000 wrote: »

No it's not but a buyer should be entitled to an open market within the EU.

There's a thread full of people on bargain alerts using parcel motel to buy stuff because companies won't send goods to adresses outside the UK.

RustyNut

donutheadhomer wrote: »

Aren’t you lucky you don’t work in Mercedes Ireland then and worrying about losing your job because of people not buying your cars and buying in UK instead. Its not mercedes ireland’s fault the VRT is so high

If I worked in Mercedes Ireland I would be delighted that people who otherwise might not own Mercedes will own them and bring extra buisness my way with ongoing warranty work, parts and servicing.

donutheadhomer

RustyNut wrote: »

If I worked in Mercedes Ireland I would be delighted that people who otherwise might not own Mercedes will own them and bring extra buisness my way with ongoing warranty work, parts and servicing.

it is not unusual for a business to not sell to a particular person - and it is certainly not illegal

tp25

FCUK Mercedes, purchase Lexus.

RustyNut

donutheadhomer wrote: »

it is not unusual for a business to not sell to a particular person - and it is certainly not illegal

Its the reason you are not selling it that makes it illegal.

Try saying I'm not selling you that because you are a traveller.

It would equally be illegal for a corporation to have a policy not to sell to someone because of their place of residence.

donutheadhomer

RustyNut wrote: »

Its the reason you are not selling it that makes it illegal.

Try saying I'm not selling you that because you are a traveller.

It would equally be illegal for a corporation to have a policy not to sell to someone because of their place of residence.

are travellers not protected in law as a minority group - hence companies can’t have polices that discriminate. No such provision exists to protect irish people

RustyNut

donutheadhomer wrote: »

are travellers not protected in law as a minority group - hence companies can’t have polices that discriminate. No such provision exists to protect irish people

Travellers are protected from discrimination under irish law, consumers are protected from price manipulation by European law. See post 30

MagicFairyDust

donutheadhomer wrote: »

Aren’t you lucky you don’t work in Mercedes Ireland then and worrying about losing your job because of people not buying your cars and buying in UK instead. Its not mercedes ireland’s fault the VRT is so high

It's not their fault that VRT is so high but it is their fault that the price difference is so high. Other premium brands have adjusted their prices to get people through their doors why should MB be any different.

As an aside from a dealer perspective surely it's good news for them even if people are importing as they have the opportunity for extra service and warranty work.

arsebiscuit100

donutheadhomer wrote: »

Aren’t you lucky you don’t work in Mercedes Ireland then and worrying about losing your job because of people not buying your cars and buying in UK instead. Its not mercedes ireland’s fault the VRT is so high

So protectionism is the way to go to secure irish jobs? I don't think so. It's exactly the opposite that makes us all the more competitive. This is just one example - and it should NOT be tolerated!

With regard to VRT, WHO mentioned VRT in this thread? Yours is the first mention of it. Furthermore, the intention (or necessity) would be to pay the VRT on it in due course.

To those who said that they don't have to sell to an irish national (who intends to export the car), a couple of posters here have already provided reference to EU law that states that they do.

Guy-Incognito wrote:

There's a thread full of people on bargain alerts using parcel motel to buy stuff because companies won't send goods to adresses outside the UK.

There's a clear distinction. I wasn't looking to have them ship it to me! I - like any other buyer - intended to drive it off their forecourt.