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Main dealer refused to return deposit

naim88

Hi all, I'm new here, so if this is the wrong place to look for help, please say so and I'll remove post.

On 2nd June I paid 500 euro deposit for a new black Honda Jazz to the sales man <snip> from <snip> on the <snip>. He assured me it would definitely arrive by Monday July 1st.
On June 17th I returned to <snip> . When I asked for <snip>, I was told he was away on holidays. I explained I would be away from June 27th until July 5th and asked the accountant could I have my deposit back if I cancel the car. He said yes, no problem as it would be an easy car to sell on to another customer.
When I arrived at <snip> on Sat 8th July, <snip> informed me the car had NOT arrived yet. When I told <snip> I wanted to cancel the car, he said "ok, Iâ€™ll remove your name from the car" and he just walked away. When I asked him could I get my deposit back, he simply replied â€œno, thank you and goodbyeÃ¢â‚¬ and walked away again.
Summary:
The car had NOT arrived when <snip> said it would.
I was told I could have my deposit back by the accountant.
<snip> bluntly refused to return my deposit and was extremely unprofessional, if not rude.
What are my options?

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Comments

godtabh

What did your contract say?

Pkiernan

Written demand to return money in 7 days.
Then Small Claims Court.

Toyotafanboi

We'd like to help OP but please don't name names.

Toyotafanboi

It's a grey area. It boils down to two things IMO.

Did he put in writing that the car will be available on July 1st. If he didn't you're on shaky ground. If he didn't put it in writing, you probably don't have a strict entitlement to your deposit back.

Many a sound dealer would return it out of politeness but you asked them to order you a €20,000 car and you pulled out of the deal, the purpose of the deposit is to secure the deal for the dealer. If the deposit was refundable it would undermine the whole concept of a deposit.

mickdw

It must surely be refundable when the car doesnt arrive as promised.

kirving

Car isn't there on time. Doesn't matter it its a day or a week, the OP should get their deposit back.

Toyotafanboi

mickdw wrote: »

It must surely be refundable when the car doesnt arrive as promised.

I'd agree, but you'd need proof of the promise I'd expect.

Avatar MIA

mickdw wrote: »

It must surely be refundable when the car doesnt arrive as promised.

Proof of promise?

Op, was the deposit paid by Credit Card?

Toyotafanboi

Just as an aside, July 1st was a Saturday, so realistically the closest opportunity to collect that car and drive away would have been Monday, July 3rd, so it was a most a faux "promise" from the get go, had anyone actually checked a calendar.

Car99

A lot of dealers open Saturday mornings.

JoeA3

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Just as an aside, July 1st was a Saturday, so realistically the closest opportunity to collect that car and drive away would have been Monday, July 3rd, so it was a most a faux "promise" from the get go, had anyone actually checked a calendar.

Not necessarily. I know of guys who collected and registered their cars on the Saturday.

In this case, I'd expect the dealer to refund the deposit tbh, purely out of goodwill. If the customer had ordered a factory build with an unusual / silly spec that the dealer would otherwise be lumped with, that would be a different story.

Toyotafanboi

Yeah, I'd expect it to be refunded out of goodwill too. The question is though, are they within their rights not to refund it?

mickdw

I figure the standard sales contract covers them for delays from the factory but id still expect to get deposit back.

CeilingFly

1 - The word "reasonable" would apply. Is it reasonable to have a few days delay in a new car - yes. So I doubt there's a written date of July 1St anywhere.

2- Rarely is an accountant on the floor of a dealership and it wouldn't be their position to promise a refund - if it was, they should have given it there and then.

3- I assume you have a written contract which acknowledges the deposit. This should have the terms.

4 - dealer accepted your cancellation and was unable to provide the car on 8th July, so if 1st July is written somewhere and it wasn't available on 8th July, then again it would be reasonable for you to cancel and request refund of deposit.

My advice is write to the dealer principal and copy the letter to Honda Ireland and buy a marque that doesn't have dicks as their representatives.

soups05

just a thought here, you got verbal confirmation of a refund but no refund. you gave verbal confirmation of cancelling but nothing written. it comes down to he said vs dealer said. If he is not willing to refund then you can say you never cancelled and want your car. he cannot prove otherwise so a court would view it as being 10 days late, or 4 weeks late if you hang on a little while before filing papers.

his defence is you cancelled but he has no way to prove it unless you write to him. So I suggest writing or emailing saying where is my car? delay is unacceptable etc.

if it were to come to court he has not got a leg to stand on. dishonest? yes, morally questionable? yes. more likely to result in refund? yes.

dealer will not want a court case where someone accuses him of failing to deliver on a new car for a month, reputation is more important.

I would never do any of the above, nor would i advise it, but then am a coward who would wait patiently for months rather than have a confrontation

ION08

soups05 wrote: »

I would never do any of the above, nor would i advise it, but then am a coward who would wait patiently for months rather than have a confrontation

Quite the crafty and imaginative coward so!

colm_mcm

Do you still want a black Honda Jazz?

soups05

ION08 wrote: »

Quite the crafty and imaginative coward so!

unfortunately I am one of those guys who thinks of a witty response 3 days later so when I am on the spot I am useless, its only much later I come up with a brilliant plan.

Cerco

So you wanted to buy a car and have it delivered while you were on holidays?..
Then you wanted to cancel it because you would be on holidays?.

Seems to me you don't know what you want other than to blacken the name of a dealer.
I am always skeptical of first time posters naming people in such an adverse manner.

road_high

Who the hell cancels a new car just because they're on a weeks holidays? Just collect it when you get back like a normal, reasonable person. I'm sure the dealer also have other staff on hand that can hand you the keys.
The train of conversation seems totally bizzare and not credible- who just walks away from
conversations like the alleged without engaging or questioning further?

Cee-Jay-Cee

You sound like a completely unreasonable person and so I would doubt you have told us the full story.

You ordered a car and paid a deposit and then were enquiringly about cancelling it 2 weeks before the agreed delivery date? What sort of person does that?

The salesman was correct to walk away from you, you come across as completely unreasonable.

Deposits are generally to safeguard the dealer in the event a person backs out if a deal which you have. Your loss, maybe don't be so unreasonable next time.