Funny Farm

I started this post last year regarding a Dean Talbot who stole 4 cars from us via credit card fraud. Well out of the blue yesterday I had the very same "Man" (Scum) phone me. He was stressed out that I had posted him all over the internet.. I assume the reason for the call was that the Police have now caught up with him?!. Luckily for me I got all 4 cars returned, but I firmly advised the People that purchased the cars from him work with the Police to try and catch him. Yesterday "Dean Talbot" was saying to me, I'm glad I put you out of business. Then he started literally crying (weirdly). When he got his composure he went on to call me names, whilst I was getting the satisfaction that he's been found!!. Well long story short.. My business is fine, I got all the cars back and sold on.. And I hope this idiot is going to Prison!!!

Well I'm going to take advantage of the low priced holidays.. I'm going to write March off and if anyone lives through this on my return.. Start selling again!! Hysteria is no good for anyone's business.. Except Andrex!! :-)

As a dealer I no longer feel in control. You have BCA and CAP which seem to be throwing out prices £200-1000 higher than Autotrader, then you you sell on Autotrader at there "Marker" price, which means you're being squeezed at both ends. I sincerely hope something crashes!, I've never had a stock loan, so when I've hit my purchasing limits I don't buy anymore! This used to give an opportunity for others to get a car I potentially would have bid on at auction and vice versa. With stocking loans, no one seems to have that purchasing limit and every decent car is going for near retail price. Its a crazy unsettling market, and like in 2008 something will have to give eventually!!!

I have noticed a few things BCA do differently now which means less margins for us dealers. I do buy the majority of my cars for BCA, but I feel the day of being on your own when the first car goes through have long since past... Good news for BCA.. Bad News for us. 1, The biggest change to the market is the way stock loans are being thrown around, which means "less experienced" dealers are throwing their hand up at everything at any price. This means busier auctions as there's more money in the markets = higher prices. 2, BCA (Blackbushe) seem to be holding out for higher prices and are happy to put a significant amount of stock back through the auction 2 or 3 times. This is why on a typical Monday or Wednesday we used to get between 800-1200 cars go through, now we are getting 1600 - 1900 cars. 3, More bidding off the wall and online.. Its not just the bidding off the wall (which has always being there) in the hall. It now seems to be on the internet! I bid on a car last week, I was out bid "online". I was encouraged by the Auctioneer to go £50 more which I declined the hammer went down. I noticed the car was in the next auction.. This is more frustrating as you have an idea in the hall if anyone is bidding but not online. For me, the market has changed in the past 2 years. Margins are tighter, stock is more difficult to get at the right price and profits are down. We usually get the odd months where cars are cheap and sales are good, these are becoming less and less frequent.

I have recently had exactly the same. Discounted a CAT D Kia Venga from Retail £9500 to £6500. The lady a week later wanted the whole car resprayed at a cost of £8500. knowing how this would play out, we referred her to Lawgistic's who put her right. Anything cosmetic is sold as seen. If you've sold it as a Cat S and the new owner accepts that, then it is his/her responsibility to repair any necessary issues associated with the accident. However you would still be responsible for any mechanical issues not raised at time of sale.

This is a Statutory UK law not EU law. Anyone from the ROI is immune from UK statutory rights and vice versa.

If the customer is not a UK citizen he would not get the rights he does under EU law. As the vehicle has been exported he would not be entitled to the statuary rights we have as UK citizens. The car becomes sold as seen.

Just pay back the current market (private sale) price, taking into account the current mileage. Sell it on as a CAT D. The customer will not have lost out and you have limited your losses.

I got 1 key back and no paperwork (including service history). Luckily we had copies of all paperwork so at least we can use the V5 numbers online.

Thanks Guys, The Police have granted us permission to collect the car from Birmingham tomorrow. Very relieved and will never take another payment by phone.. Lesson Learnt. The person who bought the car paid for it by cash £3000 under what we were selling it for.. He met the guy outside the station, Police had no sympathy for him as he didn't even HPI it. If anyone gets a call from a Dean Talbot or Peter Orr, both have fake driving licences in these names.

Some good news, Police have seized the BMW. We are now awaiting the car to be returned. Unfortunately the car has been sold on to another unsuspecting purchaser who I assume paid in cash by the roadside. Massive relief, I just hope this doesn't go into a new issue with the person who purchased the car, who is also an innocent victim.

Unfortunately this deal was done 2 months back. No chargeback yet. They give you 120 days for a credit card holder to dispute a payment (Chargeback) after that the money is safe. What ever way you look at it, there's always a victim.

Cheers Guys. Yes he will surface again. So if anyone who hears from Dean Talbot can go along with it but call the police. It may help in recovering the car. I'm gutted, but also wiser. I have another car over the phone too. Similar area, Peter Orr {Im assuming Stolen ID too}.. These people need catching!!

Hi, Thanks for your replies. The guy bought 2 cars from me. The first I ensured he forwarded me his Driving licence. The car was delivered to his address by car delivery company (they have also had a chargeback for stolen credit card). The guy was waiting outside the house so probably wasn't his house according to the delivery driver. 2 months later he buys the 2nd car which is with a stolen credit card which he said was in his name but at his business address. Because the first car sale went ok, I was happy to trust the 2nd one would too. You could even here his kids playing in the background when calling him. Because I've lost the vehicle and have to pay back the £7750 I've had a double whammy (£15500 loss). I'm obviously gutted and it couldn't have come at a worse time, Tax Bill, VAT bill, and this have stripped me of 40% of my stock value. With cars not selling at the moment I have to seriously consider my future, but also learn the lessons from it. The car has probably been sold on to an innocent victim but it is now on the stolen list, my question is, if the car is found can I get it back?

Hi, I have just had a letter from my card terminal supplier that a car I sold on August 1st for £7750 was paid for by a stolen credit card. This guy "Dean Talbot" Heywood Lancs had bought a car a month before from us with a credit card with correct name, address which matched the Photo Licence details he sent me by email. I have had no comeback from this car however the 2nd car he bought was his "business credit card". He is now non contactable and I have reported the car stolen. My question is, am I protected from this kind of fraud, why didn't the bank freeze or check the payment with the card holder? the credit card company insist it is my liability, however why are we not protected from this kind of fraud.. I have contacted the police and reported the vehicle stolen. But I am obviously naive to this kind of scam.

I have just looked at my viewing numbers. My average daily viewings of my stock before the Autotrader changes were 18.4 per day. Just looked at my last 7 days and they're down to 9.4 per day. My sales have plummeted only 3 so far this month. Usually do 1 a day on 35 stock. We have 5 star reviews good quality photo's etc. I'm not sure how the new search criteria has affected the viewings, but we have certainly seen a downturn since its arrival.

If you have proof of mileage when fault was discovered (Garage diagnostic/estimate?) and you have written evidence you specifically told the customer not to drive the car from that point, you certainly have a case. At the time of the diagnostic you were dealing with a possible gasket replacement now it could be argued the customer has increased the cost of repair simply by ignoring your instructions. However if the matter went to court, you would need to demonstrate that you had a pre delivery inspection, as any judge would say the oil leak should have been spotted and repaired prior to sale. My advice is pay £70 per month, get lawgistic's involved and you will definitely save a lot of time, hassle and money dealing with the case yourself.

We have just had exactly the same thing! We're based in Portsmouth but one of our stock cars (BMW X3) was evidently in a hit and run in Wembley (North London). We provided photographic evidence of the photo we took of the Speedo on the date we put the car on sale along with the photo properties date. The current mileage is only 107 miles more which means it could not have completed the round trip. The police confirmed that the car involved was a BMW however were less than forthcoming when asked about make and colour. We are confident about the outcome but the way the letter is written is of concern. It basically accuses us and we must inform our insurance company of the accident.. Hopefully they'll come back with an apology...Not!!

Get him to email a copy of his driving licence to you to confirm his name and address.

Using Xero. I was worried as I'm not accountancy literate but after my accountant set it up for the Margin Scheme I sent my first VAT submission at a click of a button..

Get your customers to download CUVVA.COM from there smart phone app. Takes 5 mins to set up and they are charged around £10-£20 for 24 hours cover.

Since the start of the year we have only sold 18 through Autotrader at a cost of roughly £11000 subscription to date, this means Autotrader has made more profits from my sales than I have (£611 per car). I have sold 15 via Ebay at £988 (£59 per car) - 3 from Car Gurus (£0 per car) - 2 Gumtree (£15 per add) 1 car Network (£0). We all know times are slow for what ever reasons however this time last year Autotrader was costing £243 per car sale (acceptable), now this figure is at £611. Can anyone else provide a sales v cost analysis. It would be interesting to see the other dealers figures. Simply take the total Autotrader cost since start of the year divide that by amount of autotrader sales.

This was Lawgistics response... The judge was typical – a consumer’s friend. He could see that you had had help in writing the defence and witness statement and thought he would assist a single female – inappropriately I would say. He was wrong to chastise you for asking him to dismiss the “counterclaim” as she was trying to sneak that in as a defence. Had it not been raised in your Defence and Witness Statement the court might not have made her pay any fee at all. Furthermore, we have had cases where we have not attended to (seemingly) irrelevant issues, the judge has said that “because you didn’t address them, your considered to have admitted them”. Sometimes you cannot win! Also, the Judge ought to have separated the successful element of your claim from the yet to be determined “counterclaim”, which should be an unrelated hearing.

Thanks again for your responses. We have to go back to here the counterclaim (if the defendant submits one). If we have the same Judge it would be difficult for him to dismiss a counterclaim as he actually encouraged them to submit one! However as stated, we have not being given the opportunity to inspect the vehicle and make good any repairs. We will be represented by Lawgistics at the next hearing. If we do win then the Defendant has wasted another £200ish on a wasted counterclaim. The Judge has made this simple case very complicated and potentially costly...

Cheers for the replies fellows, the fact that she emailed me this morning saying the car has been repaired, also means she did not follow the CRA 2015 guidance which allows me the opportunity to inspect and repair the vehicle. She stated her uncle carried out the work this morning at his house (not garage). Trade Vet.. She fell on her own sword be admitting £500 part liability, she stated it was a goodwill gesture. We also had the advert which showed the full price and the emails sent shortly after sale. I'm not so cruel to charge my salesman on a genuine mistake, plus he worked harder for the next 6 months :-) The Judge was clearly the consumers friend. Because this is a small claims court, there is no oath. It all depends on what the Judge believes to be the truth. Unfortunately the older Judges that have never being promoted tend to abuse their power against traders (especially car traders). But in this case the abuse of power is quite clear and the grounds have to be exceptional to advise a counterclaim in this manner, I'm not sure the grounds to adjourn are exceptional. I will have a solicitor in with me on the next hearing, it is less likely to turn into a circus.... I will keep you updated!!