Steve92 80 Posted June 13, 2016 (edited) If a customer puts a deposit on a car what would you consider a reasonable amount of time before they collect it ? Edited June 13, 2016 by Steve92 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SC Derby 259 Posted June 13, 2016 I always work on 7 days for standard deposit, anything over that I'd want at least 1k or even 50% of car value. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
umesh 336 Posted June 13, 2016 Dito ! 7 Days - if longer bigger deposit and so forth ! Just have to make it clear on the day and in writing then you won't have issues. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TDB 31 Posted June 13, 2016 Do any of you refund deposits if a customer changes their mind? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SC Derby 259 Posted June 13, 2016 No, but I tell them it's not refundable when they place the deposit, if they are unsure I tell them I'd rather they go and have a think about it because if they put a deposit down we take it off sale etc. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rory RSC 596 Posted June 13, 2016 We let customers place short term holding deposits of £100 for up to 48hrs that are advertised as completely refundable. If they turn up and simply dislike the colour or anything else about the car they get it back. I think we have had 3 people decide car is not for them and the good has far outweighed the bad. Normal deposit if they have seen car in person then yes absolutely not refunding it because of the loss of opportunity to sell elsewhere. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
umesh 336 Posted June 13, 2016 Same as said by Rory , If they've seen the car - then Non refundable ( Unless they've said for example subject to the Mrs/Mr ..or a mate giving it once over etc at the start of the process ) AND I do make it clear that if they change their mind ..then sorry its non refundable and I don't really want a deposit if they are not 100% committed .. Only ever had an odd one or two who's changed their mind and to be fair if for example the other half didn't agree and they called the next day as a gesture I've refunded .. its amazing a bit of good will goes a long way! Had one where it was genuinely man lost his job, paid me £500 deposit - car was ready for him and on the day of collection told no job! I agreed to refund half and keep the other should he back in the market ! He was overjoyed with that as he thought he'd lose it all ! Think we have to look at reasons and treat everyone as individual ! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
It's me 615 Posted June 13, 2016 you can only keep reasonable costs so the best way is to keep the deposit as low as you can and then not refund citing costs such as readvertising etc,this is what ive always done but if customer had indeed lost his job then i would be pretty bendy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steve92 80 Posted June 13, 2016 Ok, so at the minute we tend to give 7-14 days but it seems fair enough to restrict that to 7 days but we do need to put that in writing. We do refund distance selling deposits if it's not as described, that just stops them from not turning up. We also refund deposits if they fail the credit check when applying for finance. Our deposits are pretty much £500 every time. i think I need to write up a new procedure and hand it over or email it when ever a deposit is taken. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rory RSC 596 Posted June 14, 2016 Is 7-14 days currently working for you ? We all want the shortest time on deposit as it helps cash flow. 99% of my stock is MOT tested and Serviced and fully prepped ready to drive away which tends to speed things up. I would hold a car for a couple of weeks especially if the customer was buying something That had been sat for a while but would rather that was the exception than the norm. Have you tried asking for larger deposits ? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steve92 80 Posted June 14, 2016 Ours are all ready to go, it wasn't so bad but at the minute we are changing stocking companies so the stock is our own. The one that's started the query is a 20k car that we have £500 deposit for, the rest is px and finance, so in this instance asking for more probably wouldn't help. It will be 2.5 weeks before they collect. I'm going to write something this morning that we will hand out to everyone that puts a deposit down, I'll probably go with £500 holds the car for 7 days 50% for 7-14 days (or whatever the customer will use as a deposit if finance) 100% 14 days plus obviously the aim is to get the car gone not take the customers cash, all deposit is refundable if they drop out with the exception of the first £500) that should cover depreciation,costs incurred, lost sales etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tom 164 Posted June 14, 2016 Sounds fair to me. I would do the same. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TDB 31 Posted June 14, 2016 We allow full refunds on deposits over the phone. Any deposit face to face is lost if the customer backs out or simply changes their mind as we are a business not a charity and any deposit is to remove the car from sale. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tom 164 Posted June 14, 2016 Could any customer challenge this in a court for no refunds? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steve92 80 Posted June 14, 2016 They could, if they win i guess is down to the court and if you want the hassle. A deposit is is the intent to purchase on behalf of the customer, however it should be reasonable and cover reasonable costs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TDB 31 Posted June 14, 2016 So how much do you all take as a non-refundable deposit then? We take £300 in the form of a contract to purchase non-refundable deposit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steve92 80 Posted June 14, 2016 (edited) 3 hours ago, TD said: So how much do you all take as a non-refundable deposit then? We take £300 in the form of a contract to purchase non-refundable deposit. For us we nearly always take £500, in some instances we take more such as if a private plate is involved. So if someone put down a deposit over the phone, turned up and the car wasn't as described then we would refund £500. If they turned up and didn't like it then it would be between £0 and £500 that we would refund. If they failed to show then they would get between £0 and £250 (depends on circumstances) If someone arrives at the showroom, puts down a deposit but its subject to finance approval and they failed the credit check then we would refund the £500 If they visited the showroom, test drove, agreed a price then changed their mind we would refund £0 to £250 depending on the costs and time involved. A couple of instances for us, someone put a deposit on a car, we allowed them 2 weeks to sell there car, at the end of the second week we called to find out how they were getting on, they hadn't even advertised it ... we gave them another week..... then they dropped out, in fact it was near to 4 weeks and in that time we had lost sales and the stocking fee had consumed most of the deposit. Another one was a Scirocco, a deposit was placed over the phone, on the test drive they wanted to test the cruise control to which I replied it didn't have cruise control ... they got the full deposit back and I now read every advert to make sure auto trader doesn't do something stupid - even though there is a disclaimer. Edited June 14, 2016 by Steve92 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TDB 31 Posted June 14, 2016 Steve....all you have written is almost exactly as we do. We do not however keep any of the deposit if they turn up and don't like it for ANY reason. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steve92 80 Posted June 14, 2016 In all honesty we would take it case by case, however i cannot think of an instance where someone has turned up and not liked the car. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TDB 31 Posted June 14, 2016 Same here except for a chap on a TT who could not get on with the interior colour!....It was black! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steve92 80 Posted June 14, 2016 We have had quite a few TT's and only 1 has had the exclusive line white/black interior, everything else is like a coal store Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
