Misdescription of car sold

[Glevum 6]

I sold a 65 plate Fiat 500 auto 28 days ago for £7495 to a lady in Dunfermline 357 miles away. She collected the car and now 28 days later her partner emailed stating that the door handle has broken off and the car does not have cruise control (it was listed on my website as having cruise control by mistake). The charming fellow wants £500 back because it doesn't have it and he wants to get the handle replaced locally and send me the bill saying it's "not feasible" to return it for warranty work because of the distance. On my invoices I have a clause that states " in the event of the car being refunded - it is the buyers responsibility to cover the cost or recovery" and it has been signed by the buyer.

I'm going to get the car collected on the pretext of fitting a new handle and refund it less the cost of transport and the handle that he clearly broke... where do I stand???

Edited May 31, 2022 by Glevum

[Rbs 1]

Does he want to hand it back? If he is happy to keep it Would it not be better to negotiate a reasonable discount say £250 (prob cost of having it fitted) and offer to give him the cost of the handle part or supply him a door handle if he pays the labour locally to get it fitted as doesn’t want to bring it back to you to fit it 

[It's me 615]

51 minutes ago, Rbs said:

Does he want to hand it back? If he is happy to keep it Would it not be better to negotiate a reasonable discount say £250 (prob cost of having it fitted) and offer to give him the cost of the handle part or supply him a door handle if he pays the labour locally to get it fitted as doesn’t want to bring it back to you to fit it 

it's not about the door handle though is it

it's blackmail to get£500 back

the part broken is £5 on ebay

this car is a very wanted commodity and I'm sure could be resold to a more understanding customer

I would just go up on Sunday with a mate do a cash transfer if that's how they bought it and let them have the hassle of finding another one in their budget

I wouldn't be making reductions in the first month though, that's a big no no

(currently sat in a p/xer outside my house no other cars here and the thing has a flat battery...... boo his) 

[BHM 994]

I’m wondering why he’s dealing with a third party - some bloke on email when he’s sold it to a woman.

I’d politely answer back along the lines of saying I cannot deal with third parties therefore please ask the purchaser to contact us directly. I respectfully advise you that no further correspondence with you will be entered into.

Edited May 31, 2022 by BHM

[It's me 615]

16 minutes ago, BHM said:

I’m wondering why he’s dealing with a third party - some bloke on email when he’s sold it to a woman.

I’d politely answer back along the lines of saying I cannot deal with third parties therefore please ask the purchaser to contact us directly. I respectfully advise you that no further correspondence with you will be entered into.

at the small claims court the judge upheld that the partner had financed the sale so did have legal precedence

just saying don't shoot me

[David Horgan 564]

On 5/31/2022 at 7:04 AM, Glevum said:

door handle has broken off and the car does not have cruise control (it was listed on my website as having cruise control by mistake).

First the door handle isnt covered by a warranty is it , it was all fine when it left , A third party broke it . Owners job to fix it .

Cruise control was a silly mistake , PROOF read adverts , But they did pick it up , inspect it and drive it away , 

Blackmail does not sit well in my mind . Cruise on them may well be plug and play stalk , Ebay it and send him a stalk if you really want to pander to blackmail . His thing to get it fixed on the car , Door is a NO Go Mr customer , 

If he broke the fuel flap off , Ran his wheel down a pot hole , Hit his gate with the bumper , Snapped his key in a Lock it wouldn't be Your job to fix them , So why a door handle ?

Tell him Blackmail doesn't sit well , Door handle not covered under any warranty , we don't pay third parties labour  to fix anything , Cruise control was Autotrader or whoever advertiser you use AUTO Fill but its the customers responsibility to check the spec .

Warranty claim denied this time . 

[timcourt7@gmail.com 1]

I've told him I will recover the car to look into fitting cruise control and fix the door handle - when I get it back I am reversing the deal and refunding the girl all the money less the cost of recovery and the cost to fix the door handle - I havent sent the  V5 off yet. After I get the spare key back and anything else then I will make the refund. I don't want or need customers like this.

He has said If I wont refund £500 and pay for him to get the handle she broke locally then he wants a full refund with me covering the recovery cost.

[BHM 994]

Sorry but my take on this is you seem to be keen negotiating with someone who hasn’t even bought a car from you. I’d be getting it from the horses mouth. Legally you shouldn’t be discussing it with anyone other than the buyer unless you have their permission. I’ve had experience of a couple of smart arse car expert partners thinking they are calling the shots. Just saying…….

As for getting the car back under false pretences & planning on withholding the recovery cost WITHOUT advising them in advance - really?

Time to get a grip on the situation (and that does NOT involve playing email ping pong with some fucker who’s bought f.a.)

[Gra3me 0]

I'm in Dunf. you want pointed in the direction of a friendly local garage that wont pull your pants down on a doorhandle?

[Halfpenny 114]

9 hours ago, timcourt7@gmail.com said:

I've told him I will recover the car to look into fitting cruise control and fix the door handle - when I get it back I am reversing the deal and refunding the girl all the money less the cost of recovery and the cost to fix the door handle - I havent sent the  V5 off yet. After I get the spare key back and anything else then I will make the refund. I don't want or need customers like this.

He has said If I wont refund £500 and pay for him to get the handle she broke locally then he wants a full refund with me covering the recovery cost.

You can't take the car back under false pretences and then simply 'reverse the deal'. Name on the V5 is irrelevant. If your customer has bought and paid for the car then it belongs to them (and presumably there is a paper trail to prove it). If I've understood your post correctly then what you're proposing is basically theft and can land you in deep trouble. You would not stand a cat in hell's chance at SCC.

The mis-description is down to you. You are supposed to be the 'professional' and should check your listings carefully. If you make a mistake you have to take it on the chin.  The broken door handle is down to them.

A seven year old 500 auto is a grenade with the pin out. Those robotised manual boxes are a nightmare. Many didn't even work properly from the factory. I wouldn't want it back and I'd be keeping my fingers crossed for 6 months.

My advice is try to negotiate some sort of deal with the customer. Say £250 compensation for no CC and send them a handle to be fitted at their expense.

[Rbs 1]

Totally agree with you halfpenny that’s how I would go about dealing with it as per my previous post 

[Tony911 79]

On 6/1/2022 at 9:19 PM, Halfpenny said:

You can't take the car back under false pretences and then simply 'reverse the deal'. Name on the V5 is irrelevant. If your customer has bought and paid for the car then it belongs to them (and presumably there is a paper trail to prove it). If I've understood your post correctly then what you're proposing is basically theft and can land you in deep trouble. You would not stand a cat in hell's chance at SCC.

The mis-description is down to you. You are supposed to be the 'professional' and should check your listings carefully. If you make a mistake you have to take it on the chin.  The broken door handle is down to them.

A seven year old 500 auto is a grenade with the pin out. Those robotised manual boxes are a nightmare. Many didn't even work properly from the factory. I wouldn't want it back and I'd be keeping my fingers crossed for 6 months.

My advice is try to negotiate some sort of deal with the customer. Say £250 compensation for no CC and send them a handle to be fitted at their expense.

Great advice

 

Sounds like there is more to the story than just a broken handle and cruise control 

[BHM 994]

On 6/1/2022 at 9:19 PM, Halfpenny said:

I wouldn't want it back and I'd be keeping my fingers crossed for 6 months.

Tbh at this stage I wouldn’t be concerned about the 6 month period. Without alerting customers as to why, on any comebacks I had I asked them to confirm their full list of grievances/issues and (just as important) to also confirm there are no other problems BEFORE I authorise any work.

After that point if any new issues arise you immediately dismiss them as they are clearly the owner’s responsibility.

[Halfpenny 114]

14 hours ago, BHM said:

Tbh at this stage I wouldn’t be concerned about the 6 month period. Without alerting customers as to why, on any comebacks I had I asked them to confirm their full list of grievances/issues and (just as important) to also confirm there are no other problems BEFORE I authorise any work.

After that point if any new issues arise you immediately dismiss them as they are clearly the owner’s responsibility.

The CRA 2015 doesn't work quite like that though. Within six months after selling the car, it’s up to the selling dealer to prove that it was of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described when sold.  Now a gearbox could function perfectly at three months (and the customer confirm that in writing) and then blow up at three months and one week. The dealer would be liable. The CRA is not about faults as such, its about 'satisfactory quality' - and that's a very broad concept. I've been there and got the T-shirt on this. It was a painful and costly experience.  Luckily most customers don't fully understand the CRA, otherwise there would be even more comebacks.

[Paul C 75]

On 5/31/2022 at 7:04 AM, Glevum said:

 (it was listed on my website as having cruise control by mistake).

 

I'd be more worried about the bigger picture - how did this "mistake" occur?? Cruise control is a desirable option on older cars, and probably costly to retrofit, but I think you're going to have to stump up for that mistake.

Door handle too.

Is her partner her husband? If so, they're basically one and the same legal entity, so the comms and claim is valid from him too. If you've not actually been rude or ignored for ages or communicated anything yet, your best hope is to try negotiate <£500 but be prepared to meet a stonewall.

And do something about how you check cars so £500 mistakes don't keep happening.....