Customer claiming misrepresentaion

[James01 21]

Hi guys,

some advice would be really appreciated.

Long story short we sold a car to a customer 2 months ago with a lack of service history. The car was serviced locally before it was sold by our garage and in the advert we said the car had 'service history' being the one service that has just been carried out. Not full service history or anything to that effect. We never said to the customer in person it had so either.

The customer viewed the car at our premises and never asked to view the paperwork or any history we did or didn't have.

They are now claiming we misrepresented the vehicle in our advert as one service does not constitute service history. In my mind service history can refer to 1 or 50 stamps. 1 service indicates it has had a service done and therefore has service history.

I also feel if it was so important to them they should have checked it before committing to purchasing the car.

Anyone come up against something like this before?

Thanks

 

 

 

[Mojo121 229]

Hahahah. Never had this but oh my God the things people will try! 

BCA's auction view for example:

BMW 320D covered 147,000 miles

Service history - YES

1 stamp 57k 2005

They misrepresented themselves as decent human beings...

[justina3 518]

Thats a shitty one, these days once i smell trouble i run for the hills and unwind the deal in my dealings with such pond life it never ever just stops at one complaint the lists just grows daily,all the time there clocking up the miles and hammering the car. 

 

[James01 21]

I know stinks of buyers remorse to me!

They are also claiming the car has a major fault as when they checked the tracking at their 'reputable local garage' the camber was slightly out! They want to know what I am going to do about this major fault.

Bring the car back and i'll pay my tyre center £30 to do a 4 wheel alignment. 

I mean honestly!

[James Bush 95]

What is the car and have you tried to chase previous history up? We always try and do a bit of investigation work via manufactures customer care line of previous MOT testing stations and can normally come up with a few more services.

[James01 21]

Yes we have tried but I have to say all the previous MOT test stations could not confirm either way.

 

[Arfur Dealy 823]

If you have proof it’s been serviced, then it has a service history, end of. Tracking is part of maintaining the car. 

Mr customer, maintaining your car is part of ownership and your responsibility.

Give an inch and they’ll suck you dry. 

[MSP Motors 39]

In my opinion, you have....... No service history, Service History (Part, Some, however you want to describe it) or Full Service  History. Some people list each individual service, some don't.  If It had one service, it falls into the service history category. Yes, you could have put in the advert..... "this car has only had one service that we know of", but i  have never seen it.

If a car has a  full comprehensive history most people will completely advertise this point, if the car has a limited history then they don't.... simple.

I had a similar case a couple of months back...... The car had no service history, I didn't list anything. The customer phoned up a week later asking for the service book, I explained the situation and they were not very happy. I personally think you have been reasonable.  

[BHM 994]

Personally in this case I would of written something along the lines of “just had a service” and not written some history as I feel you were stretching the truth a little.

It sounds like the customer is a twister. Call their bluff & sack them off FIRMLY. At that point 99.9% of these chancers disappear.

It’s now getting so bad with penniless punters that I’m printing off the adverts & getting them to sign them. I get very few comebacks but then I don’t promise punters the earth which, lets be honest, a few in this game do.

[andymc1973 199]

serviced as part of dealer prep, unwind as they will come back at you

[It's me 615]

this all comes back to pdi and a watertight invoice

personally selling as service history with no back up is just asking for a trading standards visit with their lanyard swinging on their goolies

[Trident 24]

So, are they actually asking for a refund?? From my personal point of view, if the car has one stamp it would be 'service history' because to me that indicates some but not all -  although when advertising it i wouldn't bother mentioning it unless it held a full service or had main dealer servicing, what i can't understand is why they hadn't mentioned it when looking at the car, surely to god these people have a list of must haves in their head and check them off when they are viewing....We did have a guy that rang me up the next day and said the car didnt have rear parking sensors as advertised, at the time autotrader were doing some changeover on their system which i hadn't picked up on and the car was listed with absolutely every option under the sun, when i pointed it out, he just said oh i can see, i should have noticed when it said pearlescent paint and metallic paint !! offered to put some on at cost, he wasnt that bothered tho'... Back to the issue in hand, not sure you've done anything wrong, it had history which you stated, not full or main... therefore not misrepresented imo

[James01 21]

I have to disagree with those who have said I have pulled a fast one here.

I have in no way mislead the customer. The car has service history, even be it one stamp it is still history that the car has been serviced, therefore has service history. 

If the customer asked to see it before purchase I would have told them I did not have a fully stamped book which they were never led to believe I had. The car was serviced and MOT'd prior to sale with no issues. If it was a main buying criteria for them they should have checked it before sale not come back to me some weeks later. 

I guess it is how you interpret 'service history' but if they were unclear they should have asked, not assumed.

[andymc1973 199]

bit of a stroke in my opinion, you've been economical with the truth, whatever the outcome good luck, most buyers welcome a service prior to delivery 

[grant8064 219]

Bit too creative with the wording IMO.

It's kind of asking for hassle describing it as having history when the only bit is the one you had carried out yourselves...hardly a 'historic' record of servicing is it?

Right or wrong it's stuff like this that is always going to bite you in the arse. 

 

[James01 21]

So if we are on the subject, how many people put full service history on an advert when in fact a car may have missed one of the ten services required by a manufacturer for example?

Would this not be misrepresentation? Could a customer come back to you 2 months later on it?

[MSP Motors 39]

How does one define service history? I sold a car years ago that had full skoda service history and was advertised accordingly.  I had a customer turn up and not buy the car because it was just a service book with stamps in. I  called the garage in front of him, but this was not enough for him as he could not see what work had been carried out. In his opinion, my car didn't have a full service history as there were no invoices, Equally, people have claimed that a fully documented car does not have service history because there is no service book.

If the car has had a service and there is documentation for this, in my opinion, there is a service history. If they were not happy with 1 service then  perhaps they should have                  told you before committing to buy

[Mat C 77]

16 minutes ago, James01 said:

So if we are on the subject, how many people put full service history on an advert when in fact a car may have missed one of the ten services required by a manufacturer for example?

Would this not be misrepresentation? Could a customer come back to you 2 months later on it?

I only ever describe a car with ' service history' as I wont supply a car without any history. Keeps it simple

 

You also haven't mentioned how old the car is and the mileage, if its a 15,000 2 year old car then the customer is being slightly unreealistic, but if its a 70,000 7 year old, then I think they have a fair shout.

 

[Mojo121 229]

1 hour ago, James01 said:

So if we are on the subject, how many people put full service history on an advert when in fact a car may have missed one of the ten services required by a manufacturer for example?

Would this not be misrepresentation? Could a customer come back to you 2 months later on it?

I had this the other day, someone wrote a comment on a Facebook advert that because the car was 13 years old but had 9 (VW may I add) stamps it wasn't FSH. I replied that it was serviced in accordance with mileage and they didn't message back - wouldn't have sold them it (had trouble written all over it).

[Arfur Dealy 823]

If you have proof of a service then it has a service history... Ok, being more transparent stating it has just one service is also accurate. It's the job of the buyer to ask and to check everything before they hand over their money, they are adults and should take responsibility, it is equally the sellers responsibility to make sure the buyer is fully aware.

[Tom 164]

I never advertise what history a car has full or part I just advertise "comes with service history" and list the mileage and dates of the stamps and any invoices. 

1 stamp is not service history those words are too solid. Should of read "part history 1 service stamp". 

The buyer should of checked for them selves before purchase so its 50/50. 

Put this at the bottom of your advert text as a disclaimer

"Remember to check the details of this car with the dealer before you buy it to make sure that all the information is accurate."

 

[Jack Regan 116]

We are all con men and dishonest ... what do punters expect

i would of probably put just been serviced but don't think you've done anything wrong , he should of asked to see the history before he parted.

[Arfur Dealy 823]

10 minutes ago, Tom said:

I never advertise what history a car has full or part I just advertise "comes with service history" and list the mileage and dates of the stamps and any invoices. 

1 stamp is not service history those words are too solid. Should of read "part history 1 service stamp". 

The buyer should of checked for them selves before purchase so its 50/50. 

Put this at the bottom of your advert text as a disclaimer

"Remember to check the details of this car with the dealer before you buy it to make sure that all the information is accurate."

 

if it’s been serviced, it has a service history, whether it’s one service or twenty seadvices there is a history of servicing. That can’t be argued, it’s the queens English. 

[metcars 397]

Love it, from now on I'm saying a car has a 'history of servicing' rather than 'a service history'

[Tom 164]

 

6 minutes ago, Arfur Dealy said:

if it’s been serviced, it has a service history, whether it’s one service or twenty seadvices there is a history of servicing. That can’t be argued, it’s the queens English. 

Yes but the way it's interpreted is key. I'm just stating what I would do to avoid such consequences as mentioned above. A lot of people seem to have "problem customers" on this forum I wonder why?!