Main dealer taking the mick

NathanE

NathanE

NathanE

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Joined
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London & Singapore
Made damn clear over the phone when the bargaining process was going on that I wanted "trailer delivery". They agreed.

Went there the other week to sign the deal. Said "trailer delivery" again. Conveniently they only wrote "delivery" on the agreement.

On the phone today... I was asking how big the trailer will be etc so I can clear a space on the driveway. Numerous "oh it'll be fine" lines. After a bit more questioning he eventually lets slip "oh it wont be a problem because he will just literally drive straight onto your drive, it's a small car".

:eek::mad:

He's denying all knowledge of it that I ever requested "trailer delivery". When I must have mentioned it about 10 times on the phone and in person!

They seriously think it's OK to deliver a car that's just been valeted and prepared for customer eyes by driving it 140 miles down the M6 and A14 by a guy going flat out and tailgating everyone because he will want to get the quickest train home?

So after throwing a bit of a fit he went off to his boss to see whether it's still possible. Nope. They want £300 for the pleasure. I know it is an expensive service - that's why I worked it into the deal from the start :rolleyes:

So yeah... not exactly a Grade A experience with them so far.

I almost WANT to go pick it up now in person to see what other things they've skimped on at the last minute.

Problem is it feels like I've been cheated. The deal we did was agreed with this type of delivery. So if anything I should be seeking a new deal now - but I know it's too late for that given that he showed me how many enquiries they had for the car in a single day.

I wouldn't have minded if he was more upfront about it all. But now I've got to rush to get my insurance all sorted out. The plan was always to get the car dropped off here without its wheels ever touching a public road - then I could sort the paperwork out in my own time.

It's looking like they aren't going to budge from their position so I've pretty much conceded and at least got them to admit the miscommunication was their fault and therefore to put in a full tank of petrol at the very least.

The dealer is Stratstone, by the way.
 
I'd always go and collect a car, for the very reason that I would want to inspect it before I took delivery. Plus the drive home from the dealer is one of the best bits about getting a new car imo :D
 
doh !

dont really know what to suggest. Sounds like they've proper dug their heels in.

I wouldnt let them drive it to yours however.
 
I had a similar situation from Mazda, though to be fair they dealt with what I wanted in the end. They said "we have a new car, it's in our other dealers so we will get it delivered". OK I say, how will you do that, "well we have a delivery driver, it's only 60 miles, it'll be fine he's old and steady, we do it all the time".

"Not with me you don't, factory fresh or on a trailer, less than 10 miles on clock, not driven other than PDI, clear?"

Yes sir.
 
Just have to suck it up, shame to spoil the getting a new car buzz though.
 
NathanE said:
Made damn clear over the phone when the bargaining process was going on that I wanted "trailer delivery". They agreed.

Went there the other week to sign the deal. Said "trailer delivery" again. Conveniently they only wrote "delivery" on the agreement.

On the phone today... I was asking how big the trailer will be etc so I can clear a space on the driveway. Numerous "oh it'll be fine" lines. After a bit more questioning he eventually lets slip "oh it wont be a problem because he will just literally drive straight onto your drive, it's a small car".

:eek::mad:

He's denying all knowledge of it that I ever requested "trailer delivery". When I must have mentioned it about 10 times on the phone and in person!

They seriously think it's OK to deliver a car that's just been valeted and prepared for customer eyes by driving it 140 miles down the M6 and A14 by a guy going flat out and tailgating everyone because he will want to get the quickest train home?

So after throwing a bit of a fit he went off to his boss to see whether it's still possible. Nope. They want £300 for the pleasure. I know it is an expensive service - that's why I worked it into the deal from the start :rolleyes:

So yeah... not exactly a Grade A experience with them so far.

I almost WANT to go pick it up now in person to see what other things they've skimped on at the last minute.

Problem is it feels like I've been cheated. The deal we did was agreed with this type of delivery. So if anything I should be seeking a new deal now - but I know it's too late for that given that he showed me how many enquiries they had for the car in a single day.

I wouldn't have minded if he was more upfront about it all. But now I've got to rush to get my insurance all sorted out. The plan was always to get the car dropped off here without its wheels ever touching a public road - then I could sort the paperwork out in my own time.

It's looking like they aren't going to budge from their position so I've pretty much conceded and at least got them to admit the miscommunication was their fault and therefore to put in a full tank of petrol at the very least.

The dealer is Stratstone, by the way.
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Cancel the order if it's that important, I would.
 
I would cancel if it was anything else, out of principle. Problem is only 100 of these cars were made so they're kind of hard to come by...
 
MikeHiow said:
I think cancelling the order on a car of so mint, and of such value so close to delivery time is a bit extreme over £300, thats what, about 1.5% of what you've already spent?
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I would still do it and cut me nose off to spite my face, but they will have a couple of fall back customers for that, so if it wont inconvenience them, there is no point is there.
 
Anyway pretty much resigned myself to the long trek up there now. What a totally ruined Saturday this is going to be.

Hope it doesn't rain else I might put another in the hedge. Hmm no actually I think I'll touch some wood now :)

I will tell the guy in fairly certain terms that he has ****ed me off quite royally and that, if it was almost any other car, I would have cancelled.
 
MikeHiow said:
I think cancelling the order on a car of so mint, and of such value so close to delivery time is a bit extreme over £300, thats what, about 1.5% of what you've already spent?
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You either have principals or you don't and how far you stand by them is a personal decision of how important it is to you.
 
NathanE said:
Anyway pretty much resigned myself to the long trek up there now. What a totally ruined Saturday this is going to be.

Hope it doesn't rain else I might put another in the hedge. Hmm no actually I think I'll touch some wood now :)
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Where is the dealers?
 
I have principles, I just believe there has to be a limit on how anal you want to get over it.

I mean, you wouldn't ask for a full refund on a £100 printer if they accidentally over charged you by £1.50, would you?
 
I'm sorry to seem like i'm nosey, but what type of car is it? Lotus?

But you should phone back and demand you only picking it up from the factory, or demand money off if they're picky, as in the end of the day, your bound to give it a good blast anyway :)
 
MikeHiow said:
I have principles, I just believe there has to be a limit on how anal you want to get over it.

I mean, you wouldn't ask for a full refund on a £100 printer if they accidentally over charged you by £1.50, would you?
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You are debating a subjective.
 
MikeHiow said:
I have principles, I just believe there has to be a limit on how anal you want to get over it.

I mean, you wouldn't ask for a full refund on a £100 printer if they accidentally over charged you by £1.50, would you?
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For once I am finding myself in agreement with you :o

But yes, that's pretty much my logic too. End of the day it's not going to cost me a great deal. It's just the principle and hassle of it all that has annoyed me. I've been looking forward for a couple weeks now to watching it all get unloaded from the trailer. I seem to remember even telling the guy that!!! :eek:
 
MrLOL said:
it's not about the cost

its about them lieing their way out of a deal.
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Not necessarily. It could have been a genuine miscommunication or misunderstanding - If that is the case, if they had to honour everything solely on the customers word, they'd probably go out of business.

I'm not trying to defend them, I just believe pulling out of a deal based on someone drawing the worst conclusion when it could in fact be completely innocent, is just far too extreme. They have at least offered a good will gesture of a full tank of fuel.

I did something similar when I bought my VXR. I was told it was mint, and it turned up with a curbed wheel. Being diamond-cut it wasn't really repairable and the dealer was unable to cover the cost of a new wheel (it was shipped from another dealer), even when I told them I was going to walk away from the deal, which would have left them with nearly £13k of car that they would have a hard time selling locally. What they did offer instead was a free service in a years time, and I took the opportunity to spend what I would have spent on the next service on having all the wheels done in black, which I preferred in the end, anyway.
 
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