Ariel Motor Bitter Taste Dealings

mk1_salami

mk1_salami

mk1_salami

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Bit of a rant, but I thought I'd share my recent experience with Ariel.

I got in contact with Ariel on the 18th July 2023 and expressed my interest in the newly unveiled Atom 4R. A couple of emails back and forth and I placed a £3,000 deposit on the 19th July for a slot, with the expectation of an 18-24 month wait for the car.

All good, then my circumstances changed somewhat. Five months after the deposit was placed, I got in touch with Ariel explaining my situation in November 2023, and politely asked them to refund the deposit. Unfortunately, Ben Gunn of Ariel told me the deposit was non-refundable.

A bit rubbish, but it is what it is. I'm not sure why they can justify keeping the money, as no build order was placed (no spec given) and I wasn't putting the company out of money at this point. I'd have understood if they started to build the car, but it was not the case.

So at this point I was a bit dissapointed, but their terms of service dictate they can keep my money. I said to Ben to keep my place in the queue and hopefully the situation my end would improve and I'd be in the position to buy the car when it came time to spec it.

Fast forward to August 2024 and Ben got in touch to say it was time to spec the car and they were ready to build it.

On my end, I still wasn't in a position to pay for the car. After a chat with a group of car friends, one of my friends said he'd take the slot and he can spec the car. It would involve Ariel changing the paperwork from my name to his, and all good! ... or so I thought.

I contacted Ariel to have the name transferred to my close friend, and was told it was impossible. I made my dissatisfaction quite clear to Ben. They've basically taken £3000 and told me to do one.

I'm all for business decisions but this seems like absolute robbery. It would cost Ariel nothing to change the name on the form from mine to his. I wasn't flipping or making money on the deal. The build hadn't started. There was no "changing of spec" which would be a hassle for the factory and put them financially out of pocket. Where is the logic?

What they've actually done is turn me and my close friends off the brand for life. A group that has probably spent accumulative millions in fun cars. It's extremely short-sighted and I feel like it's just bad faith dealings.

What's funny is that if I had gone ahead with the vehicle purchase, and didn't option the car at all, I could take delivery and ram it back into them under the distance selling act and have a full refund. On what planet does that make sense to obtain a refund, but cancelling - at no cost to Ariel - does not qualify?

I wonder how many £3000 bank transfers they've robbed from other customers?
 
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Get on X and spread the word lol
When you paid the 3Gs does it say anywhere its non-refundable? if so then that is what it is. Changing name on the build, not sure about that seems simple enough but who knows.
 
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Generally speaking, a company can't just flat out refuse refund of a deposit and can't just rely on a bit of wording saying "non-refundable". The deposit retained must be proportionate to a (demonstrable) loss. Sadly, they can almost certainly make up some fluff to "prove their loss" given the duration of time involved in this case.

I've a friend that's worked with Ariel for a very long time, I'll ask if they possess the powers to help you get somewhere, though I do hear "management" is generally quite poor and old-hat.
 
mk1_salami said:
What's funny is that if I had gone ahead with the vehicle purchase, and didn't option the car at all, I could take delivery and ram it back into them under the distance selling act and have a full refund.
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Please tell me you are going to do this?

I'd make sure they know you are going to do this as well!
 
The excuse I got was "no naming and shaming" - forum rules. Is what it is.

I actually wasn't too bitter about losing the deposit initially (it is in the small print in the T&C's). What really got my goat was when I presented Ariel with a very easy solution to keep all parties happy. Their attitude at that point really rubbed me up the wrong way and made me think it was just scummy, unnecessary behaviour, so I'll push for the money back and see what happens.

I've opened a case with the Motor Ombudsman but won't hold my breath there. It's too late to go ahead now (I suspect I burned that bridge with a strongly worded email). Will see how it goes with the Ombudsman.
 
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mk1_salami said:
I contacted Ariel to have the name transferred to my close friend, and was told it was impossible. I made my dissatisfaction quite clear to Ben. They've basically taken £3000 and told me to do one.

I'm all for business decisions but this seems like absolute robbery. It would cost Ariel nothing to change the name on the form from mine to his. I wasn't flipping or making money on the deal. The build hadn't started. There was no "changing of spec" which would be a hassle for the factory and put them financially out of pocket. Where is the logic?
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Arguably even a name change 'costs' them £3000 from a perverse perspective. If you just did a name swap, no extra money comes their way. If the slot is offered to the next person on a waiting list, they still want to keep your £3000 and they'd ask for a new £3000 deposit (plus order completion) from that person. So they still pocket an extra £3000 if they can try to keep your money but lose your order/slot to a completely new customer.

Such stupid behaviour though for such a pitiful amount of money to a car manufacturer. Maybe it's a sign they're in hard times and they're desperate for every penny they can get... I can't imagine these are in such ridiculous demand they need to implement silly rules to put off people speculating etc. as if it was a GT3RS or something.
 
I'd be looking at speaking with Trading standards with a view to a small claims to recover the £3k.

You have clearly offered them a solution to the problem that, in law, sees that they aren't losing out.

From your description of events, minus a small amount for the administration costs, keeping the £3k as 'non-refundable' is unreasonable
 
Resident said:
I'd be looking at speaking with Trading standards with a view to a small claims to recover the £3k.

You have clearly offered them a solution to the problem that, in law, sees that they aren't losing out.

From your description of events, minus a small amount for the administration costs, keeping the £3k as 'non-refundable' is unreasonable
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This. I'd definitely be kicking off big time, that's an awful attitude.
 
What a shame. Caterham are awesome. Buy a Caterham.
Their aftersales and people at the factory were extremely helpful when I phoned them up looking for spec and build paperwork for my Caterham. Did I mention Caterham? They're amazing. Buy a Caterham!
 
mk1_salami said:
I wonder how many £3000 bank transfers they've robbed from other customers?
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Raise it with your bank if you made a transfer, as no goods or services were supplied, and it was as you say distance selling. They may side with you and forcibly take the money back, especially if you show them the comms you had with the supplier. Also write to consumer protection shows/paper and get them involved, name and shame these scum bag companies, they deserve to go bankrupt with these sorts of anti-consumer practices.
 
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