Soldato
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?
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?
Last edited:
