BMW Good cars but no morals (Merged thread)

John_Bains

The bigger the company the worse they behave. Be warned dealing with this company could ruin your life. I confirmed today that BMW acted illegally when they took back my car without serving a default notice registered post. I missed two payments because I was in hospital. I contacted BMW on Wednesday and made arrangements to pay the amounts missed. On the next day Thursday morning they turned up to my house at 10.30 AM. They made it clear what they wanted and if I did not remove my goods from the car they would take the car by force with my goods in it. Since they had not served me a default notice it was illegal for them to be on my property and illegal for them to take the car by force. Over night I am left with no transport and no means to get to the hospital for my outpatients appointments. There is no direct bus service from the village I live in. Worst thing is I have the means to pay BMW but they were just not interested. It is my understanding that they will sell it to one of their dealers at rock bottom price, charge me the differance between wht they get for the car and what i owe them. The dealer will then bump up the price and charge some poor punter exajurated rates on another BMW finance deal. hence they will be receiving two lots of finance for the same car. What a scam!!!

Rave

Well if they've taken your car illegally, instruct a solicitor ASAP. I'm sure the courts would take a dim view of it.

IN_LIKE_EVERYONE_ELSE!

John_Bains wrote:

Worst thing is I have the means to pay BMW but they were just not interested. What a scam!!!

You should have kept up the payments, somewhere on the deal paperwork it says, you pay us what we both agreed to and you can drive the shiny BMW. Why is it a scam?

skintchick

IN_LIKE_EVERYONE_ELSE! wrote:

You should have kept up the payments, somewhere on the deal paperwork it says, you pay us what we both agreed to and you can drive the shiny BMW. Why is it a scam?

Because he has offered to make the payments to them to make up the missed money and they have refused.

Not a scam as such, but harsh.

IvanOpinion

Sorry to hear about your trouble .. but I disagree with the bit about good cars ... maybe 15 years ago they were but nowadays they are nothing worth talking about (most BMW owners I know say that you should always take out the warranty .. because you will NEED it). Also does any car dealer have any morals ... I rate them along with politicians, estate agents and lournalists (sorry Martin).

Did they serve any notice on the car (you say they did not serve one by registered post) .. I was not aware that it had to be registered. Its possible that it had been put in the hands of baliffs who really do not care about anything except getting goods/money. I just get the feeling that there is more to this because most finance houses are more interested in resolving debt issues than reclaiming goods. Why did you not set up a DD? What did the T&C that you signed say?

Hope you get better soon and get something resolved. This is not a scam but, from your side of the story does seem a bit OTT, try talking to CAB or a solicitor.

Ivan

YBNB

IvanOpinion wrote:

Sorry to hear about your trouble ..
Hope you get better soon and get something resolved. This is not a scam but, from your side of the story does seem a bit OTT, try talking to CAB or a solicitor.

I agree with Ivan, and also sympathise with your difficulties.

I'm not sure creating five identical threads on here is necessarily the best way to get help though.

jockettuk

YBNB wrote:

I agree with Ivan, and also sympathise with your difficulties.

I'm not sure creating five identical threads on here is necessarily the best way to get help though.

true instead of reading to help the op its now getting very boring very fast,

nej

If they had acted illegally and he had offered to make the payments I would've been tempted to just get in the car and drive off with it.

aliasojo

***Board Guide Note***

Please refrain from making duplicate posts. I will leave this thread open but the other threads on the same topic in the Warnings Board have been deleted and the thread from the Loans Board has been merged with this one.

JasonLVC

If you have had it confirmed that BMW have acted outside of the law then you need to return to your source and proceed with a prosecution against them. If its against the law then you will win.

One thought is maybe this is just a timing issue. You say you called BMW Wednesday and the next day the big boys visited you. Perhaps the paperwork just wasn't cancelled in enough time and I find it odd that BMW would refuse your payment over the phone???!. If you can prove you were in hospital for two months, you may find you can get your car back.

With regard bailiffs, it does depend upon the company used but generally if they are in any way unsure as to whether papers were served properly or the customer has a different, plausible story, they usually avoid confrontation, stick around and confirm paperwork is all in order.

Quote from CAB website -
The County Court Bailiffs can enforce Judgments up to £5,000 by the seizure and sale of your debtor’s goods. Permission to issue a Warrant of Execution is needed if the judgment is more than six years old.

Unless the District Judge orders otherwise, the bailiff gives your debtor seven days notice of Execution Action. Once the seven days has expired, the bailiff attends at your debtor’s premises and usually encourages your debtor to sign a “walking possession” agreement. This is not mandatory and the bailiff cannot force their way onto the property in order to gain access to the goods inside. By signing the agreement, the debtor promises not to remove the goods in exchange for being given the opportunity to find the money and clear the debt in full.

If the debt is not paid there and then, then the goods are removed and sold at auction. However, it should be noted that any of the Bailiff’s and court fees associated with the sale are deducted before the remainder is paid to you.

The Bailiff cannot remove any items, which the debtor needs, including vehicles, for personal or professional use or to satisfy the basic domestic needs of the debtor and their family.

They are liable (not against the law, but if they've got it wrong they'll be liable) if they remove items without checking protocol. I find it difficult to believe that these people were threatening you (that's against the law) and did not allow you to put your case. If they had taken your car with it's contents that would be theft for which they would go to prison, as they can ONLY remove goods to which they have a right to posession. But it is well within the law for them to remove, by force (but not violence) items that belong to them. Usually they either drive the car off with the key you give them or crane it onto a flatbed vehicle and drive it away. If they'd taken your briefcase, tools, wallet in the car, I'd call the police and tell them these people have stolen from you. Usually they take the car late at night and write to you to collect the contents from their depot (that way they're not stealing).

With hindsdight, you should have put the vehicle in the garage or if your driveway had gates, lock them. The bailifs would then have needed a police presence/access court order to retrieve their goods.


Baillifs have very little 'real' access rights without a police presence, but many perceived rights which they take advantage of. I assume you have all their paperwork, court order, instruction to remove, etc.

A solicitors letter outlining all of these actions, left an ill person carless, etc sent to BMW UK and BMW Finance should have the desired effect, providing you only missed those two payments. Again, having worked in credit for many years, removal of goods is usually the very last line of attack as it's expensive (cost of admin, bailifs, court orders) so if the monthly payments are a few hundred quid this does seem like total overkill - however, bottom line is that they are entitled to reclaim their goods at any point of default by yourself, you just don't normally expect it.

Perhaps BMW have been stung recently with spurious purchasers defaulting and you've just got them at the wrong time/in the middle of a crackdown, if you know what I mean.

Either way, if your right I'd play on your helplessness and if need be go to local newspaper about it. Media attention is never good for businesses, whatever their size.

Keep us all updated on this.

nej

Have I missed something here, but I remember watching one of those TV shows about bailiffs, and they went to this guys house to collect a car, and he was given a chance to pay them there and then. They even waited a few hours for him to get the money together.

Couldn't you (the OP) have just paid them, if you had the money available?