Purchased Registration Plate in Feb 2009

Vegitto

I bought a registration plate from Newreg.com. However, soon after making the payment (in less then 24 hours) I rang them to cancel my order.

However, they said that they could not give me a refund and that they registration plates did not come under the consumer act.

Now, I have received a letter saying that my plate will expire in March 2010 and this would mean that I would lose all my money over something I did not even use.

Is there a way to get my money refunded?

dreamypuma

Vegitto wrote: »

I bought a registration plate from Newreg.com. However, soon after making the payment (in less then 24 hours) I rang them to cancel my order.

However, they said that they could not give me a refund and that they registration plates did not come under the consumer act.

Now, I have received a letter saying that my plate will expire in March 2010 and this would mean that I would lose all my money over something I did not even use.

Is there a way to get my money refunded?

I'm assuming that the plate is on a V778 Retention Document and you haven't applied it to a car yet.

You will have to complete the reminder form that the DVLA send you and pay £25 for each year that you choose maintain your entitlement on retention alternatively, you could apply it to a car and avoid the annual fee (you've probably already paid the transfer fee). If you don't pay you will lose your entitlement. (you never actually own the number, you are granted entitlement to use the number)

If you bought the plate over the internet or phone, I am sure that this would fall under Distance Selling Regs, as it covers the sale of goods as well as services. This would have offered you a cooling off period, allowing you time to cancel.

I'm not sure what come back you would have after a year particularly as it seems as your post sale dealings were all verbal.

neilmcl

dreamypuma wrote: »

If you bought the plate over the internet or phone, I am sure that this would fall under Distance Selling Regs, as it covers the sale of goods as well as services. This would have offered you a cooling off period, allowing you time to cancel.

As the plate was personalised for the OP then the DSRs wouldn't apply.

Vegitto

neilmcl wrote: »

As the plate was personalised for the OP then the DSRs wouldn't apply.

It wasn't personalised, it was just a normal number plate.

Darksun

Vegitto wrote: »

It wasn't personalised, it was just a normal number plate.

It is personalised though, they had to print your registration on it surely? Or is it just a blank numberplate

stugib

Darksun wrote: »

It is personalised though, they had to print your registration on it surely? Or is it just a blank numberplate

I'm assuming the OP meant he bought the entitlement to use the particular sequence of numbers and letters rather than a physical bit of plastic with them on, given he said it was now about to expire.

Vegitto

stugib wrote: »

I'm assuming the OP meant he bought the entitlement to use the particular sequence of numbers and letters rather than a physical bit of plastic with them on, given he said it was now about to expire.

Yes, My mistake, it is the entitlement only at this point. However, I wanted to return it as soon as i bought it but they said that consumer laws did not apply to them.

Can I argue that they misled me?

hartcjhart

where did they mislead you????

stugib

Vegitto wrote: »

However, I wanted to return it as soon as i bought it but they said that consumer laws did not apply to them.?

Well as a blanket statement it's obviously nonsense, but they do deal with this in their T&Cs as they're written now:

Under the Distance Selling Regulations The Company must notify you that the service we provide begins as soon as The Registration Mark is reserved on your behalf, subsequently there is no 'cooling off period', the transaction cannot be reversed and no refund can be given.

I think the key word there is 'service'. You're not buying a product, (and in this case especially not one that needs to be inspected after delivery because you're buying at a distance) you're purchasing a service for them to aquire the plate on your behalf from the DVLA. I'd imagine this process is pretty much automated and as soon as you clicked to buy then the purchase went through at the DVLA and the plate was yours. They'd provided the service for doing this, which was non-refundable.

Slightly unusual, but I'd err on the side that you're not entitled to a refund.

peachyprice

stugib wrote: »

Slightly unusual, but I'd err on the side that you're not entitled to a refund.

Especially not a year after the event

Hintza

So you paid for the number a year ago and have done nothing about it since and you now want your money back.

Well if you don't sort it with the DVLA you will lose both your money and your plate.