Riverview Cars Ltd: Won't honour their promise of deposit refund

evilgiraf

Dear MSE's,

A month ago I found a car on AutoTrader.co.uk and phoned the company, Riverside Cars Ltd of South Shields, and placed a deposit of £100 with my debit card to hold the car for a couple of days as the garage was a fair way away and I didn't want to find out it had been sold on arrival.

When placing the deposit I asked and it was confirmed that the deposit was refundable.

When I went to view the car it was not the model described; being a lower power variant and slightly different spec. After deciding not to purchase I requested that the deposit be refunded and was told that this would happen at the end of the days trading. As we were leaving I asked and was provided with a handwritten receipt with minimal details on.

At this point in time I am still waiting for the refund and have phoned the company about 8 times over the last month and each time been fobbed off with excuses:
- Yes it has been refunded and may take up to 4 days.
- Sorry, we're not aware of the situation but will get someone to call you back.
- We'll call the card company and find out why there is a delay and call you back.

Needless to say I have never been phoned back by Riverview Cars and have had to do all the chasing but without success.
:wall:

My question is What is my best course of action?
- Small claims,
- Office of Fair Trading,
- Other?
:think:

Many thanks for your time and any input you can provide!

pcombo

You messed the company about potentionaly making them lose a sale from someone else who might of wanted to buy the car.

Im quite sure this is why the deposit system was invented to stop people being messed about.

Small claims court will just laugh at you and take there fee and you will be out of more money.

p.s i love a good deposit - refund thread

shaun_from_Africa

You messed the company about potentionaly making them lose a sale from someone else who might of wanted to buy the car.

Maybe if another person wanted to buy the car they wouldn't have minded that the one advertised was of a different spec to the actual model offered for sale.
If the garage couldn't honour the deal by providing the car advertised, why do you think that they should be allowed to keep the deposit?
They are the ones who broke the contract and not the OP.

Send them a letter before action stating exactly why you want you deposit refunded, then if they fail to repay you, take the small claims route.
The other option you have if your card vas a visa debit card is to contact the card issuer and inform them of what has happened and state that you wish to make a "section 75" claim.
If it wasn't a visa debit, then contact your bank and tell them that you want to do a payment chargeback for the payment.

arcon5

Usually I would agree with the above, but in this case where the company told op the deposit was refundable then they should refund the deposit !! Especially since the car wasn't as described!!

If you paid by credit card I would be calling them, especially if you have a note saying they will refund the deposit.

Otherwise a letter before action might be sufficient.

pcombo

lol didn't read that bit my bad.

Hope you get a refund OP, if not just dispute ti with bank

evilgiraf

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Send them a letter before action stating exactly why you want you deposit refunded, then if they fail to repay you, take the small claims route.
The other option you have if your card vas a visa debit card is to contact the card issuer and inform them of what has happened and state that you wish to make a "section 75" claim.
If it wasn't a visa debit, then contact your bank and tell them that you want to do a payment chargeback for the payment.

I think I read somewhere that Section 75's apply to Credit cards only.

Could someone tell me whether Chargeback applies to deposits and if so what do I need to present to my card company?

Thanks again for the quick response and advice

arcon5

evilgiraf wrote: »

I think I read somewhere that Section 75's apply to Credit cards only.

Could someone tell me whether Chargeback applies to deposits and if so what do I need to present to my card company?

Thanks again for the quick response and advice

I think he means a chargeback if your using Visa debit. Section 75 does only apply to CCs/credit agreements. Chargebacks aren't always as reliable though,, but always worth a telephone call.

Lavendyr

pcombo wrote: »

You messed the company about potentionaly making them lose a sale from someone else who might of wanted to buy the car.

Im quite sure this is why the deposit system was invented to stop people being messed about.

Small claims court will just laugh at you and take there fee and you will be out of more money.

p.s i love a good deposit - refund thread

Rubbish. The item was not as advertised and the OP was specifically told that the deposit WAS refundable.

Oh, and it's "might have", not "might of". :mad:

OP, as others have said, if you paid your deposit by credit card or Visa debit, try to use the chargeback facility by calling your provider.

If that doesn't work, send a letter before action formally requesting your deposit and warning them that you will take further action should the deposit not be returned within X days (7-14?).

Then go to Moneyclaim online and file your claim if still no refund.

Enfieldian

pcombo wrote: »

You messed the company about potentionaly making them lose a sale from someone else who might of wanted to buy the car.

Im quite sure this is why the deposit system was invented to stop people being messed about.

Small claims court will just laugh at you and take there fee and you will be out of more money.

p.s i love a good deposit - refund thread

You would be better off deleting this entire post.

evilgiraf

Thank you for all of your support! :beer:

I will write the letter tomorrow and send it off ASAP: I will update the thread with any progress and hopefully others can benefit from the advice.

Thanks again

evilgiraf

Just a quick additional question after reading a template letter;
Would it be reasonable to ask for additional costs i.e. the not insignificant fuel cost of either the round trip or one way?

It's not clear to me whether this would be considered an incurred cost; I would not have made the journey had I known the correct details of the vehicle beforehand, however, I would have had to make the journey to inspect the vehicle if all had been correct.

Many thanks again.