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

evilgiraf

Sounds like the same people I talked with when I was there.

In the end I decided to not take my claim any further as the advice I was receiving (Consumer Direct / Trading Standards) suggested that I had no guarantee of getting my money back let alone any extra costs (£30 for lodging small claim, £30 for processing, £50 for bailiff if necessary).

It certainly seems that there just isn't enough support for the honest public to prevent companies/people getting away with this kind of business practice.

Any advice appreciated.

Rebrabuk

evilgiraf wrote: »

It certainly seems that there just isn't enough support for the honest public to prevent companies/people getting away with this kind of business practice.

Any advice appreciated.

Personally, i've found that these problems are more common in the motor trade, whether it be car sales or garage repairs.

Having purchased my first ever car from a small 'backstreet' type of garage and had a bad experience, my 5 cars since then have all been bought privately. Since then I've had a number of bad experiences with garage repairs (from franchised dealerships right down to backstreet garages) and on each occasion it has not been worth the hassle/expense of pursuing a complaint.

I conclude that my interpretation of 'a valuable sum of money', is not equal to that of most businesses, or our Government.

However, it is through these bad experiences that i've learned a bit about mechanics and car repairs to be able to carry out most repairs myself these days. It does pain me each time i hear of a horror story from a friend or relative who has had to rely on the services of the motor trade though.

Equaliser123

evilgiraf wrote: »

It certainly seems that there just isn't enough support for the honest public to prevent companies/people getting away with this kind of business practice.

Any advice appreciated.

You had the option to sue for recovery. You didn't.

You have actually made it more beneficial for companies like this to get away with it.

nobeard

Hi people, for what it's worth the Office of Fair Trading have published a 'Guidance for secondhand car dealers' to outline what the law does and does not allow these people to do, a google search for oft1241 will give you the link to download it.

I am a customer of riverview cars ltd of south shields and i can personally vouch for their dishonesty and untrustworthiness.
I bought a car from them in May this year, it was advertised on autotrader as having 2 keys, alarmed, excellent condition, 70K, FSH, just serviced.. in fact it had 1 key (i was told other had been misplaced & promised it would be posted asap but it never arrived), no alarm (battery in the remote key was flat when i viewed & bought car, was assured this would be replaced but it wasn't), unrepaired damage (was assured that a damaged door seal would be replaced if i bought the car, it wasn't), an intermittent electrical fault, a logged mileage of over 82,000 (falling mysteriously to the advertised 70K just before i bought the car, according to car's own data) and the service history book was stamped up to date by riverview cars themselves although they had failed to carry out any of the major required service operations they claimed to have done (oil change, oil, air, fuel filters).

I have now had to buy a key and a door seal, at a cost of almost £200. Riverview cars refuse to refund the cost, or even to offer anything towards it.
An alarm will cost a further £288 to be installed.
I've also had to have the engine genuinely serviced to avoid the contamination and damage which it would have suffered had i simply believed riverview cars & trusted their stamp.

Trading Standards policy towards this dealer seems to be to ignore the prosecutable offences they commit, and to dissuade their victims from taking civil action themselves. I don't understand this, unless it comes down to who you know or are related to?