Holding Deposit Refund

hair1152

HI all, newbie here.
Please put in right forum if this is wrong! Sorry.

Recently i saw a car on auto-trader/e-bay. I sent of proofs of myself and income and got accepted. Paid £200 deposit over the phone to the company. After waiting 3weeks for the finance people to contact me ( still waiting) out of the blue i got a phone call, " are you picking your ca up " No i replied i couldn't afford to wait 3weeks so had to go elsewhere. After getting fobbed of all this week by the girl who dealt with me, Today she decided to tell me i wouldnt be entitled to any kind of a refund as this was a holding deposit and was used to prep the car.

Sorry for the big story!!!

Is she right in telling me im not entitled to get any of my holding deposit back???

Thanks in advance for anyone who can shed any light on this for me
Cheers hair1152

[Deleted User]

I would say she's right. If deposits were always refundable, then there would be no point in taking them. The deposit means they hold the car for you, when they could have sold it to someone else in the meantime.

They may allow you to transfer the deposit to another car.

smi85

Eh.. You paid a deposit on a car, waited 3 weeks and didn't stay in contact with them and in the meantime bought a car elsewhere? If you couldn't afford to wait 3 weeks, firstly why didn't you bring this up when you paid the deposit and secondly, why did you wait 3 weeks to tell them you couldn't wait 3 weeks and wanted your money back?

somethingcorporate

Deleted_User wrote: »

I would say she's right. If deposits were always refundable, then there would be no point in taking them. The deposit means they hold the car for you, when they could have sold it to someone else in the meantime.

They may allow you to transfer the deposit to another car.

Only provable losses can be retained from the deposit.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=42873192&postcount=16

I'd suggest the full £200 cannot be retained, whether it would be worth pursuing depends on how much you value your time but I certainly would!

hair1152

smi85 wrote: »

Eh.. You paid a deposit on a car, waited 3 weeks and didn't stay in contact with them and in the meantime bought a car elsewhere? If you couldn't afford to wait 3 weeks, firstly why didn't you bring this up when you paid the deposit and secondly, why did you wait 3 weeks to tell them you couldn't wait 3 weeks and wanted your money back?

I was in contact with them, i was told the finance would speak to me. I work nights so dont always get calls. but i was told a message was left on my phone- voicemail turned off on mobile no messages on house phone.
I would understand if they held an admin fee or something like that but not all.. that means they have a car prepped for the next mug, getting my £200 and his wow quids in

hair1152

i told them i was having to pay taxi fares whilst i was waiting because public transport is not available when i go to work, thats why i went elsewhere

KingElvis

You need to click here pronto.

hair1152

Doesnt realy matter i got a better car for less, more back up free PROPPER warranty, just thought i might be entitled to a bit back. Ah well another expensive lesson learned,,,,,, never pay a deposit for nothing over the phone with a bunch of @+~#ers.
Thanks for the sensible replies guys

Apples2

hair1152 wrote: »

more back up free PROPPER warranty,

You won't know that until you try to claim on it. Good luck though.

sandraroffey

surely this is the whole point of leaving deposits???? they hold the goods for you, but you change your mind, you lose the deposit.

somethingcorporate

sandraroffey wrote: »

surely this is the whole point of leaving deposits???? they hold the goods for you, but you change your mind, you lose the deposit.

How about you read the thread before contributing?

Have a look at the link to the Consumer Rights FAQ that I posted. No, deposits cannot be automatically non-refundable if you change your mind.

There are specific remedies for breach of contract, none of which are full surrender of any money paid as deposit if it would constitute a financial penalty.