Cancelling car cleaning 'pack'

jimpix12

Hi guys. I posted this in the Motoring thread but think it'd be better here... Apologies for the length but thanks to anyone who reads it!

I bought a new BMW last month and the dealers added on 4 products that I was not aware of and nobody discussed or mentioned them. They were:

Tyre Insurance
Paint Protection
GAP insurance
One-off paint protector (GardX) (£499)

I cancelled the top 3 within 14 days and dealer refunded me after I sent 2 letters. However I asked for the 4th option, GardX to be cancelled but the dealer has finally told me after some delays they wont refund it. The reason they gave is that a) it has been applied to the car already, b) it's not an insurance product so 14 day cooling off/FSA stuff doesn't apply and c) everyone could ask for it , then cancel it later and get a full refund. Of course, I did not ask for it at any point so thanks for implying I'm conning YOU Mr Dealer

Now, onto this fandangled GardX product. The dealer says it's a one-off application that takes 4 hours (his words). However the little notebook they gave me, says that the GardX warranty is valid for 8 years - as long as it is reapplied every MONTH, then they will come out and fix any scratches (usual caveats apply, i.e. they will find every reason not to do this).

The dealer also said (verbally) that this product was applied BY DEFAULT to every new car unless requested otherwise by the customer!! :mad: Surely this is illegal?

So it sounds like a insurance type product for me, possibly. My questions are as follows:

1. Is it true that there is no cooling off period for this type of product?

2. Does this sound like an Insurance product or Warranty type product to anyone else? Surely this does come under the 14 day cancellation period??

3. This GardX product was never outlined to me, is there not a duty of care to outline what we are buying?

I paid with the car on finance and the £500 fee is included in the finance payments. Have I got a case for TS/FSA or anything?

PS: If you're considering leaving a snarky reply, kindly don't bother, blackbeard has already done the honours!!

mo786uk

You could complain to TS that its a deceptive trading practice.

Not sure what civil rights you have if you have already 'agreed' to it by signing the agreement.

Nairn1980

As an ex car salesman the paint protection is pretty good but costs the dealer a double figure sum of money. £499 is a huge amount for it.

Surely you signed for all these products? Certainly they should have been explained and not sold assumptively however you should have checked your sales invoices etc in detail BEFORE signing.

jimpix12

Nairn1980 wrote: »

As an ex car salesman the paint protection is pretty good but costs the dealer a double figure sum of money. £499 is a huge amount for it.

Surely you signed for all these products? Certainly they should have been explained and not sold assumptively however you should have checked your sales invoices etc in detail BEFORE signing.

They didn't provide me with the correct invoice/receipt, it did not have these products on. I had to request it. Was this on purpose? No idea, possibly. Once I noticed it, I was not happy, shall we say. But yes, I accept ultimately it is my fault for not noticing their deceptive practices.

mo786uk

You cannot be tied into a contract if you haven't agreed to it - so can you explain in depth the sales process and when you were given the price and paperwork and when the guard was applied?

jimpix12

mo786uk wrote: »

You cannot be tied into a contract if you haven't agreed to it - so can you explain in depth the sales process and when you were given the price and paperwork and when the guard was applied?

Sure. We went through some figures based on the monthly amount, with the dealer on their computer screen. These figures included the above products I assume, but they didn't tell me that. I spent a few hours there negotiating so you think there would have been time to tell me they were included, if they wanted to.

I agreed on the price, I signed a contract. The dealer pack they gave me to take home that day, did not have the contract inside. I went back in a week later to collect the car and they gave me the contract (GardX already applied by this point, the day before apparently) , saying they must have forgotten to give it to me. I checked it over and then noticed the above products were there. The price was the same though. That's why I think they purposely didn't add them to the original contract, but maybe I'm just paranoid. Regardless, I didn't want it, the markup for a £20 piece of kit seems excessive, too.

EDIT: It's worth stating I told the sales guy I did not want the GardX, in the early stages of negotiation he tried to convince me otherwise but I stayed firm. Yes I accept that it was done verbally and again I should have checked, but this is another aspect which makes me think they pulled a fast one on me. I bought a car from them a few years before and told them I did not want the GardX and that was the end of it.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Blackbeard will now interpret for the hard of reading.

OP bought a car and signed the paperwork without reading it.

It was too hard to read at the time and OP had better things to do.

visidigi

spunko2010 wrote: »

Well, that gets the smart-arsed reply out the way. Do I owe you some money for these words of wisdom? If you had taken the time to read my replies you'll have noticed I didn't sign for these, you silly ****.

I suggest you read the rules. Such language is inappropriate round here.

As for buying a car from BMW they provide you multiple copies of documents to sign and go through - even if you didn't leave the dealer with the documents you have to sign them for them to process the order.

The fact is with finance this is even more involved as the finance rep at the dealer goes through the whole process - this goes through the numbers, breaks down the values etc.

There is no way you just signed a piece of paper and had none of this shown to you until you asked for the contract.

What you said basically means you have little room for maneuver.

I agreed on the price, I signed a contract.

mo786uk

From a practical perspective there is not much you can do TBH - it will be easy for them to say they told you - but i would still report it

I don't agree that they MUST have shown the ins and outs - the contract is a complex document and its easy for salespeople to bamboozle people and leave things out.

This type of complaint about extras being added on in this was in not uncommon - yes you could say consumers should spend ages at the dealership reading every word, but most people take the dealer at their word and expect an honest deal.

artbaron

spunko2010 wrote: »

One-off paint protector (GardX) (£499)

...

Now, onto this fandangled GardX product. The dealer says it's a one-off application that takes 4 hours (his words). However the little notebook they gave me, says that the GardX warranty is valid for 8 years - as long as it is reapplied every MONTH, then they will come out and fix any scratches (usual caveats apply, i.e. they will find every reason not to do this).

These type of products are scams, pure and simple. It's just polish and it costs the dealer about £20. If you want to keep your car showroom then buy a decent polish (£25) and a pot of Dodo Juice Supernatural Wax (£65), polish once a year and wax a couple of times a year. It'll last you six years and give far better protection that that £500 !!!!.

Felicity

Having bought a new car myself recently I know exactly what has happened here. It is not right, but you are not out of pocket. It is just a manipulation of the figures for the salesperson & dealership to obtain maximum commission.

The dealer has sold you a car. For example - the RRP is £30k.

The salesperson / dealer would have known the absolute lowest price they would have accepted for the car. For example - £25k.

The salesperson gets paid high commissions by selling these high margin add on products but yes, most people know they are what they are and don't buy them.

The salesperson gets around this by agreeing a price with you, say £28k for the car, no add ons included. They then discount the car further to £27k (on the paperwork) and add on an extra £1k in high margin / high commission / useless add on products.

You have paid the price you expected so are happy. The salesperson gets maximum commission so is a win win situation.

They should have been honest with you though and you are probably kicking yourself for knowing that you didn't negotiate the maximum discount initially.

You could look at it another way - you paid the money you initially wanted, you were happy with the price but now have more items than you expected (albeit it they are a bit useless!).

HTH!