Can fraudsters get away so easily?

yufengfeng9

I feel very powerless in this situation and it seems no one could help me. As I am writing the fraudsters are still making thousands of pounds of ill-earned money. Can fraudsters really get away so easily?

I just bought a used car worth £2700 from a dealer called 'the UK car sales' on Ronding road, Manchester on 11th February 2013. But on my receipt it was written 'M C car sales'. When I test drove it the engine management light was on. They switched it off for me and they told me it's just a small problem. They said they will fix it for me if it came back on.

The engine management light came back on soon after I bought it. I tried to fix this problem from my local garage but soon they found this is more than just a sensor problem and the repair cost could be up to £300. At this point I took the car back to the garage.

I asked for a refund and they refused it. They offered me £2000 to buy the car off me which I cannot accept. They offered me exchange but I test drove 2 more cars from them and they both have serious problems! One of them has a big crack on the windscreen and the other one showed low in engine oil but the lid for the engine oil can’t even be removed! There was another fiesta and the battery was completely dead.

It was very very clear to me that most of the car they sell are seriously faulty, but they are still selling them at a price as if they are just normal cars with small problems.

I decided not to exchange.

I stayed at their site for 5 hours and felt completely humiliated and very, very cold ( it was 0°C and they shut us outside their office). To be precise they said to me 'You are talking like a baby and come back talk to me when you grow up'.

They told me to leave the car to a garage they appointed. I went there on 13th March 2013 and left the car. The next day they have confirmed the problem and quoted £300 to fix the car. Since then I’ve been calling them daily to ask for authorization of the repair but only got a response saying 'we'll sort it out for you'. Then, on 20th March they changed their response and told me because they offered me a discount (the original price was £2995 and I paid £2700), they can’t repair for me. I have to pay them another £295!

As I looked up 'M C car sales' from internet I found a thread on the website 'consumer action group', stating they bought a second hand Fiesta from a company named 'TTE car sales' or 'TTW car sales' and on the receipt it was also 'M C car sales'. The registered owner is A. Knight. Whereas the owner for the 'UK car sales' is S. Knight.

Subsequently, I looked on Google map and 'UK car sales' did not exist at the current site by October, 2012.

I highly suspect that this is a group of fraudsters who passed on the register name of the company in the family and whenever pursued by legal law enforcement they would move around to avoid being punished.

I have called the consumer advice help line and I was told I could pursue court action against the dealer. However, as I read from the thread a response from trading standards:

Enforcement costs are not recoverable and sometimes not successful. For example, if you were to sue the owner of the business at his home address, a bailiff cannot force entry into a home. If you pursued your claim against TTW/TTE/MC Car Sales - a bailiff can enter the premises but can only seize goods that are not the "tools of the trade". The court system is often not successful.

So if they change their company addresses or names again or they refuse to pay the claims there seems to be very few things I could do!

Overall, it seems that no one could help me and any of the people who were scammed! As I'm writing they are still selling at a rate of 50 cars per week (quote). I used every penny of my savings to buy this car. I believe this is not just my problem but a problem for a huge number of people as I read from a report from office of fair trading: 'We estimate that the total cost to consumers of fixing problems that dealers have a legal obligation to resolve but fail to do so is at least £85 million per year.' Is there any thing we could do to protect our own rights? Is there any one that could put the fraudsters away so that they could stop stealing people's hard earned money?

steve-L

Read both these then ask more questions

http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/publications/publication-categories/reports/consumer-protection/oft1241#.UU-HXY4oyEw

Lum

Did you pay by cash or did you pay some or all of the money by card? If so what type?

yufengfeng9

Lum wrote: »

Did you pay by cash or did you pay some or all of the money by card? If so what type?

Thanks! I paid by visa debit and I have called for refund via chargeback scheme...but they refused it. I have now posted them an official letter and waiting for responses. As i have heard this can be a very slow process...

Hoof_Hearted

People who know little about cars must take someone more knowledgeable with them. The engine management light could be anything and it would be enough for me to look elsewhere. They may have swirched it off by disconnecting the cable for all you know. There are plenty of cars around. In the circumstances, I would get the repair done and the use small claims, which is a cost-effective way of trying to recover your money. It's a sad old world when people are blatantly dishonest and seem to get away with it.