Refund of deposit paid over the phone

Kestrel

Hi, just looking to see of anyone knows my rights please?
This evening (5.17pm) I phoned Arnold Clark at Northwich regarding a car I was interested in. I paid a £100 deposit over the phone to reserve the car. I've now had received their agreement by email, which I don't agree with so I've not completed the process. I replied to their email at 8.04pm saying I can't accept the agreement which they emailed to me and I've requested my deposit back. As my deposit was paid over the phone I wasn't given any T&Cs about the deposit. Am I correct in thinking that a deposit paid over the phone is subject to a 7 day cooling off period?

loskie

I would suggest avoiding AC at all costs

Kestrel

Yes, now that I've read their agreement I don't want to enter into a contract with them. Had I been in a showroom and been able to see the agreement, I wouldn't have signed and therefore wouldn't have given them a £100 holding deposit. I only got to see the agreement AFTER I'd given them my credit card details over the phone for the £100 and they emailed the agreement. I have no receipt for the £100 and no T&Cs regarding the "holding deposit"
I feel sick

TadleyBaggie

Car salesman working on a Sunday evening...are you sure you were talking to a real one?

Kestrel

I'm guessing he was desperate for a sale because he didn't explain exactly or clearly what the reservation deposit was for...it's only now I've read the agreement that it's in fact a £100 deposit towards the cost of the car which the agreement states I WILL BUY! Hence, I don't agree and won't complete.
I thought I was paying a refundable £100 deposit to reserve the car until I'd seen it - not to get an agreement emailed to me which enters me into a contract to buy something I've never laid my eyes on.

macman

So you put down a £100 deposit on a vehicle you hadn't seen, but didn't ask if the deposit was returnable? There is no such thing as a holding deposit. A deposit means that you contract to purchase the vehicle and confirm this by making a part payment. In return, the garage agrees not to sell it to anyone else.
Most likely you will just lose your deposit-but have AC actually said that?

loskie

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/distance-selling-regulations


If you have not visited the dealer you are entitled to a refund

Kestrel

Well according to Arnold Clark there is such a thing as a holding deposit.
I did ask if the deposit was refundable if I didn't purchase the car and he said yes, he explained it as me paying a deposit to take it off sale until I'd seen it but that isn't what the agreement states, the agreement states it's £100 towards the car which if I completed online, I'd be duty bound to buy hence I won't complete it and hence I'm now questioning the accuracy of what I was told regarding my £100.
Arnold Clark haven't said I won't get my £100 back but I'd rather be fully clued up about my rights before getting on the phone to them in the morning. Why should I lose my deposit if it's part of an agreement that I don't agree with?

Kestrel

loskie wrote: »

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/distance-selling-regulations


If you have not visited the dealer you are entitled to a refund

Thank you.

I haven't visited the dealer. I saw the car online, phoned to ask a couple of questions about it and explained that the soonest I'd be able to see the car would be next Sunday, 11th November as it's not local to me. The salesman said other people were interested and that if I paid a £100 (refundable) deposit he would take it off sale until I'd seen it...he didn't explain that the £100 was actually a deposit on the car and that I'd have to complete the agreement.

I'd have been happy to pay a refundable £100 until I'd seen it. What I'm not happy about is being led into an agreement to buy the car without having seen it and finding out that the £100 is part of that agreement and not what it was portrayed as.

TuppenceWorth

Firstly, well done for reading all the terms of the agreement. A lot of people will sign anything...

Ask for your money back as the verbal information does not match the written.

Secondly, it would make absolutely no sense for a company to take a REFUNDABLE deposit to take a car off the market for a whole week.
Good luck

unholyangel

macman wrote: »

So you put down a £100 deposit on a vehicle you hadn't seen, but didn't ask if the deposit was returnable? There is no such thing as a holding deposit. A deposit means that you contract to purchase the vehicle and confirm this by making a part payment. In return, the garage agrees not to sell it to anyone else.
Most likely you will just lose your deposit-but have AC actually said that?

Thats actually wrong, its the other way around.

Legally, a deposit is a reservation fee (and as such wont be more than a very small % of the contract price) or a "holding deposit" if you prefer. But the average person would likely call any advance payment a deposit.

OP the first thing to understand is how contracts work. In a nutshell, one of you makes an offer, the other accepts and thus a binding contract is formed. Once a contract is formed, you cannot vary that agreement by adding or changing T&C's - each party is only bound by the obligations they agreed to accept at the time of entering the contract. So either the terms don't apply and there is a contract, or they could add terms because there was no contract - they can't have it both ways.

Even if there is a contract, if there is no face to face contact up until the point a contract is concluded then they would be subject to the consumer contract regulations - which requires traders to give certain information before you are bound by the contract and in any event, would allow you to cancel for a full refund.