HELP - Motorpoint issues!

AlisonCD

• Saturday 27th April:

Visited Motorpoint for the first time. Spoke to an adviser called David who assisted us with our enquiries. Test drove a white BMW 1 Series. Spoke about part exchange and that I could get £3500 for my Mini Cooper but because it was not there, this price could change. I said I would look at other colours of BMWs on their website and get back in touch if I saw one I preferred online as he had said that for a small refundable fee I could have it transported from another depot.

I received an email whilst I was there about ‘MAP Key Information’ which refers to the FCA arrangements.

I received an email in the evening detailed ‘Your recent enquiry to Motorpoint’ which had details of a car I did not view, an Audi A3 Diesel Sportback, so I discarded this email as a mistake.

• Sunday 28th April:

Emailed David with ‘I was in yesterday and have been looking online at BMWs on the website. I’ve seen one stock ID 1012922, but it’s based in Birtley. I was just wondering about the terms around moving the vehicle up here if you could provide more information on this please?’
I did not receive a response to this email so I phoned and spoke to David to ask for the car to be brought up. I asked several times for reassurance that I would be refunded the money should I not take the car. There was no inclination that should I purchase the car then I would need to pay £99. I paid £100 over the phone and asked if I would be sent a confirmation email. I was told I would receive this in due course but never did. I was told that it could take up to 10 working days for the vehicle to arrive but that a colleague would be in touch.

I received an email just after this phone call stating that ‘attached policy information in relation to the Motorpoint Protect products we have discussed.’ We did not discuss this during the phone call and I was confused about receiving this email so I responded ‘What are the documents attached? Will I receive confirmation of getting 1012922 sent to Glasgow?’ He replied ‘The documents attached are for the facilities we offer over and above the price of the car. Yes, you will receive an email with the breakdown of the deal.’ I did not receive this email.

• Wednesday 1st May:

I emailed David to ask about the whereabouts of the BMW. I received an automated response to contact his colleague, Liam. I phoned Liam’s number and he advised that the vehicle was due to arrive that day. We had several conversations to arrange an appropriate time to view the vehicle to suit family who wanted to come with me. I made it clear that I wanted to test drive the vehicle first. We arranged a time for the Thursday which suited me, my parents and partner to attend.

• Thursday 2nd May:

The four of us visited Motorpoint at 5pm. I had not brought my Mini Cooper for viewing as I did not want to commit to anything on the Thursday. I and the others I was with spent a while inspecting the car with a checklist I had brought with me. Afterwards I asked to test drive the car with Liam in the car and my mum. When we returned to the depot we discussed the cost with Liam. He advised that he would not do a deal, and would not take any money from the cost of the car which we were told was £15,799. My partner asked if they would potentially move on the price of the part exchange which had been provisionally quoted to us by David on the Saturday and he said this would only be possible when he and his manager got to view the car. No reference was made to the ‘Pre-Delivery Fee’ nor the ‘Transport Charge.’ We were offered the other products available like the warranty and asset protection and were given literature away to refer to. We arranged a further meeting on Friday at 4.50pm.

• Friday 3rd May:

My parents and I arrived at the depot at 4.50pm and asked for Liam. Liam saw us arrive, asked if the Mini Cooper parked at the front was mine and he and one of his colleagues went to view it while we waited.

When he came back in we were pointed towards David R. This point of the process was very rushed.

David R proceeded with the sale but we had to confirm what the final trade-in price was as no-one had said. We asked if they had reconsidered the £3500 trade-in price but David confirmed that they would not increase this offer.

The contents of the sales invoice were not discussed with us nor were any of the other documents on the computer screen which was tilted away from us. We only got to physically view the ‘HPI Check’ document which was printed out for us to study. Only researching since I have found that the HPI Check is included in the ‘Pre-delivery fee’ but this was not said at the time or I would most certainly have raised my concerns. No ‘Pre-Delivery Fee’ or ‘Transport Charge’ was mentioned at all. We were asked again if we wanted to take out any of the extra cover to which we declined until we were able to research this further.

To add to the confusion, not only was I trading in my own vehicle but the remaining cost was split 50/50 between my parents and I which is how we did not pick up on the £198 extra on the sales invoice. Whilst we were finalising the deal I was also on the phone to my insurance company and then David began the process with the change of ownership and the road tax. There was a lot of information with not a lot of time to digest it.

Once the deal had been finalised and I had left the building, I received an email with the following attachments: Signed Order, Collection Summary, Facilities Document, Cherished Transfer details (if applicable), Motorpoint Terms & Conditions. From this, when I had time to study it, I found the discrepancy in the ‘Sales Invoice’ detailing that I had been charged £99 for the ‘Pre-Delivery Fee’ and £99 for the ‘Transport Charge.’ I had not been advised of either at any point during this process.


Other points:

• In small print at the bottom of the Motorpoint website it states: ‘A Pre-Delivery Fee of £99 (optional) includes HPI Certificate, PDI, Service (if required) and valet.’ We were not given this option nor told about it at all. Further, this section of the website one must presume refers to the ‘Pre-Delivery Fee’ does not refer to a cost.
• It also states ‘Vehicles may be moved from site to site at an additional cost.’ I had been told I would be refunded the money so had no reason to believe that this cost would be added to the cost of the vehicle if I were to purchase it.
• With reference to the option for ‘Reserve and Collect’ the website provides the following information: ‘The £300.00 deposit is a reservation fee which takes the car off site and means the car can't be purchased by another person. The £300.00 reservation fee is included in the total amount payable and is not an additional fee. If you have chosen to purchase your car using Finance the £300.00 reservation fee is included in the amount you wish to pay towards your deposit. If you do not wish to proceed with the purchase of the car we will refund your £300.00 reservation fee and the car will be listed back on our site.’
Therefore why would one assume that the £100 deposit they had put down on their car would not be an additional fee?

Please help!

Mr.Generous

I presume you have signed something in the trade premises agreeing to these terms? That was the time to disagree and the charges would have vanished in a flash.

AlisonCD

They didn’t show us the breakdown at the time. They skipped past the sales invoice which I received afterwards as an attachment in an email. It was clearly hidden from us prior to signing as it was only the HPI document made available at the time.

Smellyonion

You purchased the vehicle? You paid the cost and did not query at the time of completion?


So not sure that you have anywhere to stand legally. If someone told me to pay £100 more, I would notice.

AlisonCD

Got a full refund from Motorpoint for the full amount. They were in the wrong.