When is a refundable deposit not refundable?

coach1man

Hi. On the 22nd April this year, my wife and I called into a local car dealership (Evans Halshaw, Hull East branch) to have a look at used cars. We had a rough idea of what we were interested in and a salesman started taking notes although he admitted they had nothing in stock that suited our needs. He showed us some photos on his laptop of a suitable vehicle but said it was in their Gateshead branch and would we be interested in taking a closer look. We said ok.
He shot off to have a word with his manager and came by with the news that, for a refundable deposit of £200 they could bring the vehicle to Hull for us to view and test drive in approx.10 days time. He reassured us that there was no commitment to buy and that the money was refundable, so we agreed and coughed up. MISTAKE.
Over the next couple of days, we changed our minds (change of circumstance) and informed them. The business manager said the deposit was not refundable and would get the salesman to ring us to explain.
Thats the last we've heard from them. Phonecalls not returned and no reply to 3 messages left of their Customer Concerns facility.
Their website states several times that the deposit IS refundable but these cowboys obviously dont care.
Any advice on how to move this forward and get a refund would be gratefully received.

BoGoF

The terms and conditions state they will keep the fee if you do not make an appointment to view the vehicle, see section 11

https://www.evanshalshaw.com/move-me-closer/terms-and-conditions/

Aylesbury_Duck

Seems straightforward to me. What makes them cowboys? You're the one that hasn't read the terms.

Go and view the car then formally decline to buy it. You'll get your refund.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

coach1man wrote: »

Hi. On the 22nd April this year, my wife and I called into a local car dealership (Evans Halshaw, Hull East branch) to have a look at used cars. We had a rough idea of what we were interested in and a salesman started taking notes although he admitted they had nothing in stock that suited our needs. He showed us some photos on his laptop of a suitable vehicle but said it was in their Gateshead branch and would we be interested in taking a closer look. We said ok.
He shot off to have a word with his manager and came by with the news that, for a refundable deposit of £200 they could bring the vehicle to Hull for us to view and test drive in approx.10 days time. He reassured us that there was no commitment to buy and that the money was refundable, so we agreed and coughed up. MISTAKE.
Over the next couple of days, we changed our minds (change of circumstance) and informed them. The business manager said the deposit was not refundable and would get the salesman to ring us to explain.
Thats the last we've heard from them. Phonecalls not returned and no reply to 3 messages left of their Customer Concerns facility.
Their website states several times that the deposit IS refundable but these cowboys obviously dont care.
Any advice on how to move this forward and get a refund would be gratefully received.

No problem, just view the car and say no!

Coachman

Thanks for your replies.
I couldn't find terms and conditions on their website and certainly wasn't given sight of them at their showroom. The salesman told us it was refundable and no there was no commitment to buy. Had we known about this we certainly would not have agreed to it.
However, I've phoned them and they say they cancelled the move. So I'm going in to try and get it sorted. Thanks.

BoGoF

If it wasn't moved then you may well have a case. However you have mucked them about to a certain extent.

Coachman

Bigot. It turns out the vehicle never left Gateshead. They've said they did not stand any financial loss when I went in this afternoon. They've agreed that our phone call was a matter of crossed wires; a misunderstanding and have agreed to use that £200 to move it down to Hull. So Im waiting to test drive it and declare it unsuitable.
Question: could they have kept the deposit when they didn't show us the terms and conditions?

Coachman

BoGoF. So sorry. Predictive text at the start of last comment.

DoaM

Bigot? Did you mean Bingo?

And why are you using a different account to the one used to create this thread?

Coachman

DoaM, started the thread on my laptop, now on mobile. So what's the problem?
"Bigot" was predictive text butting in.

Rainbowgirl84

Coachman wrote: »

DoaM, started the thread on my laptop, now on mobile. So what's the problem?
"Bigot" was predictive text butting in.

The 'problem' is you are posting under two separate MSE accounts (Coachman and coach1man ) which leads to confusion.