admin fee charge - mis-sold

Holliebaker

I bought a car in May this year, when I phoned up to arrange a viewing, the gentleman told me there is a £99 fee which secures the car as a deposit, and also involves doing a health check on the car; and that the fee will essentially be refunded if I buy the car. it was advertised at £2,799

so me and my partner go to buy it, and it comes to paying for it and the man asks for £2,799 and we are like 'what? shouldn't it be £2,700 without the "deposit", and he says no, you don't get that back, and we mentioned that he told us on the phone that it is taken off the final price, but he refused and was very vague about what it was. after a bit of back and forth about having being told originally it was going to be taken off the final value, we reluctantly agreed to pay it, only because we really wanted the car and thought we wouldn't be able to get it if we didn't pay this fee. now I have recently realised that alot of people say it is optional and you can refuse.

but now that we have paid it, is there any possibilty of claiming it back? due to the fact that we were mislead, and it was falsely sold to us? or would it not be claimable as we 'agreed' to pay it

DUTR

What was falsely sold to you?

Aylesbury_Duck

I can’t see that you can get it back given you knew about it and chose to pay it. Unless....What does the paperwork say? If it states it’s refundable when the car is purchased, you should write to them to point that out and demand the £99 back.

konark

So they wanted £99 for you to view a car, which was not refundable if you didn't buy it. (Only if you buy it, or apparently not even then as it transpired)



You should have known the calibre of scallywag you were dealing with right there.

Scrapit

You've already bought the car. You won't get anything back. Anyone asking to pay to view wouldn't get the time of day from me.

poppasmurf_bewdley

If you'd stood up there and then with the words "We're off, See you in court for the deposit return", you would have got the £99 refund there and then, and completed the sale as you wanted.

But unfortunately, the car dealers now holds all the cards, and your money.

Nearlyold

Which Dealer?

parking_question_chap

If any dealer asks for a deposit to view a car. Tell them you will only pay a deposit once you have decided to buy it. If they say its compulsory then look elsewhere.

Or suggest they pay you a deposit, and you will refund it if you decide not to buy the vehicle.

MEM62

Holliebaker wrote: »

I bought a car in May this year, when I phoned up to arrange a viewing, the gentleman told me there is a £99 fee which secures the car as a deposit, and also involves doing a health check on the car; and that the fee will essentially be refunded if I buy the car. it was advertised at £2,799

You wanted to view a car, call up to arrange to do so and the garage said "No problem, that'll be £99 please". I'm struggling with that already.

so me and my partner go to buy it, and it comes to paying for it and the man asks for £2,799 and we are like 'what? shouldn't it be £2,700 without the "deposit", and he says no, you don't get that back, and we mentioned that he told us on the phone that it is taken off the final price, but he refused and was very vague about what it was. after a bit of back and forth about having being told originally it was going to be taken off the final value, we reluctantly agreed to pay it, only because we really wanted the car and thought we wouldn't be able to get it if we didn't pay this fee. now I have recently realised that alot of people say it is optional and you can refuse.

You are now is a position where you know that the salesman has lied to you and you still went ahead with the purchase. In your shoes I would be wondering what other statements made by the salesman were going to prove to be untrue.

but now that we have paid it, is there any possibilty of claiming it back? due to the fact that we were mislead, and it was falsely sold to us? or would it not be claimable as we 'agreed' to pay it

You knew you were being mislead before completing the car purchase. That was the time to do something about it. (Walk away in my opinion) The problem is, if you accept being shafted at the time, you are not in a very strong position to do something about it later. Chalk it up to experience.

And don't ever pay to view a car.

shinytop

As others have said you're not in a strong position to get the money back. But if you like the car and were happy with £2799 then another £99 isn't really a lot.

This admin fee scam is unfortunately endemic in the used car business.