Dealer breached contract - Won’t return deposit

Chrisgunny

Hi All,
Wondering what my options are with this one? Last weekend I went to see a car which I ended up buying from a dealer, the car was advertised at £8999 , dealer wrote out invoice which him and I both signed, I transferred via BACS a deposit of £250 and agreed a collection date.

2.5 hours passed and the dealer called me saying he had made a mistake with the price, it should have been £12,000 but he would let me have it for £11,000, The car was reasonably priced at £9,000, I would not have made the 6 hour round trip to view it at £11,000.

Fast forward to today I have still not received my deposit back even though the dealer claims he transferred it back via BACS on Sunday, I have asked for proof of this transaction but have yet to receive it, my gut tells me this guy is a rat and has no intention of giving me my money back.

What are my options here? In my mind he has breached our contract for the sale of the car by refusing to sell it to me at the agreed price on the invoice.

DoaM

Simplest avenue is to just try and get your deposit back ... would you really want the car from him now, even at £8,999, given how he's behaved pre-sale?

Send him a Letter Before Action giving him 14 days to return the deposit else you'll raise a small claims action ... then follow through with the claim via MCOL if he still doesn't pay. In the LBA re-confirm your bank account details for where the deposit should be returned.

scaredofdebt

If it was sent on BACS Sunday there is a chance it will arrive in your account tomorrow, give it another 24 hours. Nowadays most banks use faster payments but not all, BACs was historically a 3 day timescale
but it can take 4 in certain circumstances.

If you ring your bank there is a chance they can see it as a pending credit on your account.

foxy-stoat

Shame you couldn't of driving off with it there and then.

Doubt you will be able to make him sell it to you for £8999 even with the invoice and paid the deposit so wait for your deposit, hopefully he will do the right thing if he hasn't already done so.

You did give him your bank details?

Chrisgunny

Thanks for the advice, so to confirm I told him Saturday I did not want the car at the higher price and agreed to walk away providing he gives my deposit back, he got my bank details on Saturday evening.
This morning I have asked him for proof of payment, a remittance or screenshot of the transaction... I am still waiting, If i don't get this today then I think its best to start action right away, he should have processed my refund immediately and I suspect he is just giving me lip service.

jaybeetoo

Next time pay the deposit with a credit card.

Chrisgunny

Agreed , I did ask to do that apparently his card machine was down.

facade

Chrisgunny wrote: »

apparently his card machine was down.

Oh dear......... You never believed that, surely?



He won't take credit cards as

1) he gets charged a fee for the transaction- more than the fee he pays for a BACS
2) you can do a charge back on a credit card.


The least he could do is simply say "Sorry, we don't take credit cards"



Even if you don't get the deposit back, reads like you might have had a lucky escape.

Chrisgunny

I was obviously too trusting

Definitely, imagine if something had gone wrong with the car! I know one thing for sure, if he doesn't pay it back then it will cost him more than £250.. the internet is a wonderful place for sharing discontent... And last time I checked nobody likes a thief.

Mercdriver

As others have said, BACS can take up to 3 business days. So it should be in your account by tomorrow.