Mercedes dealer changed price of warranty after deposit placed.

Nidge

Hi all,

I went to see a car last weekend at a Mercedes dealer.

Last night I agreed to proceed with the sale, which included a £399 price reduction (due to it not having CarPlay) and also with a 3 year warranty at £699 and paid a £4000 deposit via credit card over the phone.

This morning, I received the following email…

” Hi Nidge,

 Just to confirm I have booked you in for Saturday 18th for collection. Is 10am convenient for you?

There has unfortunately been a slight error with the extended warranty, the costings for the 3 years is dependent on the bhp of the vehicle. The £699 3 year warranty is for cars under 250bhp. The engine of your car is 208bhp but because of the electric motor this give it an additional 108 bhp which brings it to 316 which unfortunately does not qualify for this warranty.  I wasn’t actually aware of this so I am really sorry for this error.

A 3 year for a car over 250bhp is £1,499, a 2 year is £1,099 or 1 year is £649.

You will get a 1 year already with the car, if you would like to take any of the above please let me know. It is still a massive saving as directly through MB website it is £1,050 per year.

Kind regards,

********”

I’m thinking I can legally insist they the warranty they offered me, but at the originally quoted price if £699, as I have placed my deposit.

Surely this means that we’ve entered into a contract, at the prices agreed?

Many thanks.

Penguin_

It depends on the Ts & Cs you signed up to as to when the contract is entered into.

I know some places insist the contract is only formed once goods are dispatched.

Nidge

Penguin_ said:

It depends on the Ts & Cs you signed up to as to when the contract is entered into.

I know some places insist the contract is only formed once goods are dispatched.

Thanks.

I agreed the £699 last night on the phone, that’s when I handed over my credit card for the deposit.

Ergates

In general, businesses are allowed to withdraw from sales where there has been a mistake in the price.

Nidge

Ergates said:

In general, businesses are allowed to withdraw from sales where there has been a mistake in the price.

Even once they’ve taken a deposit?

Penguin_

Nidge said:

Ergates said:

In general, businesses are allowed to withdraw from sales where there has been a mistake in the price.

Even once they’ve taken a deposit?

Yes, you can have paid in full for something & they can withdraw the sale.

I'm sure there was a pricing error on a bed at M&S a while ago which meant people ordered a £900 bed for £9.00 due to a pricing error. Needless to say the beds were never dispatched & people got their £9 back.

Penguin_

Nidge said:

Penguin_ said:

It depends on the Ts & Cs you signed up to as to when the contract is entered into.

I know some places insist the contract is only formed once goods are dispatched.

Thanks.

I agreed the £699 last night on the phone, that’s when I handed over my credit card for the deposit.

That doesn't matter, you need to request Ts & Cs of the sale.

Aylesbury_Duck

Have you asked the dealer what they propose to do?  You may find that the terms permit them to cancel the whole deal, so if they refuse to honour the mistaken price, you'd have to decide whether it's worth walking away from the deal.

Nidge

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Have you asked the dealer what they propose to do?  You may find that the terms permit them to cancel the whole deal, so if they refuse to honour the mistaken price, you'd have to decide whether it's worth walking away from the deal.

I did email straight back to say that as far as I was concerned, I’d entered into a contract at an agreed price, so wasn’t expecting to pay anything additional.

This is the reply I have just received…

“ I have passed into my manager he is out of the business today but as soon as I have a response I will let you know.”

Nidge

I also received a Thank you for your order” email, linking me to more products they think I should know about: http://assets.marshallweb.co.uk/sales-presenter/distantproductpresenter.pdf

TELLIT01

I think all you can really do is try to regotiate a reduction in the price of the warranty.  I would be extremely p'd off that the sales person didn't even know the bhp of the car, therefore providing you will inaccurate information.  Failing that, you should have the right to cancel the entire deal and walk away.  Threatening to do that may concentrate the mind of the sales person, assuming they receive commission on the sale - reduced commission is better than no commission.