(under) Payment Legality

exe76

I purchased a car from a Car "Superstore" in March 2023

Via a Teams meeting, I digitally signed the contract for £22,101.99

The salesman subsequently sent me an email giving me the banking details of the company, requesting payment for £21,101.99

I didn't notice the difference, and made the payment, for which he replied "payment all received"

The car was released and delivered.

Today (4 months later) he's rung me and said the accounts department have noted an underpayment of £1,000.00 and can I pay.

I said I paid as per his email and he acknowledged it and released the vehicle.

He also mumbled about losing his commission during the call which was annoying...


Can I assume I am legally bound to make payment?

born_again

Yes.
You signed a contract for £22,101.99
Genuine mistake.

Bet you would have highlighted error if it had been £23,101.99

exe76

born_again said:

Yes.
You signed a contract for £22,101.99
Genuine mistake.

Bet you would have highlighted error if it had been £23,101.99

I wouldn't have paid, obviously. 

I didn't reconcile the contract to the email he sent requesting payment, which were separate documents.

The fact he's asked for the payment, acknowledged receipt thereof and released the vehicle is what frustrates me

outtatune

You have contracted to buy the car at £22101.99 and have not yet satisfied your contractual requirements. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you 'didn't notice' being asked to pay £1000 less than what you were expected, even though you've admitted yourself that you would have managed to notice if they'd asked you to pay £1000 too much. 

But now that you know that you've underpaid, you know exactly what you need to do to rectify that.

exe76

outtatune said:

You have contracted to buy the car at £22101.99 and have not yet satisfied your contractual requirements. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you 'didn't notice' being asked to pay £1000 less than what you were expected, even though you've admitted yourself that you would have managed to notice if they'd asked you to pay £1000 too much. 

But now that you know that you've underpaid, you know exactly what you need to do to rectify that.

He sent me the balance outstanding

I confirmed the balance "paid" was £20,000.00 in one transaction, and £1,101.99 in another, in writing

I sent him screenshots of the payments

He confirmed payment all received

I think he "didn't notice" 3 times, rather than the customer.

They subsequently released the vehicle on the basis all payment was complete. 

tightauldgit

No matter how you cook it there is a contractual agreement in place for you to pay an amount for the car. To complete the contract you need to pay what you agreed and if you are £1000 short you would need to pay it.

If you're noisy enough about it they might just write it off as not worth the effort to recover but i don't think legally you have a leg to stand on. Generally mistakes don't overwrite contracts - if they can show you paid £1000 less than agreed then you owe them £1000 

DullGreyGuy

exe76 said:

born_again said:

Yes.
You signed a contract for £22,101.99
Genuine mistake.

Bet you would have highlighted error if it had been £23,101.99

I wouldn't have paid, obviously. 

I didn't reconcile the contract to the email he sent requesting payment, which were separate documents.

The fact he's asked for the payment, acknowledged receipt thereof and released the vehicle is what frustrates me

Why do you think you "didnt notice" when it was in your favour but know you would have seen it and not paid if its over?

You owe what you agreed to pay, would have been nice if they hadnt spotted it but you got a few months with the money in your account getting interest so its still in your favour. 

Alderbank

It's extremely common,almost universal, to pay an initial deposit to secure the car followed by the balance when collecting it. In fact on this site we recommend paying the deposit with a credit card if possible, in order to gain s75 protection.

It seems like the salesman assumed the buyer of a £20,000+ car had already paid £1,000 deposit hence his mistake.

But as everyone has said, the amount you owe is the amount you agreed in the contract.

bluelad1927

If you are in the fortunate position that you don't notice an extra 1k sat in your account for a period of 4 months then surely you'd be happy to do the correct thing without questioning it?

exe76

Alderbank said:

It's extremely common,almost universal, to pay an initial deposit to secure the car followed by the balance when collecting it. In fact on this site we recommend paying the deposit with a credit card if possible, in order to gain s75 protection.

It seems like the salesman assumed the buyer of a £20,000+ car had already paid £1,000 deposit hence his mistake.

But as everyone has said, the amount you owe is the amount you agreed in the contract.

I paid £99.99 to secure the car which was £22,200.00

When he subsequently sent me payment details a couple of days later, he indicated the "outstanding balance" was £21,101.01 which I paid in 2 installments - £20,000.00 and £1,101.01 as the bank has a max payment of £20,000.00

I didn't pay attention to the deficiency between the "outstanding balance" and the contract

I then sent him copies of the payments to the bank, plus an email explaining the two payments I had made

He replied saying he had checked and payment was complete.

For all intents and purposes, we could have had a conservation prior to payment where he agreed to reduce the price which he confirmed in the email.

MorningcoffeeIV

exe76 said:

Alderbank said:

It's extremely common,almost universal, to pay an initial deposit to secure the car followed by the balance when collecting it. In fact on this site we recommend paying the deposit with a credit card if possible, in order to gain s75 protection.

It seems like the salesman assumed the buyer of a £20,000+ car had already paid £1,000 deposit hence his mistake.

But as everyone has said, the amount you owe is the amount you agreed in the contract.

For all intents and purposes, we could have had a conservation prior to payment where he agreed to reduce the price which he confirmed in the email.

Do either of you remember such a conservation?