Distance selling

bucka666

Hi, my son just purchased a car from a dealership who were quite a few miles away, they said they could deliver the car which they did, my son paid for the car by bank transfer, in the documents he was given on handover it says about distance selling and your rights, which says he can return the purchase for a full refund within 14 days, this is worded as a cooling off period. My son decided to return the car for a refund and emailed the company, they are saying he cannot be refunded as they don't do distant selling and this was a one off as he requested the delivery of the vehicle. Where do we stand on this as I've checked everywhere online and as far as I can see my son should be able to activate the cooling off clause. Is this correct,
Thanks.

Aylesbury_Duck

Did he go and see the car at any point before it was delivered?

bucka666

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Did he go and see the car at any point before it was delivered?

No. Only saw it online.

Alderbank

It sounds like they have been reading this Government-backed publication from Trading Standards intended to help businesses understand the law around distance selling:

https://www.businesscompanion.info/en/quick-guides/distance-sales/consumer-contracts-distance-sales

In particular they must have read this nugget:

Distance contracts. A contract made between a trader and a consumer where they are not together, which is negotiated and agreed by one or more organised means of distance communication - for example, by phone, post or over the internet. There must be an organised distance scheme for selling goods and/or services so the Regulations are unlikely to affect a business that sells a product at a distance as a one-off. For instance, a knitting wool shop that does not normally sell at a distance would not fall within the definition of a distance contract when a consumer rings to ask for a ball of wool to be posted to them because they are unable to call into the shop; this is unlikely to be classed as an 'organised' distance selling scheme

...because that is exactly what they have said to your son.

bucka666

Alderbank said:

It sounds like they have been reading this Government-backed publication from Trading Standards intended to help businesses understand the 

In particular they must have read this nugget:

Distance contracts. A contract made between a trader and a consumer where they are not together, which is negotiated and agreed by one or more organised means of distance communication - for example, by phone, post or over the internet. There must be an organised distance scheme for selling goods and/or services so the Regulations are unlikely to affect a business that sells a product at a distance as a one-off. For instance, a knitting wool shop that does not normally sell at a distance would not fall within the definition of a distance contract when a consumer rings to ask for a ball of wool to be posted to them because they are unable to call into the shop; this is unlikely to be classed as an 'organised' distance selling scheme

...because that is exactly what they have said to your son.

So are they wrong to say they will not refund? And if so how do we proceed with this company as they seem like they are sticking to there guns.

molerat

So are they wrong to say they will not refund?

No, not as far as distance selling is concerned as they state they do not routinely carry out distance sales and this is a one off so those rules do not apply.  What was the document he received with the car stating he had a cooling off period - was it from the dealership or a more generic leaflet from some other organisation ?

pinkshoes

As you said in your original post that your son requested if they could deliver it and its not something they'd normally do then I think it would not come under a distance sale so no right to return.

Who gave him this document about distance sales?? Your post implies it came with the car which would be odd if they're saying they don't normally deliver.

Do they have a website that indicates they offer a delivery service?

I assume he hasn't driven it at all?

bucka666

Hi, no he's not driven the vehicle, it says on their website and original auto trader add that they can deliver. The distance seller Regulations information is attached to his invoice and is part of the company's Terms and conditions which is stapled to the invoice.
Hope this helps.

Alderbank

Why has your son decided to return the car without even having driven it?

If the dealer's description was untrue he might be able to reject the car under other consumer legislation.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

I don't think the delivery aspect matters, the question is whether the contract was "concluded" via "an organised distance scheme" so if a car dealership concludes contracts over the phone/internet as a general course of their business it's a distance sale, if they only take bookings to view over the phone/internet and do the deals in the showroom and only concluded this contract via phone/internet as a one off then this it isn't a distance sale. 

The dealer may not offer delivery all the time and it's correct to say that may very well be a one off service they don't offer often but offering an extra one off service doesn't affect how the contract was concluded. 

HillStreetBlues

bucka666 said:

Hi, no he's not driven the vehicle, it says on their website and original auto trader add that they can deliver. The distance seller Regulations information is attached to his invoice and is part of the company's Terms and conditions which is stapled to the invoice.
Hope this helps.

If they have advertised they deliver  then it's a distance sale.