Dealer refusing to sell me a new car.

user1977

Xenon123 said:

If you look at it another way, its akin to s dealer saying we will sell to you if you live in say, Manchester, but not if you live in Bolton.

And why do you think that would be unlawful?

Xenon123

TELLIT01 said:

You can be as annoyed as you want, but no organisation has to do business with you if they don't wish to, as long as their reasons for not doing so don't break discrimination laws.

What further action do you think you can take against the dealership?

Well I am annoyed, and with justification.  I do not like to be told I am different from the next man in the street just because of my postcode (which is a UK postcode).  Your second point is the exact reason I raised my first post.  If this is indeed classed as discrimination, they most certainly do not have the right to refuse my business, any more so than they would if I was black or Asian. They will sell a car to someone 400 miles away in Newcastle, but not 430 miles away to my address in another part of the UK?

Xenon123

Hoenir said:

Xenon123 said:

Hoenir said:

Xenon123 said:

In this occasion, I wished to avail of a lower interest PCP deal with the dealer, which is actually a national finance campaign deal with the actual vehicle manufacturer.

The source of the finance may well differ depending upon locality. 

It doesn't.  Its a national campaign and I can get exactly the same terms and offer at the manufacturers local dealership here at home.

I'll rephrase my response. Purely as an example. Ulster Bank, Nat West, Royal Bank of Scotland.  Under the same umbrella. Seperate companies. Different jurisdications. 

Doesn't apply in this case.  Its BMW UK.

cannugec5

flaneurs_lobster said:

cannugec5 said:

I get it.
I’m English, living in Scotland and see the crazy rules regularly. 

I'm curious, what crazy rules would these be?

As a pretty banal example; 
Today  I tried to order an item from IKEA. Cost £90. Free delivery. 

Put in my postcode  now suddenly £25 delivery - as it has decided my postcode is “ Highlands and Islands”. Which it isn’t. But I know I can’t win this argument as ‘they’ decide which postcodes they accept etc. 

yes entirely my choice to live here, but until you do , you cannot comprehend the ‘discrimination’ for want of a better word. 

k12479

Xenon123 said:

k12479 said:

Nowadays, a lot of people seem to buy cars from hundreds of miles away and are then outraged when something goes wrong and the dealer wants the car returned to them to fix rather than paying for a local repair. Perhaps the dealer wants to avoid this, particularly if they have no group presence in NI.

Not an issue.  The dealer does not have a presence in N Ireland, but the brand does, and as a new vehicle my local dealers service dept would be obliged to look after warranty issues.

Straightforward warranty issues, probably. Less clear cut ones or vehicle rejection may be more of an issue.

Hoenir

Xenon123 said:

Hoenir said:

Xenon123 said:

Hoenir said:

Xenon123 said:

In this occasion, I wished to avail of a lower interest PCP deal with the dealer, which is actually a national finance campaign deal with the actual vehicle manufacturer.

The source of the finance may well differ depending upon locality. 

It doesn't.  Its a national campaign and I can get exactly the same terms and offer at the manufacturers local dealership here at home.

I'll rephrase my response. Purely as an example. Ulster Bank, Nat West, Royal Bank of Scotland.  Under the same umbrella. Seperate companies. Different jurisdications. 

Doesn't apply in this case.  Its BMW UK.

Anything to do with "B" and the differing treatment of imported new vehicles? 

400ixl

They are not breaking any discrimination laws and have no obligation to sell to you and as such you have no rights to make them.

Frustrating but nothing you can do about it and I doubt BMW UK would do anything other than point you to their local franchised dealer.

Okell

Xenon123 said:

...A dealer could in some circumstances refuse a sale, but not for any reason that could be perceived or deemed discrimination, and this is discrimination.

Could I ask for readers thoughts on this?  If you look at it another way, its akin to s dealer saying we will sell to you if you live in say, Manchester, but not if you live in Bolton.  Its really beyond belief and I am considering taking further action against the dealership.

I don't think you understand what "discrimination" means in the sense of being an unlawful act.

A person has only been discriminated against unlawfully if they have been treated worse than somebody else because of a "protected characteristic".

The protected characteristics are: age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation.

Living in Northern Ireland is not a protected characteristic.

If businesses located on the mainland don't want to deal with consumers based in Northern Ireland they are perfectly entitled to do so.  Or not to do so.  It's their choice...

Aylesbury_Duck

Xenon123 said:

TELLIT01 said:

You can be as annoyed as you want, but no organisation has to do business with you if they don't wish to, as long as their reasons for not doing so don't break discrimination laws.

What further action do you think you can take against the dealership?

Well I am annoyed, and with justification.  I do not like to be told I am different from the next man in the street just because of my postcode (which is a UK postcode).  Your second point is the exact reason I raised my first post.  If this is indeed classed as discrimination, they most certainly do not have the right to refuse my business, any more so than they would if I was black or Asian. They will sell a car to someone 400 miles away in Newcastle, but not 430 miles away to my address in another part of the UK?

It is discrimination, but it's perfectly lawful discrimination and they most certainly do have the right to refuse your business on the grounds given. 

Refusing your custom if and because you are black would be unlawful discrimination, and you would be able to (and should) take legal action.

Money_Grabber13579

Hoenir said:

Xenon123 said:

Hoenir said:

Xenon123 said:

Hoenir said:

Xenon123 said:

In this occasion, I wished to avail of a lower interest PCP deal with the dealer, which is actually a national finance campaign deal with the actual vehicle manufacturer.

The source of the finance may well differ depending upon locality. 

It doesn't.  Its a national campaign and I can get exactly the same terms and offer at the manufacturers local dealership here at home.

I'll rephrase my response. Purely as an example. Ulster Bank, Nat West, Royal Bank of Scotland.  Under the same umbrella. Seperate companies. Different jurisdications. 

Doesn't apply in this case.  Its BMW UK.

Anything to do with "B" and the differing treatment of imported new vehicles? 

Yes, this is exactly the issue and I have come up against the same problem. It’s due to NI still effectively being governed by EU law in certain areas and therefore there are VAT and customs implications when things cross the Irish Sea (who said Brexit got done…). It seems that some dealers just aren’t set up to deal with the VAT and customs implications if they sell a car to NI and it’s probably such a small part of their business that they’ve jus decided not to bother.

There are still dealers who will supply to NI though, Vertu is one I think.