Rogue Garage Trader

DrowninginDebt

23 August I paid £300 by credit card to secure a car however the garage kept the car to work on it until it was delivered 21 September when I paid the balance of £1700 plus £140 car tax the garage had bought, by bank transfer as he had not brought the card machine, saying he had sent off the V5C - nothing has ever been received by the DVLA.
I put the car in a local garage to check over but it had a bad oil leak and excessive smoke from the exhaust.  I also learnt the car had been written off several months earlier which was not disclosed which is illegal. So I requested the original garage to collect and repair under the warranty however when it was delivered back on 2 November, the oil leak was worse as was the excessive exhaust smoke, plus further damage on the back wing. 
I rejected the vehicle requesting a refund, sending a letter quoting the Consumer Act 2015 but have heard nothing.  I also said I would report to VOSA as I suspected the MoT was fraudulent. I have requested the £300 through the credit card but my bank say nothing can be done. The DVLA are unable to refund the partial car tax as my name has not been registered on the vehicle.  I have also lost car insurance and breakdown cover, resulting in an extra £500 on top of the car price and left with nothing.
I really don't want to go through the courts as I stated in my letter to him, as I have since seen on the internet that he and his family have a string of recent criminal, drug and environmental convictions and, being a female alone, they know where I live!  Do I have any other options open to me to recover any monies? A very hard lesson learnt!

lisyloo

You should try a section 75 claim with you credit card company and ask for the whole lot.
If the credit card company pay then it won't involve the trader.
was the bank payment to a business?

DrowninginDebt

Hi Lisyloo, and thanks for replying. The credit card company only mentioned the deposit of £300 but perhaps I should go back and request the whole amount?  The balance plus car tax of £1840 was to the owners own bank account, not the company.  Can't believe I've been so gullible - I won't be so trusting in future!

Okell

DrowninginDebt said:

... I rejected the vehicle requesting a refund, sending a letter quoting the Consumer Act 2015 but have heard nothing... I have requested the £300 through the credit card but my bank say nothing can be done...

What explanation did the bank give for saying nothing could be done?  Did you explain to them that you had rejected the vehicle but that the dealer was refusing a refund?

DrowninginDebt said:

Hi Lisyloo, and thanks for replying. The credit card company only mentioned the deposit of £300 but perhaps I should go back and request the whole amount?...

Sounds as if the bank treated your request as a chargeback rather than a s75 claim.  As @lisyloo says, go back to your bank (I assume it's their credit card?) and tell them that you want them to process a s75 claim as you are holding them jointly and severally liable with the car dealer for breaches of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

And yes, under s75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, you can claim the full amount - not just £300.

lisyloo

DrowninginDebt said:

Hi Lisyloo, and thanks for replying. The credit card company only mentioned the deposit of £300 but perhaps I should go back and request the whole amount?  The balance plus car tax of £1840 was to the owners own bank account, not the company.  Can't believe I've been so gullible - I won't be so trusting in future!

As Okell says there's a difference.
Chargeback goes to the owners bank who will charge the owner and is limited to what you spent.
Section 75 would be borne by your credit card company.

Recently I lost a chargeback as it was appealed but I won the section 75 claim so sometimes it can be easier to win.

It may be a problem though that you paid this to the owner though.
Do you have other supporting evidence that it was for the car e.g. invoice, receipt, advert, emails etc.
You'd need to prove it was for the car purchase which is a bit harder.
Presumably there's some proof they are the owner of the business.
It's not impossible you've just made it harder by paying an individual and not a business.

Okell

lisyloo said:

DrowninginDebt said:

Hi Lisyloo, and thanks for replying. The credit card company only mentioned the deposit of £300 but perhaps I should go back and request the whole amount?  The balance plus car tax of £1840 was to the owners own bank account, not the company.  Can't believe I've been so gullible - I won't be so trusting in future!

... It may be a problem though that you paid this to the owner though.
Do you have other supporting evidence that it was for the car e.g. invoice, receipt, advert, emails etc.
You'd need to prove it was for the car purchase which is a bit harder.
Presumably there's some proof they are the owner of the business.
It's not impossible you've just made it harder by paying an individual and not a business.

Yes - that might be an issue.

As you say the OP needs to gather whatever evidence she may have to show that the bank transfer to the owner was all part of the same transaction to buy the car.

DrowninginDebt

Thank you Lisyloo and Okell, you have given me hope! No, the credit card was not with my bank and they just fobbed me off saying I did the bank transfer willingly.
I have copies of the invoice for the deposit of the £300 deposit which was then marked as paid in full on delivery (£2000 in total) which I presume is now my receipt.  There were no adverts as the car was outside the garage but I have lots of text messages in which I quote the make and registration number.  I have also screenshotted the Gov.co.uk page stating he is the owner of the business which was dissolved 30 April 2024 - have I just made this even more complicated??!!

lisyloo

The bank are correct. You have no rights with your bank.

The credit card company are liable for the whole lot.
If your invoice states the whole amount then that would tie up.

DrowninginDebt

When making the bank transfer, I put his name and Peugeot 207 proving what the transaction was for.  He had written the make of the car on the original invoice too - he had also written "12 months MoT" which he refused to do initially but had to fight for him to eventually issue one in October before returning the car to me! Such a rotter!!

Okell

DrowninginDebt said:

Thank you Lisyloo and Okell, you have given me hope! No, the credit card was not with my bank and they just fobbed me off saying I did the bank transfer willingly...

OK.  If the credit card was not provided by your bank you need to make your claim against your credit card provider.

Make sure you tell them clearly that you want them to process a claim on your behalf under s75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and that you are NOT asking for a chargeback.

Ask them what evidence in support of your claim they want you to provide.

Don't expect it to be sorted quickly.  What you are starting is very like a court claim against your card provider.


[Read this guide:  Section 75 refunds: credit card protection’ - MSE ]

DrowninginDebt

Oh right, Okell, that is very helpful - thank you so much, and to lisyloo too!