Can anyone help - bought a car - never received it :(

Puzzler42

Hi all. Newbie here!
To cut a long story short: I ordered a car from Cinch back in April. I was accepted for HP with Black Horse and I paid a £2000 deposit (plus some fees) upfront. The day before the car was due to be delivered (after I had taxed and insured it), Cinch called to say that there was a fault with the car and they wanted to fix it before they could deliver it. Fair enough...
However, 7 weeks later, I'm still without a car because it hasn't been fixed and I'm VERY out of pocket!
I've had numerous calls and emails from Cinch- telling me there's no update on my car and my mental health is really suffering from all the messing about.
Yesterday, I made the decision to cancel the purchase because it's been going on too long. Cinch are saying it's not that easy - because it's been 7 weeks so Im not technically covered by the guarantee and Black Horse are saying that my 14 day cooling off period has long expired so I can't cancel the HP. 
I've never even seen the car - but here I am, paying for it and feeling totally useless to stop it. Any advice?? Who can I get to help with this? Is it the FCA, Motor Ombudsman or something else?? I just want my money back - surely it shouldn't be this difficult?? I hope someone can help me! Thanks for reading.

eskbanker

Just to be clear, have you formally indicated in writing to one or both parties that you're cancelling and if so, have you asserted your right to do so as a result of their breach of contract?  Any notice/deadlines given?  Has there been any dialogue about the use (or funding) of an alternative car while the repairs are being done?

Alderbank

Puzzler42 said:

Hi all. Newbie here!
To cut a long story short: I ordered a car from Cinch back in April. I was accepted for HP with Black Horse and I paid a £2000 deposit (plus some fees) upfront. The day before the car was due to be delivered (after I had taxed and insured it), Cinch called to say that there was a fault with the car and they wanted to fix it before they could deliver it. Fair enough...
However, 7 weeks later, I'm still without a car because it hasn't been fixed and I'm VERY out of pocket!
I've had numerous calls and emails from Cinch- telling me there's no update on my car and my mental health is really suffering from all the messing about.
Yesterday, I made the decision to cancel the purchase because it's been going on too long. Cinch are saying it's not that easy - because it's been 7 weeks so Im not technically covered by the guarantee and Black Horse are saying that my 14 day cooling off period has long expired so I can't cancel the HP. 
I've never even seen the car - but here I am, paying for it and feeling totally useless to stop it. Any advice?? Who can I get to help with this? Is it the FCA, Motor Ombudsman or something else?? I just want my money back - surely it shouldn't be this difficult?? I hope someone can help me! Thanks for reading.

Welcome to the forum.

As this is a distance sale you can cancel at any time until you have actually been in possession of the car for 14 days. The intention of this is so that you can have a good look at it as you would if it was for sale in a local dealership. However up to this point you can cancel for any reason, just make it clear (as you have now done) that you have cancelled. The law behind this is the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, Part 3 Sections (29) onwards.

Cinch don't want you to cancel; perhaps it might have slipped their mind to tell you that you are fully entitled to do so*. They have not yet despatched the car so you are entitled to a full refund of all that you paid to Cinch. They can't charge any cancellation fee and are supposed to refund you within 14 days of cancelling.

To be fair to Cinch, they are probably waiting for hard-to-obtain parts. However that is not your problem.

*Cinch seem to have been very careful with their weasel words, saying 'it might be difficult, their guarantee', etc. They know that if they had said flat out that you can't now cancel, doing so would have given you even more rights under the CRR regs.

Puzzler42

eskbanker said:

Just to be clear, have you formally indicated in writing to one or both parties that you're cancelling and if so, have you asserted your right to do so as a result of their breach of contract?  Any notice/deadlines given?  Has there been any dialogue about the use (or funding) of an alternative car while the repairs are being done?

Yes, I sent an email to Cinch saying I want to cancel the order. They didn't reply. No deadlines given, I just stated 'with immediate effect'. They originally offered me a hire car but I rejected it because it would only be more hassle! 

Okell

Puzzler42 said:

eskbanker said:

Just to be clear, have you formally indicated in writing to one or both parties that you're cancelling and if so, have you asserted your right to do so as a result of their breach of contract?  Any notice/deadlines given?  Has there been any dialogue about the use (or funding) of an alternative car while the repairs are being done?

Yes, I sent an email to Cinch saying I want to cancel the order. They didn't reply. No deadlines given, I just stated 'with immediate effect'. They originally offered me a hire car but I rejected it because it would only be more hassle! 

Assuming this is a distance contract then what @Alderbank posted earlier is correct.

Under paras 29 and 30 of The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 you have a legal right to cancel a distance contract for up to 14 days after you have taken possession of the goods.  But in order to exercise that right you must clearly inform the trader that you are cancelling the contract.  See para 32 of the regulations.

The regulations also give an example of a form of words to use when notifying the trader of cancellation.  See "B.  Model cancellation form" at the bottom of this page:  The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

As you have not yet received the goods you still have time to exercise your right to cancel if you haven't already done so

But what the effect on the finance agreement would be and what your rights are there, I don't know.  You need to find out before cancelling the purchase

Alderbank

Okell said:

Puzzler42 said:

eskbanker said:

Just to be clear, have you formally indicated in writing to one or both parties that you're cancelling and if so, have you asserted your right to do so as a result of their breach of contract?  Any notice/deadlines given?  Has there been any dialogue about the use (or funding) of an alternative car while the repairs are being done?

Yes, I sent an email to Cinch saying I want to cancel the order. They didn't reply. No deadlines given, I just stated 'with immediate effect'. They originally offered me a hire car but I rejected it because it would only be more hassle! 

But what the effect on the finance agreement would be and what your rights are there, I don't know.  You need to find out before cancelling the purchase

One very useful effect on your rights is that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 the finance company (Black Horse) are equally liable with Cinch for refunding you now that you have cancelled.
This means in practice that Black Horse will put pressure on Cinch to get a move on and refund you asap.

Puzzler42

When I called Black Horse on Monday to tell them what's been going on and my wish to cancel the purchase, I was told that the account managers had to make the decision to authorise an ROA (return of advance). In fairness, the call handler at Black Horse was quite empathetic and said that this could take a few days. My patience has run out, so I chased both Cinch & BH yesterday morning - still saying the same thing - Cinch have requested permission for a ROA from BH and BH have passed it to the account managers - awaiting a decision. The call handler said she would send an email to check where they were with this and see if she could get an update. 
6:15 last night I got an email from Cinch:
Hi *****
I'm just emailing to let you know that we have now heard back from your lender and a member of our Cancellation team will be in touch with your tomorrow, as our office has unfortunately now closed for the day. 
 
Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help you
***

I'm keeping everything crossed for some good news today. I just can't handle all this stress!! 
If it's positive news and BH have authorised the ROA, how long should my refund take? 
If they don't allow the ROA, what happens next?? Thanks again folks  

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Not to complicate things but the Cinch site says if you take out finance through one of their lenders the car is sold to the finance company who let the customer use it. 

Right to cancel might not apply here and I think OP should raise an official complaint with BH.

It could be that BH are failing to provide the service in accordance with the contract and OP could offer the choice to be relieved from the contract without incurring any costs or continue with the contract but with BH being liable for the foreseeable loses of securing a hire car until such time as BH perform their obligations under the contract.

However without seeing the exact agreement with BH it's hard to advise specifically (especially as I know little about buying cars or this kind of agreement) 

Okell

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Not to complicate things but the Cinch site says if you take out finance through one of their lenders the car is sold to the finance company who let the customer use it. 

Right to cancel might not apply here and I think OP should raise an official complaint with BH...

For reasons I explained last week I really ought to know the answer to this, but I've obviously forgotten!   

Why wouldn't the right to cancel apply here?

If I understand you correctly you are suggesting that the OP has no relationship with the "seller" and that instead Cinch is supplying the car on a hire or hire purchase basis.  If so, can't the OP simply go direct to Cinch and cancel the hire or hire purchase contract?  Or can't such contracts be cancelled?

Alternatively, can the OP exercise the short-term right to reject?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Okell said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Not to complicate things but the Cinch site says if you take out finance through one of their lenders the car is sold to the finance company who let the customer use it. 

Right to cancel might not apply here and I think OP should raise an official complaint with BH...

For reasons I explained last week I really ought to know the answer to this, but I've obviously forgotten!   

Why wouldn't the right to cancel apply here?

If I understand you correctly you are suggesting that the OP has no relationship with the "seller" and that instead Cinch is supplying the car on a hire or hire purchase basis.  If so, can't the OP simply go direct to Cinch and cancel the hire or hire purchase contract?  Or can't such contracts be cancelled?

Alternatively, can the OP exercise the short-term right to reject?

I'm not sure if OP has actually purchase goods, it appears to be a service? 

If a service 14 day period to cancel has expired.

That doesn't mean OP isn't entitled to some kind of resolve here, they obviously can't be expected to pay for a service they aren't receiving, I'm just not sure exactly what remedy they should state they exercising  

m0bov

Hope the OP is claiming for out of pocket expenses.