BEWARE! Automart Online

josie

I just thought I'd share this one, in the hope of preventing others being ripped off in the same way.

I have been advertising my car in Autotrader and as this was coming to an end, my husband received a call from someone implying they were from Auto Trader and offering a deal of £69 to advertise the car until it was sold. he said he would check with me and ring them back - still thinking it was autotrader from what they had said.

We agreed it was a good deal and decided to go for it - rang back and gave our details, only to be contacted a couple of days later by Autotrader and we said we'd already done a deal with them. They told us we'd been victims of a scam and that this had happened to others!

So, watch out! We're trying to get our money back, but have contacted Consumer Direct and there is no cooling off period with services, only with products and if they go ahead and do advertise it on their site, then they are providing a service we've paid for and it'd be very difficult to prove that they implied they were from Auto Trader!:mad: :mad: :mad:

I emailed them almost immediately, as they won't take any complaints on the phone (handy, eh?) and told them under no circumstances was my car to be advertised on their site, and at least it hasn't yet, so I may stand a chance - but watch out anyone advertising in Auto Trader, although it's nothing to do with them!

charlieboy21

Dear Josie,

This is EXACTLY the same has just happened to me - it could have been my posting! I am now complaining to the Trading Standards and suggest you do the same. This company is disgusting in the way it does business. I was conned in exactly the same way, and Im not a gullible person! They target Autotrader customers and con them into paying for advertising on their cheap and nasty website - has anyone ever had a sale from them? I doubt it. We all need to let the trading standards office know, so they can be stopped.

josie

charlieboy21 wrote: »

Dear Josie,

This is EXACTLY the same has just happened to me - it could have been my posting! I am now complaining to the Trading Standards and suggest you do the same. This company is disgusting in the way it does business. I was conned in exactly the same way, and Im not a gullible person! They target Autotrader customers and con them into paying for advertising on their cheap and nasty website - has anyone ever had a sale from them? I doubt it. We all need to let the trading standards office know, so they can be stopped.

Yes, I'm pursuing with Consumer Direct who have got Blackpool Trading Standards to get in touch and I've completed their form and just about to return to them.

Consumer Direct told me it would be very difficult for me to prove they were trying to pretend to be Auto Trader and that if they were actually advertising my car, then they're not technically defrauding me of money in that respect.

I told them, as soon as I found out, not to advertise my car, which they haven't (or maybe they don't?), but I almost don't want to alert them to this fact because they could put it on and then how do I prove it hasn't been on for the last month?

Just out of interest, is yours actually advertised on their site charlieboy?

Keep me posted & I'll do likewise with any success or otherwise - I'm not going to go quietly!!:mad:

charlieboy21

Hi - Trading standards are looking into them as there have been other cases. Anyone else who feels angered by AutoMart Online contacting them off the back of an Autotrader advert and misleading them should contact their local Trading Standards Office. Blackpool Trading Standards will then take it up as part of this ongoing investigation.

My 'advert' was put online, but to be honest their webiste is rubbish, and I would NOT have advertised there had I seen it in advance! Appalling.

HarryV

I have some sympathy if this company had been passing themselves off as the official AutoTrader but the words caveat emptor spring to mind.

josie

Just thought I'd update people on where we are with our claim. We got a letter saying they had investigated our claim - don't say you're taking it up with your bank, as they'll use this as an excuse to not do anything whilst your bank look into it.

Anyway, they said they had found no evidence of mis-selling and if we didn't agree we need to contact their MD within 14 days, which we did and said we still weren't happy and we'd put "no canvassers" on our Auto Trader advert, so they were going against our request on this as well.

Anyway, we've had a letter today to say they're going to refund us!! So don't give up - keep persevering and don't take no for an answer.

They've sent us a chargeback declaration, which we have to agree to say "I declare I have not and will not be making a chargeback to my Card comay or bank with respect to my transaction with Automart Online Ltd".

It also requests refund to x card with details etc. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Is this ok?

Annie_pips

Hi, same thing happened to us. we were contacted just as our advert with Autotrader was coming to an end and were told they could extend our advert for £69 until the vehicle was sold. Sounded good to us so we went for it. But we didn't realise they were Automart online and not Autotrader. But how can someone 'extend' an advert they haven't got? :mad: Anyway we complained to Trading standards and have received a form to fill in. Meanwhile we've had a letter from Automart saying they listened to a recording of the conversation and in no way were we misled (that's a lie for a start), if we don't agree we have to complain to the MD within 14 days, which we will be doing. So watch this space

josie

Annie_pips wrote: »

Hi, same thing happened to us. we were contacted just as our advert with Autotrader was coming to an end and were told they could extend our advert for £69 until the vehicle was sold. Sounded good to us so we went for it. But we didn't realise they were Automart online and not Autotrader. But how can someone 'extend' an advert they haven't got? :mad: Anyway we complained to Trading standards and have received a form to fill in. Meanwhile we've had a letter from Automart saying they listened to a recording of the conversation and in no way were we misled (that's a lie for a start), if we don't agree we have to complain to the MD within 14 days, which we will be doing. So watch this space

Well, keep fighting - it worked for us! It's also interesting to see they used the exact same wording from the Auto Trader advert on their website. I wonder if any of their ads are legit, or if they're all people they conned into "extending an existing ad"!

Annie_pips

Yes they used the same wording even though we said we wanted to edit the ad. We were told someone would ring us next day to make the changes but of course no-one did! They didn't however use our photo they used a 'library' pic (perhaps they're not clever enough to copy pics;) ). Will let you know what happens. Sounds like they're targeting Autotrader customers 'cos there's no way anyone would want to advertise with them initially.

danielle7_2

Hi, it seems i am yet another victim of this dishonest company!!

Exactly the same scenario about readvertising may car making out they were from the Autotrader, i only discovered the scam when i called the legitimate Autotrader asking why my advert was yet to come online.

I spoke to the MD Mr Holt and he played the call tape to me over the phone and they do say they are calling from the AUTOMART online but at exceptional speed, so much so he had to play it back to me 4 times!!! The balance of the call was so misleading and my husband was left believeing we had renewed our advert with the legitimate company.

I advised Mr Holt that i am solicitor employed by the Crown Prosecution Service and prosecute criminal offences and advise the police daily on criminal matters and believe there is still a possibility of prosecution. I am considering contacting the local police to his offices to ivestigate deception matters further,please get in touch if you are interested in taking this further.

Thanks Danielle

josie

I would also recommend getting in touch with either Consumer Direct, who put me on to Trading Standards in Blackpool, which is where they are based, or TS directly. A lady there is investigating them on several people's behalf.

We've been promised a refund, so initially were happy with that, although will still pursue it with TS as don't want other people to fall foul of them either and also we haven't had our promised refund yet!

Keep pushing and don't let them off the hook - we're not going to!

Keep us posted on here too please?