12:30 am, December 14, 2010
CAR Dealer Club’s lawyer has stepped in to help a dealer who had a troublesome air con complaint.
A customer returned to dealer GS of Abingdon claiming their Mini convertible had been sold to them with the promise it had air con – but they later found it did not.
The customer was adamant the salesman had said it had air con when they bought the car and wanted to get it retro fitted at the dealer’s expense.
‘I have been through the literature and advertising and nowhere did we say it had air con,’ said GS. ‘Mini convertibles with air con are quite rare, but the customer claims he had a discussion with someone and was told it had.
‘It is just about possible as we had a non-convertible with air con in at the time… what should I do?’
ADVICE
We passed GS’ complaint on to Car Dealer Club lawyer, Lucy Bonham Carter, who specialises in automotive cases on dealers’ behalfs.
She replied: ‘If there was documentation to show the vehicle had been advertised with air conditioning and it has not then the vehicle would not have been as described and it is possible the customer could have rejected the vehicle or asked for a refund – it is very unlikely that he could demand you fit it.
‘Similarly if a member of staff could be shown to have made claims that it was fitted (even verbally) then the same would apply,’ she said.
But Bonham Carter’s advice to GS was: ‘As things stand it is probably difficult for him to prove that he believed that air conditioning was fitted if it was not advertised as such and I think you should resist his claim under the circumstances or at the most make a token gesture of goodwill without accepting his argument.’
GS was delighted with the advice – which has saved him considerable hassle and expense. You can get advice like this simply by becoming a Car Dealer Club member for the bargain price of £25 a year.
For that you’ll get a whole year’s subscription to Car Dealer Magazine, as well as access to the legal helpline worth £199.
