• Car Dealer Plus
No Result
View All Result
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • Used Car Awards
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100
  • CD Plus
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • Used Car Awards
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100
  • CD Plus
No Result
View All Result

Car auctions set to sell exclusively online during second lockdown as auction halls forced to close

Self-employed are given extra support by Treasury

Home News

Click-and-collect: How can car dealers operate a click and collect option during second lockdown?

John Bowman by John Bowman
November 23, 2020
in News
0

Motor trade legal experts Lawgistics have cut through dealers’ click-and-collect confusion as a second lockdown looms across England on November 5.

Showrooms will have to close until December 2, but the government has been quicker off the mark regarding click-and-collect this time than it was during the first lockdown.

It says that non-essential retail – which includes showrooms – CAN stay open for click-and-collect.

However, the process has to have been completed online before the customer goes to a sanitised area of the showroom for the handover.

During a special Car Dealer Live where the issue was discussed, Car Dealer founder James Baggott emphasised how crucial click-and-collect would be to dealers – especially larger groups – as delivery would be impractical.

Legal adviser Kiril Moskovchuk said it was likely that click-and-collect will be just as it was back in March when the first lockdown came into force.

Fellow legal adviser Nona Bowkis said the guidance ahead of the new law coming into effect was very clear that click-and-collect could take place even though the physical showrooms had to shut.

The issue, she said, was how could it be done without it being a distance sale.

Distance sale warning

Bowkis said that with a distance sale customers had to be given two weeks to change their mind but there was a way round it.

She said: ‘If a customer rings up and they’ve seen a car on the website and want to make an appointment to come down and collect that car and make a deposit to secure it, what dealers can do is call that a holding deposit that’s refundable.

‘Then when the customer comes to pick the car up if they refund that holding deposit and then take the whole amount for the car on the day, after the customer has seen the car, then that’s not likely to be a distance sale because the customer has concluded the deal after he or she has seen the car.’

She warned, though, that the holding deposit route opened up dealers to the risk of people walking away from the deal.

Does click-and-collect have to happen inside or outside the showroom, some of our viewers wondered.

Bowkis said: ‘To me, it would be totally impractical to have people definitely outside. If it’s pouring down with rain, that’s not a great experience for the customer.

‘The showrooms have got to be closed to stop people wandering in and touching cars.

‘I think if someone is coming down and your showroom is not open for a random person to come in, I don’t think that’s going to be a legal issue.

‘That’s not to say that it won’t come up because someone interprets it slightly differently, but from a practical point of view, if a person is coming to pick their car up, it doesn’t really matter whether they’re indoors or outdoors.’

Dealers would have to prove that the holding deposit had happened in advance, she said, and that they were there purely to pick up the vehicle.

If click-and-collect involved an e-click on a finance application, then that would be another legitimate reason to allow the customer inside, especially if the weather was bad.

Watch the Car Dealer Live video where these issues and more were discussed in detail at the top of this page.

  • Register as a Car Dealer member and personalise your experience here
  • NEW! Car Dealer Mag issue 152 is out now – Read it here
  • Join our breaking news WhatsApp group – Click here to join now
Previous Post

Car auctions set to sell exclusively online during second lockdown as auction halls forced to close

Next Post

Self-employed are given extra support by Treasury

Next Post
Self-employed are given extra support by Treasury

Self-employed are given extra support by Treasury

Want the latest news?

Sign up to Car Dealer's daily news email updates

Subscribe
How many car dealerships does each manufacturer have in the UK? Car Dealerships Locations List 2021 revealed
News

How many car dealerships does each manufacturer have in the UK? Car Dealerships Locations List 2021 revealed

February 24, 2021
Used Car Awards with Mike Brewer and James Baggott graphi
News

Who won what at the Used Car Awards 2020? Mike Brewer reveals our winning car dealers

February 11, 2021
Car Dealer issue 156 front cover and Used Car Awards
Online Magazine

Out now: Car Dealer issue 156 features our Used Car Awards, H.R. Owen CEO Ken Choo and lots more

February 23, 2021
Used car market stronger than ever as August sees sales up by nearly 50 per cent for Big Motoring World
News

Opinion: Here are 10 reasons why I think there’ll be a rapid recovery in car sales when lockdown ends

February 16, 2021
Trophy Cars forecourt
News

Investigation: Meet the hyper-specialist car dealers making their money from weird and wonderful motors

February 11, 2021
Become a Car Dealer Plus member and get more out of this website including free legal advice
News

Become a Car Dealer Plus member and get more out of this website including free legal advice

January 15, 2021
Car Dealer Top 100 – The list in full of the most profitable car dealers in the UK
Car Dealer Top 100

Car Dealer Top 100 – The list in full of the most profitable car dealers in the UK

February 10, 2021
Bitcoin ATM terminal
News

Will car dealers in the UK accept Bitcoin for payment? Dealers speak out after Tesla plans to accept cryptocurrency 

February 18, 2021
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • Used Car Awards
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100
  • CD Plus
Call us: 020 8125 3880

© 2020 Blackball Media

No Result
View All Result
  • Car Dealer Plus
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • Used Car Awards
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100

© 2020 Blackball Media

Log In
Register
Register
Server C