pslewis

OK, lets play imagine for a moment ....

Imagine buying a secondhand car, unseen, on the Internet.

The Dealer is a BIG brand and they describe the car as in immaculate condition ................ a deposit is paid over the phone (£500) by Credit Card.

The car is then transported 300miles to your home address, where you can inspect the car (maybe even drive it?) and the driver takes your Bankers Draft for the balance.

However, your idea of 'MINT' 'A1' and 'Immaculate' clearly does not match that of the Salesman ............. you send the car away.

You now want the £500 Credit Card payment refunded ..... they say, 'NO, the car is as described - you have lost all the £500, to cover our costs'

I understand that you can request the CC Company to put the amount as 'In Dispute' or something like that? At what time can you claim from the CC Company? Will you be successful? How could you ensure success if the above happened?

Maybe take pictures of the car on the trailer/transporter to prove dents/scratches? What about any mechanical fault?

Clearly, it's better to reject the car there and then ............. and argue over the £500?

Are they entitled to keep the £200 for transport costs?

Advice fellas? or lasses

Pete

imlach

A fool and his money

GC8

What the vendor retains and what you receive from the credit card issuer are two seperate matters. If the goods dont match the desciption then you can pursue the vendor and the credit card issuer jointly or seperately. If the vendor refuses to refund you in full then you can look to the card issuer as they are equally responsible.

Simon

mart360

bought a lemon have we Pete???

what is the term

Caveat emptor

hmm a bit of shiny pic syndrome creeping in Pete??


mart

paul-s

did you not like the gold wheels ?

dharbige

You should be able (quite easily) to place the transaction into dispute.
Basically, you call up your card issuer's customer services dept., and say "I want to place this transaction into dispute".
They will ask a few questions about the transaction and why you wish to dispute it. Saying the car was not as described should be sufficient for them to put the transaction into dispute.
The transaction then sits in limbo for a while. It'll still be on your account, but you shouldn't be charged interest on it, and it shouldn't be included in the amount when you pay off your balance. Meanwhile, the credit card company will contact the merchant for their side of the story. If the merchant doesn't respond satisfactorily (or at all) within a certain time frame, the transaction will be wiped from your account.

I would advise you to contact consumer direct for further advise, as I think it's likely that even a car purchase is covered by the "Distance Selling Regulations" which give you more rights when you are buying something "sight unseen". I think there are specific rights when purchasing a car with regards to being "As Advertised" aswell as fit for purpose.

Hope this helps.

pslewis

Excellent, thanks very much for that .................

The incident hasn't happened, and all may be well if I choose to proceed.

I like to be totally aware of what I need to do 'in case' - forearmed is forewarned as they say (sp?)

Pete