Lost deposit

Why are you cancelling ?

Have you signed to say you read the terms and conditions as possibly shown them at time of signing, if you haven't been shown them then the dealer is in the wrong. Do you know for a fact they haven't placed an order with manufacturer or are you just assuming as they're in lockdown they're not taking orders. A lot of companies might be in lockdown but still working away behind the scenes.
 
Was there any mention of "referring to our terms and conditions at www.********.co.uk on the order form you signed.
When was delivery agreed? Is that date still possible?
If so that is legal as far as I know after the cooling off period.
Why did you cancel? Just because of the "lockdown"?
How do you know the order has not been placed on the factory?
As Lenny says hard and fast with the emphasis on fast. They may be sympathetic but they do have some rights as people cannot just order vehicles and then change their mind without some repercussions.
Maybe not what you want to hear but having been there I know the pitfalls.
Good luck.
 
I had a similar situation about 9 ish years ago , albeit on a used vehicle which was on the dealers sales pitch. Their terms on the back quite clearly said no refunds . We had paid £1000 by credit card and they refused saying they would be out of pocket due to a lost sale which I pointed out was a load of b*****. I tried to speak to their MD on the phone but couldn’t even get through to him , so went to citizens advice . They put us in touch with trading standards who went round and “Had a word “ Result , money back as their terms and conditions were illegal apparently . Luckily we didn’t pay in cash or we would be stuck .
 
Forgot to say , it was only the next day when we changed our minds and contacted them first thing , they hardly had time to do any paperwork.

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Apache said:
Forgot to say , it was only the next day when we changed our minds and contacted them first thing , they hardly had time to do any paperwork.
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www.citizensadvice.org.uk

Reporting to Trading Standards

Report a trader who has broken the law by contacting the Citizens Advice consumer service or Advice Direct Scotland.
www.citizensadvice.org.uk www.citizensadvice.org.uk

When I had an issue with a former dealer regarding warranty work I spoke with the RAC legal department how gave good advice if you have any form of insurance that can provide legal advice give them a call.

This probably fits under the misleading and aggressive selling act, have a look at the link

And here is another Link

Also if you have not had terms and conditions read or provided to you, when you handed the over the deposit I do think think the dealer is on soft ground.

Make sure you have evidence of contacting and requesting your deposit back and if possible make it clear in any further correspondence it was requested within 24 hours.

If it was me I would immediately send an email/letter requesting the full deposit back, outlining unless otherwise stated a deposit is returned by organisations when a consumer has a change of mind and that you have requested this within 24 hours which in anyones book is reasonable. Tell them you are also obtaining advice from legal representative as not returning this deposit would appear to be contravening the misleading and aggressive selling act particular as you were not provided with terms and conditions either verbally or in writing. Whilst you understand that this may have been an oversight on their behalf as a consumer you should not be made to pay for their mistake and you will be taking this further unless a refund is provided within 3 working days or something of that ilk

A few months ago I gave a £50 deposit at a local workshop, I was booked in for 14 day in the future after 3 days I realised I did not need their services, I went to the workshop and apologised and requested my £50 back. The dealer refused I pointed out I was letting them know something like 10 days notice and to return my deposit. He claimed it was in the T's and C's. I then asked when did he point these out to me he claimed it was on the paperwork which I never had. He still was not going to give me my £50 (customers was watching his showboating behaviour). I said OK you can talk with MasterCard as they will be contacting you to give them the £50 as they will have refunded me so we can play nicely or you can just have Mastercard debit your account what would you like to do.....He kindly refunded me the £50
 
Podney said:
Go to a solicitor as soon as possible.
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Solicitors cost Money and whilst I agree with you it depends on the size of the deposit, for me calling the legal advice (free within my RAC insurance) and a call to citizens advice (free). I constructed my own letter (free) and the dealer acted along with extended warranty of the repaired component the repair was around £2K so with guidance you can start and do this yourself nudging in the dealer in the direction of consumer legislation can be sufficient. If this doesn't work then go to the Solicitor.
 
Definitely contact Citizens advice. They will give advice and clarify the exact route to take paying particular attention to how and when to make contact and the specific format for that contact. This is really important if you end up going to Small Claims as a judge will want to see that you made every effort to resolve this with the dealer. They will also highlight which part of customer protection act to pursue ie aggressive trading etc
We are currently going through this process. It is hugely frustrating and protracted but ultimately if you are in the right, necessary.
 
Solicitor will give a free consultation, be it briefly, but will tell you if you have a case or not. If you have a case then they may take it on and claim the fees back on top of the money.

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I can see both sides here. On the one hand if the order hasn't been placed and all the costs they have incurred are limited to admin if the deposit is sizeable it seems unfair to retain it.
On the other hand I bet there are a lot of new MH owners who wish they hadn't bought with the benefit of hindsight and if you paid a deposit effectively the deal is done depending on the t and c.
 
I think you are entitled to a full refund ... if check out the distance selling regulations too ... or if you are a which member ring their legal helpline it’s very good ( I think you have to pay a subscription tho)
 
Call a good local solicitor and get a quotation for the appropriate letter to being sent. Then weigh up how much you are prepared to spend chasing the original deposit, always remembering that should the dealer go bust in any form you will be an unsecured creditor with little chance of seeing anything.
Keep meticulous records of your emails, telephone calls, who said what to whom, time line etc.and I wish you luck..
 
I’d start by asking the dealer for a copy of the sale T & C’s. Without it you do not know what you signed up for.

At the time of purchase, did you even read them before picking up the pen. :gum:
 
SuperMike said:
I’d start by asking the dealer for a copy of the sale T & C’s. Without it you do not know what you signed up for.

At the time of purchase, did you even read them before picking up the pen. :gum:
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If the dealer did not provide T’s and C’s the dealer is at fault not the consumer
 
Is there still such a thing as unconscionable bargain? I have spent £40 before now on a bankruptcy petition, assuming they’re not it might do the trick, although I’ve no idea how much it costs now! :unsure:
 
Coolcats said:
If the dealer did not provide T’s and C’s the dealer is at fault not the consumer
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Not sure of that, so I don't know. What I do know, is you should read them and ask for a copy, before picking up the pen. If the OP went to a solicitor with this problem, they certainly would want to read them, which brings me back to my first post, I'd ask the dealer for a copy now.

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Go around to them and have a word, tell them quietly that you would hate to see their reputation ruined because they failed to pay you your deposit back.
Why pay a deposit in the first place ? dont they have stock for you to look at ?
 
SuperMike said:
Not sure of that, so I don't know. What I do know, is you should read them and ask for a copy, before picking up the pen. If the OP went to a solicitor with this problem, they certainly would want to read them, which brings me back to my first post, I'd ask the dealer for a copy now.
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This is an interesting conundrum, a salesman takes a deposit and does not provide terms and conditions, I used the term salesman rather than dealer as the salesman 'should' both verbally and in writing provide terms and conditions which a customer will sign. It sound like the OP has a receipt not an invoice and no contract terms etc.

Even if something is described as a non-refundable deposit it is not as watertight as one may think

Which has some interesting guidance on this

"Can a deposit be non-refundable?
Just because something is written in a contract, it doesn’t mean it is always legally binding, as businesses ordinarily cannot rely on unfair terms.
If you cancel the contract, the business is generally only entitled to keep or receive an amount sufficient to cover their actual losses that directly result from your cancellation.
This could include costs already incurred or loss of profit."

"Terms deemed to be unfair

UNBALANCED RIGHTS
Contract terms that give the trader certain rights that you, as a consumer, don't also enjoy can be considered unfair.
EXCESSIVE CANCELLATION FEES
Terms that allow the trader to take too much of your money if you back out of a contract can be unfair.
If you want to end a contract, a trader can claim for administration and marketing costs and for any work they had started and loss of profit but no more."

There is loads more there but I would suggest taking a Deposit from a customer not providing T's and C's is an unfair practice it will be interesting to see how the OP gets on.
 
I’d ask for a copy of their standard t&c’s. You can then see what you are up against and whether there is any wriggle room. They should be able to email these to you. Why did you want to cancel?
 
My other half just said ‘surley there is a cooling off period’ within which you can cancel. You changed your mind very quickly and within any cooling off period.

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Jo662 said:
Why do people come on here as newbies and ask a question only to disappear ? and miss out on some great information, which is what he was after!!
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1 They dont want to pay the £15
2 they don't get the answer they wanted so keep going until they get what suits them.

All i can say if he hasn't been bothered to read these replies then I doubt he read the T&C's
 
When we ordered our PVC (named her Vee Vee.......Virtual Van, as that is all it is at the moment!:giggle:) we paid £500 deposit. Once we had the order confirmed, by the manufacturer, we paid a further £4000 to the dealer.

Final payment will be on collection once the van has been inspected by us,and, we’ve been shown how everything works. We’ve been told we’ll have the services of the person handing over the van for as long as we want on handover day.

Other dealers we spoke to wanted far larger deposits, and final payment BEFORE we go to pick up the van......that was a deal breaker when we visited a local dealer.
 
Sapper520 said:
When we ordered our PVC (named her Vee Vee.......Virtual Van, as that is all it is at the moment!:giggle:) we paid £500 deposit. Once we had the order confirmed, by the manufacturer, we paid a further £4000 to the dealer.
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Far too much I've never put down more than £1000 and I've bought 3 new Hymers all factory orders. A deposit has to be an amount you are prepared to lose.
 
Lenny HB said:
Far too much I've never put down more than £1000 and I've bought 3 new Hymers all factory orders. A deposit has to be an amount you are prepared to lose.
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I can see no reason to pay that much as a deposit hope it was by credit card its a lot to lose if the dealer goes bust.
 
The Wino said:
I can see no reason to pay that much as a deposit hope it was by credit card its a lot to lose if the dealer goes bust.
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Exactly, CC won't help, only any good if the total price is under 30k.

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