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General rant about dealers


OptimalKiller

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Hi folks,

 

I don't often post, i tend to lurk on forums. However I wanted to post my recent experience when I purchased my 370z, so other new buyers should be made aware, this is not limited to 370 but to any car purchase.

 

Over a number of years I have purchased new cars under a PCP contract. As usual I did the same with the 370. So here goes the story:-

 

I picked up the car on the 1st May all was well and everything was ok, driving the car was pure pleasure birds was singing and I was content. On the 27th May another normal at work until I got home, I opened a letter and to my surprise and shock seat finance was asking for payment as they was unable to take payment from my bank account as I cancelled my DD. Now my Direct debit for seat was due to come out on the 21st of each month, now this should not have been an issue, as the dealer should have settled the agreement ages ago.

 

So the following day 28th May I contacted Seat finance to enquire about the letter and to discuss the problem. They informed me that they have not received any settlement for my seat car, and also to add injury to my wound they was going to mark down my credit file for late payment.

 

I explained to seat finance that I have part exchange my car and this should have been settled by the dealer, to give credit to seat finance they was understanding, and they suggested the following to resolve my situation and also to save my credit from being black listed for late payment.

 

They asked me to contact the dealer and get them to email them the following details :-

 

Proof of bacs payment and an email from the dealer confirming the late payment was there fault and not by the customer.

 

After I got of the phone I was feeling quite confident that the dealer would be able to provide the relevant information. I emailed the dealer who dealt with me originally and I asked them to provide me with the information. A couple of hours later I get an email from the dealer saying he could confirm the payment was sent. I then had to email back again asking when was the payment sent he confirms in an email the payment was sent 27th May.

 

I then spoke to seat finance who said they would still like proof of this otherwise the black mark against my name still stands and of course they still want payment as well. I then again emailed the dealer requesting the proof on 2 more occasions as the response from the dealer very short and each time no proof was sent.

 

29th May

First thing I checked with seat finance to see if they have received payment and yet again no payment. at this point I was getting worried. If payment was not forthcoming pretty damn soon I would have to pay my monthly payment for the seat, a car I no longer have and also for my 370z.

 

plus the fact what was annoying me more was the bad mark against my name.

 

Enough was enough.

 

I emailed the dealer again this time I was pi**ed very pi**ed...

 

From: angry customer

Sent: 29 May 2015 09:28

To: dealer; seat finance

Subject: Re: *********************

 

 

name,

 

 

 

So far no email or payment has been sent to seat finance. on my previous emails I did ask for the following information, Bacs payment number data and amount, however this was not done.

 

 

 

I am now formally requesting Nissan Dealer to provide Seat finance by 12:00pm the following information and evidence, and also accept liability for the late payment to Seat Finance re settlement of my Seat Leon car. If this information has not been received by the time specified. I will then seek to make an official complaint with Nissan and seeking further guidance from the finance ombudsman, if this matter has not been resolved to my and Seat Finance satisfaction. When communicating with Seat Finance I would like to be copied into all communications with them.

 

 

12:10pm

No response from dealer and I then checked again with Seat finance to see if they received the email from the dealer and payment. yet again to my dismay nothing.

 

So this time I got managers name and email address of the dealer that sold me the 370z and emailed him directly within 2 hours this issue was resolved.

 

He emailed seat finance proof of Bacs payment and accepted liability for late payment was entirely the dealers fault and not the customer,

 

He gave some lame excuse the reason why the payment was late, was due to staff holidays, what a crock of sh*t.

 

What was revealing about this situation was the following :-

 

1, At no point did anyone from the dealer apologies for this situation.

2. The dealer lied to me and I had proof.

 

The reason why I say the dealer lied to me was this, I actually got a copy of the Bacs payment.

 

They sent the Bacs payment on the 29th May and not on the 27th May as stated. In fact the only reason why the payment was sent was because I made the manager aware of the situation.

 

Anyway I'm glad its over, however buyers be aware make sure your previous agreement has been settled its still your responsibility. I've always left it to the dealer to sort out, and on previous occasions it has always be fine. However from now on I will be on my guard,

 

Anyway rant over. Hopefully from now on it will be happy motoring, Now I just need to find a new dealer. I dont want them servicing my car as the trust has been broken.

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What did the dealer principal say when you rang him and spoke to him about this?

 

When I emailed the manager, I gave him my phone number for him to call me to discuss the situation, but they did not call. Which I am quite glad in one sense. As we emails I can use as evidence if things got worse. Previous experience when calling dealer has not been successful as they always seem to be busy with a customer.

 

Which is why now the majority of my communications is done via email. Its a sad state of affairs that you have to rely on emails for evidence especially if things goes wrong.

 

 

I totally agree. I have had a lot of experience of once they have your money they don't want to know. That' s one shocking service you had there. I certainly wouldn't use them and also would take the matter further.

 

To be honest I'm glad its all been sorted. I need to reflect on my next steps as this issue has now been resolved, without any real damage apart from the headache. Also it allowed me to experience the poor quality of service this Nissan dealer provided.

 

All they are after is your money they don't care about after-sales care. I may log complaint with Nissan HQ just to let them know of the situation,but I doubt anything will happen.

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What did the dealer principal say when you rang him and spoke to him about this?

 

When I emailed the manager, I gave him my phone number for him to call me to discuss the situation, but they did not call. Which I am quite glad in one sense. As we emails I can use as evidence if things got worse. Previous experience when calling dealer has not been successful as they always seem to be busy with a customer.

 

Which is why now the majority of my communications is done via email. Its a sad state of affairs that you have to rely on emails for evidence especially if things goes wrong.

Whilst I see where you're coming from, and indeed I always get things in writing as well, there is no better way of sorting out a problem than by simply picking the phone up. Make it personal, don't just let yourself become another faceless person on email, you'll get far better results.

 

I'm not saying the dealer handled this well (they obviously didn't), but by the same token a quick phonecall could've made this go a lot smoother. It's very easy to sit back and say that you're the customer and the business should move heaven and earth for you, but sometimes in the real world it can really pay to give as much effort back the other way. :)

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Upon reflection maybe an initial first phone call should have been made, but to be honest It, I very much doubt it would have changed anything. However I will never know.

 

Anyway time to move forward with things. For the very first time in my life, I got the urge to clean my car instead of taking it to the local car wash. I think I will invest my time and effort in cleaning the car, it quite nice not to sure about the winter months.

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