dealer problem - cancelling order

[chich]

If you don't mind me asking what is the reason why you want to cancel the order? Is it because you're sick of waiting or is something more serious than that?

[Jab]

I would go back to them and state that simply all discussion will now proceed through my solicitor. Engage a lawyer whom specialises in contract law. All it may take is one letter from a professional source to have the whole matter sorted out.

Unless any of our esteemed colleagues here is a professional in the law field and would like to assist for a nominal fee

Anything else any of us say should really be taken as general advice only. You need to seek the asistance of somebody who knows.

Best of luck,
Jim.

[granola]

Originally Posted by chich

If you don't mind me asking what is the reason why you want to cancel the order? Is it because you're sick of waiting or is something more serious than that?

I've sold my car and I haven't been with it for over 2 months, i can't goto work without a car.

[XRQTR]

Who is the dealership??

[granola]

Originally Posted by XRQTR

Who is the dealership??

I will disclose after the settlement. It seems they are not using a standard VACC contract, so the deposit will go down the drain unfortunately.

[PDIDDY]

Originally Posted by granola

I will disclose after the settlement. It seems they are not using a standard VACC contract, so the deposit will go down the drain unfortunately.

Well there's your out. All contracts must be on an approved form, regulated by the relevant states fair trading authority. Again, did you make the contract "subject" to anything i.e:selling your car, finance etc?
The dealer has no choice but to refund your money. No legal contract, can't supply within "reasonable" period. They are just stringing you along for some reason.

[Abacus]

granola,

Do not, at this stage, forfeit your deposit.

You need to speak to your State Government consumer protection agency.

I don’t know what state you are in. Here are the contact details for NSW, Qld and Vic:

NSW – Department of Fair Trading - 13 3220

Qld: Department of Consumer Affairs 1300 658 030 or (07) 3899 1711

Vic – Consumer Affairs Victoria – 1300 558 181

[granola]

Originally Posted by PDIDDY

Well there's your out. All contracts must be on an approved form, regulated by the relevant states fair trading authority. Again, did you make the contract "subject" to anything i.e:selling your car, finance etc?
The dealer has no choice but to refund your money. No legal contract, can't supply within "reasonable" period. They are just stringing you along for some reason.

No special conditions. unfortunately, it was my mistake.

[OLDFORDNUT]

mate for christs sake take some of the advice you asked for and see the fair trading dept or equivalent for your state,
and why on earth do you think you need to hide their name if you feel they are ripping you off?
im flabbergasted by your inaction and acceptance of been treated like a dill by them whoever the hell they are.

[Deadman]

Originally Posted by nicholas

mate for christs sake take some of the advice you asked for and see the fair trading dept or equivalent for your state,
and why on earth do you think you need to hide their name if you feel they are ripping you off?
im flabbergasted by your inaction and acceptance of been treated like a dill by them whoever the hell they are.

exactly. get off your *** and do something rather than just accepting what the dealership is telling you. they're treating you like an idiot and so far, you're going along with it. take some of the advice here and actually do something rather than go back and forth to them and not getting anywhere.

[granola]

Well I am doing exactly what I was told by Consumer Affairs at the moment, things are happening at the background.

The Internet is very sensitive area, I have to be careful that this is not used against the process of the termination. ****ing the dealer off at this stage is just going to make the process harder.

Of course if be mr nice doesn't work then I'm sure we can play hard ball with the dealer, I'll then need you guys help out and spread the words when the timing is right.

I haven't given up yet, don't worry. I'm just trying to maintain peace until necessary, don't need to take out the trump card until the last minute, otherwise I'll have no bargaining power !!

I'll be updated on this issue as I have submitted my request in writing mid next week.

[russellw]

You will indeed be updated on the basis of your letter and your contract will be rescinded with forfeit of the deposit as per your request.

Let's take this opportunity to correct a few misunderstandings on the law of contracts.

There is no requirement in Victoria for a dealer to use any standard from contract. The document used in this instance is a legally binding document with the terms and conditions outlined in plain language. It is no more and no less onerous than any other similar document.

The contract clearly states that there is no liability on the part of the dealer with regard to achievement of any estimated delivery date (naturally) as this is completely beyond their control.

The decision whether to return a deposit is entirely at the discretion of the dealer involved as it is in any contract for sale of goods as is their willingness to rescind the contract.

The various consumer advisory bodies do not exist to get people out of situations they get into by not reading or understanding the contract they sign. They exist to ensure that unscrupulous traders do not disadvantage purchasers with questionable contracts.

This issue was resolved with a single phone call to the dealership involved and at the Sales Manager level without even the DP becoming involved and application of the correct procedure should be applied before entering into discussion here.

Let me finish by commenting on two issues here that concern me.

1. There is substantial misinformation in this thread from various people about the nature of contracts and the obligations attached to them.

2. This forum is NOT a bargaining chip. We have good relationships with various people within FOA and the dealerships and will attempt to leverage those in cases of genuine hardship when we can but I find the use of this forum as a threat to obtain action an unacceptable practice.

Regards
Russ

[MarkAW]

Originally Posted by russellw

Let's take this opportunity to correct a few misunderstandings on the law of contracts.

There is no requirement in Victoria for a dealer to use any standard from contract.

A point to note and question
Not being from Victoria I did preface my comments with this fact as with the following.

In NSW all motor traders who are part of the MTA - Motor Traders Association - are required by the MTA to use an MTA form albeit somewhat tailored to suit the individual dealership. This would seem to be why all new car contracts in NSW are relatively the same.

In NSW there is a sunset clause to a contract as I previously stated and I do find it incredulous that no sunset clause is included in a contract especially in the event of a forced majere where no party can satisfactorily conclude the contract. The sunset clause provides for the reasonable rescinding of the contract through inability to supply after a set period and the return of deposit. If the Victorian contracts contain no sunset clause to provide for the deposit return then granola has unfortunately received a hard lesson in life and should consider buying a car in NSW where there is some protection.

It is a shame that granola did not read and fully comprehend the contract he was asked to sign. Had he fully understood the implications of agreement, he should have walked out immediately.

In closing I would be careful on your part at making statements about the disposition of the deposit as this may well be the subject of legal proceedings and just because a contract stipulates that the deposit is at the dealer's discretions does not mean that the courts cannot overturn this stipulation if the dealers actions were prejudicial or where the dealer acted to knowingly to deceive the consumer and claim financial benefit. All of this is suitably covered under the trade practices act for the various state legislatures.

[russellw]

Originally Posted by MarkAW

In closing I would be careful on your part at making statements about the disposition of the deposit as this may well be the subject of legal proceedings and just because a contract stipulates that the deposit is at the dealer's discretions does not mean that the courts cannot overturn this stipulation if the dealers actions were prejudicial or where the dealer acted to knowingly to deceive the consumer and claim financial benefit. All of this is suitably covered under the trade practices act for the various state legislatures.

The statement was made based on an agreement between the parties concerned and thus the issue fo further legal action is not relevant.

Likewise this situation does not fall within the scope of prejudicial or deceptive actions.

Cheers
Russ

[Flaming Mo]

While argument is made about the legalities of contracts etc, the bottom line is this matter can easily be resolved at the discretion of the dealer principal. Sometimes its not just about what's legally right, but what's best for business. Any DP with half a clue would recognise that they have a contract on a car that could easily be sold again before it arrives. They would then have a happy new customer, as well as a satisfied Granola who may return at a later date to purchase another car.

I would support the dealer if Granola had ordered a hard to move low demand vehicle as they need to protect themselves against possible losses. But why risk damaging goodwill when you don't need to. The dealer does need to enforce some contracts and pick his battles, but this ain't one of them.

To drag this out and cause more downtime for staff dealing with the issue wreaks of a DP hungry for money or one who's over inflated ego gets in the way of sound business decisions.

[granola]

Firstly I have to thank russellw for helping me out to sort out the situation. I am looking forward to the formal confirmation to the dealer.

I feel the need to clarify something. There are many managers in that dealership, initially I was talking to the one that does not offer me any opportunity to discuss the situation and said I cannot cancel the contract and I have to take the car no matter not, and he refused to accept my offer to cancel the order in writing, he said i have to take the car, period. I tried to talk to this manager twice because he's the one that manages the salesman that sold me the car. I think the situation was mainly affected by this that blows up to a proportion that shouldn't be in the first place.

So I wrote and seek advice from fellow forum members and seek advice from Consumer affairs at the same time. I thought I better try to keep peace first then going the hard yard, so I called the dealership again and ask for the DP. He was unavailable and I was referred to a more senior manager there. He kindly explain the situation and let me know I can submit the cancellation but i have to forfeit the deposit.

So I would say the dealership is still decent except that manager that I first talked to that played hard ball and misled me. And caused all these upset to me and the forum members.

In no way I was trying to use this forum as bargaining chip and I have never mentioned the name of the dealer because of this very reason, and I apologise if it sounds it is used as a bargaining chip and it should not been treated in this way.

[JADED6]

I think there is only 2 ways you'll end this with a smile on your face.
A. Take the car when it comes. Highly likely you'll love it and forget all of this when getting high on the smell of new car fumes.
B. Take the car and onsell it on the not so 2nd hand market. If there is such a wait on them there's a chance you could snare your self a profit if someone really wants one NOW.

As for your need for a car asap. buy a cheap run about (old laser). That way you'll appreciate the xr5 even more so.

[robjh80]

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

Customer relations deals with after purchase issues mostly with the product, as in warranty concerns.

Very Rarely will Ford themselves get invovled in a new vehicle purchase issue, unless theres something wrong with the car and the customers picked up before signing.

"Uh No".........they generally dont want to hear about those nasty "warranty" thingy's either in my experience.

[Stav]

Originally Posted by granola

Hi all,

I ordered an XR5 bloody ages ago and it has passed the estimated delivery date on the contract. I can't afford to wait much longer, but it's looking like I'll still need to wait a few more months. So I called up the dealer and want to cancel my order and have a refund.

But the dealer said I cannot just get out of the contract.

What should I do ? The contract didn't state anything about conditions of cancelling a order or anything related to cancellation or delivery delays.

Thanks,
Granola

The terms of the contract are not valid if reasonable time has expired.If reasonale time had expired write to them asking for your money back .Make sure the terms of the contract doesnt cover them otherwise theyre right. If not..get a lawyer

[robjh80]

Granola, perhaps you may be able to come to an arrangement with the dealer where you "change" or "modify" the initial order,....... ie: change the order to a Zetec Focus or Falcon XR6 rather than the initial order for the XR5 Focus?

That way they still get the sale and you dont lose ya deposit.

[granola]

Originally Posted by robjh80

Granola, perhaps you may be able to come to an arrangement with the dealer where you "change" or "modify" the initial order,....... ie: change the order to a Zetec Focus or Falcon XR6 rather than the initial order for the XR5 Focus?

That way they still get the sale and you dont lose ya deposit.

I basically don't want to deal with them any more given the sour experience that I'm having. And buying something that I don't want for the small deposit I lost is not worth it.

[jimmy_c]

Originally Posted by granola

I basically don't want to deal with them any more given the sour experience that I'm having. And buying something that I don't want for the small deposit I lost is not worth it.

I had a similar experience with a sydney ford dealer. Anyway I feel your pain and Turned me off buying a car from Any Ford Dealer for 2yrs. :



I feel your pain and good luck with it. Some ford dealers really need a good kick up the **** and on the other hand some are so much better.